Sorry. If I knew the answer to that, I’d already be worth $100M and be buying an island next to Richard Branson.
I don’t know the path to billions of dollars. I do know the path to making decent money online. I’ve done it for the last 9 years.
Don’t make me sit here and roll off my online achievements, so you think I’m an expert and read on. Google my name if you need that validation.
Let’s cut to the chase so you can escape the rat race.
It’s more of this one cliche thing than I’d like to admit
I hate to start here. It pains me.
Why? Because you’ll sigh when you hear this one. It’s cliche as hell, it’s unsexy, and you’ve heard it millions of times…
Mindset is everything.
- If you think making money online is a scam, nothing will help you.
- If you think it’s all a clickbait pyramid scheme, nothing will help you.
- If you think you can’t do it and you’re stuck in the crab bucket, nothing will help you.
How do I know all this? Because in 2011 I wanted to make money online. I started doing the research and what I found disappointed me. It all looked too hard. I thought I had to be an expert or already be rich.
So for three years I did nothing.
Then finally in 2014 I met a guy. He was just like me — not that smart, skinny, Aussie, no college education, not charismatic. I joined his team as a blogger and got to see behind the scenes.
What I saw shocked me.
Specifically, his PayPal account. Every few minutes he sold a $20 eBook. He got paid money from Google Adsense. And he made a stupid amount of money from affiliate links he placed on his blog.
The online game has changed, and what’s funny is these methods of making money are still alive and well. The difference now is there are even more ways to make money, which means it’s easier.
What’s important isn’t how to make money. It’s how you think about how to make money. And the best solution to this problem is to get around ethical people who’ve made a little bit of money online.
Then you’ll see it’s an average person’s game anyone can play — and your mindset will change in the process, thus, allowing you to make money online.
Please, don’t make me say who you spend time with is who you become (haha).
The data reveals the obvious path
A lot of people want a blueprint.
“Do this and you’ll make money, Chief.” Unlike the traditional path of college and jobs, there’s no real formula. Everyone’s path is different.
In the traditional path to making a living, you choose a major in college and select a random job when you graduate. Then hope for the best.
But in the online game the common factor that’s helped me and others make 6 and 7 figures is looking at the data.
You do a number of experiments over a long enough timeframe (12 months), then look at the data as you go. The data tells you which path to invest more time into — not some guru or institution.
Social media ALWAYS plays a part
I told you ya gonna hate me. I’m telling you all the boring stuff.
No one in this modern era makes decent money online without social media. I know, I know…you don’t like Elon. Zucks sucks. Instagram bikini babes piss you off.
Not sure what to tell you.
It’s the only way. Social media is how we communicate, get our news, and find opportunities. If you’re not on a social media app you’re a ghost.
Maybe you have value but nobody knows.
And this isn’t 1993. You can’t go buy a Yellow Pages ad and use it to tell the world what you do. We’re becoming immune to ads. We now actively pay to switch ads off (Netflix, Meta, Youtube, X).
So use social media or it’ll use and own you.
No audience, no customers. No customers, no money, honey.
We’re gaslit by hustle culture because it’s true (boo-hoo)
If you don’t already hate me, then I now welcome you to.
Please send the death threats to PO BOX I Don’t Give A Fudge, Smallville, Hollywood, 90210.
Hustle culture is everywhere. Society — especially Americans — hates being told to work hard. And I get it, it’s annoying AF.
Here’s the problem:
I can’t show you anyone online who’s made 7 figures and not worked hard.
If I do find someone you’ll be the first to know. I’ll send you an urgent email. Until then…to make decent money online you’ll have to work hard. Doesn’t mean you never see your family or sleep 2 hours a day like a junkie hooked on heroin.
But it does mean there’s a time investment, and I’d be lying to you if I didn’t point out this obvious truth once more.
Time in the game beats trying to find shortcuts. The shortcut is showing up for long enough to find your path and have people know your name in a non-influencer, non-personal-brand kind of way.
My friend Dan went from $75,000 as a personal trainer to 7-figures online in a year.
Yes, his story is a little wild and most of us won’t follow in his footsteps. But here’s the thing…
I asked him how he did it. Ready?
