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Lessons from making $2,180 selling a PDF at 18.

Anyone has something to sell

Making money on the internet does not need to be complicated.

I am no stranger to reading about multi-million start-up exits, the Cinderella story — all of us probably have at some point in our lives. Reading these articles often leave me with both a feeling of worthlessness, and a desire to create. But building the next Uber seems impossible.

A few months ago I stumbled upon this community via the podcast, exposing myself to small operations making upwards of $300K a year in recurring revenue. The kicker, was that they did so without raising outside money, thereby preserving their freedom.

One common theme I noticed, was the notion of getting started in the world of entrepreneurship by simply selling knowledge. Admittedly these aren’t sexy ventures, but they were effective, simple, often turning a profit from day one.
It suddenly occurred to me that at the age of 18, I had in fact sold an info product, but completely forgotten about it. After some digging around, I unearthed my sales figures — a tantalizing total of $2,180 that essentially funded for my beers in college.

Here is what I learnt from this case study, and how you can replicate this too.

Making my first dollar online

Upon finishing high school, the only thing to my name was my laptop, that contained a set of meticulously curated notes. I knew these were of value, so I decided to put them up for sale on the internet. My naivety was a superpower then, as it bypassed any of my perfectionism.

Quite literally all I did, was uploaded these notes on Sellfy, wrote an advertisement without much forethought, and clicked post. Feel free to bask in my world-class copy-writing ability.

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This is validation that you do not need perfect sales funnels, marketing or websites established to make your first dollar — these elements simply optimize it. Depending on what the open market is giving in terms of feedback, you can decide whether or not this is a worthwhile project to invest further resources of money into.

Below are my monthly sales figures. Though not amazing, it is not bad for an hour’s work with literally no additional input other than some occasional thread bumping.

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Establishing reputation within communities

Gaining credibility is the most important feature when starting out.
While I did not have the most elaborate sales funnel, in hindsight it was the trust that I established in forums that drove the sales. This can be achieved by establishing social validation through post history, followers, likes or even better, by genuinely helping those in the community.

“Give more than you take, and you’ll get more than you give — Sahil”

Obviously the landscape of the internet has since changed from the days of forums to that of social media, but the core principles still apply. It is important to also choose a community that is both in line with your own values, as well as the niche you are attempting to gain a foothold in.

Below are some of the organic assistance I received to build momentum upon launch. When you have an established reputation of being helpful, people want to see you succeed

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Finding valuable things on your computer

Everyone has something on their computer, that can be sold for money or attention.

Think of something that you have been pursuing for many years whether it be academics, professional careers, fitness, or personal finance. Chances are, is that you have created something of value as a byproduct of this — could be meal prep plans, workout routines, or organised notes.

Here are some of my examples:

In total, aesthetically cleaning these items up took less than a day’s of work. These scraps have garnered a respectable amount of attention, ultimately driving some initial sales. If they were of value to you, they will be of value to others. Don’t over-complicate it.

Why everyone should sell

To the skeptics questioning the utility of earning such a meager amount, well money is money. Anyone that has constructed a successful SaaS or info product company started from here. The lessons learnt here, will carry forward to your next venture.

It also useful to frame in your mind what you gain from each additional income a year.

  • $100 — Groceries for the week
  • $500 — Covers your internet bills
  • $1000 — Purchase a camera or laptop to make money with
  • $5000 — Covers your basic utility bills
  • $10,000 — Covers half of your rent

You get the point.

You need to be cognizant that this strategy takes next to zero effort to set up, which will become evergreen content that adds to your personal brand. Even in the worst case scenario of making zero sales, you are building trust with the community, setting yourself up for future success. Opportunities truly strike when least expected.

What I gained from hastily constructing this product vastly eclipsed my total sales. It has led me to receiving serendipitous encounters such as:

  • Receiving a lot of demand for consulting services, so much that I had enough to put down a house deposit during college — I wish I had better business acumen then to properly scale it.
  • Receiving three offers to be the director of local education businesses with $1–5M in annual revenue — None of these ultimately panned out, but it was valuable experience.
  • Consulting for universities and high schools in uplifting their mathematics curriculum.

The immediate outcomes of your actions may seem nebulous initially, but you don’t know until you try. Many fortuitous things come down to luck, but you need to expose yourself to it.

Concluding remarks

Many times you can sell something that already exists on your computer for money or attention, with very little extra effort. This additional income inches you closer to financial independence, while letting you build a personal brand online. Potential opportunities may strike as a result of this.

Follow my journey on Twitter — I have recently left Wall Street to pursue a life of start-ups and ML/AI research.

  1. 1

    Absolutely love this! Appreciate the depth of the walkthrough.

    Looking forward to following more of the journey.

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