Quitting the day job

[marcjacob]

Im starting to think about doing Adult full time and giving up the day job. ATM i spend all day at work, come home and do this most of the night. I get burnt out abit but i know you have to put the work in to acheive your dreams, and my dream (sad i know) is to work full time in the industry i love.

I took a long break from adult, did it before but it was more of a hobby. I joined this board just as i started again and that was in July. Since then ive gone from 0 to about $800 a month. I need about $1500 to quit the day job so about half way.

But, and heres the problem, if im to hit that goal do i have to work longer hours? I really feel that if i wasnt working full time i could spend more time on this and maybe reach the goal quicker, but i have to pay the bills. I want to give up work sometime in February but theres only so many hours in a day and i do feel also that i abandon my boyfy abit (who is very paitent with me i have to admit)

Dont know what im asking really, just looking for discussion or thoughts (or your experience in becoming full time). Im also very scared about the risk factor of giving up a regular wage.

[wnc]

I am sure that many here will give you invaluable advice. I am mostly a reader but found your post very interesting.

Years ago, it was much easier to make respectable self-employment income. Competition and knowledgeable surfers makes many here, I suspect, work harder than in the past.

I think it is wonderful that your income is now $800 a month in only four months. Assuming that is a stable amount, you have a successful formula which could only be enhanced by full-time efforts.

But beware, if you made the plunge in February, that you might find yourself working extremely hard to match the lost income. I suspect a few here might agree with me that this is the period of burnout for many. Is it worth maybe losing the patience of your boyfriend? Is it possible to take a smaller step and perhaps work on the clock on a part-time basis first?

My advice is to see if your adultsite income continues to increase in the next two months. If, by the end of December, you are earning $1000, I would say... go for it.

[marcjacob]

Great reply, thankyou. This is another big problem for me, the apparent slow downs the industry goes through. Part time job is an idea. I also need to know where id stand if i quit my job and the sales stopped, would i get benefits on that basis (although ive always walked into jobs quickly - just need a safety net).

I think having rebills would help, im working on % sponsors this week to try and kick start that.

[marcjacob]

Welcome btw, you should post more!

[Lee]

A good rule of thumb that i tell people looking to go full time i this...

Take what you earn now at your full time job, and add another 30% to that a month.

Once you are making that much consistently for 3-6 months, go full time in the industry.

Things change so damned much from month to month in the biz its always good to make more than you do at your full-time job for a few months and put some of that money aside for when slow periods happen.

Regards,

Lee

[marcjacob]

That sounds pretty sensible. All my income is sponsors and avs sales but im trying to spread it about as much as possible. That way if one sponsors goes bust im not finished. Moving towards epass too to save the check bank fees.

[LiveTwinksCam]

Plus you need your health insurance and other benefits a full time gig offers.

I miss working a full time job, mainly because I miss the people interaction, working from home isn't all it's cracked up to be. I also kind of miss it because I am almost 30 and where am I? I am working from home and just receiving a income from it. I don't have a 401k, I don't have any benefits and I am not moving up in a company, climbing the corporate ladder. All I have is a income and I sit here at home all day by myself working on the computer, fun.. fun..

But then I guess some people would die for that. I don't have to be in rush hour traffic and I sort of make my own schedule. There are pro's and con's to both.

[ArmpitLover]

Looks like you are doing it the right way...you are at least thinking about it...asking people and considering all the options.

One thing you said I VERY strongly agree with. IMMEDIATELY start making % sales. I know when you started you just wanted to see extra cash and $30 or $40 per sign-up made you jump for joy...Just remember once those companies paid you your $30 they were done with you...now they may make $30 a month for the next 2 or 3 years!!! Yes really that may sound unbelievable but it happens every day, Just think if you had 50% of that even from just 5 people! (You can usually expect a good 2-3 months from a recurring sale, easliy more if they love the site and its update with what they are looking for) This then means that on the slow downs when new sales may be a little scarse you are still making your 50% and they are still rebilling.

Don't switch what you've got so far...ie Topbucks and the like, but hunt out the smaller guys that seem to be doing well, go to outster.com, look at the larger link list guys and then sign up for the programs that offer % sales.

Personally I'm always wary of guys offering more than 50% but that's just me LOL

Good luck, its always nice to crawl outta bed and be richer than you were when you closed your eyes

[closest thing to being a hooker in my opinion LOL]

Best Wishes

Dave

[Dzinerbear]

DO IT ... DO IT ... DO IT!!!! :bananacock: :bananacock: :bananacock:

First Marc, if you want to talk privately, I'm happy to offer whatever advice I can.