He tweeted 300 times a day for a year. He did more work than anyone else would reasonably be prepared to do. So he made an unfair amount of money.
His mindset: “Work hard for 12 months so I never work hard for someone else again.”
We’re not all Dan. But to think hard work and doing the reps is basic advice that doesn’t work…is wrong.
We’re gaslit by hard work because it works. It’s a paradox.
Resourcefulness is underrated
If I look at my group of friends who’ve done well online, another common trait is resourcefulness. B-o-o-o-o-o-o-or-i-n-g. Yep.
Some people are great at spotting problems and complaining about them. Others are good at finding problems and solving them. That’s what those who make money online do.
They don’t make excuses and prevent paydays. They find a way.
They take what they do have and turn it into something. Maybe it’s some rusty old 9–5 skills. Or a web design course they took 5 years ago. Or a guy that knows a guy that knows a guy online.
Or maybe they have nothing and just send an unreasonable amount of cold DMs to make new online friends that lead to money.
The point is they don’t sit around and drown in other people’s problems fed to them by mainstream media.
Mindset: problems are money-making opportunities.
(Not reasons to become dead in the head.)
It’s a group game
Mr Beast has achieved more online success than anyone in history.
I’ve watched all the interviews with him. In every one, he shares how he had a group of friends who were all obsessed with Youtube. Instead of trying to figure out how to post good videos by himself, he did it in a group.
When one person figured out a part of the Youtube game they shared it. Five people are better than one.
If you want to make decent money online the takeaway here is simple: get into a group of 5–10 people with the same goal. As a group, you’ll figure it out faster — and it’s less lonely and more fun.
Copywriting always plays a part
Copywriting is learning how to use words to persuade.
It teaches you how to ethically grab people’s attention so you can have them become a subscriber or join your community.
Without copywriting you’re pissing into the wind hoping to catch a Hollywood breeze. Ain’t gonna happen.
1% of the audience makes you 100% of the money
Stop trying to charge everyone like a car park attendant in a yellow raincoat.
Too many people get this wrong. Charging everyone is how you make money from no one. 99% of people won’t pay you and that’s fine. It’s the way the internet is designed.
Focus on the people who see value you in what you do and want to pay for a product or service (like a newsletter) that you offer.
Heck, if you sell service-based offers you only need like 2–5 clients a month to make 6 figures a year. Stop being greedy.
These habits are the fastest way to learn nothing and earn $0
We’ve spoken a lot about HOW to make money. Now it’s time to talk about what not to do (which I’d argue is more important). Ready? Let’s go.
Asking for advice doesn’t work
If you’re asking for advice, you’re not going to make it.
Making it requires making it, not asking someone else how to make it.
Making it requires learning how to not make it ten thousand different ways, leaving one, which isn’t possible to teach in any practical way nor replicable, because:
Making it requires making it easier for others to make it, which means anyone who could teach you has already taken up the void you’d be learning how to fill.
Ask for feedback, not advice — Sahil Lavingia (Gumroad founder)
Spending $0
Making money online is a lot like investing in the stock market.
You have to spend money to make money. You can’t expect to buy $100 of Apple stock and become a billionaire with a pink Bentley.
Spending money is part of the game. I spent it on courses, masterminds, live events, networking group chats, memberships, newsletters, etc.
Looking for mentors
A mentor is a $0 slave.
It’s the expectation that someone who’s had success will give up their precious time for free to help with your online problem and help you get rich in the process. It won’t surprise you that this doesn’t work.
It’s the worst sales pitch in history.
There’s nothing in it for the mentor and those who use this approach go nowhere fast and end up stuck in a job, hoping …. wishing … for a mentor to bless their precious life.
Trade unpaid mentors for reasonably priced paid practitioners
Use them to help with implementation (not give advice).
Conclusion
The best ways to make money online are boring.
They seem obvious because they are. It’s your mindset that helps you see the opportunities. If you can’t see them then don’t look for different ways to make money. No.
Change your mindset.
Because the business models of the internet are simple, timeless, and don’t change that much over the decades.
