Location Independent Business (Part II): How We Lost $25,000, Kept Going, and Landed Back On Both Feet

Making a living online can be frustrating, yet it comes with so much freedom. In part one I talked about what freedom means to my husband and me, why we wanted to create a location independent business, and the first steps, safety measures if you like, you should take before you even start

Though I will try not repeat myself since you can find more information about the above-mentioned topics in my previous posts:

Why I Fell in 💗 with the TROPICS 🌴 and moved to Cambodia, SE-Asia

FINANCIAL FREEDOM: How We Created A Location Independent Business and Are Living Our Dream (Part I)

Remember how I said that the first step in making a location independent business a success is getting some money for times when things turn bad, really bad. I’m not saying that you will make the same thousand dollar mistakes, ‘cause I hope you learn from mine ;) but you never know which obstacles might litter the way before you reach your end goal.

In our case, we made some rookie mistakes and bad decisions, but it doesn’t necessarily will be something business related that may throw a monkey wrench in the works. Health or family issues, for instance, may compel you to put the business on hold and live from your savings for a while. Anything can happen, so it doesn’t hurt to be prepared and have a small budget to fall back on!

Flashy headlines and fake people

Eager to start our own business and websites to start making some money online we went on a mission to find out how to turn the information and wisdom we had in our heads into money. We went to Internet Marketing venues and workshops, read hundreds of articles online, bought some information products, and tried to find out what our passion was and what we wanted to achieve.

We met some amazing people, shared ideas, and build our network. Still full of enthusiasm, mesmerized by the amazing success stories we heard all around us, the future looked bright.

Little did we know that there were money greedy fake people roaming these venues too.

So we started to make online coaching programs teaching people how to live and eat healthy (like a online dietitian). We started selling drop shipped items related to the health niche… and I basically started to create a tribe around me. Sharing free information and eBooks while growing an email list.

While we had a few sales here and there, we weren’t nearly making enough money to cover the costs and make a living. Luckily we had some money stashed away to survive. Living in Cambodia also helped a lot, I must admit ;)

We were lost and thought we needed a mentor that would magically turn everything around.

After meeting a few people, and getting advice from some good friends (no hard feeling there ;), it was entirely our fault and turned out to be a wise lesson) we enrolled in a $5,000 COACHING PROGRAM from one of the so-called “INTERNET MARKETING GURUS” that promised to help grow our existing business, drive traffic, and convert visitors to buyers.

That’s when we made our FIRST $5,000 MISTAKE: WE PUT OUR TRUST IN FAKE, $$$ GREEDY PEOPLE

If you are no stranger to internet marketing then you have undoubtedly seen headlines like these:

"What It Takes to Go From Dead Broke to 6 Figures in 6 Months”

And you can find tons more when you go to the warrior forum or JV zoo…

Though we aimed at a little bit less than 6-figures, something like 5k a month for the both of us was our goal. When we noted the 5k, our mentor/coach just laughed at us and said that that was going to be peanuts especially with what we already had built… he even convinced us to aim higher than that.

He is a great, influential talker, I can tell you that! He was very convincing until the mask drops! After 2 months the cold shower hit us straight in the face… we paid $5,000 for thin air!

We fell victim to a Ponzi Scheme

These people were so successful and it seemed they got their riches pretty fast. So sure you believe they are amazing… our mentor is called a GURU all over the place… so he must be good, right?

His coaching never got any further than finding your niche, pep talk, and showing off big numbers of successful people and giving some non-to-work-with, vague, advice. But we already knew all of that!!

We basically paid $5,000 to leave with the exact same information we arrived.

Though I’m not saying that all people in the Internet Marketing niche are evil and frauds, there are a lot of them! So better watch out.

Don’t fall for those 6 to 5 figures a month fancy headlines by fake people. You will probably leave empty handed.

Hard work, honesty, and motivation is what makes a sustainable, profitable business!

And it will probably take you longer than 6 months to get a 6-figure business… I’m not saying you can’t... some people have the right connections or funding or are just lucky… if you aren’t any of that it takes time and effort!

Valuable lesson learned! We got too greedy and it backfired on us!! Be patient and start over!

Though the future looked pretty somber at some point, we never gave up and little by little the money was flowing in! New opportunities came and our business was growing. Though we didn’t make much, the costs of our business and life in Cambodia were covered!

We had some extra money on the side and were looking for new opportunities or investments.

And then a crypto-based company from a friend of a friend entered the game!

This time we made a $20,000 mistake. Though 20k may sound a lot, I’m very happy that we only lost that. Others we know lost 100K or more.

Though different stories go round with some claiming the owner to be a fraud, the company went bankrupt due to the massive bitcoin drop… Bad investment once more and another lesson learned!

Play with a little less, especially when the markets are still uncertain!!

Also never put your money in the more risky investments that might give you a high return if you can’t miss it. We did this with spare money. So luckily we didn’t lose everything we had!

My hubby’s faith in crypto never left

My hubby has always been a miner and crypto nerd. Though we lost some there we already made it all back. Nonetheless, It was a hard nut to crack. But we still had some savings and a steady income stream from the website, online products, freelance writing job, and crypto trading/mining.

@menta is what they call an anarcho-capitalist… freedom over your own life, privacy, and free markets without the interruption of governments, big corporations, or banks are very important to him. One of the reasons he kept believing in the crypto world and another reason why we chose to live in Cambodia.

One can still be FREE here if you shut your eye for the corruption. I’m not saying it’s good, but it shows how communities don’t need the government… these people are doing just fine… no one to pay taxes or asking for an explanation. Just live your life! You do what you do and hopefully, that makes you enough money to support the family. And to be honest most of them are doing just fine!

And please don’t start with “but who is going to build the roads…” the government isn’t doing that shit here either!

You would be surprised by the power to accomplish things when people or communities take the matters into their own hands.

So luckily, we, especially @menta, didn't lose faith in crypto, which has been very good to us lately. The situation back then, when we lost the 20k, was a less certain crypto time. We actually knew it was a risky business to invest in, yet we decided to give it a go since the project looked so promising! Unfortunately, bad luck struck us all!

At some point I must admit, I lost my faith in crypto, @menta kept believing in its power to transform the world. And right he was! I think by now we can say with more confidence than back in 2014 that crypto is here to stay… or are we in another bubble that soon will burst? You never, know but I have a good feeling that it is here to stay. Look at the UN implementing blockchain technology to get money to the ones in need and Japan recognizing Bitcoin as a legal method of payment.

Though I’m not a crypto expert, far from, I live with two crypto nerds in the house, so over the years, I learned a thing or two. Especially during the past few months since they are both involved in creating a new blockchain-based project and coin. For more info feel free to visit Peerity.io

Never quit trying to accomplish your dream

Takeaway messages of today:

• Don’t expect the path to be straight and without any dangers!
• Invest wisely! There are some people out there who do not have the best intentions.
• Don’t be blinded by greed
• Building a business takes time and money! Be patient
• Trust crypto and blockchain technology, but make sure to inform yourself before you invest!
• Do not invest money you can’t spare! You might lose it one day!

Coming up next: What is making us money right now and how we see the future. Real-life Tips to Avoid Failure.

Thanks for reading! Until next time

ALL CONTENT IS MINE AND ORIGINAL! EXCEPT FOR THE PICTURES OF QUOTES THEY CAME FROM THE INTERNET

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