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From Getting By to "Oh My!"

A detailed account of a Fastlane process...

Ivex

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Let me take you back to the start of the COVID situation, it's December 2019, the world is just starting to panic. But, in a student house share somewhere in Northern England, is a just turned 20 year old panicking for a whole other reason.

Why? He's getting old.

Okay, okay, don't laugh too much (or cry if that made you feel extra old), I know 20 isn't old - but it is an age where it's no longer cute to have big dreams, to say you're going to make something of your life but to do nothing. There's only so many relationships you can bounce between, nights spent getting sickeningly drunk and days spent doing anything but work before you to start to feel like a bit of failure.

So I decided to do something.

That something started with me making an Instagram page to track my journey to financial freedom. I thought it would be fun because I've been interested in community building since I was 9 years old making Club Penguin fan forums on Forumotion. I'd tell people about my investments, what I was learning, the side hustles and how they were going. The page I created was @investearnsave. I started doing small side hustles to raise some initial funds: matched betting, survey and task sites like 20Cogs, slowly building up a few thousand in savings.

Because I was enjoying the page so much, I decided to invest into some shoutouts. Long story short, this page is fast becoming my ticket to financial freedom. It is now a year and almost a half later, and it currently sits at 440,000 followers and generates me over $6k month, with a strong chance of breaking $7k or even $8k this month. However, when we convert this into my home currency, GBP, and remove $2k a month for business expenses, it's definitely getting by and not the kind of money that's leaving people saying "Oh my!".

Let this thread explore Chapter 2 of my business journey (I know some will scoff at me daring to suggest an Instagram page could be a business) as I try to scale to $15k a month and reach a 6 figure net worth.

The Process

One of the big changes I've started making recently is relying less heavily on shoutouts and more on my own products and my services to businesses looking to improve their SMM game. I was part of a podcast with two YouTubers called Coffezilla and Amish and to be honest, I got absolutely torn apart. I went on to explain some of the scammy things I'd seen going on and the general issues with the entrepreneur niche on Instagram but they ended up pointing out some issues with how I was running my page. Whilst, I think some of it was incorrect and came from a lack of knowledge of Instagram (and the fact it was my first ever podcast so I was terrified the whole time and couldn't articulate myself and had a psychopathic smile the whole time because I didn't know how to act on a livestream), there were some good points.

Namely, I was accepting dubious shoutouts onto my page and I was posting video content to IG Reels that was just clips from celebrities. So I've been tackling both, and making more money in the process! Who knew doing the right thing was so profitable?

I've done this by only accepting shoutouts that I feel completely comfortable with (usually just Follow this page to learn about this thing), no longer do I ignore the anxious feeling in my chest I had when taking payment for some ads, I just say no (and often get very angry voice notes which gives me all the evidence I need that I made the right decision) and I use these spare ad slots that I end up not selling to promote my own stuff! And I do genuinely believe in my own products - I put a lot of time into them and genuine knowledge, make them inexpensive and do not market them deceptively. As a result, my followers trust me more and I make way more money from my own products than if I had taken money for the shoutouts.

As to the video content, I've started making little videos for reels and they do pretty much just as well in terms of views as the celebrity clips. And it also helps me with my confidence, which will feed into my YouTube project.

If you want to witness the trainwreck that is my first podcast experience I'll embed it below.


And if you want to watch my second podcast experience where I gave a lot of valuable information and was way more relaxed and less psycho-looking, here it is.


The next stage of the process is to build up my SMM agency side of things, which I'm slowly building into a standalone business and to write my second ebook, which will be a beginner's guide to building wealth in your 20s, with a heavy focus on social media businesses as a side venture.

On top of that, I'm taking YouTube seriously again: currently sitting at 900 subscribers. If you could get me to 1000 that would make my day/week/month! Subscribe here.

I currently have 3 videos filmed that are awaiting editing.

The best strategy, I believe, is to focus on my Instagram page as my income source and just have fun with the YouTube so I stay motivated to keep making videos.

That's enough about process I think, let's move onto my goals.

The Goals

Instagram Followers: 500,000 by July / 1,000,000 by May 2021.
YouTube: 1,000 by July / 10,000 by July 2021.
Income: $10k a month by December / $20k month by July 2021.
Net Worth: £50k by December (although if I include the value of my IG page, I've exceeded that, should I include this in my net worth??)
Next Book Complete By: August 1st 2021

Besides the goals that feed directly into my ability to make money, I have some goals that are just generally improving me. My understanding of some of the great entrepreneurs of our time: Steve Jobs, Bill Gates, Richard Branson is they didn't care too much for bettering themselves all-round. They had a single-mindedness and had deep flaws that they carried into their business, yet succeeded despite of it. So maybe I'm foolish to focus on improving myself and take energy away from my business, but I'd rather be a happy multi-millionaire than a troubled billionaire (although I think Branson is pretty happy these days).

