Advice: Making the transition to full-time

AffApprentice

AffApprentice

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Nov 19, 2009
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Hi guys,

I've been doing AM for about 5 months part-time (I have a good full time job), and am getting to the point where I'm considering going full time as an AM - I'm consistently profitable, and of late have pushed past the $500 / day profit point with rapid growth (I think it's realistic to pass $1k / day soon).

For those of you who've made this plunge, can you share your thoughts / advice on what you thought about before going full time? E.g. how long should I wait to be sure that the profits I'm seeing are "real" and not likely to fade immediately (I stay away from rebills btw)? What are some of the costs I should think about (other than health insurance - I started another thread on that) before leaving a job with good benefits? What's it like working out of your home all day? :) Stuff like that...

Thoughts / advice are appreciated. I want to make sure I'm covering all my angles before I make this (very important) decision.
 


Even this noob could tell you to make sure to setup some sort of LLC or legal shelter

(more educated opinions about this below)
 
Think about health care coverage/costs. In fact, research it heavily before you make the plunge. Especially if you have a family with small children.

You didn't say how soon you plan on making the jump and how stable your day job is. If you lose it instead of quitting you'll have unemployment benefits to help out but look at how much you have saved and how long it could sustain you.

In short, need more info about your situation.
 
set up a s corp or llc for sure, have at least 6-9 months of savings build up ( 1 account for your reg normal expenses like house, car, utilities and 1 account for business expenses like insurance, ad costs, etc ), and get it to 1k a day for 2-3 months before quitting your day job at least.

I think its great working for myself, but just remember the highs in affiliate marketing are really high, and the lows are really low.
 
How much capital do you have as expressed in months of your expenses? Thats the only question i really care about. If everything you do in AM disappeared tomorrow, how long could you go?
 
How much savings do you have from AM, and how many profit streams do you have? Like conversion said, if AM ended tomorrow, how long could you go without a job? If you can't get through 2 months then I would seriously reconsider quitting.
 
So you guys are all going to laugh at what an overly cautious poon I am, but here goes...

I have nearly 2 years of income saved, and my affiliate income is *fairly* diversified, though not as much as I'd like. If I stopped earning today, I could get by for like 2 years, 3 if I gave up banana daiquiris... :)

That said, and keeping in mind I'm a cautious cat, I really don't want to have to test that case, so I won't leave my job until I'm 90% sure I can keep chuggin' along without losing money or breaking even.

What else should I be thinking about?
 
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hmm, take the plunge mate.. 2 years is way more then most people had here when starting out. I only had like 3-4 months saved up with I got laid off and took the plunge with 1k on a credit card and had less then 200 a day coming in from affiliate marketing on my own accounts.

The only concern I would have now is keeping the income stable, but sounds like your diversified out, now you just need to hit that 1k a day for 2-3 months and I'd say your golden.. could prob do it on your 500 a day
 
AffApprentice said:
So you guys are all going to laugh at what an overly cautious poon I am, but here goes...

I have nearly 2 years of income saved, and my affiliate income is *fairly* diversified, though not as much as I'd like. If I stopped earning today, I could get by for like 2 years, 3 if I gave up banana daiquiris... :)

That said, and keeping in mind I'm a cautious cat, I really don't want to have to test that case, so I won't leave my job until I'm 90% sure I can keep chuggin' along without losing money or breaking even.

What else should I be thinking about?
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Damn dude, that's some impressive commitment to saving and getting your house in order for making what could be one of the most important changes in your professional life. I don't have much advice to offer other than make sure you insurance is taken care of (maybe look at joining a small business association in your area that give group purchasing power for insurance), good luck whenever you decide to make the change.
 
2 years...I would definitely make the change depending on how stable your niches will be. Nothing is ever guaranteed but some are more stable then others. If you are at 500 a day from part time work, imagine what you could do with full time. I would set up an s-corp, think of things to do to get you out of the house at least once a day (working out, dining, networking, etc), work on diversifying your income, and never stop working once you get further then you thought you ever could...you can always go further.
 
Save up at least 8 months or so expenses to live on. Make sure your traffic sources and your money sources are diversified among at least 5 or more things. Watch for a couple months to see if it dies out. If all that is good you can probably make a go at it fairly safely.

Or just make the jump theres nothing more motivating that worrying about how you're going to pay your bills.
 
Great advice all around!

I'm interested in the S-Corp stuff, wondering if I should spin up another thread to address just that - or I can ask here...

I always thought I'd set up an LLC or something because I thought S-Corps are kind of complicated / expensive? I need to look into that too. If anyone has a good guide or something, please share.
 
Let's just hope "2 Years Worth of Income" isn't minimum wage McDonald's income :)

But if you could truly get by for 2 years without making a cent at AM or a job, then I'd say go for it. The extra time you spend on AM would easily transition into higher revenues.
 
It all really depends... In this business you can go from making $1k a day to nothing the next.

Are these niches stable?

Are you dependent on 1 traffic source?

Are you dependent on 1 advertiser?

Remember, competition is always just 1 click away...
 
I quit my full time programming job about 4 months ago and could not be happier. I had 8 more hours a day I could devote to my campaigns. I've been on 5(adtech will make it 6) trips since quitting, and I'm having the time of my life.

That said, I put in a decent amount more hours now, but the payoff and freedom is well worth it. You'll never get rich working a 9-5. I'll be paying more in taxes this year than last year's salary.

Go for it and never look back. Congrats on escaping the monotonous bullshit of a 9-5
 
chris, i dont think you should quit your day job yet. You've havent been making that amount of money for a long enough period. come talk to me on aim first.
 
defelice said:
chris, i dont think you should quit your day job yet. You've havent been making that amount of money for a long enough period. come talk to me on aim first.
Click to expand...



I was about to say that. $500/day is good but give it a while longer and make sure you can stabilize it as much as possible.
 
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