How long before you quit your job?

53 replies
I always see people online say they want to quit their jobs and work online full-time once they start making enough money. Can those who have done this tell us how long it took them?
#job #long #quit
  • Profile picture of the author nicholasb
    I was lucky I didn't have a job when I fist discovered affiliate marketing. I made close to $300 my first week and close to $3,000 my first month.

    That was almost 5 years ago and I haven't had a job since. it really depends on you and your situation and how long it takes you to start making a consistent and reliable income.
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    • Profile picture of the author Alexa Smith
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      Originally Posted by nicholasb View Post

      I was lucky I didn't have a job when I fist discovered affiliate marketing. I made close to $300 my first week and close to $3,000 my first month.

      That was almost 5 years ago and I haven't had a job since.
      Wow, this was a good, fast start.

      Similar but slower, here: I also didn't have a job (have never had one, really), but it took me 4 (maybe even 5) months to get to a $3,000 month. But still a very good living, 3 years later.
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  • Profile picture of the author Guru_Marketing
    I had to move back to my parents house so that I can focus on my online business. I quit my job, I left the country and focused on my online business entirely while I was living with my parents.

    I am lucky to have understandable and supportive parents. But if you have a job, it is going to DISTRACT you from your online business ventures, because it requires completely different mindset to start a business online.

    It's no longer about you getting paid whether you produce certain results or not. You may put a lot of effort and get no results. Get ready for that and work smart, not hard.

    Education is key.
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    • Profile picture of the author kingleo101
      True,i think a job will just distract you from committing 100% to making a consistent income online that will cover all your monthly needs.
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  • Profile picture of the author danr62
    Personally, I won't quit my job until I have paid my debts off using IM and earned more money per month than my job brings me. This income will need to be consistent over a period of several months so that I can know it is sustainable.
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  • Profile picture of the author Noner
    I don't know. I'd like to focus on my websites full-time but I'm currently making so little money that I'd starve. I hope one day to manage a successful online business. I work currently very hard but I can't seem to generate any kind of traffic even though that I create quality websites.
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    • Profile picture of the author Guru_Marketing
      Originally Posted by Noner View Post

      I don't know. I'd like to focus on my websites full-time but I'm currently making so little money that I'd starve. I hope one day to manage a successful online business. I work currently very hard but I can't seem to generate any kind of traffic even though that I create quality websites.
      Focus in finding JV Partners who can send you the traffic you need.
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  • Profile picture of the author SamirRastogi
    I quit 3 months after I began to earn consistently more than what I was earning from my day job.
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    • Profile picture of the author keyon
      Originally Posted by SamirRastogi View Post

      I quit 3 months after I began to earn consistently more than what I was earning from my day job.
      The important phrase here is "more than I was earning" --
      Sometimes people forget about having to pay social security taxes on self-employed income. When I worked out the numbers for my particular situation, I decided that my net IM revenue (after expenses) would need to be almost double what I bring home from my day job -- that is, to maintain my current standard of living.
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  • Profile picture of the author kingleo101
    SamirRostogi, well done for quitting in just 3 months
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    • Profile picture of the author Fraser SellHealth
      i would suggest not to quite your day job unless you have serious momentum and at least enough money coming in to cover your essential bills ,
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      • Profile picture of the author blitz20
        Originally Posted by Fraser SellHealth View Post

        i would suggest not to quite your day job unless you have serious momentum and at least enough money coming in to cover your essential bills ,
        I agree fully
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        • Profile picture of the author webmazter
          Hi kingleo101,

          I would say Until you replace your monthly income twice would be a nice indicator.

          I was a truck driver for many years driving the big rigs all over the country made roughly around $4000-$5,000 a week with my own truck after all the maintenance and insurance not to mentioned fuel i racked up a measly $1,500 a week after everything!

          Since I started with eBay and affiliate marketing about 5 years ago I have never looked back!
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  • Profile picture of the author thekaver
    everyone is different!

    i did it along side my full time job!

    I also still own a couple of businesses in the uk which i still run along my IM business. I could if i wish choose to do IM only as it bring me even money in but i choose to keep my other businesses going as it employes family!

    thanks
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  • Profile picture of the author Ziki De Naim
    Started in 07, I made about $400 in my first month selling ads on a new forex site -newbie luck . I would say it also depends on your way of living, 5k or 15k per month It really took me more then 20 months to quite my job and to be able to make a decent living (i spend a lot).


