21 years old, been trying online business for 6 years. Win And Lost and need advice from people Please read my history!

[xploadercpm]

Hey guys, I'm 21 years old from Portugal. I've been trying to make money online for around 6 years now. I've done a bit of everything websites, SEO, dropshipping, affiliate ads, content sites, automation, and many other things. A few years ago I went down the wrong path and got involved in fraud. I'm not proud of it. I got caught, dealt with the consequences, and since then I've been trying to build things legally. The problem is that legal business feels 100x harder. I know some people will say "good, it should be harder", and I get that. But I'm being honest here. For the last few years I've been constantly building projects, learning new skills, testing ideas, failing, trying again, failing again. Recently I built multiple SEO websites. Invested money, time, content, domains, hosting. So far the results are disappointing. Make like 2k month but the site is died and that's what bothers me the most everything I do that starts to go well dies after a few months or days. I don't know what kind of bad luck I have. Now I'm at a point where I feel completely stuck. Not because I don't want to work. Actually the opposite. I work every day. I think about business all day. I can't even relax properly because my brain is always trying to find the next opportunity. What I'm missing is direction. I also feel extremely isolated. Years ago I always had someone to brainstorm with. Today it's just me sitting in front of a computer trying to figure everything out alone. I've been talking to AI tools a lot recently because I genuinely ran out of people to ask. But honestly, I don't want another AI answer. I want answers from real people who have actually built something.
So my questions are

• Have you ever reached a point where you felt completely out of ideas?
• How did you get out of that phase?
• If you were 21 today, with decent SEO, marketing and technical skills, what would you focus on?
• Would you double down on one thing or keep testing opportunities?
  
  I'm not looking for motivation. I'm looking for honest advice from people who have actually made money online and survived the ups and downs. Thanks.

 

[xploadercpm]

 

[Panther28]

If these are your domains bro, every one of them is shit, and just a longshot. What is your actual interest, and niche expertise in? (outside of the general tech skills)

 

[Stavro]

For the last few years I've been constantly building projects, learning new skills, testing ideas, failing, trying again, failing again.

When you fail, do you spend time diagnosing why it failed, or do you jump straight into the next project?

I started in web design. When that failed, I didn't jump to some other niche entirely, I listened to my clients and provided what they actually needed, not what I imagined they needed.

 

[xploadercpm]

If these are your domains bro, every one of them is shit, and just a longshot. What is your actual interest, and niche expertise in? (outside of the general tech skills)

My biggest strengths are probably SEO, trend spotting, launching websites quickly , I basically know everything because I can grab onto basically anything and try to make money by taking advantage of opportunities. I spent four months making $2,000 a month with ads from Adsterra on a Roblox script site, but I depended on another site to generate backlinks to mine. But that's dead now. Looking back, I think one of my problems is that I've been chasing opportunities instead of building around a specific expertise or audience.

 

[xploadercpm]

When you fail, do you spend time diagnosing why it failed, or do you jump straight into the next project?

I started in web design. When that failed, I didn't jump to some other niche entirely, I listened to my clients and provided what they actually needed, not what I imagined they needed.

This is probably one of my weaknesses. I analyze failures, but I'm not sure if I dedicate enough time to them before moving on to the next task because, as I said in my story, maybe my brain is used to quick money from the things I've done, and nowadays if I see a project dying, I get paranoid and try to find something else right away. Sometimes, I convince myself that the opportunity is lost too early and start looking elsewhere

 

[wolfofdevstreet]

My lowest points was when i was sitting infront of my computer, staring into it, trying to think of something to do, and my mind just blanking, again and again, nonstop thoughts, nonstop the feeling of failure and nonstop the feeling of self doubt, so i can say ive been there alot of times, but im a unhealthy obsessive person so i get into this state like every half year or so, because i always have a feeling of not beig satisfied with what i have, i always want more and i always want better.

So everytime i reach a goal or i level up in a way i will be happy for a day or two, and then same unsatisfied feeling and a bunch of thoughts, anyways i usually get out of that state by just going for walks or a run and praying alot. but its easier said than done, and like i said, im unhealthy and i probably need therapy.

After a failure i focus on understanding WHY i failed, leaving ego aside, because ego will get in the way and tell you that you didnt fail because of you, you failed because you were unlucky, and once i understand why i failed, i try again until i succeed, because jumping from one thing to the other in short time is never the answer, unless the reason for failure really is that what you did is hard to make work or is a bad idea, then i move on to the next thing, but always 1 thing at a time.