In 2001, I started as a junior web designer at MANcheck. I loved it. In 2003, I was restructured out of my job. A month later I launched my own AVS hub. Within a year my hub was so successful that MANcheck asked me to come back and spread the wisdom, as it were. I was thrilled.

Within a relatively short period of time, maybe six months, I realized it was a big mistake to have gone back. There were things about MANcheck I loved and things that I didn't. My unhappiness had little to do with MANcheck itself, but rather with me: I'm happiest when I work on my own. I'm highly motivated and a hard worker; I can get pumped up on an idea, and whoosh, I'm off. It was hard to continue working for someone else, making them lots of money, when I knew I could be making lots of money for myself. Don't get me wrong, I love MANcheck, but I love me and my projects more.

I stuck with that job for another year and a half. I wasn't happy. And staying there pushed me deeper into depression. I was trying to do a good job, but I was working harder than ever at home to get my own stuff happening so I could reach a level of financial independence and leave. I had the added stress of being the sole-income provider in my family.

So, I slogged for another year and a half, and finally, I got the revenue to a point where I thought we might be okay. It didn't matter, I couldn't take the 28-hour a day life anymore. So, I resigned. It was time to make the 100% commitment to my projects. I was scared shitless. But I was fairly confident that I would be okay.

I can't say that it's been easy. Financially, it's been fine. Rebilling is a wonderful thing. But in my days of freedom I took on a lot of new projects as I tested my wings in every direction. By September I was exhausted. I had taken on too much. I have spent the last two months amalgamating. I've killed some projects that I started and merged them into other ventures. I'm scaling back as much as possible. Trying to work smarter than harder.

So Marc, it is possible. However, I guess my caution to you in this. Don't push yourself so hard that you end up hurting yourself. Don't wait too long. I stayed at a job because I was shackled by the salary and benefits. In the end, I would have been better to suffer a bit of financial uncertainty. Today, two years later, I'm smoking again, dealing with an added 60 pounds, I'm stressed and depressed. But I'M SO FUCKING HAPPY.

As I said, I'm merging and scaling back. That's taking care of the stress. I'm quitting smoking on Monday ... again. I'm seeing a trainer three times a week and next week I step up my cardio.

Your time is valuable, so choose your projects carefully Make sure you're not wasting a second on anything that isn't 110% production.

Marc, if you want to talk privately, I'm happy to talk with you. I might be able to give you some insight from both sides of the fence since it's still fresh and raw, and I'm more than happy to do so.

Cheers,
Michael

[desslock]

Well, it's your life, and you are free to pursue your own happiness.

Ever since I was in college, I wanted to have some kind of online business and work for myself. I quit my last real job in 1996, and spent the following seven to eight years living on around a thousand dollars a month, and putting literally all the money I made totally into my business.

For me, having enough money to pay the bills at the end of the month was not my biggest problem. After all, if I didn't have enough money I could just slim down my expenses.

I had greater problems: Learning how to discipline myself so that I would treat my home job and actually work it like a real job. How do you not get distracted? How do you get work done? How do you keep motivated working when you have electric bills due?

Also working for yourself requires things like staying home and working by yourself all night on Saturday... even though all your freinds may be partying it up at dance clubs.

LiveTwinksCam makes another good point - working by yourself from home is a very isolating experience. I'm a pretty social animal, and for me that has been a constant issue for me. (this characteristic manifests itself in my frequent, talky interactions on the webmaster boards) You have to do things that you needed not ever do before, like make it a point to go somewhere in the day, else the sun will have risen and set, and you've never set foot outside the house... or seen another human.

The nice thing is there is just so much potential out there for so many more people. But we all learn and improve ourselves better over time. I wish you and any others good luck.

What's it like breaking from a life of security to go into business for yourself? For me it's been like jumping out of a flying airplane with your hair on fire.

Ready to take the plunge?

Steve

[Xstr8guy]

Oh, what a great thread!

I went full-time about a year and a half ago... the BEST thing I've ever done.

I move to Dallas from Minnesota for a new job and a new start after a divorce 6 1/2 years ago... yes, I was married to a woman. Lol. Hence the name "xstr8guy". I loved my new job for the first 2 years and I started messing around with AVS sites soon after moving to Dallas. The few extra dollars came in handy as I had bought a house to put down some roots.

