How can I improve my income!

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JamesK85

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Hi everyone,

I'm currently working in Asia as a Content Moderator, earning around $13 per day. I graduated from a Civil Engineering university and used to work as a Civil Engineer. However, due to delayed salaries and the need to travel far from my family for work, I decided to switch to an office job.

Now I'm working as a Content Moderator, but I feel like it's a dead-end job with little opportunity for personal or professional growth. I’m considering starting my own small business in home renovation or designing coffee shops. I also want to grow my personal brand and reputation by creating content on YouTube.

I’m planning to spend part of my salary on Facebook Ads to promote both my business and my YouTube channel and Tiktok channel, hoping to get some freelance work as soon as possible. But my budget is quite limited, so I'm not sure if it will be effective.

Do you think this is a realistic approach? I'm open to any suggestions or advice on how to move forward with a small budget and limited time. Thank you all!
 
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I think you should skip the paid ads for now, just do everything you can for free/low cost. Once you have the system all set up and making sales, then give it a boost with paid ads, but you will most likely need a big budget for the ads to split test, good luck you can do this!
 
Bighomie827 said:
Find a side hustle
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Jason Starkey said:
I think you should skip the paid ads for now, just do everything you can for free/low cost. Once you have the system all set up and making sales, then give it a boost with paid ads, but you will most likely need a big budget for the ads to split test, good luck you can do this!
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I'm trying to start a business, but I think my biggest problem is finding customers. I tried running ads, but they didn’t seem to work. I was advertising home renovation services, but I think my target customers are too old to respond well to online ads. So I decided to switch to coffee shop design, targeting a younger audience.
However, I realize that designing a coffee shop involves a lot more work, especially because each shop needs a unique concept and signature style. But that’s okay — can you give me some suggestions or tips on how to get my first customer?
I'm also trying to figure out how to attract more clients in general. I've already told all my friends about what I do, but most of them are around my age and don’t have good budget and any network. What do you guys think I should do?
 
Build some passive income ways. My dad used to tell me to make money even while we are sleeping.
 
JamesK85 said:
I'm trying to start a business, but I think my biggest problem is finding customers. I tried running ads, but they didn’t seem to work. I was advertising home renovation services, but I think my target customers are too old to respond well to online ads. So I decided to switch to coffee shop design, targeting a younger audience.
However, I realize that designing a coffee shop involves a lot more work, especially because each shop needs a unique concept and signature style. But that’s okay — can you give me some suggestions or tips on how to get my first customer?
I'm also trying to figure out how to attract more clients in general. I've already told all my friends about what I do, but most of them are around my age and don’t have good budget and any network. What do you guys think I should do?
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I think you should consider partnering with someone or offering your services to those who need them before starting out on your own. This way, you can at least get insight about the local market, understand how things work, and identify the best way to move forward.
 
JamesK85 said:
I’m planning to spend part of my salary on Facebook Ads to promote both my business and my YouTube channel and Tiktok channel, hoping to get some freelance work as soon as possible. But my budget is quite limited, so I'm not sure if it will be effective.
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You'll burn and waste your money doing this. Unless you know how to create ads that convert. This may seem simple, but it's not always.

I don't know the kind of freelance jobs you intend to do, why not join communities where your potential clients are present, then build your presence there. From there you can start taking clients. You'll no waste money doing this, instead spend that money on improving your skill where necessary.
 
Don't waste your money on fb ads, like its suddenly going to be the only thing that propels your business. Exhast all free social media channels first, then once your income goes up spend a small % on google or FB ads whatever. Not like up and beyond your budget if you don't have a business. This is what successful established companies do, They have a marketing department that gets a % of the overall profit the company makes. Without the money, its your job to bootstrap and get creative.

Thats the reality check part. Now for the good news. You tried at something you enjoyed, but you couldn't commit to the lifestyle that goes along with being an employee of your dream pastime. So yes, the best option is to build a business around your current envieoentmtn. That means you need tech hardware and software to produce content that promotes what you want to do.

Even better news part! lol It sounds like your passionate enough to take this to the next level, as you quit it already to make ends meet and spend more time with family. Don't give up your current employment for anything, unless its a better job in your dream sector. Otherwise, build your dream full time, and build someone else's dream for every dollar to fuel your dream till you make your own way. Don't underestimate your failure which has brought you to a realization of enough to live a life of purpose. Take that purpose and run with it.

  • Build a business in your passion, and define your mission statement.
  • Delegate your affordable time and money to the research department first.
  • Then once you have something you think will work, and approach a new angle, whatever new to the market it is, then instruct yourself and the marketing department to put the infrastructure in place that you need
  • Take advantage of every free method available that has ever been mentioned on BHW.
  • Continue this cycle, and gradually scale up each notable pressure point that looks like it makes a dramatic impact on your business (coupons, deals, face-to-face, videos, articles)
 
Panther28 said:
Don't waste your money on fb ads, like its suddenly going to be the only thing that propels your business. Exhast all free social media channels first, then once your income goes up spend a small % on google or FB ads whatever. Not like up and beyond your budget if you don't have a business. This is what successful established companies do, They have a marketing department that gets a % of the overall profit the company makes. Without the money, its your job to bootstrap and get creative.

