What path(s) did you choose? Why? Hows it going?

[glizmo]

What's good BHW

New here but long time internet marketer. I've spent the last decade with a bad case of shiny object syndrome, which while its been richly rewarding with knowledge and skills, it's been equally abundant with failure, heartache, and existential crisis. Now I've come to a point in my life where it seems like all of the shiny objects are behind me, and I don't know what the fuck to do with myself.

In the last decade I've danced with:
• SEO / SEM / SMM
• Graphic Design / Content Creation
• Web Design / Web Development
• Dropshipping
• Amazon KDP
• Print-On-Demand
• Selling tons of products that I made
• Game Dev / App Dev
• Crypto projects (mostly shitcoins)
• Monetizing AI tools
• and I've spent the last year learning cybersecurity (Sec+ and CEH) in hopes of getting into the industry, again to find out that this is a big ass fuckin iceberg and it's going to take me a long time to get where I would want to be.

Even with all that I'm still work full-time in some dead end retail job and am barely getting by, granted the cost of living where I'm at is fucked. I know I just need to stick with something, but at this point I don't what. I knew when I found BHW I was among my people, so I was curious what path you guys took, where's it got you, and are you happy with the result?

 

[IWannaTaco]

A little bit of everything got a solid job doing web dev and SEO/SEM/SMM better to be an all around talent rather than hyper focused on one thing.

My advice is find a niche you are interested in start as a basic sales person / at the bottom in that niche and move your way up within the company.

 

[JustTakeAction]

Bro.

Your niche will be discovered organically as you go along by TAKING ACTION.

When you actually work with real people and start solving their problems, you'll build up a reputation and experiences that are different than those of anyone else.

The more you do, the stronger this will get.

You'll see opportunities to use that reputation as time goes on.

What have you done in the past?

If you haven't actually done hardly anything, that's fine. Just by being here on this forum and listing those things out, you clearly have enough knowledge to start.

Just start emailing and DMing people until someone agrees to let you do some work for them.

Even if it's free.

Make a case study and build a business around that experience.

 

[glizmo]

Bro.

Your niche will be discovered organically as you go along by TAKING ACTION.

When you actually work with real people and start solving their problems, you'll build up a reputation and experiences that are different than those of anyone else.

The more you do, the stronger this will get.

You'll see opportunities to use that reputation as time goes on.

What have you done in the past?

If you haven't actually done hardly anything, that's fine. Just by being here on this forum and listing those things out, you clearly have enough knowledge to start.

Just start emailing and DMing people until someone agrees to let you do some work for them.

Even if it's free.

Make a case study and build a business around that experience.

Appreciate the advice. When you say just start emailing and DMing people, how would / did you go about finding your niche or pursuit? I get it comes organically, I guess I'm just looking for personal insights. I have a lot of options, I just want the best ROI on my time, and feel like after following what I thought would get me there for years and years, I have some analysis paralysis moving forward, and I am hoping some perspective can shake that.

 

[mrrankseo]

What's good BHW

New here but long time internet marketer. I've spent the last decade with a bad case of shiny object syndrome, which while its been richly rewarding with knowledge and skills, it's been equally abundant with failure, heartache, and existential crisis. Now I've come to a point in my life where it seems like all of the shiny objects are behind me, and I don't know what the fuck to do with myself.

In the last decade I've danced with:
• SEO / SEM / SMM
• Graphic Design / Content Creation
• Web Design / Web Development
• Dropshipping
• Amazon KDP
• Print-On-Demand
• Selling tons of products that I made
• Game Dev / App Dev
• Crypto projects (mostly shitcoins)
• Monetizing AI tools
• and I've spent the last year learning cybersecurity (Sec+ and CEH) in hopes of getting into the industry, again to find out that this is a big ass fuckin iceberg and it's going to take me a long time to get where I would want to be.

Even with all that I'm still work full-time in some dead end retail job and am barely getting by, granted the cost of living where I'm at is fucked. I know I just need to stick with something, but at this point I don't what. I knew when I found BHW I was among my people, so I was curious what path you guys took, where's it got you, and are you happy with the result?

good nice to meet you I think your problum gaming

 

[1SEOWarrior]

I love SEO as much as I love her,

Reason?

