THE FREE WAY TO MAKE MONEY WHERE THERE IS NO MONEY…

After I finished my National Youth Service Corps in 2019 and the allawee (the monthly income Nigerian corners get) stopped coming, I realized that the hustle to make money is actually very serious. As a serious matter, I started asking friends about what they thought I could do that people would pay me for. I mean what if I started a business like the selling of bags or shoes. Just anything that would bring me money. As a reader, I started reading books on finance. Luck on my side, I read Chris Guillebeau’s book – The $100 startup. To me, the quality of information in the book is necessary for people like me (someone who needs to start making money) and if you are like me, you need to know Chris’s explanation on how to make money where there is no money.

The first thing Chris explained is the how to. How to find the balance between what you love doing and what people are willing to pay for. Without much explanation, everyone has a unique, yet wonderful interest in doing one or two things. For example, some people basic interest is in sleeping. Funny, but truly, you agree with me that some people can sleep for 14 hours without stress. If you are someone whose basic interest is sleeping, following Chris’s view, I believe you already found what you love doing. The missing link is “will anyone be willing to pay for it?” Do you think people will want to pay you to sleep? Okay. Perhaps, there will be people willing to pay you to teach them how to sleep😊. There we go. You can begin to see a connection between what you love doing and what people are willing to pay you for.

After you get this link, the link Chris calls convergence, you can start the search for your target customers. You can start with getting details like the who, where and what of your customers. Who are your audience? Where are they? What are their likes and dislikes?  In some cases, you can tune in to the modern way of describing your target customers. You can describe your customers as anyone who wants to improve their sleeping habit. This way, you won’t stress yourself thinking about many qualities to describe your target customers.

The next step is the hustling part. I love the way Chris puts it. Hustling is the meeting point between working and talking. After you make the decision of what you love doing  and who your target customers are, you can dive into the hustling part. Tell everyone about what you do (Don’t forget to tell me too). Make them know what you do and tell them about your years of experience (Years of sleeping, of course).

When you start thinking of how to create convergence, you begin to see opportunities everywhere. Basically, Chris’s idea revolves around you and your hobby. It means you are able to make money from your hobby without experiencing any financial burden. With the rising of many entrepreneurs, it will be a good idea to be an entrepreneur with a difference.

Personally, I know beginning can be difficult, but I have learnt not to  overthink failure. Failure is actually overrated. You may fail. You may not fail. I felt that way too. But now, I am sure that failure is not always a prerequisite for success.

Don’t be afraid to sell what you love doing. It is free way to make money, even when there is no money. If you know of other ways to make money from your hobby, feel free to talk about it. The hustle is so real. Stay real.

Check the video I made for THE FREE WAY TO MAKE MONEY WHERE THERE IS NO MONEY below.