If i were you right now, i would take a look at where things are going wrong, understand why its going wrong and fixing it and trying again, and id focus on doing everything at least 3 or 4 times better than the first time around, so lets say you take a maths test, and you score 1 out of 10, learn from your mistakes, do more homework, and take the test again, you will score 3 out 10, and so on and so forth until you reach 10 out of 10, like i said tho, easier said than done.

wish you all the best

 

[Stavro]

if I see a project dying, I get paranoid and try to find something else right away.

Businesses don't survive because they never fail, they survive because the operators work through those repeated failures instead of running from them.

Your Roblox site, for example, had a single point of failure. The niche may not be dead, and your site probably wasn't bad, but the setup needed to be more stable.

Before starting your next project, pick one failed project and do a proper postmortem. What made it succeed? What made it fail? In hindsight, what could you have done differently to keep it running? You're already finding opportunities, your next step is making them less fragile.

 

[xploadercpm]

My lowest points was when i was sitting infront of my computer, staring into it, trying to think of something to do, and my mind just blanking, again and again, nonstop thoughts, nonstop the feeling of failure and nonstop the feeling of self doubt, so i can say ive been there alot of times, but im a unhealthy obsessive person so i get into this state like every half year or so, because i always have a feeling of not beig satisfied with what i have, i always want more and i always want better.

So everytime i reach a goal or i level up in a way i will be happy for a day or two, and then same unsatisfied feeling and a bunch of thoughts, anyways i usually get out of that state by just going for walks or a run and praying alot. but its easier said than done, and like i said, im unhealthy and i probably need therapy.

After a failure i focus on understanding WHY i failed, leaving ego aside, because ego will get in the way and tell you that you didnt fail because of you, you failed because you were unlucky, and once i understand why i failed, i try again until i succeed, because jumping from one thing to the other in short time is never the answer, unless the reason for failure really is that what you did is hard to make work or is a bad idea, then i move on to the next thing, but always 1 thing at a time.

If i were you right now, i would take a look at where things are going wrong, understand why its going wrong and fixing it and trying again, and id focus on doing everything at least 3 or 4 times better than the first time around, so lets say you take a maths test, and you score 1 out of 10, learn from your mistakes, do more homework, and take the test again, you will score 3 out 10, and so on and so forth until you reach 10 out of 10, like i said tho, easier said than done.

wish you all the best

That’s one of my biggest problems. Right now, I just stand on the street staring into space, thinking and thinking, and then since I have TDH my mind goes blank, and I try to think again. These days, I feel like I’ve tried everything. I’m sick of seeing guys with my age who are doing great in life, while here I am. I’ve come so close, unfortunately, to doing bad things, but I paid the price for what I did. But these days, even when I’m trying everything right, it feels 1,000 times harder. I know how to do it, but still, I don’t know. I’ve fixed several mistakes, but it never works out I don’t even know why anymore. And then, when I’m out of ideas, I end up messaging IAS, like claude opus then switching to gpt 5.5 because I want a better idea I feel like an NPC when I go online and write about how to make money online, but I'm not that kind of person, and that's what makes me the angriest to have ended up in this situation after everything. but I’m sick of talking to IAS it just messes with my head more and more, because I used to have business partners where I could make 1,000 times what I make now on my

 

[xploadercpm]

Businesses don't survive because they never fail, they survive because the operators work through those repeated failures instead of running from them.

Your Roblox site, for example, had a single point of failure. The niche may not be dead, and your site probably wasn't bad, but the setup needed to be more stable.

Before starting your next project, pick one failed project and do a proper postmortem. What made it succeed? What made it fail? In hindsight, what could you have done differently to keep it running? You're already finding opportunities, your next step is making them less fragile.

I understand that in the case of Roblox, it was because I was relying on another website where I posted my scripts so people would go there and then visit my site. When that site blocked that method, I was left in the lurch again. Because whenever I make videos on YouTube, I always get shadowbanned. I could try doing SEO for Roblox scripts, but there’s already competition.

 

[Stavro]

I could try doing SEO for Roblox scripts, but there’s already competition.

Competition isn't a reason to quit, it's proof that your niche is alive and well.

