Not so long ago I kept asking myself the exact same question…
“You want to quit your job… BUT, you need the money… What do you do?”
Status quo states:
- Update your resume
- Look for another job
- Go to job interviews
- Give your 2 weeks notice
- Think positively
- etc
But what if I don’t want to find another job?
What other options do I have?
Well, in this article, I am about to challenge the status quo and let you know about a completely different, less traveled path…
…the path of creating an online business as a side hustle which could eventually completely substitute your current income. And when that happens… Poof! You quit your job and still have a steady income 😉
This is what I am currently doing and I am going to show you exactly how to do it yourself as well.
First of all, let me explain what I mean by “online business”.
What is an Online Business?
When talking about an online business we are basically talking about a website which in some way is bringing in revenue for its owner.
So, “creating an online business” means creating a website.
Some common monetization options are
- Drop shipping
- Selling Services
- Advertising
- Affiliate marketing
- Selling digital products such as courses, e-books, how-to guides
- etc
The kind of online business that I am talking about creating, and that I have created myself, is an affiliate marketing business.
What is an Online Affiliate Marketing Business?
In a nutshell, affiliate marketing means being paid in commission for sending customers to a business.
Regular affiliate marketing goes something like that:
You approach a restaurant owner telling them that you can bring a lot of customers to his restaurant. In exchange, for every customer you bring, you earn five bucks. If the restaurant owner agrees, you are his affiliate marketer.
The only difference between regular affiliate marketing and online affiliate marketing is that the whole process takes place online through websites.
For example:
- You have a website in place
- The restaurant has an online affiliate program available
- You sign up for their online affiliate program
- The restaurant provides you with unique affiliate links
- You include those links throughout your website
- When one of your readers clicks an affiliate link, he will be redirected to the restaurant’s website
- If the reader makes a reservation to eat at the restaurant, you earn a commission
- The commission will usually be a percentage of the total amount paid by your reader to the restaurant
Every large corporation in the world has an affiliate program available.
Amazon, Apple, Microsoft, Samsung, Etsy, Wallmart, etc, they all have affiliate programs.
Your role as an affiliate marketer is to keep producing articles which provide help and value to those who are going to read them.
Within those articles, you get to make product recommendations.
For instance, what you are reading right now is an article on my blog.
In this article, I am giving you free valuable information on how to quit your job if you need the money. Later on, I am going to
- Give you some useful tips
- Let you know how I am developing my online business on the side of my day job
- Recommend an affiliate marketing training platform to get you started
What you’ll be talking about on your blog is your call… You could write articles packed with information on beard trimming and within those articles recommend beard trimmers. You could talk about practicing Yoga and recommend yoga mats, music, incense, training programs, etc.
Why Affiliate Marketing?
- The concept is simple as hell
- You can get started right away
- You don’t need to have any previous experience (most successful affiliate marketers started clueless just like you and me)
- Building a website is easier than ever before (you can actually have your own website up and running in less than 5 minutes even if you have no clue how to do that now)
- No need to invest any money… You can start everything for free
- There is no need to create a product of your own, you just recommend other people’s products
- No storage, no shipping costs, no payment processing, no customer service… Everything is handled by the owner of the products
- Unlimited earning potential
- Develop your online business on the side of your day job
- As long as you have an internet connection you can work from anywhere in the world
- Passive income potential
- Create your business around any subject that you like
- There are tons of free training and other free resources all over the place
There, in less than 30 seconds I debunked most excuses that would hold you back from getting started.
Get Started With Affiliate Marketing Right Here for Free
Tips + What I Did
Don’t Quit Your Job
At least not right away.
Quitting your job without having another source of income lined up could increase your stress and worry levels, and turn you impatient.
Stress, worry, and impatience are some of the deadliest enemies of success in business.
As per Ryan Stewart, if leave yourself without an income, you might end up making decisions out of necessity. And those decisions will tend to be rushed, bad, and counterproductive.
