mfishy - 7:39 pm on Jan 1, 2005 (gmt 0)

We have had 70%+ drops in revenue on several occasions. To this point, we have generally been able to get it back, however, it may not always be this way.

If you look at yourself/your company as a lead generation operation, rather than an "affiliate marketer", this may help in expanding your view of things and give you an edge in business.

It's funny how people here seem to equate "real" jobs with $7.50 per hour. My real job (years ago), at a VC/investment banking firm paid quite well. I am not arguing the merits of this vs. aff marketing, and I certainly do not want to turn this into another idiotic "how much ya make?" thread, but I can assure you at this particular wall street firm, the employees and partners were not paupers by any stretch. In short, if your friends are making $7 per hour, they certainly qualify for wellfare in America and probably do not represent...errr.... the educated folks here that may be making real decisions about this very matter :)

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A more direct answer to your question might be that of course things can go wrong as with all business. Some of the folks who have been running their own show for a while may have the benefit of cash to fall back on, however, if you are just starting out and have family and bills to worry about, I would certainly have a back up plan for a bit!