In a December 3rd press release, Comscore resported that Cyber Monday saw $846 million in online spending. Although spending over the holiday season to date ($12.03 billion) is down by 2% from last year, Cyber Monday’s online sales were up by a whopping 15% over 2007 sales. Take a look at the following screenshot where you’ll note that the preceding weekend also saw a jump in online sales by 19% over last year.

With online sales up marginally on Black Friday and significantly on Cyber Monday, analysts are still predicting a decline in the months to come. Considering that the job loss stats out today report 533,000 more jobs in the U.S. were lost in November – the biggest decline since 1974 – the outlook could look pretty grim.

HOWEVER, that depends entirely on what you are selling. For example, this is probably not the best time to start a new jewelry site. Want to know what you should sell? Read 8 Recession-Proof Product & Service Ideas for Affiliates… and stay tuned for more great recession-proof niches and product ideas. Let’s prove the analysts wrong!

If you’re concerned about how the economic crisis might affect your affiliate business prospects in 2009, you’ll want to watch this video. In it I discuss a primary indicator that bodes well for the industry, and on the downside, which affiliates will have to scale up or expand their marketing efforts.

I also give clues that point to some potentially lucrative markets.

Have a point to contribute or a question to ask? Please share your comments below… just no comments about my bad hair day, please. It was the lighting, I swear!

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