    Focus is KEY. I would suggest you'd better focus on your education first and there's a lot to learn, but as previous warriors posted -Midset -think to work smart and only target one or two short terms targets a time, if it works for you, stick to it, don't distract, improve, implement and only then try to see the wider image.


    Best
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    • Profile picture of the author kingleo101
      Originally Posted by Ziki De Naim View Post

      Started in 07, I made about $400 in my first month selling ads on a new forex site -newbie luck . I would say it also depends on your way of living, 5k or 15k per month It really took me more then 20 months to quite my job and to be able to make a decent living (i spend a lot).


      Focus is KEY. I would suggest you'd better focus on your education first and there's a lot to learn, but as previous warriors posted -Midset -think to work smart and only target one or two short terms targets a time, if it works for you, stick to it, don't distract, improve, implement and only then try to see the wider image.


      Best
      What matters is that you finally did it
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  • Profile picture of the author ImDanHoward
    Originally Posted by kingleo101 View Post

    I always see people online say they want to quit their jobs and work online full-time once they start making enough money. Can those who have done this tell us how long it took them?

    I wouldn't leave your job unless you have your monthly budget covered coming in and have at least 6 months saved up. That was always the rule of thumb I heard, but I didn't listen to it.

    Things could have been a little easier if I did follow that rule of thumb, but I'm glad I did it! Stick to your guns and keep on on keepin' on...it took me several years to take the leap because I was always in the learning mode and not the action mode.

    Take one proven concept put it into action and start making a profit before you try to move forward because most likely you will just continue spinning your wheels and not getting traction. That was my case anyhow...To Your Success!
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  • Profile picture of the author TopKat22
    I haven't had a job outside of running my own companies for years however, when I was younger and did indeed decide to quit my job to create my first offline business, it took me about that long---long enough to decide.

    Since that time, in offline businesses and now online, I've personally not known anyone who has made a living while keeping their job.

    Maybe it is the necessity of "crap, now I have to make it" that drives people without a job more, I don't know.

    The successful (and their have been few) MLM'ers, Network Marketers, owners of offline businesses and now online that I've known, put everything in making their businesses a success.
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  • Profile picture of the author ryanmilligan
    Banned
    First and only job
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  • Profile picture of the author Jonathan Price
    4 days. I'm not joking.

    I was working on a Clickbank eBook just before I started my job. Then sales started flying in and I didn't need my job anymore. Haven't looked back
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  • Profile picture of the author Jealee
    I think that IM is the best job. I'm going to quit my 9-5 job soon =)
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  • Profile picture of the author lisakynan
    I am hoping by the time my baby is 5 ( he is almost 3) I can quit work ( I work 2.30pm - 10.30pm 5 nights) I HATE going to work but got to do it for now ( I like to live in a nice house ) By the time he is 5 then I could work on my online business between 9am-3pm and have heaps of time to spend with my lil man. I think you have to make sure you have spread your online business, not have all your eggs in 1 basket and have sustained a steady income for say 6 months? I can't wait!
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  • Profile picture of the author Alohatom
    I agree with Dan here in this thread...you need to have your monthly expenses covered PLUS at least six months stashed away...Best would be some sort of compromise, like going down to part time if your employer will allow it. Not that you are, but I needed to reign in my excitement at making my first decent IM paychecks...You need to make sure you can do this on your own and keep the home fires burning, and not your bridges. It woukd suck to find yourself jobless six months down the road and have your IM income dry up due to Google--that's why I am so happy I found some awesome offline CPA guerilla tactics...75% of how I make my money comes from so-called offline CPA these days...Best of luck to you...
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  • Profile picture of the author mado
    I Make $5000/month online but I will never quit my job... Why don't you become successful online and offline?
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  • Profile picture of the author mishra1
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    • Profile picture of the author kuzmo1
      Almost ready to quit mine. Have reduced my hours at work and in a few months - FREEDOM!
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  • Profile picture of the author fxstay
    all people here said they earn from affiliate but with wiche sites you work ? amazon, CB or others ?
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    • Profile picture of the author webmazter
      Originally Posted by fxstay View Post

      all people here said they earn from affiliate but with wiche sites you work ? amazon, CB or others ?
      Hi fxstay good question and here is the answer simply and clean, its called "affiliate marketing" there is no one source but many different money streams all bunched into one bundle here is an example:


      I have roughly about 450 plus adding more weekly most of them are in rap bank & click bank, some in amazon and in other sites, you have to put yourself out there!

      lets say 10 of my click bank sites made sales of a $100 today
      and 5 of my rap bank made $300 an amazon made even a measly $50 do you see where all this ties into.......it calculates a daily income stream all combined with all kinds of affiliate marketing.