If you let panic take over every time something gets harder, you're never going to build something that lasts.

 

[xploadercpm]

Competition isn't a reason to quit, it's proof that your niche is alive and well.

If you let panic take over every time something gets harder, you're never going to build something that lasts.

Actually, the Roblox scripts site was the one that lasted me the longest. But now it’s been down for a few weeks after the fix they rolled out on the other site. I’m still going to try to do something. But I really doubt anything will change, given my bad luck. I have two other sites one was a site I set up to capitalize on the World Cup; it got about 7,000 impressions a day, but that only lasted two days. On the third day, Google completely cut off the impressions; today the site gets about 5 impressions a day. Another example was a week ago when I had the idea to create a website a complete wiki based on a famous game that had just been released. Everything was going well for the first two days, with over 20,000 impressions a day. But on the third day, once again, Google cut them off, and now it only gets 3 to 6 impressions per day.

 

[Loveoverenvy]

The problem is your thinking. Specialize in one area well and do this well. Whatever you do, you need to enjoy. I've seen people over and over copying ideas just because they make money. Those who copy in 99% time they'll fail. SImply because

they don't have passion, they copy and competitors have 2 HUGE advantages. First one is time other one is money because they are already years in front of you.

So TL DR find passion. Do it well and money will come.

 

[xploadercpm]

The problem is your thinking. Specialize in one area well and do this well. Whatever you do, you need to enjoy. I've seen people over and over copying ideas just because they make money. Those who copy in 99% time they'll fail. SImply because

they don't have passion, they copy and competitors have 2 HUGE advantages. First one is time other one is money because they are already years in front of you.

So TL DR find passion. Do it well and money will come.

This is my passion. I dropped out of school when I was 15, and I’ve been doing this for 6 years. I’m 21 years old. My passion is this, really. From programming to marketing to make money. Whatever it is, all of this is a passion for me. But lately, things have been tough life has been throwing a lot at me

 

[awesomewebsites]

So you started at 15. That alone makes you better than 99% of other people trying to make money online. I also remember when I was first out of college and searched for how to make money online using Google. From that day to today I had to change nature of work multiple times. Like , I started as content writer and the demand was at peak for this around 2010-14. Then when demand for content reduced, I switched to other ways. Even today I keep brainstorming on methods that could for long in future.

 

[Stavro]

But I really doubt anything will change, given my bad luck.

That's not bad luck, that's Google being Google. If I abandoned every site after the first spike faded, I wouldn't have a business.

When the traffic spike fades, build more content, evaluate your competitors, and figure out why traffic dropped. If you're just treating these projects as one-and-done stagnant pages, Google has no reason to keep sending the same traffic your way.

Another example was a week ago when I had the idea to create a website a complete wiki based on a famous game that had just been released.

That's another problem. You're coming into a market that others started chasing years ago.

If you want to capitalize on a major event or release, you need to start your work the moment it's announced, not years later. You can't catch a train that's running at full speed. Instead of chasing the 2026 World Cup, maybe try building something for the 2030 World Cup. You'll have four years to make meaningful, useful content, four years of SEO and authority, etc.

 

[xploadercpm]

So you started at 15. That alone makes you better than 99% of other people trying to make money online. I also remember when I was first out of college and searched for how to make money online using Google. From that day to today I had to change nature of work multiple times. Like , I started as content writer and the demand was at peak for this around 2010-14. Then when demand for content reduced, I switched to other ways. Even today I keep brainstorming on methods that could for long in future.

Yeah, I get it!. In my case, I refuse to work a regular job. It’s not that I want to be a bum far from it but my perspective has always been different. I’ve come close before, but oh well… I keep trying and trying and trying, but my brain is getting more and more fried.

 

[xploadercpm]

It just makes me sad that when I committed fraud, I breathed like I’d never breathed before. There may be things you can never do, but then I saw the price of freedom. Two days in jail were enough for me. Today I’m back to doing legal things, but as I said, it’s 1,000 times more hard to see results.

 

[Stavro]

I refuse to work a regular job.

A successful business is a regular job. The only difference is you're trading stable hours and a harsh boss for endless hours and no boss.

 

[xploadercpm]

A successful business is a regular job. The only difference is you're trading stable hours and a harsh boss for endless hours and no boss.

Exactly. You get what I mean