- PPF Points
- 2,100
I Failed 4 Times Before I Got It Right — No BS, Just the Truth
Nobody wants to talk about bombing, right? Especially not online, where everyone parades wins like they're walking a damn red carpet and hides all the messy bits. Forget that. Here’s what really happened:
I tanked. Hard. Four times. Different ideas, epic faceplants every single round.
This isn't some fairy tale about rising to glory after one tough day. Nah, it’s raw and ugly — but it finally led somewhere real. Maybe you’re in the trenches too? If you are, hey, hope my disasters make you feel less alone. Maybe you can swipe a couple brutal lessons while you’re at it.
Chapter 1: Making Zero Money With Dropshipping (aka, Oops)
LOL, I totally got suckered by the dropshipping dream. Easy money, no inventory, work whenever/wherever — who wouldn't wanna try? Shopify, check. Spent hours picking random crap to sell, wrote descriptions only my grandma would love. BINGED YouTube ads tutorials like I was cramming for finals.
Launch day: tumbleweeds.
Tweaked ads, spent even more cash, tried not to panic. A few sad, lonely clicks. Sales? Basically none.
Managed to squeeze in two pity purchases. By the time I subtracted shipping, ads, late-order refunds? I was straight-up donating money to my suppliers. Ouch.
What'd I learn? Dropshipping is NOT some magical internet ATM. It's actual work, and the margins suck unless you’ve got skills… and cash.
I killed the store, tail between my legs, 10x more jaded.
Chapter 2: Freelancing Fiasco — Turns Out, You Gotta Sell Yourself
Nursed my wounds, figured, “Hey, I can write stuff. People pay for blog posts, right?” Signed up for Upwork, Fiverr, the works. Thought I’d be turning down offers in a week.
Nope.
Sent out so many cold pitches and samples my laptop keystrokes started to sound like sobbing. Total silence.
Eventually, someone bit — $50 for 1,000 words. Spent eons making it “perfect,” which means I probably made like $2/hour. What a steal… for them.
Moral of the story: Being "good" isn't enough. You gotta hustle, sell yourself, and honestly, pretend you’re worth it even when you are doubting everything inside.
Stung hard. Thought freelancing was about being talented. Nope, it’s about being a mini sales machine.
Chapter 3: Blogging Myself Into Oblivion
Next idea: be a blogger! Make $$$ in my sleep. I mean, all you need is a blog and those “passive income” links everyone swears by, right?
Grabbed a domain, tweaked my layout for weeks (why?), wrote a bunch of SEO posts nobody even googled. Dumped the links everywhere I could. Waited for traffic like I was on hold with customer service.
Got… less than 300 views in half a year. Pretty sure half were me refreshing. Didn’t even build a list. Total ghost town.
Learned the hard way: It ain’t about pumping out content for the void. You need an actual plan, AND real people who wanna read your stuff.
Pretty sure that blog is still somewhere, haunting the internet. RIP, rookie ambition.
Chapter 4: My Fancy Course That Sold to… No One
So I figured, okay, step it up. I’d taught myself a few things about digital marketing by now. Tiny email list, a couple hundred bucks freelancing — maybe this is my launch pad.
Made a whole damn online course. Shot video, wrote lessons, made a funnel I was totally sure would change my life. Launched it to my “audience” (LOL) with posts and emails.
Crickets. Not a single sale. Not even a pity buy from my mom.
That one hurt. I was like… how am I still eating dirt after ALL this learning? Did I break the laws of luck or something?
Big slap-in-the-face? You can’t sell stuff to people you don’t know, or before you bother checking if anyone actually wants it. Lesson engraved on my soul.
Honestly — felt like quitting.
Chapter 5: Finally, a Pivot That Didn’t Suck
After that disaster, I took a massive step back. No more chasing whatever shiny method popped up in my feed. Started asking the tough stuff:
What am I genuinely good at?
Who do I even like helping?
What do folks keep DM’ing me about?
Where did I actually see any traction?
And get this — most people kept pinging me about how I just kept going even though I face-planted over and over. They wanted gritty stories about building something when you’re basically starting from zero.
So I just started talking about my real journey, warts and all. Instead of hiding, I shared. No clickbait, just me — tired, honest, and still standing.
