From Zero to Hero For, Like, The 18th Time...

frozen_yoda said:

Without quoting your whole post, I am glad to see you getting back on track and in a solid rhythm! Keep it up man, success can be a drug of it's own. Hard to compare since they are completely different feelings, but it's definitely a high watching your bank account grow.

For myself, yes it has been off and on. Looking back now a little over 10 years later from letting go of my first business I've had lots of ups and downs. Most of the downs were in some way related to drugs or alcohol in one way or another and have had some pretty negative experiences that are probably worse than losing the first business. Someday I may share some of those, but as of right now don't really feel like getting into them.

Life nowadays is going much better and I am running a couple of businesses and actually starting another one within the next few weeks with a business partner for accounting. He will manage the day to day operations, CPAs, bookkeepers, etc and I will focus on the software development, strategic business planning, and outsourcing the marketing. We are going in 50/50 which is a first for me and I know that can cause problems when it comes to decision making as opposed to 51/49 with a 50/50 profit split. My other two companies I own 100% and like it that way, but this guy really knows his stuff and has managed accounting businesses in the past.

I bought my first house when I was 25 in SoCal with 4 br, 3bth, 3 car garage, swimming pool and made some bad decisions with drugs/alcohol that once again put my life to shambles. A couple of other big life events and I ended up working for the US gov on some high profile projects for our national warning system.

I'm never (hopefully) going back now and believe everything will be up from here.

Keep us updated on your progress and feel free to send me a PM anytime. Might talk to you at some point for another idea.

Best,
Master Yoda

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Grudge said:

What was the name of the book and is there any way to get/buy it?
I'd love to read it c:

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Total Noob said:

It's on hold right now (my AZ Kindle account was randomly banned a few days after publishing it). Feel free to PM me and I'll send you the manuscript!

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Xdfffninja said:

I fucking love your energy, keep it up mate.

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Elvlin said:

You should write your life story as a book, than publish it.

Well that aside, I think your biggest problem is money management, you should distirbute it as percentage than diversify it as investment, and emergency money
also you need to find a good reason to motivate you doing this. Wish you can rise and keep the momentum, not to fall on the same trap

Btw, i am interested in your old book, if you don't mind sharing it

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aristocratic said:

i respect you for your honesty!
Assume that the BH website was the one that you tried to sell on BHW marketplace, correct? (Just curious)

GL on your journey! Im pretty sure you will be back with $10M like all other Jr Excs lol

ps. How old are you if i may ask?

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Opulentos said:

Has UpWork given you reliable clientele? I want to join it and get some additional funds in but not sure how good the site is

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Grudge said:

I've PM'ed you c:

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xScythian said:

Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day;

Teach a man how to fish and you feed him for a lifetime.

You definitely know how to fish my friend

I'm glad you have got the right mindset again and you're taking action, you'll be back to where you were in no time bro, seriously, keep it up.

I'll be following your progress good luck!

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Scorpion Ghost said:

Give me a Billion dollars, and you can fish for me xD

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xScythian said:

Maybe your majesty would like some caviar aswell?

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Total Noob said:

Secured a pretty nice apartment for Jan 1. I have a roommate, but I'll have my own bathroom, so it's fine. Plan is to live here for six months until I have transportation + the funds to get my own apartment. Location is excellent. Sublime. Superb. Perfect. It's 10 minutes to one of the largest beaches in America and five minutes to every major part of the city that I live in. Very happy with it. (Still need to get a form of transportation before I go anywhere, of course...)

In the meantime, I contacted one of my friends in the area. He'll let me stay in his spare room from Dec 1 to Jan 1 for a very agreeable rate. Very happy with this as well, because I have certainly worn out my welcome at my current place. It's not like I'm a slob, but having someone crashing on your couch gets old after a while.

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Total Noob said:

I started IM when I was 13, back when Xrumer was the holy grail of blackhat SEO and Scrapebox didn’t even exist.

Since then, due to passive IM earnings, I have been on vacation for the vast majority of my life.

Most recently, I spent the past year on vacation, living off of one website that was ranking for ~20 keywords.

I deleted the website from existence about three months ago, as I decided that I didn’t want to be living off of blackhat money anymore (the website was shady).

