Transform Your Life By Making Your First Dollar Online

It was November 2022 when I first earned my first “dollar” online.

I had just bought my first online course, worth $500. I was in my first week of consuming it and sent 10 pitches daily.

A few days later, boom!

A lady from Upwork paid me $650 to ghostwrite a finance book for her.

But there was a problem.

I had no idea how to write the ebook. 

I had never written an ebook before. I know a lot about personal finance and have insightful experiences. Still, I felt bad about charging her for something I’m not an expert at. I asked her to give me an outline of what topics she wanted me to cover. I proposed that I work on the first chapter and we’ll both see from there. I also offered her a refund in case she’s not happy with my work.

That solved everything for me. 

It forced me to deliver quality work. Otherwise, I’d give her a refund and lose my first client. If I don’t deliver, I’d have the experience. If I deliver, we’ll both be happy.

In the end, she liked my work and told me she wanted to work with me again in the future. I told her to refer me if she knows anyone who needs a ghostwriter. I asked her for a testimonial so I could show it to my next clients.

That’s it. 

That small gig changed everything for me.

It was far from what I was earning as a healthcare professional. Yet, the money made a lot of difference. I wasn’t just trading my time for money. I was learning new skills. If I keep getting better at this, I’ll be able to work on my own terms.

I became confident with what I am capable of. 

The mindset shift

When I was still in College, I had a friend who was working online. 

During this time, online jobs weren’t a thing yet. He would tell me about the work he did and how much money he was earning. I was skeptical about it most of the time. I told him there are a lot of scams online. He kept trying to prove that this thing works. 

Eventually, he convinced me to find a part-time job online. I became a part-time virtual assistant. The work involves some writing, editing, and research.

That gig stopped when I got busy taking exams and preparing to move here in the USA. I started making a decent amount of money as a healthcare professional.

Looking back, I wish I continued this online journey because I would have been very early.

I had to start all over again in 2022 (the story above happened next). 

Why am I telling you this?

Because I want you to know that a new economy has started. If you join right now, you’re still early. Don’t be discouraged if you know an online scam story. Don’t feel scared if you think you’re late. 

This is just the start — the creator economy will get bigger.

The start of endless possibilities

• If you can earn $1, you can earn $100.

• If you can earn $100, you can earn $1000.

• If you can earn $1000, you can earn $10000.

• If you can earn $10000, you can earn $100000.

You know where I’m trying to get. Your earning capacity will be unlimited once you know how to make money. Your hard work will actually pay off. 

It’s unlike working a 9-5 job where you have to beg your boss for a raise. In a traditional job, your hard work doesn’t guarantee money. 

Best case scenario: They give you a few hundred dollars more per paycheck. 

Worst case scenario: They give you all the work without a raise because you’re a top performer. 

When you work on your own terms, you can give yourself a raise. How much money you make depends on how hard you work. 

It might be hard to wrap yourself around this in the beginning. 

But just imagine being in control of your income. You can earn more if you choose to work with more clients. You can make more if you can sell more products to people. You can make more if you choose to raise the price of your service.

The difference between someone who makes money online and one who doesn't: 

Confidence.

It’s not skills, knowledge, or time that you need.

It’s having the confidence to charge.

Whether you know it or not, you can provide value to one person right now. You just need to find out what that is. 

You can start charging by teaching someone (you for sure know a thing or two that another person doesn’t).

You can start charging by providing a service to others (people will pay for convenince or to save time)

You can start charging by building a digital product (people will buy products to solve their problems).

You don’t have to complicate this.

I used to think of a side hustle as having an office, building a website, having a paycheck page for clients, etc.

All these will be useful in the future. Right now you just need to earn your first $1 - whether that involves paying through Zelle or Venmo doesn’t matter.

Stop trying to look like a “professional”. 

Your goal is to make your first dollar.

How you can start today

Alright, that sounds enticing and all that. 

But how does one actually start if they have no experience or skills?

It’s simple - follow the right people.

Spend your free time consuming helpful information rather than doom-scrolling. 

I started by unfollowing:

• Celebrities

• Online shops

• Meme accounts

Then I picked 3 people that I’m interested in. The algorithm started showing me people that are worth reading from. Just like that, my social media is full of useful information.

I saved all the highly actionable ones. I started building in public - copying the templates from the tweets I saved. I started looking at how others are doing it. I consumed YouTube or podcasts daily. I started small projects and then applied everything I learned.

I invested in online courses to force myself to get the money back. 

The best part?

You grow not only professionally but also personally. 

I hope you’re having a lovely Sunday!

Reminder:

Please don’t forget to take action and use your weekend if you want to start a side hustle.

PS. I’m still working un an upgraded version of 30DaysTo1K to help more people make their first dollar online.

If you there is any specific problem or challenge you have encountered, let me know and I’ll be happy to include it in the course. (I’ll appreciate your suggestion and give you a FREE access to the program).

One last thing, you can start writing online anytime with other Ship30for30 members.

Join here.