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.
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.
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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.