Both are too much unpredictable

 

[JustTakeAction]

how would / did you go about finding your niche or pursuit?

In my experience I started with website design. I went to dentists websites and emailed the owner of dental practices complimenting them on something. When they responded I basically offered them a free consult to get on a virtual call. A couple nos, then a yes. I just kept emailing and emailing dentists directly on their personal emails until I got the yes.

It felt like so many emails but really it only took less than 50 emails to get there. They were all customized a little but I was still sending like 7 an hour (in that quality range).

Keep in mind these weren't shady mass blasted spam emails. They were customized, high quality cold emails.

For the first client, I had an ambitious plan to improve their website doing stuff that I knew I could charge $5-10k for, but it would only take me a couple days to complete. I was offering high quality work though, not reselling some cheap fiverr gig or something shady like that. The client was super cool on the call and didn't ask for references or anything but I quickly saw how his needs were basically unlimited, so I was just honest with him about the situation and offered to do much of the project we were discussing for free to get some work samples.

He was ecstatic and supportive, we went back and forth throughout the process. Like 2 weeks later the project was delivered and completed. $0 earned.

However, the client gave me reviews all over the place, shoutouts on LinkedIn, and I turned what I did for him into a series of first hand LI posts and a case study that I posted on LI. Sure enough that was enough to get a bunch of inbound referrals and now I was fully loaded on high-paid client work. Combined with them all and continuing to follow up with building my online reputation, I had plenty of high client work to this day.

So then my niche became website design for dentists.

I built a business around this, and had a great story to tell about why I'm the best in this business. I was backed by great case studies, engaged followers, and testimonials from niche leaders.

It really was that simple. I've replicated that process more out of curiosity since then and it always works out the same way. I'm sure I could go completely broke with a new identity and within a month I'd be fully loaded on high paying clients again.

I think it's just a matter of being an actual real expert at something (enough to get a job doing some skill). You don't need any credentials at all, but you do need to be super knowledgeable about the service you're providing, so it's just clear from talking with you that you actually know what you're doing and can deliver great results. This builds trust.

And then take action to message some people until you can get some work. I think most people talk like they do, but 99% of people just don't have the courage and initiative to wake up one morning and be like, "You know, today I'm going to start emailing X niche of business owners offering Y service in Z way!" They think and think but never resolve to do something like that, and if they do they quickly shift gears or don't take any/enough action to achieve the objective.

Also, don't care if they pay you or not. I still do free work for new clients all the time and almost every time I do so I literally get 10x+ more revenue than what would be the equivalent billable hours from doing that work. Referrals and reviews are huge money makers, but usually when you do free work for someone like that, exhuming expertise and passion, you'll be the first person they or anyone they know messages when they're looking to do anything related to your field. And if your clients have businesses with over $1M in monthly revenue, it won't take long to be signing a long-term deal with them doing something.

 

[dgbanj]

In my experience I started with website design. I went to dentists websites and emailed the owner of dental practices complimenting them on something. When they responded I basically offered them a free consult to get on a virtual call. A couple nos, then a yes. I just kept emailing and emailing dentists directly on their personal emails until I got the yes.

It felt like so many emails but really it only took less than 50 emails to get there. They were all customized a little but I was still sending like 7 an hour (in that quality range).

Keep in mind these weren't shady mass blasted spam emails. They were customized, high quality cold emails.

For the first client, I had an ambitious plan to improve their website doing stuff that I knew I could charge $5-10k for, but it would only take me a couple days to complete. I was offering high quality work though, not reselling some cheap fiverr gig or something shady like that. The client was super cool on the call and didn't ask for references or anything but I quickly saw how his needs were basically unlimited, so I was just honest with him about the situation and offered to do much of the project we were discussing for free to get some work samples.

He was ecstatic and supportive, we went back and forth throughout the process. Like 2 weeks later the project was delivered and completed. $0 earned.

