What methods would you recommend to make money?

oatmeal

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Usually, people spend and dedicate a large portion of their lives studying, training,
educating, and gaining experience in a specific field where they eventually become
competent enough to make a living out of it.

The idea is that if person A has 25 years of experience and training vs person B who doesn't,
person A can offer/provide a service that person B would be willing to pay money for because
they themselves can't do it or don't have the time and expertise to. That's the whole point
of why you study and train in something specific so that you become somewhat of an expert
or professional at it compared to 99% of the rest of the population. Of course those people
would be experts in something else that you would have no competency in, hence, the professions
exist and trade.

Nobody quite has the time in their lives to become experts in multiple fields and be a one man
society. You dedicate your time to X and another to Y and another to Z and thus you have
trade/commerce/businesses/economy etc.

So what happens to people who spent more than half their lives in field X and but then completely
abandon or lose that and have to start fresh in field Y? Example: life long dedicated fishermen
or truck drivers. They may have spent 30-40 years doing it and that's all they know but are damn
good experts at that one particular thing that you would suck at compared to them. However,
due to circumstances, that person needs to vacate that career/skillset and find something entirely
new to do to earn a living.

The problem: you're old or older, and don't have the luxury of youth and time to study 5 or 10 years
plus gain experience and develop skillsets to really go anywhere in that new field. You'll run out of
time or be too old or unhealthy etc.

Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying it's impossible. Sure, there are those exceptional cases of people
like grand daddies who at 69 pursued a new career and by 75 became a surgeon or a doctor or big
shot lawyer or real estate tycoon lol. It can happen but not likely or extremely rare persons can
accomplish this.

Aside from surrendering to the most basic jobs like manual labor and retail, what kind of field
or methods in the online world would you recommend as good ways to get into in a rather short
period of time or a quick turnaround to making enough money to replace a 9-5?

I'm not a fisherman or a truck driver but I am in that same boat. I realize that I don't have a career
and at my age, there's very little hope in thinking I could just start from scratch and take some
new college courses or online BHW courses from the downloads section to start making money
online. I've already done and still do retail arbitrage. It's very easy and simple to do but requires
a lot of time and energy because I don't automate it or know how. I've made some money on
social media making content on youtube and tiktok but nothing that would be considered a
respectable career/earning. It's just pocket change.

Someone suggested to me to buy backlinks if I only have 10 more years to live. I don't know
what means or how that will help me.
 
You should spend some hours in the IM Journeys section. It's golden ann you will find some amazing inspiration and start to think out of the box to create your own methods
I actually have and found that most of it I don't understand and they lose me somewhere after the 2nd or 3rd paragraph.
Also, I'm skeptical how many of those journeys are true. Since they don't really tell you specifically how to do it (why would they give away
the secrets unless they are trying get you to subscribe or pay them), I suspect some journeys are fabricated, kind of like community theater
we now see in yt and tiktok.

Don't get me wrong, I appreciate the tip, but the tip is sort of like telling someone to go to their local city library and access 80,000 books that have
golden tips on anything. I would love to hear any specific methods you personally know of that would be good for people who have to transition into something new and can make a decent ROI for the amount of time they need to invest to learn it.

I bet you have a lot of good experience and insights yourself. I'd love to hear yours personally. For me, the most basic thing I could recommend since I am doing it myself and have been for a decade is just retail arbitrage. That is, buy things low or regular price and just resell it higher on ebay/amazon/fb/garage sales/classifieds/online apps etc.

It doesn't get easier then that. No training required. No education required. You don't need 4 year investment in studying etc. All you need is simple elementary arithmitic.
Buy something from Walmart for $5 and sell it for $10. List something from Amazon and mark up the price by 25% or your choosing and take home the profits when sold.
It works. The only problem is, in order to make enough money to live off where you don't have to work any other job, is extremely difficult for the average person.
You can have no problems making $50, $100 a month easy with an ebay account. If you know how automate and/or scale things up, then it's possible to make it a full
time gig and pull in 2k or more a month to at least get you to the low-income bracket without working any other job.

