Been building for months, making basically $0. Need some advice

you can build anything, so sell the boring thing businesses already know they need. i went from the same place to steady money with one offer: i make your site fast, fixed price, before and after speed report. nobody needs convincing that slow is bad. 3 clients from 40 emails to local businesses with a bad mobile score. the saas can wait until something pays the rent

We're at the same spot as you, but our 'problem' is a really niche and not easy-to-promote SaaS.
As soon as I find valuable tools I'll come back and post, but for now, try spreading in all directions while also adding some value to communities where you can be helpful

What experience do you have with this industry? In terms of what you made money with before? It sounds like you are honestly clueless if you're jumping about doing many products without completing things. Nothing wrong with being clueless. But thinking that you should start a business, on something you are clueless about is not a good idea. Just try and make some money with something you done on a marketplace, or as a site, that you can promote in either a portfolio, or as a working site. Nothing predicts your future except you.

For my own journey, i went from animating crappy videos on youtube and making bank with merch designs. To creating my own animation software, which is what i plan to sell once I use it for my own purposes. I want to continue with merch, and animate in a program, i can control the features of.
I've got extensive experiance of photoshop/illustrator, and about 3 different animation packages. The time for all of this has probably taken me 8-10 years of many other tested failures too. Too find what doesn't work, you have to sometimes try it, and nail down the issue.

Put your time into ventures that you KNOW you can do well at. Test these for cheap. Otherwise you'll probably be doing the opposite and working on things you DON'T know about! lol

CloudwaysN said:

you can build anything, so sell the boring thing businesses already know they need. i went from the same place to steady money with one offer: i make your site fast, fixed price, before and after speed report. nobody needs convincing that slow is bad. 3 clients from 40 emails to local businesses with a bad mobile score. the saas can wait until something pays the rent

Click to expand...

Nice how much you sell it for?

Arbistoteles said:

We're at the same spot as you, but our 'problem' is a really niche and not easy-to-promote SaaS.
As soon as I find valuable tools I'll come back and post, but for now, try spreading in all directions while also adding some value to communities where you can be helpful

Click to expand...

Looking forward to it man ! Cheers

Panther28 said:

What experience do you have with this industry? In terms of what you made money with before? It sounds like you are honestly clueless if you're jumping about doing many products without completing things. Nothing wrong with being clueless. But thinking that you should start a business, on something you are clueless about is not a good idea. Just try and make some money with something you done on a marketplace, or as a site, that you can promote in either a portfolio, or as a working site. Nothing predicts your future except you.

For my own journey, i went from animating crappy videos on youtube and making bank with merch designs. To creating my own animation software, which is what i plan to sell once I use it for my own purposes. I want to continue with merch, and animate in a program, i can control the features of.
I've got extensive experiance of photoshop/illustrator, and about 3 different animation packages. The time for all of this has probably taken me 8-10 years of many other tested failures too. Too find what doesn't work, you have to sometimes try it, and nail down the issue.

Put your time into ventures that you KNOW you can do well at. Test these for cheap. Otherwise you'll probably be doing the opposite and working on things you DON'T know about! lol

Click to expand...

Im clueless loll but man that i do create good websites and mobile apps. I put a lot of effort and time in my projects. I closed a 20k deal for a website and mobile app. It looks great and works great, but I have hard time to reach out to people and close.
And congrats man on the success you're having with your projects. You're right, do what you're good at and you know.

Thanks a lot !!

Keep hustlin

When you build a SaaS, are you trying to come up with something completely new? How do you choose what to build?

Panther28 said:

What experience do you have with this industry? In terms of what you made money with before? It sounds like you are honestly clueless if you're jumping about doing many products without completing things. Nothing wrong with being clueless. But thinking that you should start a business, on something you are clueless about is not a good idea. Just try and make some money with something you done on a marketplace, or as a site, that you can promote in either a portfolio, or as a working site. Nothing predicts your future except you.