Books Read 2021: 23/50
Consecutive Weeks Working Out: 18/44 (I have 8 planned weeks off, of which I've used one)
Consecutive Weeks Going to Brazilian Jiu Jitsu: 5

The Journey

Thank you all for reading so far, I appreciate you taking the time out of your day to read this thread! I have just a few more things to say.

I'm going to use this thread to track my journey, which will hopefully serve to inspire you and to hold me accountable. I'm also open to hear suggestions from you about how I could improve any area of my projects or this journey as a whole. Listening to feedback and observing what others are doing has allowed me to make me massive progress over the last year and a half - and I don't intend to stop listening now.

Let's get to work!
 
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Mathuin

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Awesome progress man!
 
Last edited:

AFMKelvin

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I didn't know instagram was still making people money. But I guess I've been proven wrong.
What are you doing to tackle the commandment of control?
 

Ivex

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I didn't know instagram was still making people money. But I guess I've been proven wrong.
What are you doing to tackle the commandment of control?
In the right niches it is, the meme pages aren't doing too well anymore.

And I'm diversifying between platforms, we have a Discord server which I'm starting to monetize, I'm creating a standalone SMM agency separate to my page, been working on my personal brand, TikTok pages running, YouTube channel.

I know I still don't have control but if I lose my main asset (my IG page), at least I won't be starting from zero again. But yeah, the lack of control is scary. I stick closely to IG's terms of service but if they decide they don't like my page - rip.

I'll definitely have to pivot into another business at some point but I'm taking this as far as it will go and funnelling some profits into my portfolio.
 
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woken

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Good luck with your journey!


I have to say that I don’t believe £4k a month is “getting by”, but it depends on the lifestyle. It might be considered that if you’re spending it all.

Awareness. Perspective.


Anyway, if you’re happy and it works out for you, then that’s exactly what you need to keep doing!
 

Code4fun

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so you're making money by teaching people how to make money? I never got how people like this can actually be taken seriously. Not trying to hate it just literally makes no sense to me and is kind of cringe.
 

woken

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so you're making money by teaching people how to make money? I never got how people like this can actually be taken seriously. Not trying to hate it just literally makes no sense to me and is kind of cringe.
Blame it on Tai Lopez. My eyes were first open to this when I first saw one of his “here in my garage” ads in 2014-5. Might not be the first to do this but damn those ads followed everywhere!

It’s actually a skill to be able to differentiate yourself from so many people that do the same thing.

OP mentioned he is making money from shoutouts.
He’s not yet doing what you say, but on track.
 
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Ivex

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Good luck with your journey!


I have to say that I don’t believe £4k a month is “getting by”, but it depends on the lifestyle. It might be considered that if you’re spending it all.

Awareness. Perspective.


Anyway, if you’re happy and it works out for you, then that’s exactly what you need to keep doing!
Thank you!

And I only pay myself about £2k a month in salary and then invest half of that so it is just getting by for now.

so you're making money by teaching people how to make money? I never got how people like this can actually be taken seriously. Not trying to hate it just literally makes no sense to me and is kind of cringe.
My largest income source by far is social media marketing services for businesses - they've seen what I've done growing my page and want me to run their pages - nothing to do with teaching them to make money. Then it is shoutouts, of which I mostly just promote other theme pages so they can grow. And then it's my eBook which teaches people how to grow an Instagram page.

The free content I post is a lot to do with wealth building yes, however it is free. And I read a lot and then put that knowledge into simple Instagram posts so the masses can digest it.
 

Code4fun

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Blame it on Tai Lopez. My eyes were first open to this when I first saw one of his “here in my garage” ads in 2014-5. Might not be the first to do this but damn those ads followed everywhere!

It’s actually a skill to be able to differentiate yourself from so many people that do the same thing.

OP mentioned he is making money from shoutouts.
He’s not yet doing what you say, but on track.
Idk man one of my mental blocks is creating a business that actually helps people. I could never live with myself being one of these cringe gurus that basically is an idol for poor sheep.
 

Code4fun

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Thank you!

And I only pay myself about £2k a month in salary and then invest half of that so it is just getting by for now.


My largest income source by far is social media marketing services for businesses - they've seen what I've done growing my page and want me to run their pages - nothing to do with teaching them to make money. Then it is shoutouts, of which I mostly just promote other theme pages so they can grow. And then it's my eBook which teaches people how to grow an Instagram page.