One month ago, I decided to go on a grand adventure with the remainder of my savings... and failed miserably on the second day, albeit for a reason out of my control.

I find myself once again at Zero: $1,000 to my name, no car (in a city where you need a car), and crashing on a friend’s couch.

Now, I’ve been here before. Many of you are responsible people. Me, not so much. I’ve made a lot of money with IM, but I’ve also been a degenerate for most of my life.

It was always a vicious cycle...

1: Be broke
2: Create one or more passive income streams
3: Start coasting
4: Live “paycheck to paycheck” and never save any money
5: Watch as the passive income streams eventually evaporate
6: Repeat

I’m looking to break free from that cycle this time around.

So, this will be a journey about IM and getting back to Hero status, but also my personal journey to stop being so reckless and such a degenerate.

For example, I had about $300 to my name about a month ago (after I failed on my grand adventure). Recklessly, I put $50 onto a poker website. With that $50, I ended up placing top three in not just one, but two tournaments. Added $2,400 to my bank account. Also landed a copywriting client for $400. I could have purchased a used motorcycle right then and there. All I would have had to do would be get the funds for an apartment.

What did I do instead? Recklessly, I decided I was going to play poker for money. Lost about ⅔ of my earnings and also spent a bunch on superfluous living expenses. So now, I’m at $1,000, no car, no apartment. Fun. Alright...

I need to make money immediately, so I do not have the luxury of doing things that I’m not experienced in.

I have three talents that I can use to make immediate money.

WRITING

About four years ago, I was a fairly successful freelance copywriter.

I eventually stopped because actual work didn’t mesh well with my degenerate lifestyle.

But I definitely have some solid ability in this arena, and just a few solid clients can get me out of the financial rut I’m in right now.

So far, Upwork has been the best platform for me.

So, every day, I’ll be applying to almost every copywriting gig on Upwork.

A major problem is that my Upwork profile is still quite new: I have $300 earned and four total projects with two five-star reviews, which isn’t terrible, but it makes me look like an amateur.

My portfolio is also old, and I’m way better at writing than I was back when I was freelancing a couple years prior.

So, I’ll be doing three things overall to make immediately money by slinging copy:

1: Creating a really, really nice-looking website
2: Bidding on projects on Upwork almost immediately after they’re posted, so I don’t get lost in the muck
3: Updating my portfolio items (and editing them) so my current level of skill is accurately reflected in the writing

KEYWORD RESEARCH

I am also quite good at keyword research. I’ve lived off of passive SEO money for most of my life, but I’ve never built a link by hand. I just buy links and pray. This approach has always worked because the competition has always been so weak.

I’m not sure exactly what I will use this skill for, but I will start abusing the Ahrefs free trial in a few days to gather up some good keywords. Once I get a couple of solid keyword lists going, I will probably aggressively build an authority website.

This approach isn’t exactly conducive to quick cash, and I’ll need to put some money into the website to pay the writers (I can’t write the content myself -- not a good use of time resources). I’ll also need to pay for SEO costs (whitehat outreach). So I may also try slinging some keywords again like I did a few years ago to pay for these costs and possibly provide a nice real-life financial cushion.

Overall, for now, I expect copywriting to be a far more immediate source of income. But I am also, obviously, looking to get my passive income back up and running as well. Who isn't?

EXPERIMENTAL: COACHING

Keyword research and finding clients are both tedious tasks. So, I need something to do when I want to take a break but still be productive.

I spent the past year writing a book, and I have to say, it’s pretty damn good. 60,000 words, 255 pages -- a real book.

Hilariously, two days after I published the book on Amazon, Amazon decided to ban my account. Why? I had two books blocked a couple years ago, and they randomly decided to ban the account now.

So, there goes that.

I am going to repurpose the content inside of the book in two ways:

The first half of the book was about all of my various blackhat schemes over the years. I’ll post some of those chapters directly on this thread, purely for entertainment purposes.

I’ll then take the self-help part of the book and repurpose it into an article series.

That article series will contain a ton of value and also push an additional info product of some sort (that I will create). I’ll also offer virtual coaching.

Though I’ve been through many financial ups and downs in my life, I’ve always been an incredibly optimistic person and can use logic and science to back up my relentless optimism, so I feel I have a lot to offer in that realm. We will see.