Now to get even more intriguing is, keep doing this digitally (online) and then move to a poorer/developing country where your USD currency converts into 5x, 10x more value
than the local currency of the developing country you're living in. So that $50 a day I make from simply retail arbitrage/dropshipping online in the US won't be enough to live off. But $50 USD converted into some countries like India, Pakistan, Philippines, Cambodia, tons of other countries can be comfortable enough to live off. Of course you are giving up a lot of other things (moving to a whole new country lol). But on paper, mathematically, it works! Take advantage of the strong currency you make money in and live in a poorer country where you USD triples or quadruples your income and enjoy eating $2 dinners, and paying $100 month rents.
 
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don't over complicate it. To successfully make money online you have to have an above-average knowledge in certain niche, gather audience, give them whatever they find useful so you build the trust and just sell them relevant things. It's all there is to it but in this broad journey obviously many obstacles come in the way. Just keep at it solving them one day at a time, be persistent and you'll be successful. I know it's vague answer and not the one you may be looking for but this is the ultimate truth to making money online. I still see many people chasing the quick money methods which involves spamming something (which is fine for startup capital) but the thing is, the way I see it is giant waste of time if you are not about to make big money that way - why? Just because in the meantime, all the time you spent going around these algorithms spamming you could have built something which is actually providing some kind of a value to a client, which translates to reacurring income and business which can actually be sold for big bucks
 
Invest in communication skills, understanding of people and various connections and acquaintances. They are needed everywhere, and they won't be replaced by neural networks;)
 
any person (who is not mentally challenged, i guess) who has reach an older age has enough experience in SOMETHING to be able to monetize it. it may not be the thing they've spent their life doing, it could be something else.

making money is a mindset. the comedian Dave Chappelle made a great observation about this in his Sticks and Stones standup special. he said when he was young his family was poor and he said to his dad one time, "i'm SICK of being POOR!" and his dad said, "Son.. we are not poor. We are BROKE!"

"POOR is a state of mind," he said.

very wise words there.

if you have the will to make money, you will make money. just because you don't have income today doesn't mean the sky is falling. many, many people do not want to do what it takes to get out of their broke situation, or think to themselves, "this is how life will always be," which is bullpoop. life is what you make it. don't fall victim to this idea that not being able to do what you've always done to make money means you can no longer make money. that just turns you into someone looking for handouts from other people or the government, which means you are no longer self-sustainable.

i'll share an anecdote from my own life as an example...

my partner and i were KILLING IT with a social media scheme about 9 years ago. and i mean, we were making more money than either of us had ever had in our lives, it was an amazing feeling and an amazing experience. and then our scheme got screwed up by the social media platform changing things dramatically. we could no longer revel in watching the money pour in. we were really bummed out and both talked about getting real jobs again. but then it dawned on us: of course we knew that scheme wasn't going to last. and just because this idea fell apart didn't mean we weren't capable of coming up with something new. we had to roll with the punches, accept that that thing was over and simply move on. and for the past decade we've both been making much more money than we did back then because we got back on the horse and kept riding.

mindset is everything, man.

if i had given up back then and gotten some crap job somewhere i would not be where i am today. and i'm pretty happy with my lifestyle these days :D
 
Invest in communication skills, understanding of people and various connections and acquaintances. They are needed everywhere, and they won't be replaced by neural networks;)
+1. Getting into a sales should be a no brainer for anyone who is serious about making it way beyond being a small time affiliate. If you know how to sell well, the world becomes an easy place to navigate. The sales is not only about money and business - it is equally important skill in a personal life. The sales is literally everything, reflecting all the way to the relationships and girls you have. Sales is one of the most important skills to have under your belt if you don't want to end up living a "dork" life
 
don't over complicate it. To successfully make money online you have to have an above-average knowledge in certain niche, gather audience, give them whatever they find useful so you build the trust and just sell them relevant things. It's all there is to it but in this broad journey obviously many obstacles come in the way. Just keep at it solving them one day at a time, be persistent and you'll be successful. I know it's vague answer and not the one you may be looking for but this is the ultimate truth to making money online. I still see many people chasing the quick money methods which involves spamming something (which is fine for startup capital) but the thing is, the way I see it is giant waste of time if you are not about to make big money that way - why? Just because in the meantime, all the time you spent going around these algorithms spamming you could have built something which is actually providing some kind of a value to a client, which translates to reacurring income and business which can actually be sold for big bucks

Thank you. Yes, I definitely do not like cold calling or spamming links etc. I would much prefer to find something that people "need" or "desire" so that they are the ones coming to me for it and I can provide and sell it to them (whether it be a service or a product).

