To achieve financial independence and avoid common pitfalls like being broke and stressed, the primary focus should be on mastering the skill of making your first $10,000, which then becomes a scalable foundation for significant wealth.
Mind Map
Click to expand
Click to explore the full interactive mind map • Zoom, pan, and navigate
if you don't want to be like everyone
else broke stressed and stuck in a
NeverEnding cycle you need to focus on
one thing making your first
$110,000 when I was 18 I had no money
and no qualifications but I did have big
Ambitions instead of worrying about
making millions I set myself the smaller
more achievable goal of making 10K now
as a self-made millionaire I can tell
you that first $10,000 was the hardest
to make but once I hit it everything
changed it wasn't just about the money
it was about proving to myself that
making money is a skill and not luck
once I figured out how to make 10K once
I knew I could do it again and again and
eventually scale it into real wealth so
if I had to start from zero and make
that first $10,000 all over again this
steps most people make this way harder
than it needs to be they jump into
crypto because their friend made money
from it or they try day trading because
some Guru promised it would make them
Rich the problem is both these methods
need huge upfront cash reserves and
crazy luck these aren't side hustles and
they should never be seen as your main
source of income instead think of them
as tools to multiply your money when
you're just starting out you need
something that requires a small amount
of money to begin with and constantly
puts cash in your pocket every day when
you strip away all the noise there are
only really four options I've tried all
of these and take it from me this choice
is crucial because some options offer
higher scalability While others are more
limited in the same way some generate
Quick Cash While others take more time
to make money option one is selling
in-person services look you've probably
heard of these before but I'm talking
personal training delivery driving dog
walking nail designing barbering
videography and so many more although
these Services sound so common and basic
they're actually one of the fastest ways
to make money so don't overlook them as
they give you a way to get paid
immediately it's also pretty cheap to
get started all you need some skills and
maybe a few tools which means you can
get up and running very quickly if you
choose to do this then please don't mess
around trying to build a website run ads
or make a logo just get out there find
some customer in your local area deliver
the service and get paid I even did this
when I was in my teens I used to walk
around rich neighborhoods and offer to
wash people's cars I'd look out for tidy
Gardens but dirty Vehicles now this
might sound strange however I was
betting if they were obsessed over
keeping their Garden tidy they'd also
want a nice shiny car on their driveway
to impress their neighbors because these
kinds of services are limited by your
local area it meant my demand was pretty
up and down some months were busy and
others I struggled to make anything when
I was busy I was only able to work with
one person at a time which kept how much
I could make in a day so in-person
services are great to get started with
but you can quickly feel like they're
limiting your potential that brings me
on to option two which is local products
this is selling things like homebaked
Goods handmade items artwork fresh
produce and much more this can be a
great way to make make money but it's
not something that happens overnight
unlike Services where you get paid as
soon as the job's done selling local
products takes time I gave this a go
using some of the profits from my car
washing business I bought some cheap
model plane parts then spent some time
building each one up and then sold them
to people at the RC flying club which I
went to on the weekends however I
quickly realized I was putting a lot of
work in for very little money this was
hard for me to come to terms with
because I really enjoyed building them
most of my earnings were being eaten up
by the cost of materials and on top of
that my customer base was very limited
as there weren't enough people willing
to pay what I needed to make it worth my
time so selling local products can be
fun and it's definitely worth it if you
want to make some money from something
you love option three is global products
this includes starting a clothing brand
Drop Shipping sneaker reselling print on
demand and so much more unlike in-person
services or local products Going Global
means you have access to a much larger
customer base which gives you more
opportunities to make money you're not
limited to just the people in your town
or city anyone anywhere can buy from you
I was so excited about launching my own
Global products I even flew all the way
to China to partner with a manufacturer
to produce my model airplane designs and
sell them worldwide of course you don't
have to do this if you choose to go down
the Drop Shipping or print on demand
routes however this wasn't really an
option when I started if I'm honest
things started off pretty slowly for me
because I had to keep reinvesting my
profits back into new products to sell
every sale required more investment once
I sold 10 items I then needed to buy 20
more to keep up instead of pocketing the
profits my money kept getting trapped in
this endless cycle of restocking
ultimately was it worth it
100% however you should only do this if
you have the patience to wait 1 to 3
months for everything to start kicking
off so when this is up and running it is
probably the most passive laziest way to
make money that actually works so that
brings us on to option four selling
online services this option wasn't
actually possible for me when I was
younger but this is such an advantage
nowadays there are so many different
online services you can offer these
include copy writing video editing
thumbnail design running ads social
media management the list goes on
selling online services actually
combines the two biggest benefits from
the in-person services and Global
products this is because you get the
global reach but the profit margins of a
service with products you might make 20
to 30% margin that needs to be
reinvested with Services you're looking
at 70 to 80% margins that go straight
into your pocket plus you can start
making money from day one look all of
these are fantastic ways to make $10,000
as a student especially these last two
options however if I wanted to start
