I didn't quit my day job -- they moved it to Asia. I decided not to go. Sure, Manila's nice and all, but... That was the kick in the --- I needed. Now my main source of income is writing PHP and other web code for people, and my secondary source is AdSense. But AdSense is growing...maybe one of these days I can just write code for myself!
Your a hippy girl, sure you didnt mean it took THC and some work to make things happen THC sure helps me put in those long tedious hours when im cranking out content. As for me, Well I started web-design initially to make a website for my father. I had no previous involvements I just made him a website. I didnt know about SEO, but I tried a PPC campaign to get him traffic, after a few mistakes and losing some money I realized i needed to learn how these guys were ranking well on organic searches. After having learned the basics of SEO, everything just sorta fell into place from there. I will never be the systems slave, nothing is better then being your own boss. What I love best about this job? I can take a day off and go fishing with my old man, and come home and still have made my money for the day.
I'm glad that you were able to make everything work out after your job was relocated. I've been in the I.T. industry for 15 years and this movement of offshoring develpoment jobs has me understandably very concerned . I'm at the very early stages of trying to generate secondary income sources myself... Before they decide to drop the axe on us at my job.
"my day job left me" Hehe well if you are working from home im sure you know its much nicer than having to wake up to go somewhere every morning
I think AdSense-oriented sites can become much more of a job than a real job -- if your site(s) use AdSense strictly as to monetize as a side project from the actual site's goals (spreading information or selling specific items and services), you shouldn't have to worry about tweaking AdSense as Google is already working on it for us. If your site(s) are "secretly" made-for-adsense, you'll find yourself re-working your website constantly to stay a step ahead of Google. In the long run, if you like to write content and you're good at it you can get a very high paying career writing topics for other sites who carry AdSense. I've been offered quite a few "can you write an article for me?" jobs in the past two months, and some of them even offered pretty nice pay up front. I haven't taken them though The other problem with working from home is if you are married. Even if you're generating an income, the significant other will think you're always clowning around and bother you for more time! Get out of the house and hit the free WiFi coffee houses with a laptop, you'll be much more productive, hehe.
Indeed. My sites are hardly oriented toward products/services (well, one is, somewhat) and I still make hundreds of $$$ from AdSense. The secret, of course, is original content.
Same with me but also putting my heart & soul into a job that makes others rich except me isnt what I want to do for the next 20 - 30 years.
Why not? I'm seriously thinking about quitting school too. In my case it's getting too hard to combine studying with my online activities. I feel it is hurting my business.
Believe me, school is a much better long term investment. Do the online stuff part time, and use the money as pocket money and if you make enough, put some away, but DO NOT quit your studies. IF and only if you feel that what you're studying is not what you want to do anymore, rather go and talk to your local student councelor about this. Be very sure before making life altering decisions... MtraX
I understand your concern but I'm not talking about pocket money here. I'm talking about a serious amount of cash and I feel that I have only touched the tip of the iceberg yet. There are so many ways I can continue to boost my revenue, I just feel that studying is holding me back. I have the feeling that it would be a lot better for me to stop school immediately and concentrate fully on my business activities. That way I would probably earn a lot more. Additionally, I don't really want to work for someone else to make him (the boss) rich. That's not my goal. I want to work for myself to make myself rich. So I don't really see school as a long term investment. Another reason why I'm seriously considering it is because I'm still young. I believe that if something goes seriously wrong with my business over the next few years it's still possible to go back to college or university. Going back to school at 22-24 shouldn't be a huge problem. It will likely be hard to adapt again but it shouldn't be impossible.
The real question here is do you want to be 'working' all the time or automate. Sure we would all like to automate our income, but that is hard to do. Even if you work at ome if you are still spendign hours 'working' how much fun is that? I know I could make 36K a year on the web just building sites and such. But there is work in that.
I HAD to leave my day job after I was diagnosed with a genetic heart condition. Had to sell the family home to pay the hospital bills and learnt to turn my hobby into making an online income. (thanks to all here for your help) Although, at the moment, my sites just cover my bills - I’m hoping it will get to a point where I can afford a holiday to Graceland for the 30th anniversary 2007… Got my fingers crossed… Wish me luck.
I haven't left my "day job" yet, as I only work 10 hours a week. I am at the point where I will be claiming my adsense on taxes this year. I hope the bite, won't be too hard! =]
VG, having a forum, and just starting, I would really consider Google Adsense if I were you. You will have another source of income. Even if you are making 100,000/yr or more. Any additional dollar amount is nice!
I never went to college (I've had businesses since I was 14). 4-5 years and $50,000 to $100,000 is the worst investment you can ever make. The best investment you can make, at the age of 18 especially, is to take huge risks. Do everything -- work for as many companies as you can to get experience in odd things. Try out a few careers. Learn to be a salesman, a manager, a tech, a janitor, a chef. The more you know by 21 the more valuable you'll be in your own business. The youth is for experience, not college.
In my country higher education is a lot less expensive than in the US because our government heavily subsidises it. I'd say it's about 1000EUR a year (or less if your parents are poor) plus renting costs for a student room or a train subscription plan if you don't mind commuting every day. So in my country it's possible to get a master degree for about $6000 or even less, depending on your parent's financial situation and whether you live close to your school or not.