Posted on Twitter, LinkedIn, even hit up some DMs. No fancy campaign, just… real talk for once.
Nobody wants to talk about bombing, right? Especially not online, where everyone parades wins like they're walking a damn red carpet and hides all the messy bits. Forget that. Here’s what really happened:
I tanked. Hard. Four times. Different ideas, epic faceplants every single round.
This isn't some fairy tale about rising to glory after one tough day. Nah, it’s raw and ugly — but it finally led somewhere real. Maybe you’re in the trenches too? If you are, hey, hope my disasters make you feel less alone. Maybe you can swipe a couple brutal lessons while you’re at it.
Chapter 1: Making Zero Money With Dropshipping (aka, Oops)
LOL, I totally got suckered by the dropshipping dream. Easy money, no inventory, work whenever/wherever — who wouldn't wanna try? Shopify, check. Spent hours picking random crap to sell, wrote descriptions only my grandma would love. BINGED YouTube ads tutorials like I was cramming for finals.
Launch day: tumbleweeds.
Tweaked ads, spent even more cash, tried not to panic. A few sad, lonely clicks. Sales? Basically none.
Managed to squeeze in two pity purchases. By the time I subtracted shipping, ads, late-order refunds? I was straight-up donating money to my suppliers. Ouch.
What'd I learn? Dropshipping is NOT some magical internet ATM. It's actual work, and the margins suck unless you’ve got skills… and cash.
I killed the store, tail between my legs, 10x more jaded.
Chapter 2: Freelancing Fiasco — Turns Out, You Gotta Sell Yourself
Nursed my wounds, figured, “Hey, I can write stuff. People pay for blog posts, right?” Signed up for Upwork, Fiverr, the works. Thought I’d be turning down offers in a week.
Nope.
Sent out so many cold pitches and samples my laptop keystrokes started to sound like sobbing. Total silence.
Eventually, someone bit — $50 for 1,000 words. Spent eons making it “perfect,” which means I probably made like $2/hour. What a steal… for them.
Moral of the story: Being "good" isn't enough. You gotta hustle, sell yourself, and honestly, pretend you’re worth it even when you are doubting everything inside.
Stung hard. Thought freelancing was about being talented. Nope, it’s about being a mini sales machine.
Chapter 3: Blogging Myself Into Oblivion
Next idea: be a blogger! Make $$$ in my sleep. I mean, all you need is a blog and those “passive income” links everyone swears by, right?
Grabbed a domain, tweaked my layout for weeks (why?), wrote a bunch of SEO posts nobody even googled. Dumped the links everywhere I could. Waited for traffic like I was on hold with customer service.
Got… less than 300 views in half a year. Pretty sure half were me refreshing. Didn’t even build a list. Total ghost town.
Learned the hard way: It ain’t about pumping out content for the void. You need an actual plan, AND real people who wanna read your stuff.
Pretty sure that blog is still somewhere, haunting the internet. RIP, rookie ambition.
Chapter 4: My Fancy Course That Sold to… No One
So I figured, okay, step it up. I’d taught myself a few things about digital marketing by now. Tiny email list, a couple hundred bucks freelancing — maybe this is my launch pad.
Made a whole damn online course. Shot video, wrote lessons, made a funnel I was totally sure would change my life. Launched it to my “audience” (LOL) with posts and emails.
Crickets. Not a single sale. Not even a pity buy from my mom.
That one hurt. I was like… how am I still eating dirt after ALL this learning? Did I break the laws of luck or something?
Big slap-in-the-face? You can’t sell stuff to people you don’t know, or before you bother checking if anyone actually wants it. Lesson engraved on my soul.
Honestly — felt like quitting.
Chapter 5: Finally, a Pivot That Didn’t Suck
After that disaster, I took a massive step back. No more chasing whatever shiny method popped up in my feed. Started asking the tough stuff:
What am I genuinely good at?
Who do I even like helping?
What do folks keep DM’ing me about?
Where did I actually see any traction?
And get this — most people kept pinging me about how I just kept going even though I face-planted over and over. They wanted gritty stories about building something when you’re basically starting from zero.
So I just started talking about my real journey, warts and all. Instead of hiding, I shared. No clickbait, just me — tired, honest, and still standing.
Posted on Twitter, LinkedIn, even hit up some DMs. No fancy campaign, just… real talk for once.