Some of the things I sell on ebay for example are in the niches of supplements and cosmetics. Both niches are huge and tons of people need or desire them. I found that some particular brands are in high demand and not only that, but it varies by countries. Some countries for some reason are really in high demand of a particular brand even though there are many other brands selling the same thing, they are mainly interested in a particular one. That is the key in finding out which particular brand each country is in high demand for. That's the part that takes a lot of time and effort to discover.

I basically try to focus on selling the high demand product in a country that wants it and not many other sellers are willing or able to ship it there. I found a decent and viable option to do that and it's where I make the lion's share of my profits but I also noticed it doesn't last that long. It seems it has a shelf life of around 6 months to a year before it stops selling for some reason....I suspect another seller caught on and started saturating the platform with my technique or method. I've witnessed this cycle a couple dozen times with my winning products over the course of the last decade.
 
Invest in communication skills, understanding of people and various connections and acquaintances. They are needed everywhere, and they won't be replaced by neural networks;)
I 100% agree about communication skills. When I think about Jordan Peterson, he is a master at communication (lots of others too) but I realized how powerful it is if you know how to articulate your thoughts and ideas effectively. People then start to gravitate to you.
 
any person (who is not mentally challenged, i guess) who has reach an older age has enough experience in SOMETHING to be able to monetize it. it may not be the thing they've spent their life doing, it could be something else.

making money is a mindset. the comedian Dave Chappelle made a great observation about this in his Sticks and Stones standup special. he said when he was young his family was poor and he said to his dad one time, "i'm SICK of being POOR!" and his dad said, "Son.. we are not poor. We are BROKE!"

"POOR is a state of mind," he said.

very wise words there.

if you have the will to make money, you will make money. just because you don't have income today doesn't mean the sky is falling. many, many people do not want to do what it takes to get out of their broke situation, or think to themselves, "this is how life will always be," which is bullpoop. life is what you make it. don't fall victim to this idea that not being able to do what you've always done to make money means you can no longer make money. that just turns you into someone looking for handouts from other people or the government, which means you are no longer self-sustainable.

i'll share an anecdote from my own life as an example...

my partner and i were KILLING IT with a social media scheme about 9 years ago. and i mean, we were making more money than either of us had ever had in our lives, it was an amazing feeling and an amazing experience. and then our scheme got screwed up by the social media platform changing things dramatically. we could no longer revel in watching the money pour in. we were really bummed out and both talked about getting real jobs again. but then it dawned on us: of course we knew that scheme wasn't going to last. and just because this idea fell apart didn't mean we weren't capable of coming up with something new. we had to roll with the punches, accept that that thing was over and simply move on. and for the past decade we've both been making much more money than we did back then because we got back on the horse and kept riding.

mindset is everything, man.

if i had given up back then and gotten some crap job somewhere i would not be where i am today. and i'm pretty happy with my lifestyle these days :D

truly thank you for sharing. I love this. Real inspiring words.
 
I forgot to add another great way to make some decent money that doesn't seem to be relatively difficult in terms of learning curve, is the Amazon Influencer Program. Like anything else, it does take time and effort but the skills required is relatively low and I could see this method being great way to start for people like me and those who need to transition into something totally new.

I've actually made a few video reviews for products on amazon and it takes about 1 day to make a video (shoot, edit etc), but once it's up, it has the potential to make money over a long period of time. Albeit it's very small for me, but I can say that with literally no experience, I was able to make $20 a month on average for some video reviews I posted. YT monetization made me a few hundred dollars for my review videos but I'm not monetized anymore so I'm missing out on that couple hundred bucks a month I would be getting still if my channel was monetized.
 
