South West eCommerce

Many people dream of earning all their income online through affiliate marketing and internet marketing. And lots of people already do that, so it is certainly possible.

But many people also take the risky approach of focusing on only one source of income - for example all of their income through a particular kind of affiliate website, or all from Google Adsense, or all from dropship sales. This has some dangers.

Lets say that you're living the dream of earning all your income from affiliate marketing. You've got a few website's setup, they're getting good traffic, and you're earning good commissions. What if one day Google decides they really want to penalize affiliate sites, or they change their ranking algorithm, and overnight your income stream disappears? What if your government introduces new taxation laws that make it much less profitable to earn affiliate income?

Or what if all your income comes from Google Adsense, and you wake up one morning to find that Google have permanently cancelled your Adsense account, for no apparent reason? (it's happened to us, see Can You Get Someone's Google Adsense Account Banned?).

There is a real risk involved in keeping "all your eggs in one basket". The online world changes rapidly, and anything could happen to reduce your income very quickly.

That's why, if you intend to earn a living online, it is essential that you spread your risk. This means setting up your portfolio so that your income arrives from a variety of sources. An example could be:

• Affiliate websites - earning commissions for promoting other people's products
  
  
• Ecommerce websites - selling other people's products, with supplies via a dropship or wholesale arrangement
  
  
• Google Adsense income - setting up informational websites or blogs that earn income from Google Adsense or other contextual advertising
  
  
• Information Products - selling your own information products or electronic products via affiliates
  
  
• Buying & Selling Websites and/or Domains - perhaps earning some money through online asset trading or speculation
  
  
• Providing online services such as search engine optimization or search engine marketing
  
  
• And others...

By spreading your income across various sources, if something suddenly changes in the market or in the online "system" then your loss is minimized because you still have income arriving from other sources.

It makes sense in all industries, but especially in the online world where things can change so quickly.