I will send traffic to the first part in the article series somehow, then hopefully, they read all four articles and then buy whatever I’m selling.

Even if they don’t, I will just be happy that they have read the info, as it took me a shit load of time to put together.

May also consider creating some YouTube promotional stuff to push the product.

Since I am banned from pretty much every major web platform out there (except YouTube and Reddit), getting traffic to the article series will be tricky. And I only have a Chromebook right now, so I can’t really get technical with any workarounds. No worries, I’ll figure something out.

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Overall, I won’t be doing anything blackhat over the duration of this journey.

This is a big deviation from my previously-held attitude on whitehat vs. blackhat.

I’ll update this thread every few days with progress, stories, and random anecdotes from my day-to-day.

Please excuse any spelling or grammar errors, as I won’t be editing these posts very much.

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Opulentos said:

Great to hear. Can I ask how moving out will help you? Wouldn't you spend most of your Upwork client funds on just rent and bills, making you have to work more to live better?

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slager889 said:

You'll be fine. Your self awareness is your biggest asset. Your story isn't that uncommon. Just need to work on being more responsible with money. "The Richest Man in Babylon" is a good read for adults with degenerate money habits. Did wonders for me, I'm sure you'll find it just as helpful. Rooting for you bud. I've struggled with similar demons, and writing has been the one thing that could always get me back on track.

Also find a hero. You don't have to know the person. Just someone you admire and is doing the kind of things you want to do. Then, study their habits. Everything!

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Total Noob said:

I have moved to a different friend's house. This friend has a house, not an apartment, and he doesn't have roommates, so this is a big improvement. I am able to be so much more productive. I actually have a desk (table, at least) to work at. I still sometimes work from bed. Habits. I do not feel like I am encroaching on someone's space (I paid this friend a couple hundred dollars for the month, which is far less than the average price of the city I live in, but it is enough to make me not feel like a mooch).

My mental state has been absolutely fantastic because of some certain materials that I read the other day. Here is the link. Browse this website at your own risk. If you are at the level of understanding where you can grasp the concepts discussed on this website, particularly in the metaphysical section, nothing will ever be the same. It takes elementary concepts, like manifestation, and gives you not just the solution to the equation, but the equation itself. The concepts on this website are the code to the simulation that we live in. Start with Fringe Knowledge for Beginners, linked at the bottom of the page (free) on the linked website, and power through it. If you can read and understand that, begin on the essays contained on the website, and your perspective will shift in a way that you almost cannot fathom. I have had a lot of perspective-shifting events occur in my life, and none came close to reading the materials on those websites, particularly in the gnostic and metaphysical sections. If you read Fringe Knowledge for Beginners and think it's batshit insane drivel, I don't blame you. However, I am not writing this recommendation for you. I am writing this recommendation for the one or few people who read those materials, and you hear the audible switching of a flip as one step closer to transcendence is taken.

As far as writing goes, my fingers have been dancing along the keyboard and outputting the word equivalent to gold. I've also been using my newfound wisdom on reality creation to tap into the higher forces of Good and basically generate clients out of thin air. Practically, I adjusted my cover letter and decided to start applying only to gigs that involve digital marketing agencies and ongoing work. The cover letter, so far, has had a 100% success rate. On Upwork, that's f*cking crazy! I have a couple different clients paying me $200ish per article. At this rate, money worries will be a thing of the past in just a week or two. I will have paid for this current month of housing, plus my next month plus the remainder of the security deposit. I am earning significantly more than my expenses now, so once that goal is reached, it's just a matter of getting a couple thousand dollars together for a supersport motorcycle. Then we're creating a stack.

Partnerships are going well. One is in full swing. I need to do some grindy manual work for the other one right now, but after that, things are set. The first one (the one in full swing) has more long-term potential, but the second one has the potential for massive short-term success, and I guess long term as well, but it's definitely a little bit more of a shortcut-driven strategy, mainly through thin-ish content and blackhat SEO, than the first one is.

Overall, things are going so much better than they were when I started this thread. The positive changes are being reflected in the lucidity of my writing, even as I type this message to you now.

To be continued...

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Jammy0308 said:

I had a quick glance at fringe knowledge and it lost me at "life force energy" and "esthetic and astral bodies". Are they all metaphors for things or is it suggesting that fruits contain life force energy?

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