      I normally have 30 websites making me money daily out of 450 plus sites sounds like a looser don't it, Nope!

      these 30 or so sites bring me in roughly $500-$600 a day that's around $182,000 or more for the year!

      I was making $6000-$10,000 a month now its almost twice that since adding more sites and blogs to new top niches


      bottom line is put your self out there test,test,test eventually you will find the right formula that works for you.......trial and error make's you a Certified Professional
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  • Profile picture of the author TolyZ
    When my IM income will double what I make at my current ... then I'll think about it ... but just THINK about it ...
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  • Profile picture of the author Dan Bainbridge
    It took me 9 months to quit my job. I was earning money, but only small amounts, and jsut saving it in-case we needed to invest...

    Finally 9 months later I quit, paid myself just £500 that first month, and doubled up every month there after for the next couple of years - quitting was the best thing I ever did... It got to the point where I was costing myself money money by going to "work" ... where I could be at home working, building income streams that would grow and be worth much more than what I was getting paid for...

    My advice would be to anyone who is consistently earning a few $100 in their spare time would be to leave work Scale up, now that you know what you're doing it is just a numbers / time game and you definitely can earn a lot more than any regular job doing IM full time.
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    • Profile picture of the author winstar
      I want to do exactly the same. Earning only small numbers now, but it is the beginning of something bigger. My goal is to be free from job in 2012:-)
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  • Profile picture of the author RobHiness
    I was lucky, actually very lucky. I made between $700 - $800 overnight! But success was basically handed to me considering the fact that some of my close friends are big time affiliate marketers.

    So depending on your situation.

    But I was able to quit my day job, the day after. Because I knew I had to much dedication to let my success go down the drain.

    Never looked back!
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  • I am just getting there. In a couple of months I think I will be a very happy man. Started IM in May this year (2011).
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  • Profile picture of the author Marhelper
    I'm one of the few that does not want to quit his or her job. I like being a nurse and doing IM ... best of both worlds.
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  • Profile picture of the author Daret
    I loved doing IM and quit my job 6 months ago to be a full time IMer

    I now have a few employees in my company and have 77,000 + fans of my company's facebook fanpage!

    I am loving the IM world completely !!
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  • Profile picture of the author Josh Fulfer
    It took me about a year after I started online to be able to quit my job. That was 3.5 years ago and I don't miss it for a second.

    I used to work nights and have to drive 30 miles each way. (expensive)

    Now I live by the beach, work from my laptop, set my own schedule and get to work on things that I'm actually interested in and passionate about.

    I <3 the internet so much. None of this would of been possible without it.
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    • Profile picture of the author James Clark
      Well that depends upon what kind of job you had in the first place. Also, keep in mind how much money you need to cover your nut. If you have a wife, family becomes a difficult choice to make.

      Personally, based on my experience that's what most of the people on the warrior forum are trying to accomplish. What I was doing on my regular job was spending too much time working on my Internet Business.

      So it wasn't long before we begin to have problems with each other and mostly it was my fault, no doubt. When you are working you spend more money. Here in New York it's not uncommon for people going into Manhattan earning $8000 a month.

      But if your wife is working and you want to start a business you could get by with $3000 a month. With a chance to increase that substantially. When I was working it cost me $250 bucks a month just to ride the train into New York City.

      After doing that for 10 years plus it wasn't a hard decision!
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  • Profile picture of the author Justin Lavoie
    In my case quiting my job is unfortunatly NOT an option. At least not for the next 5 years because primo: I am my own boss and must confess, best employee. Secondo: I have an average of 30 people working for me all year long (home builder for inssurance companies) and that would not be fair at all lol... I also already make a nice salary that will probably take some time to reach with online marketing lol (I will get there, dont get me wrong)...

