6th September will always be an Important day for me, for it was six years ago today, 6th September 2001 that I handed my notice in at the last “proper” job I will ever have, and decided to concentrate on being a full-time affiliate.

Many part-time affiliates consider taking the plunge and going full-time but it can be very scary giving up the security of a pay-cheque to go it alone. So I thought I’d share my experiences of giving up the day job to help those currently considering it plan what could potentially be the best move they ever made. Plus I’d better write it all down while I still remember it – I am turning 30 in a few weeks, and I’ve heard the memory is the first to go…

To give you a bit of background to my circumstances in the early summer of 2001, I was working full-time as a Civil Servant, earning approx £14,000 p.a and had just got married, and bought our first house (For what was at the time a massive, and we thought over-priced, £55,000). Er Indoors was at University studying to be a teacher, so it’s fair to say money wasn’t plentiful, but we had all the bills covered and a little left over.

I had been running the affiliate business part-time for about a year now, and built it up to quite a nice level. I only had the one site at this time, and I had managed to slowly build it up by re-investing every penny I made for that year to a profit of around £500 per month. That might not sound too much, but when you’re only picking up £800 a month for working a 37 hour week, an extra £500 a month could come in very handy.

Now at this point, I had a dilemma that I would guess many part-time affiliates face: It is very tempting to spend that extra £500 a month, and continue to work the 9-5. It’s just like giving yourself a £6,000 p.a pay-rise! However, that was not an option for me, because I hated the day-job with a passion by now, and knew that I wanted to do Affiliate Marketing full-time.

So, the decision I made was to go part-time at the Day Job: I now worked only Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Fridays. That meant that I could continue to work the Affiliate business around the Day Job, but also concentrate 100% on my affiliate business on Mondays and Thursdays. This cost me £300 a month in “guaranteed” income from the Day Job, but I knew I could cover this from my £500 per month affiliate earnings, and if everything went tits-up, I could always go full-time again.

What actually happened though was the reason I was only part-time for 3 months before quitting altogether – As a result of being able to concentrate on my business full-time for just those two days, my earnings went from £500 a month to £1,500 a month, then £3,000 a month. Now I had a real decision to make – Are these earnings sustainable enough to leave the security of the Day Job?

The answer was a resounding YES! I was now pulling in a regular £3,000 a month – I only needed £800 to pay the bills, so allowing for tax,National Insurance etc, I would be comfortable with anything above £1,500 a month. At this point, I still hadn’t taken a penny out of the business for myself – Everything was geared towards getting out of the Day Job rat-race hell.

This meant that by the time I had handed my notice in, I had built up some decent cash reserves of around £10,000. So even if “this Internet thing” didn’t work out, I still had enough cash in the bank to last me comfortably for 6 months whilst I found another “proper” job.

After handing my notice in, I had the worst month ever at the Day Job – Every day I spent in there, I knew would be more productive spent working on MY business – effectively, it was costing me money to go to work. If they’d offered me the chance to buy my way out of working the notice period, i would have bitten their arm off. But this is the government we’re talking about, so “rules are rules” so, like a good boy, I didn’t throw a sickie and worked my notice, and worked hard as always.

Finally, I was free though, and the day I had been planning in my mind for the last 9 months had finally arrived as I pulled out of the car park, “Boss of Me” by They Might be Giants blaring from the stereo. By the time I actually left, it was Christmas, so I gave myself the full two weeks off, and decided to start my “new job” as MD of my own company in the New Year.

The first couple of days were pretty normal to be honest. I was just doing the usual stuff. It wasn’t until about mid-way through the second week that it really hit me – I didn’t have to go back to “proper” work, and I was now working full-time for ME. The impact that going full-time had was phenomenal too – I had no worries about covering my hoped-for £1,500 a month – I was clearing £8,000 a month profit by the end of my first year, and after 18 months of working full-time, I took on my first full-time member of staff (who I’m pleased to say is still with me today), and Er Indoors and I moved into our dream house.

Going full-time was the best thing I ever did – I was very lucky though with how things panned out. If you’re thinking about going full-time, there are a few things you should consider:

Do you want to leave your job? There was no question for me – I hated my job. But you may really enjoy your job. AM is pretty lonely, so you might miss the banter with your workmates. You may be better off going part-time at your Day Job if that’s possible.

Are your earnings sustained? If you give up the day job, the security of your monthly pay-packet is gone. You need to know that your earnings from Affiliate Marketing can support you, and your family. Even if Google decides it hates you.

Have 6 months “pay” in the bank – This will really help you sleep at night in the early days, and placate those who feel you’re being reckless. It’s there if you need it, and you can always spend it on a new car when you don’t need it any more!

Take care of the “boring” stuff – You should already be registered as Self Employed with the taxman if you’re doing AM (He’ll fine you if not!). Now you are your own boss, you are responsible for taking care of things like Tax, National Insurance, Pension, Healthcare. Get a good accountant (He’ll save you more than he costs) and ask who he recommends for your pension and healthcare requirements. If you don’t get it sorted when you first start out, odds are you won’t bother ’till it’s too late.

Ask your new boss for some time off – You’ve just broken the shackles of full-time employment. So why chain yourself to a new desk? Don’t be afraid to give yourself some time off – you might think that you can’t afford to, but you’ll work so much better if you do. The ideas I’ve had whilst out walking with my dogs in the middle of the afternoon have earned me a fortune!

Tell everyone that you still have a job – . Because AM is a business that you can work anywhere, anytime, people will take advantage, especially if you’re working from home. I still get friends and family “popping in for a chat” when I’m trying to work. Or you’ll get phone calls: “Can you pick the kids up….Can you come and have a look at my computer… So and So wants a hand with moving… Can you drop me to the airport?” Of course, one of the benefits of AM is that you can do these things without too much impact on your business, but some days it will be frustrating, when it seems no-one will leave you alone!

Don’t believe the Doom-Mongers – It’s unbelievable the number of people who tried to stop me leaving my day job. None of them believed I could make any money from the Internet, mainly because they didn’t understand it. And what people don’t understand, they mock. So I’ll reserve the final words of this article for my “superior” who said to me on my final day at the Day Job: “You’ll be back”… Erm, 6 years and counting – No I won’t!

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