The US economy is (A) in a recession or (B) near a recession. Either way, things aren’t so great. Yet Nine Lives Media Inc.’s first-quarter budget included two major Web site launches: The VAR Guy and MSPmentor.

We’re not stopping there. Despite the economic storm clouds, our second quarter budget includes a third site launch and new investments in multimedia. And we continue to attend targeted events that will propel our business forward. Here’s a bit more about the strategy.

This weekend, I’m in Dallas at a conference called WordCamp. It’s for Web 2.0 developers, programmers and media experts focused on WordPress.

Based on everything I’ve heard here, I think we have a solid business strategy as we prepare to launch our third media site.

We didn’t take venture money when we launched Nine Lives Media Inc. And we didn’t call Angel investors. At this point in our company’s life, we want 100 percent creative freedom and business control.

We find creative ways to save money with our business. For instance, we leverage open source whenever possible to accelerate our development efforts within our budgets.

And there’s another key consideration here. Nine Lives Media Inc.’s founders don’t live large. We live within our means, and invest in something we truly believe in: Our business.

We think that strategy will serve us well — regardless of the economy around us.