Why I Pay For Friends
Read Time: 3 mins
Here’s why I pay people to be my friends (and why you should too).
I know, I know.
But have you noticed how difficult it is to make friends as an adult?
I knew meeting people would be harder after college, but no one prepares you for how quickly adult life can become antisocial.
“Humans are social animals”—every high school biology textbook
Yet, why is everyone so protective of their time?
Today I want to share a life hack that’s helped me make new friends exponentially as an adult.
It’s a foolproof method to get people to take an interest in you.
And it’s worked wonders for me.
But first here’s some context:
One year ago, I moved to the Bay Area in California (for a job I just quit today, ha!).
Seven months in, I still made zero meaningful new friendships. I was getting lonely.
At that point, I decided it’s time to make an effort to reach out to others. I was committed to making friends who enjoy talking business and life goals (my favorite people).
Since then, I’ve met over 30+ people and held hour long Zoom conversations getting to know each of them.
Of course, there’s a big difference between meeting people and actually becoming friends.
But of those 30 people, I’ve managed to create real friendships where I keep in touch with, at least, 10 of them consistently every month.
When I started, my biggest struggles were:
- Knowing where to meet people
- Getting people excited or interested in talking to me
I had zero problems taking the initiative, and sending a cold message.
After scouring the internet for business groups, I learned Facebook groups are still the best ways to meet new people authentically (pro-tip: all the magic happens in the DMS).
But how did I convince people to talk to me?
Answer: I started a project.
My goal was to meet people who loved talking about ways to earn more money, right?
So I started a website, and messaged hundreds of people, inviting them to share a successful side hustle story (if they had one).
My website had zero visitors.
So in return, I paid the first dozen people $50 to share their story over a video call. In other cases, I purchased their products or traded my marketing knowledge in exchange for their time.
But, guess what? Now it doesn’t matter.
People see that I have 30 in-depth stories of founders around the world and they want to be part of it.
Now people reach out to me to share their story because they see a clear benefit in participating.
People LOVE talking about themselves. Plus, they want exposure!
So if you love meeting people but are struggling to make friends, I recommend starting a project.
Any project. Create a safe space where people can share their wins.
I’m fully convinced that you could start a podcast around beanie babies, and become friends with the most passionate beanie baby collectors in the world, if that’s what you want.
In the spirit of meeting new people, today’s side hustle story features Katy, a single mother, who I met this week from a cold message. She found success trading options when she was unexpectedly fired from her job in 2020.
P.S. My “project” is the one you’re reading right now! Yup, honesthustles.com started as a way for me to meet cool, ambitious, like-minded people. Now I’m turning it into my full-time business.
How Katy Learned Options Trading Through YouTube And Grew Her Account From $10k To $400k
Today's side hustle is...
In 2014, Katy learned how to swing trade (buy low, sell high).
By 2020, she had grown her account balance from $10,000 to $60,000.
But after suddenly getting laid off in 2020 during COVID, she was forced to come up with a better way to earn as an unemployed single mother.
This is when she started learning options trading.
Today, she shared that since 2020, she has grown her trading account to over $400,000.
And all her knowledge was learned from Youtube.
While she did purchase one online course to learn options trading, Katy shared that she didn’t learn anything new that couldn’t have been found for free online.
Today, she continues to grow her wealth while supporting her son in Orange County, CA.
She also started a Facebook group to teach other single mothers, who are struggling to grow their income, her approach to trading options successfully.
Why it works
Options trading is a game of discipline and controlling your emotions.
Staying updated with financial markets is one thing, but Katy’s discipline is the reason for her success.
“I try to keep my account small. So I take out my profits every month to spend on my mortgages, my nanny, childcare, or things like that. So it helps that I force myself to pay myself, so that I take my profits out of my account before I lose it to the market.”
You won’t find her short-squeezing Gamestop or AMC for a high-risk, high-reward outcome.
Instead, she tries to stay “as boring as possible” when it comes to trading options.
She focuses primarily on oil & gas companies and leveraged ETFs.
“TQQQ is like a leveraged ETF based on NASDAQ. So with every one dollar that the NASDAQ index goes up, the leveraged ETF will multiply that by three. So you get like a higher volatility, more movement, and then it’s really cheap too.”
Starting costs
Katy started with a $10,000 balance in her trading account in 2014.
When I asked what the minimum amount someone should start with when learning how to trade options, she recommended $5000 minimum.
“For someone who has a small budget, SOXL is a good place to start. And, you know, there’s the diversification which is something that’s really important to me. SOXL is cheaper, and it’s based on semiconductors. So like, AMD, Nvidia, Intel – that’s all in SOXL.”
Growth strategy
Katy’s strategy is about taking small profits, consistently.
“I have different systems. If a trade doesn’t work out, then I would rotate my profits. So I’ll skim off some profit off a stock and then I take it and buy a stock that’s red for the day. But in general, I’m okay with taking small profits.”
She also manages her wins, by taking only what she needs.
“I try to keep my withdrawals just enough to get by, and then build my wealth and on the back end with unrealized profits. Because there’s just all this tax and I try to spend below my means.”
Put simply, Katy’s keeps it boring and not chasing risky plays.
Time investment
Katys spend 10 hours a week trading options.
Earnings
Katy’s monthly earnings can range from $4000 to $20,000 a month.
“Every month, I try to pull out at least $7,000. So even when the market is down, I’ll still pull out $7,000 because I have to pay for things. There’s goals that I set for myself where I say, okay, you have to reach like a $1,000 goal every day. Of course, I don’t always meet the goal, but sometimes I do.”
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Join side hustlers who are earning beyond their full-time jobs. Unlock side hustle ideas and tips to earn an extra $500–$10,000 a month by building a legitimate side business.