My Journey Trying to Make Money Online
Since I was a kid, I’ve always had an entrepreneurial mindset. I’ve always wanted to have some kind of my own business. When I was in the third or fourth grade, I remember renting a book on my Kindle Fire at the time on how to sell things on Etsy and sort of brand yourself. This book sparked some kind of fire in me and I really wanted to sell dog beds and collars that I made myself. The book was a step by step guide, I can’t even find it to this day because there’s been so many new books and guides that have came out after it. Using the resources I had, I built a ten page branding statement. I wish that were an exaggeration but I legit wrote 10 pages of my mission and what I promised to people and much about what I’d be selling. However, that was as far as I could get on my own with that business idea.
You’ve gotta remember, I was probably around 8 or 9 years old trying to start a company all by myself with nothing but a book on how to brand yourself on Etsy. I soon figured out that I’d need more than just a branding statement to start a business. This idea never escalated anywhere. I can’t even find any evidence that this ever happened but I can assure you that it did.
My next business venture that I had was a few years later during my Junior year of high school. I was 16 and my mom said we were going to nerd convention! She didn’t actually say that nor did I know that it would be the coolest experience that what stick with me up until now. That convention was Funnel Hacking Live (FHL) I’ll put a link right here, if you’d like to check it out.
When my mom said we were going there, I had no idea what we were even going to. We got lost so many times, even in our own hotel, we made a lot of friends that I actually still try to keep in touch with, the people there are some of the most successful people you will ever meet or see. The speakers sparked something in me because I loved they way they spoke on stage, it’s still terrifying to think that that could be me one day but I’ll get over that fear eventually. That was probably me my “pinch me, I’m dreaming moment.” I learned at that convention that I wanted to do, sell, speak about something ONLINE.
That convention was three years ago now but I still think about it almost every day still. I started building a piano lesson business in high school, I tried to start self development for kids but nothing really worked out or felt right for me because I didn’t stick with it and I was just young. Sometimes people don’t tell you that it’s okay to not have everything figured out especially at age 16. I was really overwhelmed for a while and felt like I couldn’t make progress and felt like I was lacking or falling behind.
All the people in the industry were doing big things and even kids younger than me were doing business. I’m almost 20 years old and still can’t figure out what kind of business I want to start and I still think that’s okay. As Gary Vee says, “you could mess up for the next 13 years of your life and still be okay.” That’s something I’m still trying to learn. I have the time to learn new things and work crappy jobs until I can figure out exactly what I want and follow my dreams.
Honestly, I think I’m getting closer all the time. I started a Youtube channel in high school but I wasn’t confident enough to post weekly or on a schedule. I didn’t feel like anyone was watching my content and I felt awkward being on camera. I know that I’ve made some big progress here because I’ve stopped caring how many people watch my content. I make my videos for fun and it’s almost like an online diary for my future self. It’s been so fun watching myself and my confidence grow because it’s way easier for me to talk on camera now versus when I first started. If you’d like to have a laugh, I’ll link my very first Youtube video here so you can check it out. To me it’s super cringy and I’ve made it private before because I was so embarrassed about how it turned out but I’m over that now so you guys can watch it lol. My most recent video for comparison.
When I was in high school, I tried starting a Podcast and I had a blog as well. I most definitely wasn’t confident in my Podcast making skills because I edited every single one that I made and the point of Podcasts are just to say what’s on your mind or talk about certain topics so to this day, I still don’t think that’s the right option for me.
My blog was fun and I loved writing posts but I felt like I had no traffic coming to the website I had built and my only intention with the blog was to help people relate to what I was going through, which really wasn’t much at the time. I ended up cancelling my blog because after a year, it was starting to get expensive and I mainly just wanted an outlet that had people on it so that we could share our experiences and learn from each other.
What’s Working for Me Right Now…
Honestly, the things that I really enjoy doing at this moment in my life are making Youtube videos, TikToks, and writing here on Medium.com. It’s crazy how long of a journey I’ve been on and everything is still in the progress so I probably won’t stop here, but I’m happy with what I’ve been doing lately and really, that’s all that matters.
I’m hoping that I can eventually generate some online passive income because I believe that I’m “made for more” as Rachel Hollis says. I don’t think that I was made to do these 9–5 jobs that pay barely anything and take up all of the time in your day, leaving you so exhausted that you don’t even want to do any of the things that you actually like to do because you’re so tired. Right now, I’m trying to prioritize and make things work because I’m serious about making passive income. I don’t want to work 56 hours a week and not have anything life changing happen. I want to help people and not just in customer service in retail.
I want to eventually go on a vacation. I haven’t vacationed since I was a middle schooler and I’ve never been out of the country. I’ve got places to go and I know that. I’m gonna make it happen. Pray for me please lol.
