You may not agree with Charles Darwin's view of evolution being the basis of life, but there is a definite truth to adaptation being the rule for success and survival in many environments.

A comment on my article yesterday got me thinking about how artificial intelligence, or AI, has been a gamechanger for so many, and it's not just in the writing business. AI has become a massive disrupter in a number of industries that are chockful of independents, freelancers, creators and similar. Everything from acting to coding to artwork has been negatively impacted as well now, literally in the short span of a year since AI engines hit the mainstream in terms of availability. The fact that AI is even creeping into the script video world literally threatens to make video streaming another victim as well, or so it seems.

All of the above, however, reinforces what I've known since the mid-2000s when I first began freelancing writing - you have to change when things change. Adaptation is essential for survival, whether out in the boonies or economically. For example, just in writing, I've been through at least 5 different platforms and waves of demand, and it continues to change. Among those platforms in my graveyard for writing years' past, E-lance, Demand Media, Textbroker and more are included. They all paid nicely at a time, and they faded. Had I stayed with only one of them, I would be scrapping for pennies now. I didn't I always keep hunting for new platforms on which to make new income channels and streams.

In classic business classes the phrase, "Don't put all your eggs in one basket," says essentially the same thing. As a business, you want your revenue streams to be diverse. That way, when one market goes cold, you have a safety net to fall back on with another, unrelated market. It's essential as a writer and freelancer, because the writing business is notorious for feast and famine, almost by the month and week. 

There are also going to be external drivers you have no control of. During COVID, for example, everything went online. Demand for digital work skyrocketed; it was one of my best years earning personally. Now, the last of that impact has faded, and the return to the office has shifted a lot of work to keeping people busy in cubicles, along with the impact of AI above.

So, it's been essential to adapt. While working on a plastic surgery page content job, I came across discussion on the actor's strike by the Screen Actor's Guild. While many A-listers are using the down time for nose jobs, skin renovating and similar (ergo the cosmetic surgery angle), many of the B-listers and lower are actively engaged with social platforms to generate new income channels due to lost acting time. That includes developing and monetizing their fan clubs via Instagram, OnlyFans and more. No, they're not going to porn. They are using their image and demand for it to create direct, digital products their fans want and will pay for. It's the same thing actors do with anime/comicbook conventions, for example. In short, the creativity is pure genius. And it's a lesson everyone else should take; use the tools at hand to adapt and move on.