    Problem is, I'm alot more thrilled getting 50$ from amazon then writing my own paycheck at the end of the week... go figure! . I should have started this online business from day one. I would be selling webinars left and right, sending milions of emails talking about my life and another great product I can't live without and that you MUST get because it's only for sale at this great price TODAY (and probably extended tomorrow because to many people will ask for it and then another crazy extension of death 2 days later because I think you deserve it for some reason!)

    ahh well.
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  • Profile picture of the author Osman_M
    I am still working my job and its been about a good year into IM. I have learned balance things out and work efficiently at both so I have had any problems. Mind you I actually enjoy my job so its not so bad.
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  • Profile picture of the author Rod Cortez
    Originally Posted by kingleo101 View Post

    I always see people online say they want to quit their jobs and work online full-time once they start making enough money. Can those who have done this tell us how long it took them?
    It took me 18 months. Mostly because I started off with no focus and jumped from one thing to another. Secondly, because I did not want to leave my practice until I had at least a year's worth of expenses saved up.

    Looking back at it now, I should have been able to do all this in under a year. But I was easily distracted when I first got started.

    RoD
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  • Profile picture of the author sbucciarel
    Banned
    Was laid off 12 years ago and went to Elance full time freelancing graphic design services. Made a full time living ever since. I don't freelance on Elance anymore, but still make a full time living selling my own products.
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  • Profile picture of the author kjmeylan
    Already did...
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  • Profile picture of the author NinjaEntrepeneur
    it took me over 2 years but i did it
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  • Profile picture of the author bhola badshah
    it's very hard to quit the jobwhile trying luck on Internet income, All you need is to focus on one side put massive efforts and see the results. if you are successful in making money than go for it. say bye bye to your job else you ll be stuck with very slow progress but still it will be safe and less risky )
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    • Profile picture of the author FromBrokeToRich
      I started out with affiliate marketing, then went to build an MLM, then found out about high ticket direct sales. It took me a total of 14 months putting in 4 - 6 hours a day after working 8 hours a day at my construction job to begin earning over $4,000 a month consistently.

      DO NOT quit your job to become an online marketer.

      MOST people who quit their jobs prematurely in hopes of making it big online end up back at their jobs... You have to be real with yourself.

      Use the extra money you make at work to fund your education in this industry. This industry requires 100% determination.

      If you treat it like a hobby, you get "hobby" results.

      You must take yourself and your goals extremely seriously to get through the many learning curves and ongoing challenges.
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      • Profile picture of the author marchenzo
        @nicholasb

        Hi Nick,

        I sent you a pm there on a wso of yours I purchased. Can you give me a shout back.

        Cheers
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  • Profile picture of the author wrayor
    Sometimes you are forced to quit your job. I quit my job a few years ago not because i was making a lot of money online but we had to move to get medical services for one of our children. As i was having trouble finding a job that would work around a very strange schedule , i made the choice to make my income by various online ventures.
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  • Profile picture of the author golf69
    Took me 3 years to quit my job...
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  • Profile picture of the author Nexstair
    Do some research and set a Target and you would be successful.
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  • Profile picture of the author lovefadge
    3 years, kept f*cking around not staying focused, jumping from product to product....
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  • Profile picture of the author John Romaine
    4 years ago.

    By the way, I think there's quite a few fibbers here.
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  • Profile picture of the author nicheblogger75
    Originally Posted by kingleo101 View Post

    I always see people online say they want to quit their jobs and work online full-time once they start making enough money. Can those who have done this tell us how long it took them?
    Well, I started my online business is May of 2008 and quit my 9-5 in July of this year. So, it took me 3 years and 2 months. I think you'll find that 1-3 years is the average.
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  • Profile picture of the author KGee
    I know the OP asked for people who have been successful enough to do this. Sorry, that is not me. Not yet anyway.

    But, for me to do this I would at least have to make 150% more, a month, than what I make in my current 9 to 5 before I quit.

    Now, having said that, I want to leave that place so bad already I may not stick to my own rule. I will try to though.

    So how ever long it would take to do that for at least 3 months in a row showing an upward trend. Because, you don't want to have one awesome month and then a lower than expected one the next month and think you need to start looking for another 9 to 5. You should probably have a nice savings set aside before you say goodbye to a 9 to 5 in today's market as well.

    Thanks,
    Gerald
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  • Profile picture of the author MMWoodward
    I started off doing IM work alongside of a full-time job. However, due to a move, I actually ended up focusing entirely on my IM for months without having a traditional job, and made more per month than what I had been making when I was traditionally employed.

    As of right now, I am living off my IM work and savings. My main goal is to continue doing as such, which I am actively working on. However, if I need a little more money, then I will consider a part-time job for a little while.

    Whether you quit your job is completely up to you based on your individual situation. Not everyone can afford to quit, but that doesn't mean that it has to stop you from generating additional income through IM. It will just require more time management.
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