Thats the reality check part. Now for the good news. You tried at something you enjoyed, but you couldn't commit to the lifestyle that goes along with being an employee of your dream pastime. So yes, the best option is to build a business around your current envieoentmtn. That means you need tech hardware and software to produce content that promotes what you want to do.

Even better news part! lol It sounds like your passionate enough to take this to the next level, as you quit it already to make ends meet and spend more time with family. Don't give up your current employment for anything, unless its a better job in your dream sector. Otherwise, build your dream full time, and build someone else's dream for every dollar to fuel your dream till you make your own way. Don't underestimate your failure which has brought you to a realization of enough to live a life of purpose. Take that purpose and run with it.

  • Build a business in your passion, and define your mission statement.
  • Delegate your affordable time and money to the research department first.
  • Then once you have something you think will work, and approach a new angle, whatever new to the market it is, then instruct yourself and the marketing department to put the infrastructure in place that you need
  • Take advantage of every free method available that has ever been mentioned on BHW.
  • Continue this cycle, and gradually scale up each notable pressure point that looks like it makes a dramatic impact on your business (coupons, deals, face-to-face, videos, articles)
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This may help a lot. Thank you sir!
 
It can. But take note, that it would really take you a long time, and you'll need a lot of patience. If the content would make you happy, then that would be nice as you'd really enjoy it as a side thing. Personally, don't spend money on it, let it grow naturally.
 
In case of building my own personal brand like Youtube Tiktok channel, how should i accelerate, should invest on ads or smt else
 
JamesK85 said:
Hi everyone,

I'm currently working in Asia as a Content Moderator, earning around $13 per day. I graduated from a Civil Engineering university and used to work as a Civil Engineer. However, due to delayed salaries and the need to travel far from my family for work, I decided to switch to an office job.

Now I'm working as a Content Moderator, but I feel like it's a dead-end job with little opportunity for personal or professional growth. I’m considering starting my own small business in home renovation or designing coffee shops. I also want to grow my personal brand and reputation by creating content on YouTube.

I’m planning to spend part of my salary on Facebook Ads to promote both my business and my YouTube channel and Tiktok channel, hoping to get some freelance work as soon as possible. But my budget is quite limited, so I'm not sure if it will be effective.

Do you think this is a realistic approach? I'm open to any suggestions or advice on how to move forward with a small budget and limited time. Thank you all!
Click to expand...
I may be interested in hiring you for $13/day, and if you're any good, maybe we can get to $26/day. Maybe we can get you $200.
Being a content moderator is definitely a dead-end job. You're not going to advance past the position because nobody wants to promote you into a new position because then they would have to hire a content moderator.

The only thing that I would suggest doing is reaching out to HR companies saying that you are a content moderator and maybe moderating content for other companies. Maybe use a platform like Instantly to send cold emails to HR professionals and a LinkedIn Automation bot to send messages to HR professionals, explain to them that you are a content moderator. I wouldn't say anything about the civil engineering degree as it has no relevance. I wish you the best of luck.
 
I think your on the right track by using your skill in design and renovation , that way more valuable long term than moderating content. Starting small on YouTube and TikTok makes sense, just be consistent even if you cant spend much on ads yet. Organic growth can still work, especially in a niche like home improvement.
 
I too suggest the same as most of the experts said here, dont overburn your savings in FB ads at initial point of time, make some little money, reinvest the same, and increase it 10% on each cycle, so you can understand the game in a safe plot.
 
Consider working for platforms like appen, outlier, alignerr. This does not only give you a good and steady income but also teaches you a lot about the other side of the business. Reviewing and rating FB ads of various different businesses and niches - and being paid well for doing so - is very valuable.

I like your honest idea of home renovation or designing coffee shops.

Make some money, learn what university can't teach you and take it from there. Good luck!
 
Thank you guys, cause everytime I tried to make a call when I got a customer on FB but didn't go well. Do not have demand, too far (wrong location)... I just feel like "throw money out the window" for FB ads. I’m also thinking about creating my own network. Who do u guys think I should have on my team? Maybe an accountant, a lawyer... I feel like I have so many things to do right now, but not enough time to get them all done, rn I'm trying step by step thing by thing. I did think about speed up but Ads do not work.
 
thinking in too much detail is a waste of time. Team building etc. is unnecessary. You need to think like a simple lemonade vendor. First of all, what you need to do is find the lemon, produce your own lemonade and choose the location. Be there. You need to find a niche where you can earn small budgets. Then, I recommend that you create content only with the keywords of the neighborhoods you are located and can serve via Google and local search engines. Focusing on words with lower competition and search volume instead of high competition words can help you reach more customers than you think.
 
And I feel like if I return to Construction, I’d have to trade off things like delayed salaries, frequent business trips, and drinking-heavy meetings — all just for the sake of career advancement. In our culture, drinking often feels like a necessary part of getting work or securing contracts, especially if you're not the boss — similar to how it is in Korea. Every time I go through that cycle, it feels like I’m slowly destroying myself. That’s why I’m seriously considering starting my own business to break free from it.
 
I can relate to your situation. Your plan makes sense and using your engineering skills for a small business combined with content creation could really work. Try building an audience with useful or behind-the-scenes posts before spending on ads. Platforms like Fiverr or Upwork could also help you land some freelance work early on. Keep going, you're heading in a good direction.
 
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