I am in the middle of a record breaking month for myself and the school. (I set the previous record in January) When all the doom and gloom hit the media, I hit the phones. Sure, I lost my KA gig thanks to the Lehman Brothers, but that was part time anyway. This month I've flown 80+ hours and done roughly 40hours of ground. I also took last weekend off. And had to take an FAA checkride on top of it.
I've been CFI'n for a year and a half and my experience thus far has been that theres up's and downs. There are CFI's at my school that whine about not being busy because of the economy. Sure if you want to sit on the couch and wait for someone to walk through the door, you are going to starve. But if you hit the streets hard and call all the old students that disappeared, get the email inquiry list from the office then you'll be fine.
I wear either a shirt or a hat with my schools name on it whenever I'm out and keep a pocket full of business cards. I have four full timers that I aquired just by walking through Wal-Mart, Home Depot and the Sportsmans Warehouse. They stopped me and asked about flying. Get an intro right then and there. It might take an hour or more of your time but it beats the hell out of top ramen.
I live in a town with 30,000 people and we are a contract flight school for the University. If you work hard enough you'll find students.
I don't know anybody on this board and I am in no position to judge. I Just thought I'd tell you guys my experience since you asked. CFI'n is dues paying. I decided the best way for me to pay them was to go full steam ahead, no excusses. My goal is/was a single and multi ATP, AGI, Gold Seal, Chief Flight Instructor and to be the most profitable CFI in the companys history. So far I'm on track. That way, at an interview, I can say that I did everything I could possibly do in the world of flight instructing. The days of 250 and a right seat are gone. The faster we get on board with that thinking the faster we will have a better job. In the mean time, build your knowledge, read the AIM, rub some elbows and hope for the best.