Hello everybody,
I stumbled upon this forum by accident. From reading the various posts, I came to realize that it is full of like-minded people who want to improve their lives.
When I was 19 (I'm 29 now), and going to college, I applied for various jobs (publix, kroger, mcdonalds, ect.). The problem was, none of them wanted to hire me because of scheduling conflicts with my studies (I wanted to work evenings and weekends, with a flexible schedule). At this point, I decided to create my own income.
I heard about affiliate marketing, and decided to give it a try. At first, I tried writing blogs with clickbank affiliate links, but that didn't go as planned. But at least I learned how to make websites in the process. Then I read a great tactic on another forum.
So I would create a posting on a classifieds site offering free web design, and as you would expect, I got tons of calls. But it was free with a catch: they would have to purchase web hosting through my affiliate link (I would get $100 per purchase), and in return, I would build them a basic website from a free template (it would take 1-2 hours). Did this for a while, and then learned to upsell a bit. So my average sale would be web hosting + $200. I would make around $900-$1500 per month with relatively little effort. Mind you, I was in college and living with my parents, and all of my friends around me were working part-time as waiters, baristas, and burger-flippers. Therefore, I was working less and making the same, which was good enough for me at the time.
Fast forward to 2013 (when I was 24), after trying and failing in selling health & life insurance, and going back to college while moonlighting as an amateur web designer, I saw a few of my friends obtaining their CDL's and getting into the trucking business. They were making $6k per month as company drivers, and twice as much with their own trucks. Some of them even had multiple trucks and were just dispatching them from home.
Meanwhile, I was working on a bachelors in communication, where the projected income was under $40k per year. To me it was a no-brainer, I should get into trucking. To keep a long story short, I got my CDL and bit off more than I could chew.
In late 2016 I was in a situation where I was driving my own truck which would break often. I would make good money for about a month, then something would break, and I would have to spend most of that money to fix it. Finally, I got to the point where I had money saved up and the truck was running fine. So, I decided to cut my losses and leave the business. So I bought a ticket to Thailand, where I lived for 1.5 years.
I got lucky in January 2017 when I heard about a thing called cryptocurrencies, and decided to invest $2500 into Ethereum and Bitcoin. Needless to say, this is how I supported myself in Thailand for 1.5 years. But in the summer of 2018, the gravy train stopped and I had to return to the US to earn some money. So I called up a friend and within a few days of landing, I was driving a truck again. This is when I realized that I need to find something which will make me money without me having to risk my life, while being able to travel. I settled on web design and started brushing up on my skills during my mandatory 10-hour breaks and 34-hour restarts.
About 1.5 months ago, I finally saved up money, quit trucking, procured 2 paying web design projects, and flew back to Thailand. So far so good!
Although I must say, if there is one thing trucking has done for me, it taught me the value of work. I literally work non-stop for weeks on end, while others would complain about having to work too much at their 9-5's.
I joined this forum in hopes of gaining knowledge, and more importantly, inspiration. Before registering, I read a few threads about people quitting their 9-5 J.O.B.'s (Just Over Broke) and making it on their own, and there are few things more inspiring than this. Because it goes to show that anybody can do it.
I apologize if this is TMI or sounded too much like a rant.
I stumbled upon this forum by accident. From reading the various posts, I came to realize that it is full of like-minded people who want to improve their lives.
When I was 19 (I'm 29 now), and going to college, I applied for various jobs (publix, kroger, mcdonalds, ect.). The problem was, none of them wanted to hire me because of scheduling conflicts with my studies (I wanted to work evenings and weekends, with a flexible schedule). At this point, I decided to create my own income.
I heard about affiliate marketing, and decided to give it a try. At first, I tried writing blogs with clickbank affiliate links, but that didn't go as planned. But at least I learned how to make websites in the process. Then I read a great tactic on another forum.
So I would create a posting on a classifieds site offering free web design, and as you would expect, I got tons of calls. But it was free with a catch: they would have to purchase web hosting through my affiliate link (I would get $100 per purchase), and in return, I would build them a basic website from a free template (it would take 1-2 hours). Did this for a while, and then learned to upsell a bit. So my average sale would be web hosting + $200. I would make around $900-$1500 per month with relatively little effort. Mind you, I was in college and living with my parents, and all of my friends around me were working part-time as waiters, baristas, and burger-flippers. Therefore, I was working less and making the same, which was good enough for me at the time.
Fast forward to 2013 (when I was 24), after trying and failing in selling health & life insurance, and going back to college while moonlighting as an amateur web designer, I saw a few of my friends obtaining their CDL's and getting into the trucking business. They were making $6k per month as company drivers, and twice as much with their own trucks. Some of them even had multiple trucks and were just dispatching them from home.
Meanwhile, I was working on a bachelors in communication, where the projected income was under $40k per year. To me it was a no-brainer, I should get into trucking. To keep a long story short, I got my CDL and bit off more than I could chew.
In late 2016 I was in a situation where I was driving my own truck which would break often. I would make good money for about a month, then something would break, and I would have to spend most of that money to fix it. Finally, I got to the point where I had money saved up and the truck was running fine. So, I decided to cut my losses and leave the business. So I bought a ticket to Thailand, where I lived for 1.5 years.
I got lucky in January 2017 when I heard about a thing called cryptocurrencies, and decided to invest $2500 into Ethereum and Bitcoin. Needless to say, this is how I supported myself in Thailand for 1.5 years. But in the summer of 2018, the gravy train stopped and I had to return to the US to earn some money. So I called up a friend and within a few days of landing, I was driving a truck again. This is when I realized that I need to find something which will make me money without me having to risk my life, while being able to travel. I settled on web design and started brushing up on my skills during my mandatory 10-hour breaks and 34-hour restarts.
About 1.5 months ago, I finally saved up money, quit trucking, procured 2 paying web design projects, and flew back to Thailand. So far so good!
Although I must say, if there is one thing trucking has done for me, it taught me the value of work. I literally work non-stop for weeks on end, while others would complain about having to work too much at their 9-5's.
I joined this forum in hopes of gaining knowledge, and more importantly, inspiration. Before registering, I read a few threads about people quitting their 9-5 J.O.B.'s (Just Over Broke) and making it on their own, and there are few things more inspiring than this. Because it goes to show that anybody can do it.
I apologize if this is TMI or sounded too much like a rant.
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