I'm going to be 100% honest in this post.
I've always found the digital world interesting, ever since my parents bought me a Nintendo DS.
Yes, i begged for this little thing for Christmas, so I could play cooking mama haha.
This one device was more than "playing video games"
Later found out you can connect with other Nintendo users.
Well you had to be hooked up to WIFI during those times.
Then I discovered you can talk to being from all over the world, now looking back was pretty dangerous for a young child around 10-years old.
Anyways, my point is that the online world was far more advance that we even knew...
Fast forward, I got a PSP GO.
Now that console was SO ahead of its time.
Not only was the graphics amazing, but I learned you would download games, movies, music, photos.
Without having to carry any additional game cartridges.
You maybe reading this and wondering what is the point of me sharing this...
Well, many "influencers" or "gurus" online never share the real way they got exposed to the online world...
It's always the same sad story, "sleeping on my friends couch."
I cannot say I hit rock bottom, because that would be far from the truth. Besides, I don't need people feeling bad for me.
My story is about discovery and curiosity.
As time went on, Instagram was becoming a thing.
Well not really haha
Celebrities would post but they would honestly share odd photos and seriously questionable comments.
Back then social media was not "hip" it was really just a place you upload things.
So, I grew 3 pages, my most popular page was @newesthings
Hang on because I'm about to share with you how I discovered marketing at such a young age.
Below is the only image I have as proof, of my page:
People from all over the world saw the amount of followers and likes, comments.
And they wanted a piece of that pie:
Funny enough I was only 14 at this time, no bank account, nothing to my name, just an Instagram page with 100K+ followers and obviously high engagement.
So like every teenage during that time without a job, wanted iTunes gift cards to buy things like music and games haha...
By the way, this was called ShoutOut4ShoutOut at this time.
In todays world, it's just called marketing lol.
I only got paid $10/post based on the amount of hours I kept the post up for.
That just goes to show how naïve and young I was...
Yet, that did not stop me, I learned how to communicate with businesses at the age of 14-years old.
I understood that people had products/service yet could not get other people to buy their stuff...and to my surprise this is still a recurring issue.
Now let's get into how I began freelancing during 2018
Well what exactly happen between 2014-2017?
I was a teenager lol
Starting about to start high school, the last thing I worried about was iTunes gift cards let along how many followers I had, simply just wanted to get school over with honestly.
So start of freshman year, I abandoned my Instagram account.
By the time I graduated, Instagram has algorithms and data, pixels, etc.
Now those brands/ people stopped reaching out to me because they now had to pay for ads if they wanted visibility.
Now what?
Well, I got a real job at my local grocery store because now I had bills like my car insurance & phone bill plus I was entering the college life.
My parents may have bought me the cool tech consoles at a young age but they sure weren't going to fund my life haha
Which I very much appreciate them for!
[Insert picture here]
Now of course I had a few more jobs before this one but I learn a very important lesson from this specific job.
Not only did I pick up on customer service, but I learned that I had become solely reliant on someone putting money into my pocket.
This ONE job drove me back into entrepreneurship.
Quick Timeline Recap:
2007 - Nintendo DS Era unlocked the world of WIFI & communication
2011 - PSP Go Era unlocked the world of internet browsing & downloading
2013 - Instagram Era unlocked the world of marketing (supply and demand)
2016 - 9-5 Era Unlocked the world of customer support & reality
2018 - Freelancing
Funny part about discovering freelancing was that it was on accident.
I was the type of person really believed in working smarter, not harder.
I kind of took that approach a bit too serious.
To sum it up, I was trying to find someone online to do my homework for me lol.
Look I had a lot to juggle at this time, exams, hanging out with friends, trying to work and pay what seemed to be a lot in expenses during that time.
So I stubbled across Fiverr.
$5 gigs which was super affordable for my lifestyle haha.
I began browsing and noticed that people were selling any type of skill...
Literally people holding signs with their requested message on them while doing backflips (I know weird, but people bought it.)
So, I decided to do something similar!
My first $5 Gig was fitness related, only because health/fitness was a hobby of mine.
So it worked, but my greed began to kick in, "Only $5.00, I make more clocking into work for an hour."
This lead me to creating a new gig, since I learned a lot from the "be your fitness model" job.
By the way, that gig involved me getting a product shipped to me and simply filming with the portable workout bands.
Yet, I simply just wanted more for myself so I created a $55 dollar gig:
Got someone to order, but they cancelled haha
But to me it was never a loss in my eye, since I made $55 in less than 30-mins
That alone was more than I'd ever make in my 9-5 job working an hour.
Let's just say I've learned a lot from trial and error.
From $5 gigs to $55 gigs, then cancelled order to what you'll see below:
Earning my first 6-figures of $265,043.80
If this does not inspire you, I'm not sure what will motivate you to start selling a service.
If you've gotten this far, by now you know how important being visible truly is because people always have something to sell, yet cannot figure out how to sell it.
The power of being top of the mind, and in-front of those ready to buy is what will make all the difference in your business.