I could use some life advice...

[0VO]

So it feels like I'm at a cross-roads and could use some advice from others. Not entirely sure which way to take things right now and every path seems uncertain.

So about 3 months ago I got into crypto, mainly NFTs. Turned 8k into about 40k. (Made a bunch of mistakes and lost some money, made some money, could have made way more money... but everything is 20-20 in hindsight. Still, I 5x'ed my initial investment. Although I feel like it was partially the fact that I made the decisions I did, but also partially luck, that things turned out the way they did.)

Now my parents are pressuring me to get a real job or go back to school and get a degree/diploma. They say I'm not generating an actual monthly income, and that I need monthly revenue to actually survive in this world. (To that I do agree with them. It would be nice to have an income flow and build credit, etc.)

A little background:
I'm 26 now, I was in University 5 years ago but had to drop out due to a severe back injury. During that time I was off I did my own studying, took courses like Ray Edwards' Copywriting course, Frank Kerns' Marketing/FB Ads course, Grant Cardone's Real Estate Course. (Maybe I got lost in these courses feeling like I was doing when I really wasn't.) By no means am I an expert but I think I could put together a half decent piece of writing. I did create a Wordpress website for a family member's home business, and got it ranked mid-way up the first page of google (from page 7) for 3 keywords - their two business keywords plus our city name. And I know how to create Facebook/google ads.

I've tried dabbling in Amazon and spent way too many hours figuring out how to get my foot in. But ultimately struggle to come up with a profitable item to sell.

I started two cannabis businesses, one fail due to me not being able to keep up with the physical demand - took a loss there. The other failed due to lack of marketing funds (I underestimated what would be needed to succeed. Time and money.) - broke even there.

I can't really do any labour/trades jobs due to my back injury.

Potential Options:
So I can return to University with the 40k I've made in the past 3 months, get an undergraduate degree bcom/marketing. Or get a lesser cheaper college diploma in marketing for $20k. But to what end? (So I can get a marketing/advertising job?)

...Or do I go get an entry level marketing/sales job with minimum requirements and work my way up from there (with no degree)?

...A marketing agency sounds like fun but all the job listings I've come across require some college or university degree.

...Or do I continue on the unpredictable path of crypto? (If I could continue to generate profit and get to 80k, I could pull out 60k to invest into an apartment. Then refi and get into another one in the future. Eventually sell them and work my way up to bigger investment opportunities in real estate. I also love real estate - but currently lack funding to get my foot in/don't know anyone that can help with funding.) ...but you can also just as easily lose your butt in crypto.

...Do I create an Upwork profile and start trying to get copywriting gigs?

I know the whole degree, get a job isn't fast lane... but it is steps up on MJ's latter... my current monthly income is nill.

So yeah, re-reading that it seems like I'm all over the freaking place right now. I'm pretty confused, feels like I'm in a tornado. Open to any advice or suggestions any one here might have.

 

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[RussRussman18]

My advice:

Walk away from the crypto table with your gains

Get an entry level sales job

Keep reading this forum and brainstorm an idea for a business to invest that 40k in

And preferably, don't start any more businesses in red ocean markets: Blue Ocean Strategy Book Summary & Review - Rick Kettner

 

[Jobless]

How can you add value to someone's business, or to a customer's life?

Do you have any skill earned through 1000's of hours of experience? It is hard to compete in any field/business if you only dabble.

 

[Andy Black]

So it feels like I'm at a cross-roads and could use some advice from others. Not entirely sure which way to take things right now and every path seems uncertain.

So about 3 months ago I got into crypto, mainly NFTs. Turned 8k into about 40k. (Made a bunch of mistakes and lost some money, made some money, could have made way more money... but everything is 20-20 in hindsight. Still, I 5x'ed my initial investment. Although I feel like it was partially the fact that I made the decisions I did, but also partially luck, that things turned out the way they did.)

Now my parents are pressuring me to get a real job or go back to school and get a degree/diploma. They say I'm not generating an actual monthly income, and that I need monthly revenue to actually survive in this world. (To that I do agree with them. It would be nice to have an income flow and build credit, etc.)

