Forkbeard

I didn't vote in the poll as there wasn't an answer that pertains to me. I'd choose something like "I'm still full time but yeah, sales suck."

On my best programs, ratios are approaching twice as bad as they were two years ago, and I get many many many fewer rebills than I did two years ago. The worst programs -- ones that used to provide solid sales at ratios I was content with -- simply don't make sales now no matter how much traffic I send them.

I consider this to be good advice, and I'm following it, but I'm aware there's an element of "whistling past the graveyard" in it.

Now, I should clarify that I'm not complaining. At my peak as an affiliate, I was only "working" about two hours a day and making twice (or more) as I ever made as a salaried professional. These days, I'm working something closer to a full time job, and still making enough to support my family comfortably -- and I'm not working anywhere near as hard as I'd have to do in a suit-and-tie office with a pointy-haired boss. It's night and day, and I'm still here chillin' in pants-optional land. I still love it, and my main concern is to make sure I can carry on in the face of the current unpleasant trends.

I should note that I'm also pretty close to the economy out in the meatspace world, because there's a long train of distaff relatives who are unemployed and *really* hurting; I'm hearing a lot of desperate "can I borrow eighty bucks to send on my car payment so they won't take my car before my unemployment check gets here" noises around here. Lest anybody here was not clear on this point, the mainstream economy really really really sucks right now.

I know we'll never see that old Red Rock Candy Mountain again, but there's no way in HELL things won't get a lot better for the survivors during the next economic boom cycle. It's just that we could do like Japan did, and take ten or more years to get there.

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