For my own journey, i went from animating crappy videos on youtube and making bank with merch designs. To creating my own animation software, which is what i plan to sell once I use it for my own purposes. I want to continue with merch, and animate in a program, i can control the features of.
I've got extensive experiance of photoshop/illustrator, and about 3 different animation packages. The time for all of this has probably taken me 8-10 years of many other tested failures too. Too find what doesn't work, you have to sometimes try it, and nail down the issue.

Put your time into ventures that you KNOW you can do well at. Test these for cheap. Otherwise you'll probably be doing the opposite and working on things you DON'T know about! lol

Click to expand...

Do you do POD for the merch or you do the printing yourself? Are you targeting local customers or just global users?
I tried POD about a year ago but it didn't quite work but I'm willing to try again with some twists.
But I just realized how POD actually cost and margins are very low even if you do get customers.
I'll really appreciate if I could get an answer

Rally09 said:

Do you do POD for the merch or you do the printing yourself? Are you targeting local customers or just global users?
I tried POD about a year ago but it didn't quite work but I'm willing to try again with some twists.
But I just realized how POD actually cost and margins are very low even if you do get customers.
I'll really appreciate if I could get an answer

Click to expand...

I just do the designs and then the marketing. I'm out of the loop temproarly atm, as i quit adobe at the start of the year, and i've been working on an image editing program that works with my tablet, and has feautres i want. But yes, the ones i have in my social media journey on bhw are:



These are the easy to go to and get approved merch sellers. Deviant art is a new one though, as they just turned on a new feature on galleries i think, so thats only in here to look at and think about.

You have to find either images from ai and trace them, as ai can't do svg yet, unless you get it to draw in an svg program as an agent, and the cost and quality isn't there yet. I just trace everything by hand so i can animate it later, and have it ready to work with.

Animals and costumes work well. I ahve a bunch of simple ginger tom cats that are dressed in different outfits as either fantasy or job type people. You can't copyright that sort of thing, and if you can promote and go viral its much easier on a good artwork design.

As for slogans, i had an account banned on a plaform years ago, becuase i wasn't paying attention to copy right for text slogans, and then it happened again. Now i will not be doing any text designs, unless its a branded name i own. That way i don't get any takedowns.

If you want to win, as with everything you learn its quantity and quality. Both take you sitting down and concentrating on one thing for a huge extended period, which is why most people don't do that well at merch.

When i started my first month was full time ceo hours, and i made $70. Second month i made $300, third month was $1k then it kept climbing till it peaked at $8k before i got banned from the platform for copyright.

You got to get your conveyor belt activated if you are lucky enough to have a vector program that you can afford to use or a good free one to find. There are those craft ones and i think craft vector or something, so that might be an interesting pickup.

The margin might be low but the hassle is even lower, lol. The amount of people buying across these sites, is into the millions daily, so you just need to ride a trend wave if you can, and lock in some designs in certain niche genres that are popualr in the news or marketplace at the time. (remember you can also promote your designs on socials which i notice most people don't) Good luck.

Panther28 said:

I just do the designs and then the marketing. I'm out of the loop temproarly atm, as i quit adobe at the start of the year, and i've been working on an image editing program that works with my tablet, and has feautres i want. But yes, the ones i have in my social media journey on bhw are:

Threadless

Displate

Cafepress Market

Cafepress Shop

Sticker Mule

bonfire

Deviant art

Printify

spreadshirt

Spring

These are the easy to go to and get approved merch sellers. Deviant art is a new one though, as they just turned on a new feature on galleries i think, so thats only in here to look at and think about.

You have to find either images from ai and trace them, as ai can't do svg yet, unless you get it to draw in an svg program as an agent, and the cost and quality isn't there yet. I just trace everything by hand so i can animate it later, and have it ready to work with.

Animals and costumes work well. I ahve a bunch of simple ginger tom cats that are dressed in different outfits as either fantasy or job type people. You can't copyright that sort of thing, and if you can promote and go viral its much easier on a good artwork design.

