Productivity, a Loss of Leisure, the Dream of Passive Income and the Development of Online Affiliate Marketing

Juliet Schor, a Harvard University Professor, offers readers an insightful analysis into the declining time that Americans have for leisure. Her literary contribution, The Overworked American: The Unexpected Decline of Leisure (1991) analyzes the plight of the productive American who has—knowingly or unknowingly--traded much of his leisure time for a zeitgeist (and the reality) of teeming production.1

Does time really equal money?

The idea that an increase in productivity determines a decrease in leisure time and vice versa seems to have evolved into a depressing mantra for many Americans. “Time equals money,” they say and that is that. However, society can always count on the opposing opinion,2 or in this case the less-accepting Americans who count themselves lucky to be part of an age when passive income is the economic day-dream and desire of the century. Sure, it might not be realistic to leisurely dream the day away, but passive income (an income that is generated without a 1:1 ratio of work to time) is real and available. A new source of passive income has arrived however for today's online ecommerce centers and is apparently becoming popular for many Americans who are pursuing the passive income solution via affiliate marketing.

Types of Passive Income and it's Newest Member Affiliate Marketing

The older “typical” forms of passive income can include sales commissions, media entertainment (books, CDs, music) that engenders royalties, stock photography sales, big business endeavors (when an apartment owner leaves work to his or her manager), and return business from continually satisfied customers. Most passive income requires some sort of networking and the newest member of the passive income group, affiliate marketing, is no different. Affiliate marketing, like other types of passive income, requires investment before gain. An ambitious affiliate marketing venturer will need a Web presence that will allow him or her to get enough visitors who are qualified to purchase products displayed for the affiliate marketing program's parent store. If he or she wants to manage a complete affiliate marketing program, then his or her site will need to attract visitors and maintain a fair and equitable affiliate marketing program that will attract potential affiliates.

Passive Income, Productivity and Increased Leisure Time

The reality of passive income potential3 belies the idea that time equals money and makes one contemplate the future ratio of productivity to time. Will an American's leisure time eventually surpass that of his or her work? Will it owe a debt to affiliate marketing?
1 http://users.ipfw.edu/ruflethe/american.html
2 Juliet Schor doesn't seem to agree with the time equals money principle. She states, “The decline in Americans' leisure time is in sharp contrast to the potential provided by the growth of productivity. Productivity measures the goods and services that result from each hour worked.  When productivity rises, a worker can either produce the current output in less time, or remain at work the same number of hours and produce more. Every time productivity increases, we are presented with the possibility of either more free time or more money. That's the productivity dividend.”
3 The idea of more leisure time via passive income is an attractive one. Ryan McMaken, though not referring to passive income in particular says that, “...in future, it's not too difficult to imagine a time when leisure hours might actually outnumber work hours. It's not unreasonable to think that productivity could rise to a level where we might enjoy a 3.5 day work week.”

Marci Crane is a copywriter for Main10 in Orem, Utah. For more information in regards to affiliate marketing management services, please feel free to contact a Main10 representative.