However, the client gave me reviews all over the place, shoutouts on LinkedIn, and I turned what I did for him into a series of first hand LI posts and a case study that I posted on LI. Sure enough that was enough to get a bunch of inbound referrals and now I was fully loaded on high-paid client work. Combined with them all and continuing to follow up with building my online reputation, I had plenty of high client work to this day.

So then my niche became website design for dentists.

I built a business around this, and had a great story to tell about why I'm the best in this business. I was backed by great case studies, engaged followers, and testimonials from niche leaders.

It really was that simple. I've replicated that process more out of curiosity since then and it always works out the same way. I'm sure I could go completely broke with a new identity and within a month I'd be fully loaded on high paying clients again.

I think it's just a matter of being an actual real expert at something (enough to get a job doing some skill). You don't need any credentials at all, but you do need to be super knowledgeable about the service you're providing, so it's just clear from talking with you that you actually know what you're doing and can deliver great results. This builds trust.

And then take action to message some people until you can get some work. I think most people talk like they do, but 99% of people just don't have the courage and initiative to wake up one morning and be like, "You know, today I'm going to start emailing X niche of business owners offering Y service in Z way!" They think and think but never resolve to do something like that, and if they do they quickly shift gears or don't take any/enough action to achieve the objective.

Also, don't care if they pay you or not. I still do free work for new clients all the time and almost every time I do so I literally get 10x+ more revenue than what would be the equivalent billable hours from doing that work. Referrals and reviews are huge money makers, but usually when you do free work for someone like that, exhuming expertise and passion, you'll be the first person they or anyone they know messages when they're looking to do anything related to your field. And if your clients have businesses with over $1M in monthly revenue, it won't take long to be signing a long-term deal with them doing something.

This is how I started too, mine was Real estate Lawyers.

 

[Af-Conqueror]

In my experience I started with website design. I went to dentists websites and emailed the owner of dental practices complimenting them on something. When they responded I basically offered them a free consult to get on a virtual call. A couple nos, then a yes. I just kept emailing and emailing dentists directly on their personal emails until I got the yes.

It felt like so many emails but really it only took less than 50 emails to get there. They were all customized a little but I was still sending like 7 an hour (in that quality range).

Keep in mind these weren't shady mass blasted spam emails. They were customized, high quality cold emails.

For the first client, I had an ambitious plan to improve their website doing stuff that I knew I could charge $5-10k for, but it would only take me a couple days to complete. I was offering high quality work though, not reselling some cheap fiverr gig or something shady like that. The client was super cool on the call and didn't ask for references or anything but I quickly saw how his needs were basically unlimited, so I was just honest with him about the situation and offered to do much of the project we were discussing for free to get some work samples.

He was ecstatic and supportive, we went back and forth throughout the process. Like 2 weeks later the project was delivered and completed. $0 earned.

However, the client gave me reviews all over the place, shoutouts on LinkedIn, and I turned what I did for him into a series of first hand LI posts and a case study that I posted on LI. Sure enough that was enough to get a bunch of inbound referrals and now I was fully loaded on high-paid client work. Combined with them all and continuing to follow up with building my online reputation, I had plenty of high client work to this day.

So then my niche became website design for dentists.

I built a business around this, and had a great story to tell about why I'm the best in this business. I was backed by great case studies, engaged followers, and testimonials from niche leaders.

It really was that simple. I've replicated that process more out of curiosity since then and it always works out the same way. I'm sure I could go completely broke with a new identity and within a month I'd be fully loaded on high paying clients again.

I think it's just a matter of being an actual real expert at something (enough to get a job doing some skill). You don't need any credentials at all, but you do need to be super knowledgeable about the service you're providing, so it's just clear from talking with you that you actually know what you're doing and can deliver great results. This builds trust.

And then take action to message some people until you can get some work. I think most people talk like they do, but 99% of people just don't have the courage and initiative to wake up one morning and be like, "You know, today I'm going to start emailing X niche of business owners offering Y service in Z way!" They think and think but never resolve to do something like that, and if they do they quickly shift gears or don't take any/enough action to achieve the objective.