The free content I post is a lot to do with wealth building yes, however it is free. And I read a lot and then put that knowledge into simple Instagram posts so the masses can digest it.
Your not posting anything new/unique though ( from an objective look ). I get you are just giving them what they want but I'm not sure how far that can go, and if there is any fulfillment in that. Dont mean to be offensive, I'm an engineer by trade and just have a straightforward approach to things.
 
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Ivex

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Idk man one of my mental blocks is creating a business that actually helps people. I could never live with myself being one of these cringe gurus that basically is an idol for poor sheep.

I'm not a guru, nor am I anyone's idol. And I strongly believe my page is a force for good. I make financial literacy, and self-development content bitesized. Making money ethically is important to me.

Your not posting anything new/unique though ( from an objective look ). I get you are just giving them what they want but I'm not sure how far that can go, and if there is any fulfillment in that. Dont mean to be offensive, I'm an engineer by trade and just have a straightforward approach to things.

I make my content. I think you're getting confused, pages copy my content because I'm one of the few people making my own content, the rest hire people to post all their content so they copy pages like mine. Not every post I make is unique, and I do cater to the need for viral content but I do my best to provide actual value.
 

Code4fun

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I'm not a guru, nor am I anyone's idol. And I strongly believe my page is a force for good. I make financial literacy, and self-development content bitesized. Making money ethically is important to me.



I make my content. I think you're getting confused, pages copy my content because I'm one of the few people making my own content, the rest hire people to post all their content so they copy pages like mine. Not every post I make is unique, and I do cater to the need for viral content but I do my best to provide actual value.
Whatever u say bro. It just looks like another one of these wantrepreneur feel-good pages to me. Someone has to do it I guess. Also, some of your posts preach slow lane stuff like the generic "how to invest 1k", etc. It's just regurgitated quotes from other people who are already famous.

Like if your kids asked you "hey dad why r u rich"

your response would be "Oh I just read a bunch of generic finance books, took the generic vague messages, and made generic Instagram posts for generic people"

Call me a hater but I think this type of content is trash and is the entire reason @MJ DeMarco wrote millionaire Fastlane to begin with.
 

Ivex

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Whatever u say bro. It just looks like another one of these wantrepreneur feel-good pages to me. Someone has to do it I guess. Also, some of your posts preach slow lane stuff like the generic "how to invest 1k", etc. It's just regurgitated quotes from other people who are already famous.

Like if your kids asked you "hey dad why r u rich"

your response would be "Oh I just read a bunch of generic finance books, took the generic vague messages, and made generic Instagram posts for generic people"

Call me a hater but I think this type of content is trash and is the entire reason @MJ DeMarco wrote millionaire Fastlane to begin with.
Sounds like you're having a bad day and want to rant at someone. I hope you feel better soon.
 
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Code4fun

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Sounds like you're having a bad day and want to rant at someone. I hope you feel better soon.
I'm actually having a good day aside from this 2-hour meeting I'm in. One of my clients loves meetings for some reason. We can just agree to disagree its all good
 

Ivex

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May 2021 Update

Revenue: £6,019 ($8,550 USD)
Followers: 474,000
Engagement Rate: 1.38%

It's been a great month, my record month for revenue! If I can keep scaling, I might even be able to reach £10,000 a month by the end of the year. The goal will be to get the page to 500k as fast as possible, and then keep heavily reinvesting to 1m, at which point I will take more of the profits as a salary rather than reinvesting to grow the page or maybe invest into another project.

The page's engagement rate has been going up, I've had to start becoming very viral with my content, my page has reached a size where if I post any kind of investing content that requires a bit of thought, it flops. This is a shame and I would definitely like to work on another platform where I can teach more in depth concepts in future but I can't complain about Instagram giving some of my posts massive reach. A recent post almost reached 1,000,000 unique hits which is crazy for one post.

Here's to see what I can achieve in June!
 

Ivex

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June 2021 Update

Revenue: £9,777 ($13,521 USD)
Followers: 516,000
Engagement Rate: 1.15%

This was my best performing month yet for my Instagram business! It wasn't just one particular thing, my revenue increased from all streams except account management. I also hit 500k followers on the main page. I decided to reinvest a large portion of this revenue into growing additional pages so I'm not reliant on one page. The commandment of control is definitely absent in this business, as displayed by the fact I'm currently in a 7 day block from posting for no real reason (and who knows if it will lead to a shadow ban afterwards). With the money I'm making now, it would be a huge, huge roadblock to my success if the Zuck decided to get rid of my page. So I think reinvesting into shoutouts to grow additional pages is the best shout. This also means my total network now has over 600,000 followers. I definitely want to hit 1m followers total across my pages by the end of the month. I paid myself about £3.4k between salary and dividends. I made some start up investments on my credit card so I was paying them off, and then most of the rest into my savings.
 
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