My First 6 Months of WiFi Money (feat. BowTiedGrappler)
First-hand experience of a new online business owner
Hello everyone, first off I want to thank everyone who has helped me along the way getting to this point! Crazy to think that it's only been six months since I started out on this journey and have received so much love and support from those in the Jungle. Everything we need to create something of value is here in this pocket of the internet.
With that out the way, let's jump into my first six months of owning an online business and how I have managed to pump out more than 100 articles in this time.
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First things First
I have been “a part” of the jungle for a bit over two years now. I throw that out because I do not really think you are a part of this community if you are just floating around not helping or building.
I started following BTB right when he was closing off Wallstreet Playboys and started talking about his new adventure. I was a lurker and mainly followed BTB to get alpha on crypto. As the breadth of knowledge started to spread and people like Ox, Tetra, Opossum, and the like started to spring up I found myself trying to think of ways to start an online business.
I slacked. It took me two years to actually find something that commit to it. So if you are in this place right now, keep going and trying new things. Once you find something, commit, burn the bridges and GO!
How I Chose My Niche
I picked up Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu recently and it has changed my life for the better. After my first couple of classes, I knew I was going to do this for a long time. Playing sports all my life made me an intense person who loves to compete and the sport was right up my alley. So naturally, I just picked that and started running with it.
I did not sit around and do market research. I found something I knew I was going to do for a long time, something I enjoyed talking about in casual conversation, and something I was going to grow into being an expert in. I think when it comes to picking a niche people to overcomplicate the entire process.
Understand your tolerance when picking a niche. If you choose to write about finance understand that you will be going up and competing with the big dawgs right off the start. This could be discouraging but I don’t want to discourage you from pursuing what you are good at.
Are people Googling what you are talking about? This is important. If no one is searching for your niche then it’s a no-go right out of the gate.
You will need a keyword research tool. I was about 3 months into my journey when I realized this, I tried to be cheap and just “do it on my own” and eventually started to notice I was missing out on opportunities by not having this. Tetra recommended Ahrefs and I will too. The tool is super powerful and provided a ton of insights into what people are searching on the web. Don't go, complete autist, when you get the software, there are limits to how many times you can search keywords within a month’s timeframe, I was unaware of this and burned through my 500 search queries in a matter of two weeks.
Get to work.
Do Not Do This
Don’t focus on picking something perfect.
Do not just jump into a passion that you have. This may be where I personally messed up but the more important thing to me was that I started and did not look back when I did so.
Do not think you will make money immediately. This takes time.
Do not wait on building links to your site, start from day one.
Know this: Money drives passion more than passion drives money.
Chances are, whatever you are thinking about has products in the space that have affiliate programs and if there are programs you can make money, super simple.
After picking my niche I immediately applied skills I learned from other jobs and started building out my social media presence. In the 6 months, I have been working on Grappler's Graveyard I have amassed about 25,000 followers across three social networks, mainly TikTok and Instagram. 80% of the content I have posted was reposted content because I decided to go the Theme Page route rather than putting my face on camera.
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Building a Social Media Following While Staying Anon - IG Theme Pages
I have found the most success on Instagram so far. Although the early stages were entirely reposted content, I could get 10,000 followers relatively fast is a pretty focused niche. The conversion rate of people going to my website was much higher than the rate people were doing on TikTok. My goal for the page is to have other people help create content that can easily be shared and get my original content to a reposted ratio closer to 60/40.
The important thing is to narrow down what you are going to go after and getting to work. Build and ask questions later.
I have written two free Substack posts for insights on how to build out followings on Instagram. I plan on applying what I have learned with Grappler's Graveyard to other ideas that I have been researching for the past couple of months.
Finding Your Right Platform
TikTok was just not a good platform for me to convert people over because I did not have control over the videos having a strong hook or CTA since I was going the repost route with my content. Now, I still have an account with 15,000 followers and can easily figure out something to continue to grow that audience. All to say you have to find the platform that will suit you best.
If you do not mind being in front of the camera or have a skill/interest in editing/creating content you need to lean into that… HARD. Find your platform, find your voice, and remember one piece of content that you make should be posted on every platform you have.
I will be writing about how I have been able to game social media platforms on my Substack so be sure to check into that!
The Jungle is All You Need
I feel like we are living this online business game in cheat mode with the talent we have in this community. I see people paying thousands of dollars for information that is half as good as what we can learn here for $10/month… it blows my mind what is possible with the jungle on your side.
People in this community will support you when you show that you are serious about what you are doing. Large accounts had reached out and pushed me when they noticed I was staying curious and applying what they were teaching.
Everything is hard about running an online business. For the past 6 months, I don't think I have taken a break from working. On top of my regular 9-5 WFH job, I work on Grappler's Graveyard every day, and still find time to train jiu-jitsu 5 - 6 times a week! Anything is possible when you have a vision and decide not to compromise on it for anything or anyone.
So far I have written over 100 articles in less than 6 months. My goal each month from the start was to post 15 - 25 articles and post daily on all social media platforms. Slowly the traffic to my website has grown. Watching keywords move up the ranks on Google and making affiliate commissions trickle in have become drugs to me that I cannot get enough of! I'm not rolling in dough (yet) but there is no feeling better than knowing the destination you are reaching for is not only possible but right around the corner.
Thank you again Tetra for letting me be a guest post 🙏
Great article! Inspiring!!