making money as fast as possible then
I'd go with option for selling online
services so now we need to figure out
exactly what online service to offer so
start by asking yourself three questions
what are you really good at what do you
enjoy learning about and what problems
do businesses consistently struggle with
the sweet spot is where your answers
overlap most people get stuck at this
stage as they spend months or even years
trying to perfect their skill before
offering it to anyone that is totally
backwards you need to start getting real
world experience as quickly as possible
so start by setting your prices under
the normal market rate your main aim
here is to earn and learn at the same
further this is the skill pyramid made
up of four elements that when mastered
together together transform a high
income skill into a $10,000 income misch
just one and you'll stay stuck at the
bottom working hard but never breaking
through element one is positioning you
see not all online services are equal
the real money is in offering to help
businesses make more money that's
because businesses think about money
differently to individuals when a
business is making $50,000 a month
spending $2,000 to solve a problem isn't
big deal as long as it helps them make
more money and take it from me they have
a lot of these problems they need more
customers they need better systems they
need to stand out from their competition
and they need to convert more leads into
sales these problems never go away and
businesses are always willing to pay to
solve them on top of this some
Industries simply have more money to
spend than others and if you think about
how you can reposition yourself you'll
start making real money faster here are
some ideas to get you thinking instead
of being a video editor for small
YouTubers you could edit videos for an
entrepreneur who sells a product if you
make random thumbnails for clients you
could instead aim to become the main
designer for an established Creator and
if you're a copywriter don't write cheap
articles instead focus on optimizing
landing pages this isn't about learning
more skills it's about putting yourself
where the money's being made element two
is leverage you'll never make $10,000
without leveraging value over time
businesses don't pay for effort they pay
for results if you stop charging for the
hours you work and instead for the
return on investment you provide you'll
instantly make more money let's say you
choose to run Facebook ads if you charge
per hour you're stuck with a fixed rate
and the client will always want to keep
your hours low but if you charge based
on the money you bring in for the
business suddenly they're not thinking
about cost they're thinking about profit
and when they see that your work is
directly making them money they'll
happily pay you more for it the same
goes for if you decide to offer social
media management if you just schedule
posts and reply to comments you're
replaceable but if you can prove that
your strategy is bringing in more
engagement more leads and more sales you
become a valuable asset not just an
expense trust me the moment you shift
your pitch from what you do to what they
gain you'll find a lot of people are
suddenly willing to pay a lot more
element three is reach one of the
biggest mistakes people make when
starting out is thinking they always
have to chase clients but that's not how
the game should be played right from the
start you need to be thinking about how
to make clients come to you recently I
was looking for a graphic designer for a
specific task making movie style posters
so the first thing I did was look on Tik
Tok for people who made these kinds of
designs and one person dominated the
search results so I reached out to him
and asked him for his prices he told me
he was just posting some of his designs
for fun on Tik Tok he wasn't even doing
it as a side hustle so politely declined
however his videos kept growing in
popularity and his inbox was flooded
with DMS asking to work with him a few
weeks later he reached back out to me
asking how to start getting paid I
helped him set up a proper business and
now he works for me and many other
clients this just goes to show that you
should always be putting your work out
there online even if you just starting
out or just doing something because you
enjoy it you never know what
opportunities might come from it so if
you edit videos show before and after
Clips to highlight how much better your
edits make the content if you design
thumbnails explain why your design got
more clicks and if you're learning
social media document how you're growing
an account from scratch element four is
automation 95% of people that try to
start a sideous or a business fail
before they even really get going here's
why after working with countless
copywriters thumbnail designers web
developers and video editors I can tell
you that 95% of them promis to deliver
on time then completely miss their
deadlines the thing that will make you
stand out the most isn't Talent OR
Charisma is reliability and overlooking
this is the biggest mistake young people
make when starting out the people I've
ended up paying thousands to aren't
always the best at what they do but
they're the most organized they never
miss deadlines they always communicate
clearly and they make working with them
effortless so take it from me being good
at what you do is one thing but being
reliable is what gets you paid again and
again so how do you do this well the
most successful people I know don't rely
on memory or messy notes they use
Automation and if you're thinking about
making money online you need something
to help you keep track of everything
that's why I recommend using a CRM
system ODU CRM is great it helps you
remember who you talk to what they
wanted and what you need to do next
instead of scrolling through emails or
DMS trying to find what the client said
everything is in one place I mean you
can visualize all your opportunities
with this cool board which helps you see
the expected Revenue at each stage so
you know where to focus your efforts you
can also use it to schedule calls and
meetings effortlessly plus with your
emails notes and files all in one place
staying organized is very easy you can
use it to easily track your clients and
projects so you never miss a deadline
you can set reminders to follow up with
people so you always look professional
at the end of the day clients don't just
want someone skilled they want someone
they can count on as I was planning on
talking about them anyway I reached out
