When & When NOT to Quit Your Job…
March 26th, 2008 by 
Amit
I recently had a friend and a student go full time in affiliate marketing.
Good stuff, huh?
Well, not quite, my friend is making ZERO income as an affiliate and the student only has one small profitable campaign (he quit a strong 6 figure job).
I talk a lot about taking a leap of faith, and having the entrepreneurial spirit. But there’s a fine line between entrepreneurial spirit and being foolhardy.
Quiting your job before you have a SOLID affiliate income (at least 2X your job income) is about the STUPIDEST thing you can do, especially if you’re doing PPC.
Now if my friend and my student had asked me BEFORE they had quit their job whether it was a good idea, I would have told them exactly what I thought.
The best thing about having a steady job while building a ppc affiliate business, is that you can cover your living expenses with your job income, and thus allowing you to reinvest all your affiliate profits into more ppc adspend.
If you quit your job too early you’re drastically going to slow the growth of your business, since you won’t be able reinvest your profits back in your business - you’ll be LIVING on them or at least TRYING TO.
I didn’t quit my job until :
- I had paid off ALL of my consumer debt
- I was making 3X my job income
Now some of you may think I was being TOO conservative, but you know what, my profits took a big hit soon after I handed in my resignation letter. Luckily I was in a strong financial position so I was able to recover.
Had I quit several months earlier I would put myself and my wife (she’s a student) at the brink of bankruptcy.
Another thing to keep in mind…
Just because you have a profitable campaign or have replaced your job income does not guarantee that your affiliate income will continue to grow.
If your business was anything like mine it’s likely you’ll have LOTs of ups and downs in the beginning until you learn how to deal with :
- Google SLAPS
- Market Changes
- Seasonal Changes
- Changes on the Merchant Side
There’s a difference between making a large affiliate income and making a large & consistent long term affiliate income.
When you understand THAT difference you’re ready to quit you job.
Posted in Super Affiliate Mindset | 
Thanks for the great post. I am currently at this crossroad with my career opportunities. Quit now or not to quit now…that seems to be the question. I’m trying to hold out as the guaranteed income is nice from my day job.
Hey buddy,
I think the other options is to take a 1-2 month period of “no pay” leave, or to say you need to go on a sabbatical.
-
See, i think it really boils down to whether you WANT to succeed…
Look at the wannabe actors and actresses waiting tables in Hollywood.
Heck, i’d flip burgers to cover rent and food while working towards my dream if i was starting out.
It all depends on how hard you want something, isn’t it?
I was listening to the seduction expert, Style, the other day and the advice he gave the wannabe pickup artists is:
“The difference between the professional and the amateur, is that the professional is willing to work through the pain…”
Anyway, if you’re not in this business to kick some ass….then what are you doing here?
This was a much-needed post. Too many people are taking a leap of faith equipped with a parachute filled with forks.
I would think a savings account worth 6-12 month salary would also be needed. And one year of health care preiums, life insurance preiums paid for as well. I wonder if Aflac insurance covers your salary if your a affiliate marketor, ummm. And I Plan to do all that and have my home paid for as well. I do not want any bills. That would be true freedom.
Hello,
My business partner still works full time even though we have been partnering on the internet for several years. Our income could allow him to quit his job but the guy loves to work, and his hours are very reasonable as he is a department manager.
He still talks about quitting his job but I don’t see it happening
He has yet to take that Leap Amit talks about… someday maybe but I donno…
Peter
I guess too I have a job where I can come and go as I please and I can do my affiliate and Internet work while at my current, full time job so it’s the best of both worlds. Some people don’t have that luxury and are tied down to their desks for 8-12 hours a day. I think if you have the freedom at a full time job, take advantage of it because you are getting the guaranteed income while still able to put in hours on your other projects. You can easily double your salary with this method if you play it smart and that’s a pretty good start if you are already in the 6 figure range. So, my words of wisdom are…take advantage of your current full time situation if it allows.
