They say the economy isn’t so good these days. Certainly, things have slowed down. Things are changing and people are adjusting. What may not have occurred to many, though, is that technology could very well weather it out better than any other economic sector. Geeks, if they make the right moves, can GROW during this period. How?
I thought what I would do today is come up with a short list of things that geeks and computer/Internet users should be doing during this time.
1. Get Involved With Social Media
Many in our audience are already users of sites like Facebook and Twitter. If you, however, are in the crowd of people who are not doing this, it is time to shed the lead weights and get on board.
It is a mistake to think these trends are fads or just something young kids do. It isn’t. Facebook alone is signing up almost half a million users PER DAY. Twitter was just reported to have outgrown Digg.
But, why bother? Because networking and personal relations is EXTREMELY important in economic hard times. In fact, just a couple days ago, I put out a call on my Twitter network for a programmer and I got several people who responded. That demonstrates the use of social media in finding a job. The uses, though, are immeasurable.
If you need more avenues to make money, your options are increased many times if you have a network of people to turn to online. That’s where social media comes in.
2. Use The Internet To Track Your Finances
The potential of using the Internet to track your finances is awesome. The reason is because other information as well as collective data can be used to help you govern your own finances.
Mint.com is perhaps the best known example of online financial management. In this post on Techcrunch about what Mint’s aggregate data says about the economy, he stats that they’ve signed up 900,000 users just since September 2008. I myself have an account with Mint. I don’t use it all the time, but they’re system is incredibly slick and it has some powerful budgeting features.
3. Expand Your Knowledge
Now is the time to be a sponge. My recommendation is to learn as much as you can as regards the Internet and computers. Whatever your gaps in knowledge may be, fill them.
In my case, I have been studying social media, blogging and Internet marketing. I make my entire living on the Internet, and I know that by learning my craft and getting better at it, I can solidify my success in this business.
So, read blogs. Subscribe to blogs. Read books. Hell, join the PCMech Premium program. Yeah, that is self-promotional, but it is also a great example of what I mean.
You don’t even know what opportunities you’re missing out on if you don’t know that they exist.
4. Use the Internet To Shop
Getting in the car, driving down to the store and paying retail for something you need just doesn’t have the ring to it that it used to. Go online to buy. You can often save money. You most definitely do save gas. Plus, you have endless options to save money by comparison shopping.
Use sites like CNET to read reviews before you buy. Keep in mind you can also use Ebay to buy brand new items and save money. Price comparison sites like Pricegrabber can help you find the best deals. Run a Google search for coupons on whatever you need to buy and you’ll probably find some.
5. Look To The Internet To Make Money
The internet is the most powerful business medium ever invented. Worldwide audience. Low barriers to entry. And endless ways to generate cash flow from the comfort of your house.
The best way to make money online is information marketing. Sure, you can buy and sell things on Ebay (many got started that way). But, the sale of information has very high profit margin. So, sit down and write a Word document on some topic that you know well that can help others solve a problem. Then, sell it.
Sure, there is a lot more to know about this, but I encourage you to look more into it. We have a course called 3 Day Money inside the PCMech Premium program that provides a solid introduction and overview to this.
Conclusion
This economic recession is different than past recessions in many ways, but chief among them is that this one is happening in the midst of intense Internet growth and emphasis in technology. The last time we had a recession, the Internet didn’t look anything like it did today.
There is so much opportunity out there if one takes the time to look for it. I think the tech sector is not only going to weather this economic storm well, it is going to grow further. Sure, some businesses are trimming fat and cutting expenses. But, investing in yourself and learning all you can to become a player in this growing tech sector is my biggest recommendation for any reader of PCMech.
Do you have recommendations of your own for other readers? Please share in comments.
Like what you read?
If so, please join over 28,000 people who receive our exclusive weekly newsletter and computer tips, and get FREE COPIES of 5 eBooks we created, as our gift to you for subscribing. Just enter your name and email below:
Interesting article about the economy and how it looks from the consumers point of view. Mint.com compiled their data and took a snapshot of consumer spending. Granted, it’s only a snapshot of around 1% of the United States but it’s still a fantastic site to check out. I’ve been using it for probably around 12 months now.
The Economy According To Mint – http://www.techcrunch.com/2009/01
/30/the-economy-according-to-mint/
Not sure what happened to that link – let’s try it again:
http://www.techcrunch.com/2009/01/30/the-economy-according-to-mint/
Sorry!
It’s funny, but since I’m a full-time blogger these days I’m not even really affected that much by the recession, other than the fact that groceries are costing an arm and a leg. I’m not making a huge income online, but it’s a nice security blanket knowing I can make money even if unemployment is at its highest rate ever.
First I would like to say nice post. This is true, I mean i own my own business which is a web development company, and since this economic issue, things have def. slowed down when it comes to new clients.
We have started to do various other services online such as marketing and selling items and other forms instead of just relying on our services, and believe it or not, since we started venturing into more than our own business we have started to increase revenue even in this time of hardship.
Variety is really the best option when it comes to the internet and stuff of this nature, don’t put all your eggs in one basket because you are determined to fail if you do this.
i am hoping that the global economy would recover from this economic recession. life has been very hard with these massive job cuts.
the economic recession made a lot of workers jobless. my best friend and me lost our jobs because of job cuts. i hope that our economy would recover soon.
Our country was also hit hard by the Economic Recession. At least we are seeing some signs of economic recovery now. I hope that we could recover soon from this recession.
..