to ODU to see if they wanted to sponsor
this portion of the video and they
agreed they also offer your first
application completely free with
unlimited support and hosting so if that
interests you I'll drop a link in the description
I don't care how much money you make
until you see at least $1 million in
your bank you shouldn't be wasting it
the supercars the designer Clos the
night's out none of it matters unless
you can turn your income into long-term
wealth the rich see their income is
something to spend whereas the wealthy
use it to make more money so how do you
do this well you need to start investing
in front of me I've got a RIS scale and
I'm going to walk you through the four
key areas where I put my money starting
from the safest Investments all the way
up to the highest risk play remember I'm
not a financial advisor I'm just sharing
what's worthed for me over the years
let's kick this off with my high savings
account they call it a highin savings
account but honestly at 3% I have no
idea how to get away with that name now
sure you can find better rates if you're
willing to lock your money away for a
set period or agree to strict deposit
limits each month but I don't want my
savings held hostage I want access to my
money when I need it not stuck behind
some rule that says I can only withdraw
on the first Tuesday of every leap year
and I know what some of you are thinking
mark this isn't really investing this is
just holding cash and yeah you've got a
point but having some cash on the
sidelines means you're not forced to
sell Investments at the wrong time
imagine the market crashes and you
suddenly need money for an emergency if
you don't have cash saved up you'll have
no choice but to sell stocks at a loss
and that's the fastest way to lock in a
bad decision a highin interest savings
account is like your financial safety
net it's not about making big returns
it's about having a buffer so that when
life throws unexpected expenses at you
you're covered without wrecking your
long-term Investments investment two is
index funds have you ever heard the
saying it only takes the price of a
coffee a day to become a millionaire
well that's down to index funds and ETFs
I've made a lot of money from simple
long-term Index Fund investing and as an
had benefit is extremely low maintenance
there are tons of different index funds
and ETFs but the most popular buzzword
of course is the S&P 500 which is 503 of
the top publicly traded companies in
America all packed into one easy
investment even though this is the
biggest Index Fund in my portfolio by
percentage I do also invest into a total
stock market fund the best I found for
us investors is
vtsax and for the UK people is the VW RL
ETF additionally I think it's important
to have some money invested in an
emerging market index fund the best I
found in the USA is the vwo and in the
UK is the vfm ETF but there are lots of
other Emerging Market funds available so
it's worth having a bit of a look around
if all those Index Fund names made you
glaze over then here's an awesome fact
to wake you up the average return of the
S&P 500 over the last 10 years has been
over 10 10% which means if you invest
just $5 instead of buying a coffee every
single day from the age of 18 to 67 and
achieve the same return then you'd
retire with over $1 million and if you
don't want to wait until you're 67 just
invest more money that's what I've done
for many years and it's worked really
well for me investment three is
individual stocks now this is where
things get exciting individual stocks
can be a great way to start investing
especially with smaller amounts of money
they allow you to get hands-on
experience with the market in a way that
index funds don't when I first started I
really enjoyed picking stocks and
learning how to read company's financial
statements honestly if I hadn't actually
invested my own money I doubt I'd ever
have been motivated to understand how it
all works that's why when you're
starting out individual stocks can feel
more engaging of course they also come
with higher risk but if you're only
investing a small amount it can be a
useful way to learn how the market moves
without putting too much at stake
another big Advantage is that you get
direct exposure to specific companies
with index funds even if a company's
performing incredibly well it may only
make up a small part of your portfolio
with individual stocks you get to
experience those gains more directly but
of course this means more ups and downs
which is something to keep in mind by
the way trading 212 are currently given
away a free fractional share worth up to
£200 when you use the the code tilb and
fund your account so if you want to pick
that up I'll leave the link in the
description below investment 4 is
cryptocurrency when Bitcoin first came
out in 2009 I like a lot of people just
assumed it was a scam I was used to
inves in in real tangible assets like
property and stocks things backed by
actual companies the idea of some
digital currency with no one in charge
seemed way too risky but as time went on
I started paying more attention by early
2019 I decided to dip my toes in and
over the last few years I've been
steadily buying more Bitcoin and
ethereum looking back it's been a solid
move and it's made me a decent amount of
money now I won't deny that all coins
and mean coins can make people crazy
returns but they're also way riskier for
every person who makes a fortune there's
plenty who lose it just as fast these
days I'd say I'm a lot more bullish on
crypto but I'm still playing it smart
building my position slowly dollar cost
averaging and making sure I'm not just
jumping in at bad prices of course
crypto is super volatile and like any
investment it carries risks that's why
it's important to do your own research
and only invest what you can afford to
lose if you're ready to learn how to
invest in everything I just talked about
then I'll leave that video right up
there but don't click on it just yet
make sure to subscribe if you want to
grow your wealth okay I'll see you over there
Click on any text or timestamp to jump to that moment in the video
Share:
Most transcripts ready in under 5 seconds
One-Click Copy125+ LanguagesSearch ContentJump to Timestamps
Paste YouTube URL
Enter any YouTube video link to get the full transcript
Transcript Extraction Form
Most transcripts ready in under 5 seconds
Get Our Chrome Extension
Get transcripts instantly without leaving YouTube. Install our Chrome extension for one-click access to any video's transcript directly on the watch page.