What a great post.
Several years ago I jumped too quickly out of my 9 to 5 and into my business full time. Made sense to me. I was making a lot of money in my business and had paid down almost all of my debt, but what got me is change in the industry that I was jumoing into.
It took me a few years to recover.
Many get really excited especially if they see success. Patience is the key.
Again, thansk for the post!
Greg
Hi
Great post. I always wondered what the criteria would be for quitting a full time job to focus purely on affiliate marketing.
I now know what to strive for and when to aim to achieve it.
Cheers
I don’t think you are too conservative at all. I wouldn’t suggest anyone quit until they have 0 debt, and 2 years living expenses in the bank.
I can testify that quitting the security of a job too early is indeed a mistake. The problem is that you put immense pressure upon yourself to succeed immediately with PPC affiliate marketing. The problem is that when I did this, I ended up procrastinating in order to avoid making mistakes (which are inevitable), and I made rash decisions, because I couldn’t afford to ‘lose’ the money. Taking the time by starting out small and working my way towards my goals is by far the better approach. That is what I am doing now, but I put myself through a lot of stress last year because things were not working out the way I had originally planned. My approach was not practical. So, my advise is to definitely not give up, but start small.
I come from a whole family of online marketers. Several of my siblings have quit their jobs and are doing just fine in lead gen, affiliate marketing and other online ventures.
They definitely took some time to make the leap. One brother was very successful with JP Morgan and chose to leave that job in favor of a stay at home job. He has had his ups and downs - but I think the ups are worth it. He is now well known in certain online arenas and loves what he does.
I hope to make the leap at some point - but I have a lot of fun being both an affiliate and an affiliate manager right now.
@ Andrew Wee’s comments: I agree 100%. There are “other options.”
@ Amit: I respect your view, but saying less than 2x’s your salary before making the leap is “STUPIDEST” is wrong.
There are so many success stories of wealthy entrepreneurs who started out with much less than you suggest. Billionaire Tom Monahan for example started a brick and mortar business with the equivalent of 1 month of salary! Yes, he had his struggles but he loved what he was doing and became a billionaire. The real issue is knowing yourself and what your personal risk tolerance is. There is no one size fits all answer to this question.
Sure, having ample reserves is ideal but not always a reality for everyone.
Believe it or not, some people are wired in a way that they can take that first success and run with it. Some thrive under those conditions, while others fall to pieces at the first sign or thought of financial struggle. One isn’t better than the other , but wired differently.
Again, I think Andrew Wee is right on this one.
This wouldn’t happen to be your friend over at superaffiliatelifestyle now would it?
He has seemed to drop off the face of the planet and you no longer talk about him.
Even if one can save 10 times their annual earnings, they can quit provided the money is properly invested and taxes are paid. Decent annual earnings 8-10% of the full amount should replace job income.. Anything from Online is bonus.
Jon- I was wondering that too…I’ve been assuming either he was out living the ’super affiliate lifestyle’ =) and had no time to blog, really just isn’t a blogger (which is no big deal, if nothing else, his testimony is inspiring), or something else happened. I hope everything is alright.
Every business has it’s ups and downs, maybe this one more than most, but like many others have said, perseverance and adaptation are fundamental keys to succeeding in anything. I personally, would rather die trying to achieve my financial freedom than to give up on it and settle for false security. And maybe jumping too soon is better than never jumping at all.
What’s the point of life if you let go of your dreams? or worse, never go after them? Yes, be smart about taking that leap, but as Fred said, each of us has to know our own risk tolerance. If you’ve jumped pre-maturely, then learn from it like Alex, and keep going.
Great post!
I’m at a rough point: I hurt my legs recently walking to work and slipping on ice! OWWWW!
Now I’m trying everything I can to make online marketing work for me.
I’m going to be off work for a while, so I’d looove for this to work for me. Maybe I wouldn’t have to return.
Maybe I’m being wishful, or unrealistic.
Any help would be hot….