As for slogans, i had an account banned on a plaform years ago, becuase i wasn't paying attention to copy right for text slogans, and then it happened again. Now i will not be doing any text designs, unless its a branded name i own. That way i don't get any takedowns.

If you want to win, as with everything you learn its quantity and quality. Both take you sitting down and concentrating on one thing for a huge extended period, which is why most people don't do that well at merch.

When i started my first month was full time ceo hours, and i made $70. Second month i made $300, third month was $1k then it kept climbing till it peaked at $8k before i got banned from the platform for copyright.

You got to get your conveyor belt activated if you are lucky enough to have a vector program that you can afford to use or a good free one to find. There are those craft ones and i think craft vector or something, so that might be an interesting pickup.

The margin might be low but the hassle is even lower, lol. The amount of people buying across these sites, is into the millions daily, so you just need to ride a trend wave if you can, and lock in some designs in certain niche genres that are popualr in the news or marketplace at the time. (remember you can also promote your designs on socials which i notice most people don't) Good luck.

Click to expand...

I have used printify and Spring but haven't had luck. I was thinking it's my pricing (not sure if people still buy shirts for $15+, I could prices lower on regular platforms like Amazon, etc) but I'm not certain.
I believe you listed your items on your custom store and not the generic shops provided by the POD platforms?

Rally09 said:

I have used printify and Spring but haven't had luck. I was thinking it's my pricing (not sure if people still buy shirts for $15+, I could prices lower on regular platforms like Amazon, etc) but I'm not certain.
I believe you listed your items on your custom store and not the generic shops provided by the POD platforms?

Click to expand...

They all have marketplaces, i think only spreadshirt, and cafepress are the annoying one with double settintngs of your local store or their marketplace listing.

Skyblob91 said:

Hey everyone !

I've been trying different things online for the last few months and honestly I'm getting nowhere.

I can build websites, apps, SaaS, AI automations, landing pages, etc. I've tried selling web services, Etsy, affiliate stuff and I'm also working on a SaaS.

Problem is I'm making basically $0 right now. No sales for over 2 months.

I've even sent cold emails to business and cold calls to offer them landing pages at low cost. Employed closers on upwork to close them.

I think my problem is that I keep building stuff instead of figuring out how to actually get customers.

I'm thinking about dropping most of it and focusing on one service, maybe AI lead automation for businesses, or doing white label work for agencies.

For those of you actually making consistent money online, what would you focus on if you were in my position?

Not looking for a get rich quick method. Just need some outside opinions because clearly what I'm doing right now isn't working.

All help is appreciated !!

Thanks

Click to expand...

'I think my problem is that I keep building stuff instead of figuring out how to actually get customers.' you said it. and yes focus on one thing 'AI lead automation for businesses'

get on linkedin and ig and find some quality clients...a small sample size to test. don't go to big right away.

you are in what i call the "First Stage of Realization".
All you see in the internet, of people making money etc. is just to sell you, they actually work outside like all people.
dont be discourage i also work in front of the computer 17 hours per day, every day. and i use to make barely about $550 dollars per month, just enough to pay my rent and food.
Sadly i got permanentely banned from all regulated payment systems, leaving me only CRYPTO left, and i went from $550 per month to $1.13 per month, i literally starved for 2 years to be able to pay the rent.
I RADICALIZED but I STILL work 17 hours per day in front in the computer every single day since 2017.
i was able to make it to about $200 month in just CRYPTO related works and even when my rent is higher i somehow was able to stay at the minimum kilograms in the body, the minimum food i could, and just the exercise required to expel my high entropy contamination, to not waste more calories.
my goal is about $350 per month.
After your 1st stage of realization, almost 99.7% of people QUIT and go to real jobs, where 97.5% end up well, or better than keep trying, but people like YOU AND ME they are not only discriminated but also maybe even end up homeless because of being fired again and again.
the 2nd stage, which happens around the first 2 years of trying and trying without STOP is called "normalization" which is when you KILL all your "dreams" and "hopes" of ever living decently because of the internet but THIS IS WHEN you start to make money, after 2 years of hard trying.
which i calculate about $550 - $2,000 usd per month maximum.
after 1.5 years of that success you enter "stage 3" you SUDDENLY, GET PERMANENTELY BANNED FROM ALL! REGULATED PAYMENT APPS and BANKS at the same time.
this is the hardest stage, if you didnt save anything from stage 2, you will slowly be DRAINED by inflation + rent, you will spend years and years and i mean 5 or even more, trying to get BACK IN, failing to do so.
you will get thinner, you wont sleep, despite never doing the exxxtreme leftist trash of alcohol or drugs, or never kissing a girl or getting outside, or seeing your family after 15 years.
this is when you realize, STAGE 3, that there is just no way out... is the end. after 5 years you enter.
STAGE 4 : homelessness and eventually death. most people reach this stage about 30-35 years old. i will at about 34 years old so im average.


