HOW I BUILT A PROFITABLE DESIGN BUSINESS WITH NO MONEY!

Hey You! Yes, you stumbling upon this here blog to be nosey and see what the heck I'm talking about, right? Well, you're in for something great because I know tons of people may have seen this and thought., "hmm, with no money, eh?" I would like to share a quick story with you that pretty much proves that anyone, professional or not can make profit online with little to absolutely no money! No, I'm not bs'n! In the summer of 2012, I worked for a 9 to 5 job that held no great account with me. I would be miserable going into work everyday or sometimes even the one day they gave me out of the week. Am I the only one who feels it's a disgrace to knock off work hours of veteran workers and feed them to the new kids on the block? I had to go through that.  Fast forward to the day before I decided to quit my job. I had previously contemplated on when I would leave but something shook me one day at work. It was a boring Sunday afternoon and the store I was employed in closed early that day. I received a call that I so cleverly snuck to answer. There was a family emergency. I HAD TO LEAVE! Here's the kicker... when I brought this to the attention of my manger, he says, "You can't wait until we close down? I can't allow you to leave so early." WHAT? It was only 3PM and we closed at 6PM. I will tell you now that that store was not going to miss a sale without me on the floor for the last three measly hours. That drew my blood a flaming hot red.  I stormed out of the store! No questions.  No hesitation.  That incident didn't go well with me considering my paycheck the week before was only $150. Who lives off of that for two weeks? The very next day, I was scheduled to come into work but I woke up that morning, called my job, and literally said, "Hey... I found a better job so I won't be coming in today." Problem was, I had no job. I had no sort of crutch or backup plan when those words left the hole in my face. I just knew I gave myself one year to make some things happen. I had multiple skills and talents and one thing was for certain, my talents would create my business. I'm not saying get like me and make a drastic decision but I will say though if you have a job and can't quit like you would want to because of outside situations, be wise enough to invest a percentage of every paycheck in yourself towards creating a business you love!  Step Into The Bad Side.. After receiving the initial shock of my family and friends for the decision I blatantly made, I took this time to work the internet business I had ran across just a month prior. I sold auto benefits. So I guess you can say I did direct sales. I also got into a few opportunities that many robot humans refer to as "scams", "MLMs", or as I call them "online business franchises". I've done a lot. I even started an initiative platform for entrepreneurs among other things. For those few months between the summer and Christmas, I was able to learn more about how to build a following, about myself, and the people around me. Sh*t got real! This period for many is considered the growth period. You feel alone and regret your choices until you realize you're not the problem It's the people who don't understand why you do what you do. Don't fault them for it.  When you're making a means to do something for yourself in a more non-traditonal way, people you would have expected to support you, don't but they will look down on you a bit. Needless to say, I had to re-evaluate a few people who were in my life. This included family members as well, sad right? From doing my lifestyle cleanup to dealing with online business frauds and money hungry con artists... I decided to position my talents elsewhere all while taking the knowledge I gained from internet marketing, advanced blogging, and so forth.   Mini-Guide To Business By Resource Most people don't know that I started my graphic design business from scratch. The income I had accumulated previously was coming to an end and I had to figure out a way to make a profitable comeback. I was being prompted to be a apart of this "life changer" with being a rep for a credit restoration company (which DID improve my overall credit score) BUT working as a rep didn't drive me. I wasn't passionate about the business or it's "potential" with my life. This is time where I was invited to open up a free online boutique. It had potential but it didn't drive me either. In one of their Facebook groups, I noticed a few of the boutique owners sharing how they desperately wanted to "brand" their stores with logos. With my skill, I approached a young lady and offered my skill to her for $10! I created her logo (that would considerably be $40+) and she was so in love with it that she failed to keep her mouth shut. Once she began to share the things I was creating for her, others would come to me wanting design services as well. $10 logos was the hot buy! Then it moved into flyers, and all that good stuff. I had found my business. My passion.  Before you know it, I had made over $100 within my first week without spending a dime or having to sell a product of belonging to someone else. Art! Creativity! Freedom! That feeling of "this is it" took over! I went into overdrive.  I wanted to "brand" myself as a person and creative entity so I decided to build onto my business. I did so in this order: Bought A Domain For 99 cents with GoDaddy Created A free, professional email address Created A Website For Free ..( then upgraded later to build a better one myself) Used My Skills To Design A Logo  Built An Email List with MailChimp Created Forms + Autoresponses with Jotform Took Advantage of Free courses through Saylor and Hubspot Stepped outside of my comfort zone and put my business in front of others online and offline Check out a few screenshots of my personal sales statements from the my first few months in business. Below is just for graphic design income only. Out side of my freelance business, I have income coming in from blogging, contracting partnerships, as well as freebie sites that most people call "scams".  I don't do scams.  They pay me legit cash baby! Got to love the power and leverage of the internet. This may be pennies to some people but when you're depending on nobody but you to create income, what you work is what you're PROUD of! Don't allow anyone to tell you making your own money can't be done. I'm living proof that you can build a business from scratch, no money, and still profit. We can all grab a slice of the success pie whether by selling homemade cookies and pastries, starting an in-home daycare, selling your random class doodle drawings, etc.  Talent will sell. PERIOD! So, in Essence, now that I look back on how I got to where I am today, I started with nothing. I had no knowledge of how to direct sell anything to anyone. I had no experience in internet marketing or making my own income. When you want something bad enough, you too will make a way out of no way. It's been over a year since I walked out on my job and I don't ever regret the day doing it. To be honest, a free business can make just as much money as any other business. The work may be more time consuming but you never fail to appreciate it when the fruits of your labor have begun to blossom right before your eyes. How do you feel about people who step out on faith to pursue their dreams? Have you ever experienced anything like this?

Give Me A Follow, Will Ya?! 
  Pinterest | Twitter | Facebook | Instagram | Subscribe