TheUnum
Contributor
I've been lurking on the Fastlane forum off and on for a little more than a year now, but I never actually engaged. This post aims to change that.
Where I'm At Right Now
Right now, I'm a 19-year old student at UNC Chapel Hill (if anyone in the area wants to meet up, PM me!) who's trying to learn anything and everything. While I'm still trying to figure out what I'm doing with my life, I do know that my end goal is to work for myself. Over the last year since joining this forum, I've taken steps to bring this into fruition by starting a website (monetized by ads and affiliate links) that now brings in around $2500 a month. I honestly can't tell you how amazing it feels to start something that makes you a livable income, but I still don't know how long term the site is. This is because the site relies entirely on SEO, and anyone that deals with SEO knows how fickle Google can be.
Things I'm Working On
While I think making a blog and monetizing with ads and affiliate links is a good way for beginners to get into making money online, I don't want to get stuck here. I want to build a brand and promote my own products. My goal at this moment is to get into E-commerce. I started a drop shipping site using Aliexpress a few months back that made me about $1500 profit in a month mostly using Facebook ads, but I ended up shutting it down due to shipping times just being outright horrible. Even though this site was an absolute failure, it did allow me to get a taste of just how awesome owning an E-commerce store can be.
I plan on attempting to create a profitable t-shirt/accessory business due to being able to utilize printing services such as Printful (if anyone's tried this before, please share your experiences in the comments below). I know this is a difficult market to get into and that a niche is crucial if you wish to be successful. The hardest thing with this is trying to figure out how I can add value to a t-shirt/accessory business, even with their already being so many. I've checked out a few stories on successful t-shirt business's, but all of the designs felt tacky to me. I'd probably start by creating an Instagram/Facebook account and posting relevant content for those audiences and then finally promoting my products once they're ready. With this being such a competitive market, I think this will be an awesome time to test how far my marketing skills have come.
I've also looked into some products I could buy wholesale from Alibaba and create a brand around. I'd sell these products on sites such as Amazon, Ebay, and the brands site. I've found a few products that seem to have insane profit margins and sell in huge volumes using tools such as unicorn smasher.
There is so much more that I'd like to talk about, but to keep this short I'm going to cut this off here.
Things I'm Struggling With
If I had to pick one thing, I struggle with it'd be indecisiveness. Everything seems so appealing to me, and I want to try all of it. I thoroughly enjoy making money online and am just super amazed that I've been born into such an era with so much opportunity.
I'm also trying to figure out how to better manage my time. Being apart of a few clubs and being a full-time student takes away a lot of time I could devote to my business ventures. I've been looking into some time management software, so hopefully this will become a problem of the past soon.
Conclusion
Have patience. I've heard these two words hundreds of times by successful entrepreneurs such as Gary Vaynerchuck and even from my father. This has always been something I struggled with, but as I get older I'm starting to realize anything that's worth anything takes time. In order to get to where I want to go, In need to change my mindset and also communicate with other like-minded individuals. My hope is that the fast lane forum becomes an integral part of my journey and that I can also help others who're traveling in the same lane as me. I wish everyone who read this good health, and killer work ethic.
Right now, I'm a 19-year old student at UNC Chapel Hill (if anyone in the area wants to meet up, PM me!) who's trying to learn anything and everything. While I'm still trying to figure out what I'm doing with my life, I do know that my end goal is to work for myself. Over the last year since joining this forum, I've taken steps to bring this into fruition by starting a website (monetized by ads and affiliate links) that now brings in around $2500 a month. I honestly can't tell you how amazing it feels to start something that makes you a livable income, but I still don't know how long term the site is. This is because the site relies entirely on SEO, and anyone that deals with SEO knows how fickle Google can be.
Things I'm Working On
While I think making a blog and monetizing with ads and affiliate links is a good way for beginners to get into making money online, I don't want to get stuck here. I want to build a brand and promote my own products. My goal at this moment is to get into E-commerce. I started a drop shipping site using Aliexpress a few months back that made me about $1500 profit in a month mostly using Facebook ads, but I ended up shutting it down due to shipping times just being outright horrible. Even though this site was an absolute failure, it did allow me to get a taste of just how awesome owning an E-commerce store can be.
I plan on attempting to create a profitable t-shirt/accessory business due to being able to utilize printing services such as Printful (if anyone's tried this before, please share your experiences in the comments below). I know this is a difficult market to get into and that a niche is crucial if you wish to be successful. The hardest thing with this is trying to figure out how I can add value to a t-shirt/accessory business, even with their already being so many. I've checked out a few stories on successful t-shirt business's, but all of the designs felt tacky to me. I'd probably start by creating an Instagram/Facebook account and posting relevant content for those audiences and then finally promoting my products once they're ready. With this being such a competitive market, I think this will be an awesome time to test how far my marketing skills have come.
I've also looked into some products I could buy wholesale from Alibaba and create a brand around. I'd sell these products on sites such as Amazon, Ebay, and the brands site. I've found a few products that seem to have insane profit margins and sell in huge volumes using tools such as unicorn smasher.
There is so much more that I'd like to talk about, but to keep this short I'm going to cut this off here.
Things I'm Struggling With
If I had to pick one thing, I struggle with it'd be indecisiveness. Everything seems so appealing to me, and I want to try all of it. I thoroughly enjoy making money online and am just super amazed that I've been born into such an era with so much opportunity.
I'm also trying to figure out how to better manage my time. Being apart of a few clubs and being a full-time student takes away a lot of time I could devote to my business ventures. I've been looking into some time management software, so hopefully this will become a problem of the past soon.
Conclusion
Have patience. I've heard these two words hundreds of times by successful entrepreneurs such as Gary Vaynerchuck and even from my father. This has always been something I struggled with, but as I get older I'm starting to realize anything that's worth anything takes time. In order to get to where I want to go, In need to change my mindset and also communicate with other like-minded individuals. My hope is that the fast lane forum becomes an integral part of my journey and that I can also help others who're traveling in the same lane as me. I wish everyone who read this good health, and killer work ethic.
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