i just wish you luck in your journey and be prepared.

I hope its just a drunk guy story vladimirmakarov if its true, idk what to say. People are too stupid to earn money? 90%+ of population are stupid af but if you are here, you are thinking...
Skyblob91 - find a problem and make solution, get a business list in your town, call them and ask if they have problems with website, contact with clients, competition etc. do not offer solution on the phone, ask for meeting, prepare for this meeting with good solution, dont charge them once, offer monthly subscription. I have get first client in first week with that method for 200 usd/m, after 3 months I have 2500 usd/m from several clients for literally 15h of job per month + additional jobs paid separately. Take your phone and talk with real people.

I think you should focus on just one thing: building your website and sticking with it until you succeed. If you create high-quality content and use SEO to rank for competitive keywords on Google, customers will eventually come to you.

my message was to messy to understand but in resume.
1st Stage "Realization" (1-2 years) - realizing not even working 17 or 18 hours per day in a computer makes any income
2nd Stage "Normalization" - (2-4 years) most people never end up in this stage since they quit in stage 1, and go outside for a real job or back to their families, but with enough money saved, you finally are able to earn a little bit after 2 years of hard work of complete isolation and a 2mbps internet.
3rd Stage "Active Measures" (4-10 years) - This is when in a regulated payment system the world is currenty in, is an absolute truth that you willd end up permanetenly banned from all of them, leaving you with only what you saved on stage 2, and with the hope of cryptocurrency ever being used for normal payments, but that hope will forever last until you reach....
4th Stage "Final Destination" (3-4 months of survival) - This is after all of the remaining funds from stage 3 were spent into the most minimalistic way of life possible to keep it running, cheapest building, cheapest country, cheapest rent... no food, job,no family, no friends, no anything, best hope is 4 months of survival after ending in homelessness and eventual death.

Average Life expentancy if you dedicate 100% to the internet to "make a living" : 35 years

Skyblob91 said:

Hey everyone !

I've been trying different things online for the last few months and honestly I'm getting nowhere.

I can build websites, apps, SaaS, AI automations, landing pages, etc. I've tried selling web services, Etsy, affiliate stuff and I'm also working on a SaaS.

Problem is I'm making basically $0 right now. No sales for over 2 months.

I've even sent cold emails to business and cold calls to offer them landing pages at low cost. Employed closers on upwork to close them.

I think my problem is that I keep building stuff instead of figuring out how to actually get customers.

I'm thinking about dropping most of it and focusing on one service, maybe AI lead automation for businesses, or doing white label work for agencies.

For those of you actually making consistent money online, what would you focus on if you were in my position?

Not looking for a get rich quick method. Just need some outside opinions because clearly what I'm doing right now isn't working.

All help is appreciated !!

Thanks

Click to expand...

Hi you could create bots for playtoearn games, or even normal games with RWT (this is a blackhat method). One good example I can give is lord's mobile; you can have bundles where you automate 5-10 accounts where the more accounts you automate you charge less (incrementally). Last but not least this should be subscription based so you can earn money continuously.

