This is a very, long overdue post.
Let me preface by saying, I’m not rich. At least not according to Felix Denis’ standards.
But I do okay.
And in today’s (very short), late night post, I want to show you how the path to making some moulah on the interwebz. Working anywhere in the world (currently I’m in South America).
Also let me say, I’m not trying to sell you some course here. This is purely based on my own experience. And I’m trying to give back. Because someone will read this post and have their life changed. It happened to me years ago with one of my favourite blogs (which is now offline).
Level 1: The 3 Skills of internet money
The internet is full of fake promises and pseudo money making schemes. Guru’s that have never built a business, teaching business coaching. And so much more.
But after a decade online, I can confidently say there are 3 money making skill sets that have stood the test of time. You need to master one if you’re gonna make it.
- Copywriting
- Media Buying
- Phone Sales / Closing
There is a 4th (operations) but when you’re just starting out this doesn’t exist for you. So let’s leave it over there for now.
As of 2024, these 3 skills are all super important. I, for example, am a master copywriter. Likely top 20 active in the world right now.
But with Chat GPT taking over, that skill set is slowly going away. Knowing how to direct it and make decisions is becoming the new skill. But that’s a discussion for another time.
If you’re just starting out, I would choose copywriting or media buying. Phone sales is very person specific and not for most people.
Once you’ve chosen your path, it’s time to put the work in. This is the suck. Usually 1-4 years of really hard work. Sure you’ll see some returns but that’s the timeline if you’re serious. Most people quit before then. Don’t. Stick it out for 4 years.
My recommendation: go get a job working for a gangster internet marketer (not me) using one of the 3 skills above. You will learn 10x faster from this genius and get paid in the process. This is the biggest secret I can give you. Too bad most people will ignore it. It’s how I went from ~250k/year to near 8 figures (profit) in less than 3 years.
Level 2: The 3 phases to freedom
Okay, so you’ve got a skill. Fantastic!
Welcome to the next phase of growth. This is how you escape the rat race and work anywhere in the world on your time.
There are 3 levels:
- Freelancer / Worker
- Small equity / royalties
- Ownership
You’ll start off as a freelancer/worker. This is where you’ll put in the reps and (hopefully) get good enough. This is the toughest phase but the one that’s the most necessary. It weeds out those who kinda want to make it from those who will die trying.
You’re still working a job (usually 9-5), but it’s online. Which means you can be anywhere in the world doing it! Sometimes the hours are flexible, but I wouldn’t look for that. I would look for where can you learn the most/fastest. Because that’s where you’ll see the best return. It’s not time to make monies yet (we’ll get there). This phase will last 1-4 years.
Next is the royalty phase. This is where it gets interesting. Because you are slowly escaping the time for money trap. Royalties (or small equity) allows you to get paid for work continuously, even after you’ve completed the job. Most people never get here. But THIS is where true money and freedom start to take shape. This tends to be a a 2 year phase.
Note: you can skip the above phase. It’s super rare, but it happens for serious risk takers and entrepreneurs with a little luck/good timing up their sleeve.
Lastly there’s ownership. Let me be clear, unless you own substantial equity in companies, you will never get truly rich. This is the secret to why, right now, there are very few phenomenal copywriters for hire. Because they all work for themselves. It’s simple math really.
The mathematics of getting rich AF online
Let’s say an offer/business you are involved in does 10M in sales this year at 20% profits.
Copywriter = Paid 10-25k upfront.
Total cash collected: 25k
Rev Share/Small equity: 1-5% of profits
Total cash collected: 100k (5% of 2M profit) – 4X copywriter
Substantial Owner (30-100%)
Total cash collected: 1.8M profit (18x previous and 72x copywriter)
Let me type that again: 18-72x the amount of cash for the same project by being an owner
This is why you want to graduate to OWNER level as fast as you can.
But you can’t skip your way there.
(well I guess you could. I did. I started there. But then went backwards and did the whole ladder afterwards)
Pour Conclure
You need to go through the suck. You need to make the mistakes. But you can do it faster by following the advice above.
Because when you’re an owner, there are a million other moving pieces you need to be a part of. Operations, shipping, billing, legal, video, tech, MIDs, team building, negotiating… the list goes on.
But you get paid handsomely to do that (and it’s worth the money, trust me). And to make the right decisions along that journey.
Because – decision making – is the real skillset to making money.
But you need to make (a lot of) mistakes first. So that you can make the right decisions. And steer the ship to the promise land.
Alright it’s late, and I’m tired.
But I hope this helps someone out there, someday. If that’s you, email me your story 🙂
PT