It takes time and effort for new businesses to start bearing fruit… Online businesses are no different.
Getting your affiliate marketing business up and running today, doesn’t mean that it is going to start bringing in revenue by tomorrow.
It might take months or even a couple of years to reach the point where you are making enough to go by without a day job.
But it’s totally worth the trouble.
Why?
Because you get to be your own boss… Priceless!
So, be patient, keep your normal job and devote as much of your spare time as possible on building and developing your online business.
Eventually, you’ll get to the point where your day job is just an unnecessary burden you and you have no choice but to quit it.
Start Saving Up Money
The moment I knew I wanted to leave my job, I started setting money aside. I didn’t really have a plan but at that time it just seemed the right thing to do.
A year later, I was so grateful I did that…
I reached a point where I really couldn’t stand working my job anymore and I was on the verge of quitting.
No, I didn’t really quit because I needed the money for rent, bills, and food and the money I had saved wasn’t enough.
However, I did something else…
I asked my manager to demote me to a part-time worker, which happened a few months later.
If I hadn’t been saving for more than a year, I would absolutely not be able to do that.
A part-time wage along with my savings is enough for me to live normally, without having any other source of income, for about 1,5 years, before I should start getting worried that money is running out.
That’s a pretty good deal right?
Now, I am working at my normal job 4 hours a day. Most of the rest of my waking hours are devoted directly or indirectly on stuff related to the development of my online business.
Having some money on the side is always a good idea, especially if you have decided that your job does not suit you and that sooner or later you’ll want to quit it.
To be able to save money faster, cut back the expenses as much as you can…
- Stop buying stuff that you don’t need
- Downgrade your TV package, or ditch it altogether
- Instead of using your car for short distances, go by foot or bicycle
- Stop going out every single Friday and Saturday night spending half of your salary on drinks and food
- etc
Pick a Topic That Interests You
As said earlier, you can build your business around any topic you want.
Since this is the case, make sure that you pick a topic which interests you. Optimally, you should pick a topic which you are passionate about.
This way,
- The chances of losing interest in your business decrease dramatically
- You’ll keep yourself motivated and less likely to quit
- You’ll not view your online business as work but as having fun which will make things even easier for you
- You won’t run out of things to write about
You can pick any topic you want… Cars? Babies? Yoga? Meditation? Gardening? Cooking? Web design? Cleaning? Technology? Anything!
For example, when I was about to create my second online business, this website, my main concern, and interest was to quit my job which I hated to the very depths of my soul. So, I decided to create my business around this subject.
Invest on Your Training
The internet is full of free training on building and developing an online affiliate marketing business. All you have to do is go on Google or Youtube and type in “How to become an affiliate marketer” and you’ll come across a bazillion videos and articles on the subject.
The problem is that the internet is so overly saturated with information that you can’t know if something is accurate and useful or not. This means that you might end up implementing tips and practices which in the best case scenario bring no results at all.
So, to save yourself tons of time, energy, and frustration, as well as dramatically increase your chances of success, I’d recommend investing your money in a dedicated, structured affiliate marketing training module, especially if you are an absolute beginner.
I imagine that since you have a job you won’t have a problem spending a couple of hundred dollars per year for a high-quality training.
I will soon create an ultimate resource page with all the training, tools, blogs to read, people to follow, books, etc, so make sure that you stay tuned.
For the time being, Wealthy Affiliate is a good place to start. This is where I started my affiliate marketing journey. Two years later I am still a member and I recommend that you become one yourself.
Their training is high-quality and it’s free to join… As a free member, you get access to some training modules, you can build and host up to 2 websites completely for free for as long as you want, as well as gain access to some other useful tools such as a keyword research tool.
To gain access to all of the platform’s features such as live chat, tech support, etc, you’ll have to pay for the premium membership but that’s your call.
Keep Your Eyes on the Target
The more you want to leave your current job, the more likely it is for you to jump on the first lifeboat which promises to take you out of there.
