3 Enjoyable Ways (that I’ve used) to Make Money and Support your Dream
My dream to become a prominent personal development author, and speaker, had its inception back in 2002. Although I took little action at the time, my mind started pondering the practicalities of reaching this destination.
The problem, as I saw it, was that it would take at least a year to write a book. Then, after that, I had no idea how long it would take to get a publishing deal and start receiving royalties. What would I do for money in the meantime (at the time, I was a post graduate living with my parents and, although I wasn’t in any financial difficulty, I didn’t have more than a couple of thousand pounds to my name)?
My savings weren’t going to support a potential 3-year journey (it turned out to be much much longer). Therefore, I had to have another plan. There had to be some way I could make money in a relatively enjoyable way that would also leave enough time for me to write.
As I write this blog post, in 2020, in turns out that there are a multitude of solutions. I’ve experimented with many of them and I’m going to reveal, what I feel, are the best 3.
Before I do so, let me first explain a few of the nuances. One of these methods works best if you are a UK resident (although still applies to Australia, some European countries and US states). Furthermore, I will be using UK based wages and so, the figures, if you live outside of the island, may not be exact. However, the principles and methodology should still be the same, and, therefore, you can adapt the advice to your particular location.
You can use these methods in the same manner that I did (as a way to support yourself while you pursue a greater dream). Or, they can be combined with each other to provide an enjoyable and, potentially wealthy, lifestyle.
What you shouldn’t do, though, is think that any of them are a quick and easy method to making money. Without exception, they all require effort, a willingness to master the fundamentals of each opportunity and a commitment to stick the course until you are successful.
In fact, throughout my 18 years of being self-employed, I’ve never encountered a legit get rich quick, or get rich without putting in the work, scheme. They just don’t exist.
Option Number 1: Network Marketing
Back in 2004, I joined a UK based network marketing company called Utility Warehouse. Our M.O. was to sell utilities (gas, electricity, broadband, mobile) at discounted rates and acquire customers from the mainstream providers. Also, as with other network marketing businesses, a large part of the work involved building a team, operating underneath me, who I would train to find their own clients and, as a result, earn a commission off their activities.
I paid £200 to join, received a training day from the company and support from the person who signed me up.
Ultimately, my foray into the world of network marketing didn’t last long. I was with Utility Warehouse for two years. However, despite my brief tenure, I could see that the model worked.
The services they provided were good, it was run by a competent CEO and their share price on the London stock exchange has over 10x since their inception. I feel confident that, if I’d made Utility Warehouse my main focus and sole form of income, I could have, within 5 years, been earning £5000 a month (this was the estimated length of time and monetary figure they were touting to prospective distributors). Subsequently, I have met people who are making a full time living from this particular company.
Of course, the network marketing model expands well beyond the company I worked for. You might also be interested in;
Arbonne — cosmetics and nutrition
Amway — health, beauty and homecare products (if you’re interested in this particular company, then contact Marcus Suitor. I can vouch for him being a great guy. He also helps organise my Success Club meet up group) Forever Living — Aloe Vera based drinks and bee derived cosmetics
doTerra — essential oils (contact Margaret Holvec — similar to Marcus but she doesn’t have a connection with Success Club)
The beauty of network marketing, if accomplished successfully, is that the bigger you grow, the less work you have to do (this is because it’s possible to build a small army of distributors working underneath you, from whom you earn a monthly commission on all the products they sell and the people they sign up). After 5 years, you might only have to put in 10 hours work a week, yet the cheques will keep rolling in.
At this point, you could enjoy your copious free time, or go all in with your main dream, knowing you are financially stable thanks to your business.
Option Number 2: Freelancing
In 2003, I began working as a tennis coach (see pic). By 2005, I had added hypnotherapist to my freelancing roles.
The selection criteria for these professions followed a 3-part process,
- I had to enjoy the work I was doing.
- It had to pay relatively well per hour (I get, on average, £40 per hour for my tennis coaching work and £70 for the hypnotherapy. This is important because I need enough money so that I don’t have to work full time hours and can, therefore, make time for my writing and speaking businesses).
- The training required to become qualified, and start charging for my time, couldn’t be too long (tennis coaching was just over six months and, to become a hypnotherapist, was just under a year).
