I have just finished the edit for my next book, Practical Money Making-Surviving Recession, Layoffs, Credit Problems, Generating Passive Income Streams, Working Full Time or Part Time and Retirement. As I start the post production process and the cover generation I realized that I used the “D” word in the book.
That’s right, I said it. Depression.
Back in our great-grandfathers or for some of us, grandfathers day, in the 1920s, there was what they called the Great Depression. The problem back then was that banks had over-extended themselves because of bad investments in the stock market and speculation. In this day and age, we are hearing daily of more and more financial problems due to the housing bubble popping.
This is the time to start looking to how to make money during a depression. It may not be another Great Depression but with inflation rising, interest rates flat, Home Equity loans frozen and the next shoe to drop will be credit card companies freezing lines, it is time to get income and expectations in line for the immediate future.
What will sell? Well, I suspect my book will have brisk sales if I keep the price at the market friendly $15-20 range (it will probably go for $15 retail before online bookstore discounting) and people continue to look for extra ways to make money, invest their money and work to get out of debt. The price point for non-fiction is generally between $12-25 depending on the book and content.
Did I have some other self-realizations? Of course! Let me share my realizations with you, dear reader.
Look for businesses you can start or continue that will help people save money, something that they can do that will save their homes, put food on their plates. This is going to be a rough ride for all of us and if the economic forecasts look true, it may be two to four years for the U.S. to get out of the slump.
In terms of investments, I would watch very carefully what I would be putting my money into because for at least the next few months, there is going to be turmoil with looming military conflicts on the Russian border, uncertainty over the Presidential elections and the bottom of the financial markets meltdown may not be over yet. I invite you to do your own financial research and come to your own conclusions.
Here is an important reminder to people starting a business in the coming months or years. People will still pay for something that they think they will need, so marketing will still have some affect. The reality is that they will not be able to go into debt anymore to buy the item they want so they will have to wait patiently and longingly like a kid looking at a new video game in a store window.
From what I understand, in some of the hotels in Macau, the island off of China, the big casinos do get a lot of people but a lot of them just come over with their bagged lunch and sit and look at the slot machines and gaming tables. That is shockingly similar to state line casinos here in the United States between California and Nevada. It means that just because there is something marketed attractively to a customer – and there is nothing that screams marketing like a slot machine – that doesn’t mean that they will have the money to use it.
Maybe they need to have lower cost slot machines or table limits at some of the casinos in Macau to accommodate their poorer players. Maybe the casino builders and owners are discovering that even high rollers and whales go through their own financial depression and not have enough money to go play at the casinos. Time will tell and for now, that is outside of my pay grade, folks.
The take away from this is that personal depression may result from financial depression but if you are aware of what is happening you can plan accordingly for it by adjusting your income expectations and turn your depression into a great self-realization impression!
Good luck to you and may you be profitable, happy, healthy and safe in all your ventures.
Part of all my book proceeds go to research finding a cure for Rett Syndrom and reversal of symptoms.
Questions or comments? Let me know about them! Thanks for taking the time to visit and for more information or to get back to the beginning of the blog, go here.
Kim Greenblatt, in his blog, profitable, dares to use the “D” word for the next few years financially-depression and changes it into a self-realization impression!