I hate complaining. Especially about the world of blogging, internet business, and online income. But REALLY! What happened to every source of income for me? Some collapsed altogether last year, but I saw those coming... Hubpages, Adsense. I knew there was trouble in Paradise for at least a year prior. My cheese moved, and income dropped to less than one percent of what it had been.
This is money that paid for my hosting and theme on my sites. Which was reinvested in apps and equipment that is necessary for being online. In other words, I was running a hobby, not a business, but at least my retired husband didn't have to underwrite it.
Now, in 2026, I am not sure what has happened to the small commissions I had from Amazon. I used to make the $10.00 payout every month or two. But now, there are no sales and haven't been for many months. Not even many clicks.
I joined their "influencer" program around the time everything dried up, but I can't seem to make a connection in the two events.
I thought the influencer was separate from the associates program. I still don't understand how it works...
But I am scrambling to re-activate this part of my income, because I really like blogging and writing for the sites I have spent so many years creating. Hosting fees come up again this year. So I will try to post products that I use and like for my readers. And hopefully they will want to support me through patronizing my effort.
Here is one for today!
I found a beautiful wooden boar bristle brush that is quite reasonably priced. The issue isn't with wanting to shop on Amazon or with the value of the products.
I fell in love with this set. It is so pretty and the natural bristles are gentle on the hair. The comb is a plus!
Trying to Rebuild
Trying to rebuild is difficult when ignorant of the downward cause. I went into my Amazon account and re-entered my sites. I made sure I was plastering the labels for my posts and links with the "I am an affiliate with Amazon and may earn a commission" alert.
But I don't seem to have hardly any clicks- although there was one last month... and unsure how that happened.
In the meantime, I have been rebuilding the Christmas site, updating posts on other site (Ilona's Garden, and My Reflecting Pool)
I've been moving the Hubpages posts onto my own sites.
And trying to post on Social media. Whew! Haven't been sleeping much....
I Deserved Some Attrition
Because of my health problems, family dramas, and house moving... big reasons by any measure, I had ceased working online for intents and purposes.
So, I knew that eventually I would have to make up for lost time. But the depth of the drop surprised me.
This year averages 76% less than last year, in Adsense, and last years was usually a good 50% less than the year before. (Comparisons as reported by analytics.)
Hubpages went to pennies a month. And no Amazon share at all ( Hubpages management had steadily reduced that in previous years, not allowing more than a couple links that had to be shared income, anyway). I had accepted lots of this diminishing return as just part of the changes that were common in the internet space.
I am wondering if AI has anything at all to do with the present 2026 preciptitous drop. However, I have no way of understanding if, when, or how that may be the case.
The Silver Lining
The silver lining is not financial in nature, it isn't a solution to what has happened, but it is a diversion of focus. For years I felt as if I should write a book, or two, - or more. But as I always seemed to be, I was stumped by my lack of understanding. I didn't know how to start.
Well, nothing was taking first priority except the need to look for other ways to grow and be creative. I bought a program, "Scrivener". Actually this is my second purchase, but I had started with the version which was so old it couldn't even be updated.... even if I remembered which computer it had been on and which email I might have used some twenty or so years ago.
So I bought a new version and have promptly hunkered down to learn it.
Yes, It's Hard
Not having used a word processor very much... only blog editors, I had a world of things to learn. a newbie again. But the years of learning platforms, html, and editor programs in graphics, etc, somehow have helped the learning pathways kick in.
So, I am writing a book. The old fashioned way, even though there are ads and videos everywhere on using AI.But I want to do this from the heart.
Continuing to rebuild a Business
In the meantime, I will continue to try to figure out how to earn from the hours, days, and years of content I have placed online so far.
News on that front will make its way to this blog.
I must apologize to those who read this, that it has been a dirge to the funeral of my online income.
Another Amazon link for those who wish to save money on shipping:
