February 1, 2008 – 12:07 pm
Here in the United States, the economy stands on very shaky ground. Because of the partial collapse of the housing market, the American economic growth rate has slowed to a crawl, and many foresee the economy of America taking a substantial step backward.
Many economists are predicting a significant recession in the global economy, brought on by the crash of the American market. Businesses all over the world are already bracing themselves for this eventuality. In a recession, consumers typically spend less, so businesses have to decide where to make cuts based upon smaller sales’ income.
Based upon what I’ve observed, I think that it is safe to say that freelancers suffer tremendously during times of market uncertainty. Because businesses are less likely to expand in tough times, they don’t have as much need for freelancers to improve and promote products. As a resut, freelance businesses are forced to offer more competitive pricing, and probably lose business in the process.
I have a feeling, though, that the blogosphere will not be nearly as hurt by economic recession. As a matter of fact, I’ll jump out on a limb here and predict that blogosphere and other similar Web 2.0 style outlets will actually prosper should a world-wide recession become a reality. Therefore, I hiighly recommend that internet-based freelancers become involved in blogging as a way to generate both active and passive income.
I think that there are several reasions that the blogosphere will be a successful market in the case of a recession:
Internet Growth
Regardless of what happens in the stock market, I don’t know that anyoe could be brave enough to say that Internet use will decline because of recession. It is estimated that almost a billion and a half people access the internet, and those numbers increase daily. No recession, no matter how severe, could possibly quell this growth. Even if people are feeling more squeezed, and as a result can’t afford broadband rates, every indication is that the price of broadband access will continue to fall as technology improves. It might be that, in the near future, free internet broadband access will be available to most people worldwide.
The Death of “Old Media”
Newspapers are experiencing a tremendous decline in readership. Magazines are scrambling to draw readers back to their glossy pages, but they are feeling extreme economic pressure based upon a smaller subscriber base. Does this mean that the populace is less informed regarding news? Not at all. Most people get their news and information from television and the internet, and many industry analyists suggest that these two mediums will be one and the same within a decade.
The Blogosphere to the Rescue!
With such a shift in media interest by the average consumer, blogging has a tremendous opportunity. Because blogs cost nothing to access, even when times are hard, blog traffic will not decrease. As a matter of fact, I contend that with less loose change to spend on print media, consumers will actually turn to blogs even more than they have already. It may very well be that the blogosphere will flourish in a time of financial hardship.
Though companies will cut back on advertising dollars, I also predict that they will be more willing to advertise in the blogosphere, because blog authority will increase. It is a tenuous risk to advertise in a newspapaer or magazine whose readership is waning, but placing a banner link or ad on a site that draws in 500 guaranteed visitors and more a day will seem a sure-fire way to draw in more customers.
Will the blogosphere save the economy? Probably not, but as financial hard times approach, a wise freelancer should jump into the blogosphere in their niche and attempt to build as much authority as possible, knowing that recession will actually make this business model very lucrative.
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