If you follow these criteria, you could find yourself in an enviable position. As a freelancer, you get to control your hours and charge more than you would if you were performing the same skill as an employee of a company. However, this type of work is not without its downside.
Client acquisition could be your biggest hurdle. Just because you have the skills, and the qualification, doesn’t mean clients will flock to you. It took me a year and a half before I was making a liveable wage from my tennis coaching and I’ve never reached the point where seeing hypnotherapy clients alone could sustain me.
Despite this drawback, though, freelancing still provides an excellent opportunity to make a liveable income. After working in your industry as an employee, you might already have the skills and qualifications needed to make the switch to freelancing. If not, you could consider any one of these options.
Website, or mobile, developer — approximately 1 years’ worth of training and earning around £3000 a month
Photographer — length of time to qualify varies greatly, but an average seems to be around 2 to 3 years, with the potential to make between £20,000 and £30,000 a year
Personal Trainer — you can qualify in under a half a year and charge £30, and more, per hour
Plumber — approximately 2 years of training with the potential to earn around £25,000 per year (or more)
Uber Driver — a matter of months to receive your license and then you could be earning around £500 per week
Option Number 3: Matched Betting
This option works best for those residing in the UK (although also works for Australia, some European countries and US states). I started matched betting at the end of 2018 after attending one of Ben Father’s excellent masterclasses (see below for more info).
The concept is relatively simple although, if you want to take it to the level whereby it provides a full-time income, you must be prepared to invest time to master its nuances.
Get started by signing up to online bookmakers like Ladbrokes, Coral and William Hill (sign up to all of them). Receive free bets for doing so and then use online software (which you can find out about in Ben’s training) to find the sporting events, and odds, that will enable you to use the free bet in a way that guarantees a profit.
For example, the online software informs you that Arsenal beating Tottenham 2–1 in the Premier League is a matched bet. You then bet for this outcome to occur (using your free bet) at a bookmakers like William Hill. Then, you head over to a betting exchange like Smarkets, and bet against Arsenal beating Tottenham 2–1. Because you are using a free bet, and because of the genius of the online software, you will win money regardless of the outcome.
You can trawl through every conceivable online bookmaker using their free sign up bets in this manner. Then, after you’ve exhausted this initial phase, the bookmakers will, in conjunction with various major sporting events (for example, when Wimbledon is on), offer you more free bets. Repeat the process and rake in the money.
Sports betting isn’t the only avenue for taking advantage of matched betting. Once you’ve mastered it, make your way over to the online casinos and use the free bets that are offered.
I experimented with Matched Betting for 4 months. In that space of time, I made a profit from exhausting all the free sign up bets.
At this point, I stopped. The demands of being a writer, speaker, tennis coach and hypnotherapist were just too great for me to continue with matched betting. However, my brief experience taught me that it worked.
£500 a month was the figure I kept hearing at both the masterclass training seminar and from other matched betters in the community. This was relatively easy to make and required approximately an hour of your time each day.
If you want to take it further, it appeared there were people making thousands of pounds per month from mastering matched betting, teaching others how to do it and being an affiliate. A full-time income is possible and, most importantly, it can be achieved without working full time hours.
SPECIAL OFFER: TO FIND OUT MORE ABOUT MATCHED BETTING, ATTEND BEN FATHER’S FREE ONLINE TRAINING THIS MONDAY THE 13TH JULY AT 8PM UK. SIGN UP HERE
IF YOU’RE READING THIS BLOG POST AFTER THE 13TH OF JULY, CONTACT ME AT JOE@ESCAPETHESYSTEMNOW.COM, PUT ‘MATCHED BETTING’ IN THE SUBJECT BAR, AND I SHOULD BE ABLE TO GET YOU ACCESS TO A REPLAY.
Conclusion
I hope you’ve found these 3 options useful. It is possible to make money in an enjoyable way that doesn’t eat into all your free time.
If you enjoyed this blog post, or know a friend who might benefit from reading it, then please share with them or on your social media. Also, if you want to learn more on this subject, then check out my new book, Do The Work you Love. It expands on the ideas listed here, helps you identify your passion and gives you the roadmap to making a living doing it. To learn more, click here.
(image taken from Pictures of Money photostream flickr.com)
Originally published at https://escapethesystemnow.com on July 9, 2020.