Rawspele said:

'I think my problem is that I keep building stuff instead of figuring out how to actually get customers.' you said it. and yes focus on one thing 'AI lead automation for businesses'

get on linkedin and ig and find some quality clients...a small sample size to test. don't go to big right away.

Click to expand...

Yeah from what I've been reading more and more is really get out there and reach out !

vladimirmakarov said:

you are in what i call the "First Stage of Realization".
All you see in the internet, of people making money etc. is just to sell you, they actually work outside like all people.
dont be discourage i also work in front of the computer 17 hours per day, every day. and i use to make barely about $550 dollars per month, just enough to pay my rent and food.
Sadly i got permanentely banned from all regulated payment systems, leaving me only CRYPTO left, and i went from $550 per month to $1.13 per month, i literally starved for 2 years to be able to pay the rent.
I RADICALIZED but I STILL work 17 hours per day in front in the computer every single day since 2017.
i was able to make it to about $200 month in just CRYPTO related works and even when my rent is higher i somehow was able to stay at the minimum kilograms in the body, the minimum food i could, and just the exercise required to expel my high entropy contamination, to not waste more calories.
my goal is about $350 per month.
After your 1st stage of realization, almost 99.7% of people QUIT and go to real jobs, where 97.5% end up well, or better than keep trying, but people like YOU AND ME they are not only discriminated but also maybe even end up homeless because of being fired again and again.
the 2nd stage, which happens around the first 2 years of trying and trying without STOP is called "normalization" which is when you KILL all your "dreams" and "hopes" of ever living decently because of the internet but THIS IS WHEN you start to make money, after 2 years of hard trying.
which i calculate about $550 - $2,000 usd per month maximum.
after 1.5 years of that success you enter "stage 3" you SUDDENLY, GET PERMANENTELY BANNED FROM ALL! REGULATED PAYMENT APPS and BANKS at the same time.
this is the hardest stage, if you didnt save anything from stage 2, you will slowly be DRAINED by inflation + rent, you will spend years and years and i mean 5 or even more, trying to get BACK IN, failing to do so.
you will get thinner, you wont sleep, despite never doing the exxxtreme leftist trash of alcohol or drugs, or never kissing a girl or getting outside, or seeing your family after 15 years.
this is when you realize, STAGE 3, that there is just no way out... is the end. after 5 years you enter.
STAGE 4 : homelessness and eventually death. most people reach this stage about 30-35 years old. i will at about 34 years old so im average.


i just wish you luck in your journey and be prepared.

Click to expand...

Don't give up man. This is extreme

Nikolaos said:

Hi you could create bots for playtoearn games, or even normal games with RWT (this is a blackhat method). One good example I can give is lord's mobile; you can have bundles where you automate 5-10 accounts where the more accounts you automate you charge less (incrementally). Last but not least this should be subscription based so you can earn money continuously.

Click to expand...

Can this be done with ai?

try Tik Tok affiliate + ai videos, I know few guys who do it successfully. Just choose hype products and advertise it for commission

Hiring closers on Upwork before you even know how to close the offer yourself is usually just burning cash. What kind of volume were you actually doing on those cold emails and calls?

I suggest that you focus on a single project and make it the best it can possibly be.

tcod3r said:

try Tik Tok affiliate + ai videos, I know few guys who do it successfully. Just choose hype products and advertise it for commission

Click to expand...

This means creating a channel etc and getting alot of views? Do you think by buying the promote for a video to get views like 20$ for 30k views would worth it if we attach a affiliate link?

greymon said:

Hiring closers on Upwork before you even know how to close the offer yourself is usually just burning cash. What kind of volume were you actually doing on those cold emails and calls?

Click to expand...

Actually its commission only so I lose nothing. I did 7-10 calls a day and 100 emails per day

Juddy-Orange Media said:

I suggest that you focus on a single project and make it the best it can possibly be.

Click to expand...

Yeah thats what im working on now