After I started to learn the AVS game and grew, so did my checks. At about the same time, my daytime job added commissions to my salary which essentially doubled my income. Financially, I was doing very well for myself and I had met my life-partner. Things were great! We travelled a lot and my partner quit his job and started remodelling our home.

Then I got lucky with my web business. I stumbled into some very lucrative projects and my webmaster income was doubling almost monthly so I started to take it more serious. I was also becoming increasingly bored and unhappy with my day job... face-to-face sales was not my cup-of-tea. I fretted constantly that my sudden poor performance at my job would cause me to be fired. I worried about health insurance coverage. I worried about horrible laws that would force me to quit my web business. I worried about retirement (I am 42, after all). Etc., etc. etc. I started leaving work early and working on my web business during work hours. I was working 16 hours a day... most of it at home.

I started to put some money away for a soon-to-come rainy day. My old boss took a new job, who also happened to be my best friend who originally hired me. And my new boss was very unhappy with my performance. I started to take my exit very serious and layed my final plans.

A few long depressing months past as my job evaluation loomed. Finally the day came. I sat calmly as my boss said I had 3 months to turn it around or they would have to let me go. He said, "Well Jim, do you think you can do it?" and I said "No, I think I'm done here. I'm burnt. I'll stick around for 30 days to turn my accounts over to the other salesman." We both smiled in relief. I was FREE!

Sorry for the long boring story. Lol.

I guess I'm just trying to let you know... it's not an easy decision to make. The money I had saved disappeared pretty quickly. My main sponsor used Ibill as their primary processor and I didn't get paid for a couple months after Ibill failed. Then came taxes, which I was NOT prepared to pay. I had always been employed by someone else and taxes just never really concerned me. And I had NO idea just how much a self-employed person had to pay.

It was pretty stressfull for the first 6 months but things started to even out. I slowly started to spread myself around so all of my eggs weren't in one basket. And my GWW pals, especially Michael, offered tons of support and advice which helped astronomically. I saved for my taxes, travelled less, halted our remodelling and put my partner to work with me.

And despite all of the drama, stress and lifestyle change, I wouldn't go back to a regular job for anything barring a massive disaster. I work at home and LOVE IT! I make my own hours... long hours, sure... but I don't mind one bit. I don't put on shoes or a shirt for days-on-end. My partner likes to say that we are retired, . I don't miss being around other people especially in a work enviroment. I always felt sorry for people who's only friends were coworkers.

The drawbacks
We still don't have health insurance. I smoke way too much. My ass, hips and wrist hurt and my eyes are going bad. But most of that can be expained by old age and physical laziness, . And I never have enough time and money to do all of the web projects I have in mind.

[Huskyhunks]

Come in with a well thought out plan and concrete numbers. That is the only way to measure if your successful or not. Changing jobs is always risky no matter where you've been or where you're going.

You need to be passionate about what you're going to be selling even if it's entirely someones else's site or content. The peaks and valleys are extreme. Make sure you want to deal with that before you make the leap. I think for the most part, people in adult are risk takers by nature.

[Xstr8guy]

I think for the most part, people in adult are risk takers by nature.

I was never a risk-taker before! Lol. But I am now.

[tigermom]

Fascinating stories, thanks for sharing those guys!

I agree with Lee though, you need to see this through for more than a few months and with a safety margin. I would also say, save now, and dont leave unless you have enough savings to keep you through six months of no income. That way you don't freak out if you have a couple of slow months. Make sure that you have enough to cover medical emergencies and also to cover whatever costs you have for caring for loved ones, be them pets, parents or anyone else who may be dependent on you.

As for the social interaction thing. Yes, being a webmaster can be lonely at times, though if you live with your BF, it really changes thing. My husband left his dayjob two months ago. He's starting a part-time thing in January and in between he's home with me. Some people say they would go nuts spending so much time together , but we're in 7th heaven for it. So, it really depends. One thing I have and is crucial for me is a peer social network. It's amazing how lonely I"m feeling this morning with my 2-3 regular online friends are away (different reasons for each one). They may take up some work time, but they're my office buddies and I miss them! I chat either typing, or sometimes doing voice on Skype and working together. It's not for everyone, but for me it's an excellent version of the office fountain gossip

[marcjacob]

Yeah i also agree with Lee and February isnt worth going to happen. It is slightly easier for me as in the uk we the national health service to fall back on so health care isnt such a big issue. Also im the type of person who actually wouldnt mind flipping burgers in mcdonalds if it all went wrong. I know i could get another job within a month max after that. Besides there are some cute guys in our local md's hehe