A little background:
I'm 26 now, I was in University 5 years ago but had to drop out due to a severe back injury. During that time I was off I did my own studying, took courses like Ray Edwards' Copywriting course, Frank Kerns' Marketing/FB Ads course, Grant Cardone's Real Estate Course. (Maybe I got lost in these courses feeling like I was doing when I really wasn't.) By no means am I an expert but I think I could put together a half decent piece of writing. I did create a Wordpress website for a family member's home business, and got it ranked mid-way up the first page of google (from page 7) for 3 keywords - their two business keywords plus our city name. And I know how to create Facebook/google ads.

I've tried dabbling in Amazon and spent way too many hours figuring out how to get my foot in. But ultimately struggle to come up with a profitable item to sell.

I started two cannabis businesses, one fail due to me not being able to keep up with the physical demand - took a loss there. The other failed due to lack of marketing funds (I underestimated what would be needed to succeed. Time and money.) - broke even there.

I can't really do any labour/trades jobs due to my back injury.

Potential Options:
So I can return to University with the 40k I've made in the past 3 months, get an undergraduate degree bcom/marketing. Or get a lesser cheaper college diploma in marketing for $20k. But to what end? (So I can get a marketing/advertising job?)

...Or do I go get an entry level marketing/sales job with minimum requirements and work my way up from there (with no degree)?

...A marketing agency sounds like fun but all the job listings I've come across require some college or university degree.

...Or do I continue on the unpredictable path of crypto? (If I could continue to generate profit and get to 80k, I could pull out 60k to invest into an apartment. Then refi and get into another one in the future. Eventually sell them and work my way up to bigger investment opportunities in real estate. I also love real estate - but currently lack funding to get my foot in/don't know anyone that can help with funding.) ...but you can also just as easily lose your butt in crypto.

...Do I create an Upwork profile and start trying to get copywriting gigs?

I know the whole degree, get a job isn't fast lane... but it is steps up on MJ's latter... my current monthly income is nill.

So yeah, re-reading that it seems like I'm all over the freaking place right now. I'm pretty confused, feels like I'm in a tornado. Open to any advice or suggestions any one here might have.

You’ve certainly tried your hand at a lot of different things.

I know nothing of crypto or NFTs so can’t advise there.

I wonder about spending years going to college

• to get a marketing degree
• to be able to get a digital marketing job
• to be able to help businesses with their digital marketing
• to be able to get a regular monthly income

Can you start closer to the end?

Why not get yourself a digital marketing client THIS WEEK and get some Monthly Recurring Revenue (MRR)?

Or use that hustle you clearly have to get some MRR by other means … this week?

If you had a gun to your head and had to create $100 of MRR this week then what would you do?

 

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[Kak]

I would get a job for now, knowing it’s temporary. Plan to start a business. Pour into everything you can about your chosen industry. Find a competitive advantage and pour your all into building it.

If you want to play around with crypto, buy and hold your favorite long term prospects. There is no shortcut. Very very very few beat the market YoY. You had a good run, but there are no guarantees.

If you have a great competitive advantage, you have a business. Focus on that.

Totally forget school! Do not waste your money or more importantly limited time on it. Buy books for 1000th the price about the stuff that’s ACTUALLY useful to you and you can finish a “class” every two or three days. This coming from someone who went to business school.

 

[Andy Black]

I would get a job for now, knowing it’s temporary. Plan to start a business. Pour into everything you can about your chosen industry. Find a competitive advantage and pour your all into building it.

If you want to play around with crypto, buy and hold your favorite long term prospects. There is no shortcut. Very very very few beat the market YoY. You had a good run, but there are no guarantees.

If you have a great competitive advantage, you have a business. Focus on that.

Totally forget school! Do not waste your money or more importantly limited time on it. Buy books for 1000th the price about the stuff that’s ACTUALLY useful to you and you can finish a “class” every two or three days. This coming from someone who went to business school.

Ah yes. Getting a job is an option too. I forgot that in my haste to explain why I thought getting a degree in marketing wasn’t a great idea.

 

[FNeu]

Don't go back to school, it is a complete waste.