Also, don't care if they pay you or not. I still do free work for new clients all the time and almost every time I do so I literally get 10x+ more revenue than what would be the equivalent billable hours from doing that work. Referrals and reviews are huge money makers, but usually when you do free work for someone like that, exhuming expertise and passion, you'll be the first person they or anyone they know messages when they're looking to do anything related to your field. And if your clients have businesses with over $1M in monthly revenue, it won't take long to be signing a long-term deal with them doing something.

Great story. I have started the same thing - Web development. I want to ask you a few questions, will it be ok if I DM you?

 

[glizmo]

In my experience I started with website design. I went to dentists websites and emailed the owner of dental practices complimenting them on something. When they responded I basically offered them a free consult to get on a virtual call. A couple nos, then a yes. I just kept emailing and emailing dentists directly on their personal emails until I got the yes.

It felt like so many emails but really it only took less than 50 emails to get there. They were all customized a little but I was still sending like 7 an hour (in that quality range).

Keep in mind these weren't shady mass blasted spam emails. They were customized, high quality cold emails.

For the first client, I had an ambitious plan to improve their website doing stuff that I knew I could charge $5-10k for, but it would only take me a couple days to complete. I was offering high quality work though, not reselling some cheap fiverr gig or something shady like that. The client was super cool on the call and didn't ask for references or anything but I quickly saw how his needs were basically unlimited, so I was just honest with him about the situation and offered to do much of the project we were discussing for free to get some work samples.

He was ecstatic and supportive, we went back and forth throughout the process. Like 2 weeks later the project was delivered and completed. $0 earned.

However, the client gave me reviews all over the place, shoutouts on LinkedIn, and I turned what I did for him into a series of first hand LI posts and a case study that I posted on LI. Sure enough that was enough to get a bunch of inbound referrals and now I was fully loaded on high-paid client work. Combined with them all and continuing to follow up with building my online reputation, I had plenty of high client work to this day.

So then my niche became website design for dentists.

I built a business around this, and had a great story to tell about why I'm the best in this business. I was backed by great case studies, engaged followers, and testimonials from niche leaders.

It really was that simple. I've replicated that process more out of curiosity since then and it always works out the same way. I'm sure I could go completely broke with a new identity and within a month I'd be fully loaded on high paying clients again.

I think it's just a matter of being an actual real expert at something (enough to get a job doing some skill). You don't need any credentials at all, but you do need to be super knowledgeable about the service you're providing, so it's just clear from talking with you that you actually know what you're doing and can deliver great results. This builds trust.

And then take action to message some people until you can get some work. I think most people talk like they do, but 99% of people just don't have the courage and initiative to wake up one morning and be like, "You know, today I'm going to start emailing X niche of business owners offering Y service in Z way!" They think and think but never resolve to do something like that, and if they do they quickly shift gears or don't take any/enough action to achieve the objective.

Also, don't care if they pay you or not. I still do free work for new clients all the time and almost every time I do so I literally get 10x+ more revenue than what would be the equivalent billable hours from doing that work. Referrals and reviews are huge money makers, but usually when you do free work for someone like that, exhuming expertise and passion, you'll be the first person they or anyone they know messages when they're looking to do anything related to your field. And if your clients have businesses with over $1M in monthly revenue, it won't take long to be signing a long-term deal with them doing something.

Thank you!

 

[seoways]

Had to choose SEO a decade ago, due to financial status of the family I cudnt pursue my higher studies, and left with no choice than choosing to go to a job. Its all giong well, a gradual growth, good income. More importantly, I have a stable and peaceful life.

Grateful to whoever and whichever are being supportive for my current status!

 

[xReminisce]

so I was curious what path you guys took, where's it got you, and are you happy with the result?

IM strictly
• SEO / SEM / SMM
• Graphic Design / Content Creation
• Web Design / Web Development
• Game Dev / App Dev
• Crypto projects

Offline wise
• Real Estate

Considering to venture
• A small Cafe/Restaurant