Don’t Quit Your Day Job … Yet
Another thing I get asked all the time is why I haven't quit my regular job yet. The answer to that one is simple: I don't need to.
Sure, your logic might tell you that the reason you're doing all this is to get away from your day job. It might even be your number one immediate goal, but consider this:
- With a job, you have insurance. Insurance is a lot more expensive when you're self employed.
- Unless you are very disciplined, it's hard for most people to separate work and home when they're actually at home. Time restraints (doing business after work) push us to do more with less time.
- You'll have stable income. Affiliate marketing can take you to much higher places but don't be fooled into thinking it's steady income, especially when you're just getting started.
- It's more income. Sure, you might be able to make more with affiliate marketing in a day than you do all month at your day job, and perhaps at that point you're ready to quit, but until then -- more money helps cover those advertising expenses.
- Connections. It's difficult not to meet useful people at work and since my philosophy is that you should always keep your eyes open for what you can learn from anyone you meet, I think work is a great place to do this. Use your connections to your advantage.
- Benefits. You might laugh but it's always good to have a fall-back in case you completely fail at affiliate marketing. Not that you would, but...
- It gives you expertise that might help you at work. Who knows?
In the end, it's really up to you when you quit. In fact, "when to quit" is such an interesting question that I asked it a while back with What's Your Quit Number? If you noticed, my 'quit number' is high due to everything I've mentioned in this post. For me, the value of having a job is much higher than my monthly pay check. Another thing you probably noticed is that other peoples' quit numbers are low -- most near $5000/month. I don't blame them but for all you with such a low quit number, I urge you to consider the points made here.
If nothing else, the old adage holds up -- don't put all your eggs in one basket.
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March 23rd, 2008 at 2:26 am
You post is right on the mark. I did quit my day job after my bosses, who were married to each other, split and all h*ll broke loose making it impossible to do a good job.
I kinda stormed out one day and swore I would never work for anyone again and started my online business.
Well that was a dumb thing to do and if it wasn’t for the fact that my wife has a great job I would have been in deep trouble.
And then to make it worse I had a heart attack that stopped me in my tracks. If I had been working out side the home I would have been covered but as it turned out my wife had to save my butt again.
Keeping your day job is extremely important.
March 23rd, 2008 at 10:51 am
@James: Wow, that’s crazy. Great example. Are you ok now?
March 23rd, 2008 at 2:47 pm
wife for the saveeeeeeeeee
March 24th, 2008 at 4:42 am
- Insurance can be much more expensive but most budding affiliate marketers can get by on a higher deductible insurance plan. For example, my wife and I each have a $2,500 deductible before insurance starts paying in. Add in a maternity rider and our insurance is under $300 / month. If you have kids, you don’t want to go that route though. Our child is on a separate policy but those are still pretty cheap.
- When everyone sets their “quit number”, they should also add in a couple clauses.
1) they should make that money for a certain period of time
2) they can’t be running a bunch of seasonal offers (check google trends)
3) they should also have some bank set aside for enough months of mortgage/rent/bills to pay in case everything tanks and they need to go find a job. This number gets pretty high, so when many affiliates add this to the bankroll they need to keep affiliate offers running, it pushes back that quit date for some time.
- an alternative method is to go find a job in the Internet Marketing industry which will give you opportunities to use what you are learning directly. In a past job, I worked as a glorified copy boy which did teach me about patience and was very important in other areas in my life, but when I started doing client work in addition to my aff marketing, it gave me the opportunity to test things on other people’s dime
March 24th, 2008 at 8:15 am
@Matt: Great points, I’d have to agree.
March 25th, 2008 at 5:36 am
@Scott.
I am a whole lot better than I have bee and ready to hit the water for a bit of fly fishing this year. I am getting pretty eager as it’s been over 4 years now.
I love my day job now, blogging that is, it gives me all the time I need to get out and enjoy my hobbies.
March 25th, 2008 at 8:03 am
@James: That’s not the day job I’m talking about. Hah. But kudos to you, none the less.
April 5th, 2008 at 2:56 pm
It depends on your job I guess. If you hate it you are more likely to get out early. Many people still love their day jobs.
Another thing to consider is the social side of things. Web work from home can be pretty lonely. As mentioned already, the reality of no real deadlines or pressure can sometimes lead you to find it hard to motivate yourself to actually do anything.
My day job allows me to meet so many people and network with people which I then contact regarding my own projects. It has been immensely beneficial to still work.
April 8th, 2008 at 8:27 am
@Tom: Very true. I agree with you on both fronts: it depends on your job, absolutely. And working alone is .. lonely. That’s why one of my goals when I hit my monthly amount is to get an office and force some helpless drones to work for me.
May 2nd, 2008 at 5:52 am
I agree with the insurance part ..
Also day job is more like a relief from monotonous online job