You mentioned you took a real estate course, I am going to send you a PM about what I do. I don't know the extent of your injury but there are tons of businesses that can be run remotely whether you run them yourself or you hire employees.

Check your PMs

 

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[WJK]

So it feels like I'm at a cross-roads and could use some advice from others. Not entirely sure which way to take things right now and every path seems uncertain.

So about 3 months ago I got into crypto, mainly NFTs. Turned 8k into about 40k. (Made a bunch of mistakes and lost some money, made some money, could have made way more money... but everything is 20-20 in hindsight. Still, I 5x'ed my initial investment. Although I feel like it was partially the fact that I made the decisions I did, but also partially luck, that things turned out the way they did.)

Now my parents are pressuring me to get a real job or go back to school and get a degree/diploma. They say I'm not generating an actual monthly income, and that I need monthly revenue to actually survive in this world. (To that I do agree with them. It would be nice to have an income flow and build credit, etc.)

A little background:
I'm 26 now, I was in University 5 years ago but had to drop out due to a severe back injury. During that time I was off I did my own studying, took courses like Ray Edwards' Copywriting course, Frank Kerns' Marketing/FB Ads course, Grant Cardone's Real Estate Course. (Maybe I got lost in these courses feeling like I was doing when I really wasn't.) By no means am I an expert but I think I could put together a half decent piece of writing. I did create a Wordpress website for a family member's home business, and got it ranked mid-way up the first page of google (from page 7) for 3 keywords - their two business keywords plus our city name. And I know how to create Facebook/google ads.

I've tried dabbling in Amazon and spent way too many hours figuring out how to get my foot in. But ultimately struggle to come up with a profitable item to sell.

I started two cannabis businesses, one fail due to me not being able to keep up with the physical demand - took a loss there. The other failed due to lack of marketing funds (I underestimated what would be needed to succeed. Time and money.) - broke even there.

I can't really do any labour/trades jobs due to my back injury.

Potential Options:
So I can return to University with the 40k I've made in the past 3 months, get an undergraduate degree bcom/marketing. Or get a lesser cheaper college diploma in marketing for $20k. But to what end? (So I can get a marketing/advertising job?)

...Or do I go get an entry level marketing/sales job with minimum requirements and work my way up from there (with no degree)?

...A marketing agency sounds like fun but all the job listings I've come across require some college or university degree.

...Or do I continue on the unpredictable path of crypto? (If I could continue to generate profit and get to 80k, I could pull out 60k to invest into an apartment. Then refi and get into another one in the future. Eventually sell them and work my way up to bigger investment opportunities in real estate. I also love real estate - but currently lack funding to get my foot in/don't know anyone that can help with funding.) ...but you can also just as easily lose your butt in crypto.

...Do I create an Upwork profile and start trying to get copywriting gigs?

I know the whole degree, get a job isn't fast lane... but it is steps up on MJ's latter... my current monthly income is nill.

So yeah, re-reading that it seems like I'm all over the freaking place right now. I'm pretty confused, feels like I'm in a tornado. Open to any advice or suggestions any one here might have.

I'm not confused by your situation. It doesn't sound like you need to go back to school. Cash-out and keep your money for something important. You need experience and that means going to work. You're a "failure to thrive" young adult. So, get started. Today. Right now. Get a job where you learn something. Get a client and do some work on the side besides getting a job. So, start!

 

[0VO]

My advice:

Walk away from the crypto table with your gains

Get an entry level sales job

Keep reading this forum and brainstorm an idea for a business to invest that 40k in

And preferably, don't start any more businesses in red ocean markets: Blue Ocean Strategy Book Summary & Review - Rick Kettner

Thanks. That seems to be what the majority of the people I've talked to say. I think you can easily get lost in the euphoria of the gains, but there's never a guarantee that you won't lose it all. I'm grateful I did make some gains in that short time - and have made the decision (and started to) pull out my gains back into USD/CAD.

How can you add value to someone's business, or to a customer's life?

Do you have any skill earned through 1000's of hours of experience? It is hard to compete in any field/business if you only dabble.