For instance, a few months after creating my first online business I ditched it because I got a promotion. Half a year later I realized that my new position sucked and so I decided to create a second online business, this website, as a way to eventually quit my job altogether… Just a month later, there was a promise that there will be some operational changes in our department which will make everyone’s job easier and more tolerable…
So, I told myself “Okay since changes are going to take place soon, I will lay my online business aside, rest for a while, and wait for things to change for the better.”
A few months later, the changes did indeed take place but instead of things getting better, they got even worse.
The moral of my story is that if I hadn’t lost focus so many times and I had just kept my eyes fixed on the target, I would be at least one year ahead on my online endeavors.
Thankfully, after the last disappointment, I learned my lesson and I was determined to focus all my free time and energy on what I really wanted which was to develop my online business.
I stopped expecting for things to change for the better by themselves, I stopped going after promotions, I stopped looking for another job, I stopped going to job interviews, I stopped listening to other people and their promises…
I wanted a successful online business and this is what I was going to go after. Period.
At that time, things became way simpler and clearer.
Developing an online business is not an easy task by itself… It becomes impossible if you try to achieve a million other things while working a full-time job at the same time.
Don’t make the same mistakes as I did. Always keep your eyes on the target and success is almost certain… This applies not just to becoming a successful entrepreneur but literally to all kinds of achievements.
Be Consistent and Persistent
I won’t try to sugarcoat your pill here. Many people succeed but many people fail as well.
Failure is not real though… Failure is just the absence of action towards success. If you decide to stop working on your online business before seeing any results, then yes, you’ve failed. It’s not any different than deciding to stop going to the gym and never getting the body you want.
The antidote to failure is simply to not give up. It is impossible to not succeed if you just keep going.
In fact, contrary to popular belief, success has nothing to do with being smart. Many smart people never reach their goals. Most of those who keep moving towards them, do.
The more consistent and persistent you are, the faster and greater the results.
Most of my working days look like this:
- Wake up
- eat breakfast
- work on my business
- go to work
- return from work
- buy groceries
- cook
- work on my business
- sleep
I work on my weekends as well… I have been doing that for a while now and I am just starting to see some results.
There have been times that I wanted to give up. If I had done it, those results would have never come…
Consistency and persistence definitely pay off in the long run.
Quit Your Job
Congratulation, you deserve it!
You worked hard, you put in the time and effort, you had patience and perseverance and you finally became one of those success stories that we are reading about here and there.
Now you can quit your job. But make sure that you do it in a respectful manner.
Give your company a timeframe of two weeks to find a replacement before you stop setting your foot there forever.
If required, train your replacement as best as you can.
Thank your boss for the opportunity even if he does not deserve it. Say goodbye to your colleagues even if you didn’t care for them at all.
Be the bigger man.
You never know how this could benefit you down the line.
Final Thoughts
How did you like the idea of starting your own online affiliate marketing business? Is it something that you might be interested in but you are still skeptical? Why?
Share your opinion with us in the comments below.
If you have any questions or need any further help or guidance from me, please email me at harry@dearboss-iquit.com or drop me a PM on my Wealthy Affiliate Profile.
I will be thrilled to help you out.
Harry,
dearboss-iquit.com
2 Responses
Great! I really appreciate your article and it’s really important to me. Thank you, Harry!
My name is Ray. I am in Shanghai, China. Now I work for a German company and really want to quit. I am creating my own business both online and offline to help people form good habits and drop bad ones.
I write articles every week, post them online, and have already gotten some results.
Thank you again. Have a nice day!
Hey Ray, I’m so glad you found my article of value.
I know first-hand how horrible being stuck in a job you hate is, so I hope you manage to ditch it ASAP.
I wish you massive success in your business endeavors.
All the best, and stay safe,
Harry
P.S. I’m sorry, but I had to delete the contact info you attached. Self-promotions aren’t allowed here.