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I would much prefer to find something that

In your situation you don't have the option to do things that are preferable, you should be looking at what's optimal.

It doesn't matter what you prefer.
 
So what happens to people who spent more than half their lives in field X and but then completely
abandon or lose that and have to start fresh in field Y?

I'm not a fisherman or a truck driver but I am in that same boat. I

Join OpenAI's service for free, and use ChatGPT to help you find jobs and transferable skills.

Basically, it works like this ...

Log into ChatGPT and use this prompt:

"I have spent the last X years, as a [insert your occupation here] and my major skills are [skill 1, skill 2, skill 3, skill 4]. Recently I lost my job, however I want to take full advantage of the skills I've learned in my previous job. Feel free to identify any similar skills I may have acquired as part of my previous job. Then help me think of new jobs that I could apply for, using many of the same skills I already possess. If possible, attempt to find jobs in a different industry. Your response should begin with a dot point list of my current skills, as well as any new skills you've identified. Then you should create a 3 column table that contains possible occupations on the left, my relevant skills in the middle column, and in the right column, a justification for why this job might be worth investigating as part of a career change"

I did an example of a fisherman for you ...

1689641879493.png

I'm passionate about AI and have recently started teaching people how to apply it to solve problems.

This prompt can also be adjusted, if you need to find a job quickly for example.

You can add further context, and explain your situation to ChatGPT.

Here's a bonus idea ...

Once you know the direction you will be heading ... visit a jobs website, and search for all the openings.

Find a job you would like to do, then cut and paste the job details and requirements back into ChatGPT.

Ask it to write a full cover letter for you, and isolate and emphasise all your transferrable skills, applicable to the new role.

If you apply for 30 jobs, and use this method - you will be back in the money in no time :)

Hope it helps man - keep your chin up ... your new career is likely to pay even more than your old career!
 
Join OpenAI's service for free, and use ChatGPT to help you find jobs and transferable skills.

Basically, it works like this ...

Log into ChatGPT and use this prompt:

"I have spent the last X years, as a [insert your occupation here] and my major skills are [skill 1, skill 2, skill 3, skill 4]. Recently I lost my job, however I want to take full advantage of the skills I've learned in my previous job. Feel free to identify any similar skills I may have acquired as part of my previous job. Then help me think of new jobs that I could apply for, using many of the same skills I already possess. If possible, attempt to find jobs in a different industry. Your response should begin with a dot point list of my current skills, as well as any new skills you've identified. Then you should create a 3 column table that contains possible occupations on the left, my relevant skills in the middle column, and in the right column, a justification for why this job might be worth investigating as part of a career change"

I did an example of a fisherman for you ...

View attachment 270379

I'm passionate about AI and have recently started teaching people how to apply it to solve problems.

This prompt can also be adjusted, if you need to find a job quickly for example.

You can add further context, and explain your situation to ChatGPT.

Here's a bonus idea ...

Once you know the direction you will be heading ... visit a jobs website, and search for all the openings.

Find a job you would like to do, then cut and paste the job details and requirements back into ChatGPT.

Ask it to write a full cover letter for you, and isolate and emphasise all your transferrable skills, applicable to the new role.

If you apply for 30 jobs, and use this method - you will be back in the money in no time :)

Hope it helps man - keep your chin up ... your new career is likely to pay even more than your old career!

Thanks I really appreciate your advice!
I'd really like not to have to work the 9-5 job and have a boss. In almost every job I've ever held, I had issues with
authority, following rules, and being an employee. I often end up doing things my own way, questioning the system,
and criticizing the way things are done. I think I really need to find something I can do where I am my own boss
or at least be part of a job/career where I work with others who are all co-bosses.

You are definitely right about using chatgpt to get some good ideas and applying to a lot of jobs. The more you apply to
the better the chance you'll get something. I get discouraged after just 1 or 2 rejections. Bad news for me.
What I do thrive on is creativity, imagination, and the freedom to utilize it. Any sort of job that curtails my will to be
creative, imaginative, and exploration really gets me depressed and physically/mentally ill. I'm in trouble unless I find
something I find purposeful for my life.
 
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