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In the last few weeks my mainstream business has been doing more and more work for just one company here in town. They have a number of products that they sell and there's enough degree of separation between the products for each to have its own website.

So we've been busy building sites for these products and building out a main website for the company as well. Along the way we've picked up some extra work from that business for search engine optimisation, some brochure design, other marketing work and even some consulting on the best way to set out their IT networking.

None of those things are beyond the expertise of the people who work for me so the client is getting exactly what they want. We're getting something that any small business wants too ... a steady income stream that has the potential to continue well into the foreseeable future.

And that's great because, when something like that is happening, there are things I don't have to worry about. Chasing work, keeping good staff employed and ensuring that the bills are getting paid on time is a real drag for any small business owner. It's even a drag for affiliate marketers in the adult industry ... people just like you.

Sure, you may not have to worry about paying other staff but you do have to worry about paying yourself, paying your bills and keeping the cash rolling in for as long as you want to eat and enjoy life. So, like me, you're going to be looking for a source of income that just keeps on happening.

While I may be looking for those jobs that will keep on producing income you're going to be looking for a sponsor who will go on sending you nice fat commission checks for the memberships you sell so we're basically on the same page here.

We're also basically facing the same threat to our future.

While both you and I like to think that we're in control of our future it's so easy to fall into the trap of letting others control our income. Many many years ago when television first arrived in Australia ... when I was just a little girl ... there was a well-known ad that always incorporated a simple message that I still remember to this day. "When you're on a good thing - stick to it" ... and that's what we all tend to do.

When we find someone or something that can really generate some great income levels for us we tend to focus on that one source. We don't look beyond the next check ... the next bank wire ... the next ePassporte payment. As long as whichever of those that you get is big and fat you don't look too far into the future.

Why bother? That income is wonderful ... it's doing those all those things that you want it to. It's paying the bills ... it's putting food on your table ... and it's keeping you in a comfortable lifestyle. But it's also got you by the gonads.

You're focused on that one business ... that one sponsor ... that one source of income and you become controlled by it. If it squeezes then you feel the pain.

You may think that you're in control of your future but while your business is relying on just one client or sponsor for the majority of its income the person or entity that controls your future is that one client or sponsor.

Decisions that they make ... decisions that you have no control over ... can have an enormous impact on your business. Sometimes you can be as little as a heartbeat away from seeing your business crumble around you.

If you're small business is doing the majority of its work for a sponsor or business that has just one person in control of everything then what happens if that person dies? Their business stops and so does yours.

In a single heartbeat you go from having a steady reliable income stream to having nothing. Suddenly you go from cruising right back to hustling to find more work from businesses that you might have turned away in the past or sales from sponsors you've never used before.

In a heartbeat you've gone from a comfortable lifestyle to looking ruin in the face because you've fallen into the trap of putting the future of your small business in the hands of someone else. You've made the mistake of letting someone else control your income.

So don't fall into the trap of focusing on just one sponsor ... don't fall into the trap of doing business for just one customer. Diversify your portfolio of sponsors ... make sure your pulling in work from a wide cross-section of other businesses in other industries.

Keep control of your income by never letting yourself become totally ... or almost totally ... reliant on just one source. You never know what's going to happen to that income source in the next five minutes ... the next five days ... or the next five months.