I put in a lot of hours trying to make those Cannabis businesses work. They were in a niched category so I learned a lot of skills there but don't want to go back into that space. I even wrote a book and put it on amazon, except getting sales was a real struggle. I did get a handful and everyone rated it 5 starts. I sold it on my website as well and people would always say how it was great read. But ultimately I generated no where near enough sales to say it was successful.

On the flip side I did do a lot of organic social media marketing when I was doing that. So I guess I could say I've got decent experience doing social media. Also built my own sites, and networking in that space as well (all online though). (paid ads were a no go in that space - google/fb don't allow it.)

You’ve certainly tried your hand at a lot of different things.

I know nothing of crypto or NFTs so can’t advise there.

I wonder about spending years going to college

• to get a marketing degree
• to be able to get a digital marketing job
• to be able to help businesses with their digital marketing
• to be able to get a regular monthly income

Can you start closer to the end?

Why not get yourself a digital marketing client THIS WEEK and get some Monthly Recurring Revenue (MRR)?

Or use that hustle you clearly have to get some MRR by other means … this week?

If you had a gun to your head and had to create $100 of MRR this week then what would you do?

Appreciate the advice. That's where my mind sort of is as well - I feel college/uni would be a waste of money/time. Forced to do courses that have nothing to do with my goal, and courses that I probably know already because of the courses I've done from people like Frank Kern, Ray Edwards, etc. (My parents say get a degree no one can take that education away from you. And at times it feels like it's a requirement to get any decent job these days - But part of me knows that's not true.)

I feel my strongest skills right now would be Wordpress site creation, and Facebook/google ads. And I can write moderately decent copy.

I think (as stupid as this sounds, and I'm sure I just have to pull my pants up and get over it is) the difficulty to get my first client, and the what if I don't perform to their standard/expectation. (in regards to Facebook/google ads.)

...Last night I have started to generate a list of local businesses that are on google maps but lack a website, are not advertising, or just have very weak social pages. (Ie: there's two dentists by me, one doing google ads, the other is not doing google ads and has not used/uploaded to their social media pages in over a year.)
I will just go for it and send them an email or give them a phone call (some don't have websites or emails), and see if they'd be interested in getting a website built, or getting more leads through online ads.

I would get a job for now, knowing it’s temporary. Plan to start a business. Pour into everything you can about your chosen industry. Find a competitive advantage and pour your all into building it.

If you want to play around with crypto, buy and hold your favorite long term prospects. There is no shortcut. Very very very few beat the market YoY. You had a good run, but there are no guarantees.

If you have a great competitive advantage, you have a business. Focus on that.

Totally forget school! Do not waste your money or more importantly limited time on it. Buy books for 1000th the price about the stuff that’s ACTUALLY useful to you and you can finish a “class” every two or three days. This coming from someone who went to business school.

Yeah, I think I need to either create income or get a job and continue to stack my savings for a better use. I really don't spend a lot of money, don't buy lavish, don't go on vacations, don't go to bars or clubs... so the saving part is easy. I just need to generate income.

You're spot on with the crypto advice. I had a good run but there's no guarantees. I'm not really looking to play around in crypto. I feel you really need to put solid time in there but even then, you can do everything right and still lose. I'd rather go for more sure/solid investments like real estate.

Don't go back to school, it is a complete waste.

You mentioned you took a real estate course, I am going to send you a PM about what I do. I don't know the extent of your injury but there are tons of businesses that can be run remotely whether you run them yourself or you hire employees.

Check your PMs

That seems to be the consensus here and I'd have to agree.

In the past I've tried looking for remote/at home jobs, although most seem to be customer service phone call reps. Or like manager positions with uni degree requirements. Mostly because of my back injury which can get real bad at times. Also part of why I'd really like to make digital marketing work for me - I can do it on a computer (for the most part).

Thanks for the PM. I'll message you back. ... definitely an interesting take to things.

I'm not confused by your situation. It doesn't sound like you need to go back to school. Cash-out and keep your money for something important. You need experience and that means going to work. You're a "failure to thrive" young adult. So, get started. Today. Right now. Get a job where you learn something. Get a client and do some work on the side besides getting a job. So, start!

Appreciate that. I think you're right.