How self-reliant is your online income, really?

Morning all,

I was having a bit of a reflective moment and thought this could make for an interesting discussion.

How self-reliant would you say your online income is right now?

By that I mean, do you mainly rely on assets you control, like your own website with organic traffic, email list, memberships, etc. Or are you more dependent on third parties, for example marketplaces, social platforms, paid traffic sources, things where a rule change could hit you overnight?

I’ve been marketing online for over 20 years now, started around 2002/2003, and one thing that’s always been consistent is the cycles. There have been plenty of times where sales dried up, my back was against the wall, and I was lying awake at night wondering if this was the end of the road.

So far it never has been, I’ve always found a way through somehow. (and to be honest I tend to come up with the best ideas when I'm concerned!)

At the moment things are thankfully going well, but I’m also very aware that nothing online is guaranteed forever, and things can change fast.

I’m curious how others feel about this.

Do you ever worry about stability and the future, or do you feel pretty safe with how your income is set up? And for those doing this full time, how do you personally deal with that uncertainty, if at all?

Would be great to hear some honest perspectives.

i guess it depends if the clients subscribe for 1 more month or not, ofc not all will continue a subscription, but some will come and some will not renew, thats part of the business but giving the best experience to the customer is rule nº1

darksky26 said:

i guess it depends if the clients subscribe for 1 more month or not, ofc not all will continue a subscription, but some will come and some will not renew, thats part of the business but giving the best experience to the customer is rule nº1

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That makes sense, and I agree, customer experience has to come first.

What I mean is more on a personal level. Do you feel comfortable most of the time doing this long term, or are there still periods where you worry about things drying up or changing suddenly?

As I mentioned... I’ve been doing this full time for over 20 years and, even now!, I still have moments where I wonder if this is the year it all comes to an end, even when things are going well.

I was just curious whether others feel the same, or if you’ve found ways to create more peace of mind or fallback options over the years.

vambrose said:

There have been plenty of times where sales dried up, my back was against the wall, and I was lying awake at night wondering if this was the end of the road.

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I'm 1 year full-time in my own online business, and after listening to many business owners, I've realised that every one of them has felt this at some point; it's simply the entry fee.

That fact alone, makes it easier to handle because you know you aren't doing anything wrong.

vambrose said:

Do you ever worry about stability and the future, or do you feel pretty safe with how your income is set up?

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When in doubt I zoom out. Rather then make emotional decisions, I check my business data IE average revenue, average retention, weak areas then work on fixing those.

After a while you build something pretty solid that your own data tells you can survive the ups and downs.

A recent example, I lost 2.2K a month of client retainers and replaced it with 2.5K the same month. It was stressful and I didn't do it by hero efforts but by sales systems built months and years before.

vambrose said:

how do you personally deal with that uncertainty, if at all?

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Gym, friends, girlfriend, journaling, vent to ChatGPT, yoga, stretch, walks - in no particular order.

Having unscalable but profitable income streams that you can dip into e.g. consulting

Putting money aside for tax and savings consistently during good times.

benkingldn said:

I'm 1 year full-time in my own online business, and after listening to many business owners, I've realised that every one of them has felt this at some point; it's simply the entry fee.

That fact alone, makes it easier to handle because you know you aren't doing anything wrong.



When in doubt I zoom out. Rather then make emotional decisions, I check my business data IE average revenue, average retention, weak areas then work on fixing those.

After a while you build something pretty solid that your own data tells you can survive the ups and downs.

A recent example, I lost 2.2K a month of client retainers and replaced it with 2.5K the same month. It was stressful and I didn't do it by hero efforts but by sales systems built months and years before.



Gym, friends, girlfriend, journaling, vent to ChatGPT, yoga, stretch, walks - in no particular order.

Having unscalable but profitable income streams that you can dip into e.g. consulting

Putting money aside for tax and savings consistently during good times.

Click to expand...

That “entry fee” line really sums it up well, and you’re right, just knowing everyone goes through it makes it easier.

The zooming out and trusting the data instead of emotions is solid advice too, especially when things feel shaky in the moment. And yeah, venting to ChatGPT made me laugh, it can be weirdly encouraging. The other day I was helping my old man with something, got some good info and it ended with “you’re a good son for doing this”. I actually laughed out loud at how human it’s becoming haha

But overall I agree, we’re all in the same boat. It’s part of the package. There’s no income ceiling with this life, unlike a job, even if a job feels safer on the surface. Nothing really is.

BTW I’ve not read it yet, but the title of Daymond Johns (the shark tank guy) book “The Power of Broke” says it all. The longer I’ve been away from a real job, the more drive I have to make sure I never end up back there.

I focus on building assets I actually own, such as my own websites and organic traffic, and use third party platforms mainly as a backup. I know things can change quickly online, so I try to spread risk, experiment with new ideas, and stay flexible, which helps me handle uncertainty and stay stable over the long run.

Well the thing you're saying about paid ads, it can't really get changed overnight. Like lets say BHW goes down, I assume most solid business owners have a lot of other sources of traffic.

I don’t think the uncertainty ever fully goes away.
It just shifts from panic to awareness.
Owning assets doesn’t remove risk, but it gives you time to react instead of being wiped out overnight.