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Hey, Dylan here. Hit reply and let me know what you're proud of accomplishing this week!

Today:

• Get paid to listen to the radio?
• Making $89,000/year cleaning pools (self taught)
• Top 100 remote job companies
• Google's 20% rule for learning skills
• Real-life financial automation system
• Market recaps
• and more!

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MAKE MONEY

Extra Income 💵

Get paid to listen to the radio?

That's just one of the more unique earning opportunities available on GG2U -- a GPT site we reviewed this week.

Similar to most GPT sites GG2U offers a variety of other basic earning opportunities like surveys, game offers, sign up offers, and similar...and they don't pay very much. GG2U's pay rates are on the higher side, but still, you won't get rich using this site.

On the upside, you'll receive a bonus of $1-$7 every five payout requests, and GG2U's support quality is high.

If you want to learn more, read the full review here. GG2U is available worldwide.  

Business Ideas and Stories 💼

Making $89,000/year cleaning pools

Mark Jones is a self-taught pool technician who learned the craft by necessity; his wife wanted a house with a pool, so they got one, and he decided to learn how to maintain it.

Where'd he start? His local Leslies Pool Supplies store. He mentions in a TikTok that he built a good relationship with the manager and asks him questions all the time about pool maintenance. It's also where he gets all his supplies.

How'd he get his first client? One day, his neighbor asked who was maintaining his pool, and so he told them he was maintaining it himself. The neighbor offered to hire him on the spot! 

Then, after losing his full-time job, he decided to take the pool business full time.

How'd he grow? Well, to find more clients, he had a pretty ingenious idea: he used Google Maps satellite mode to spot nearby homes with pools. Then he just started handing out flyers.

How much is he making? In 2020, he made $44,000 just between March and December. This year, he says he's on track for $100,000.

Lessons learned?

• Be open to learning new skills. You might discover a new passion, new friends, or a new business!
• Don't overcomplicate things. Mark could've tried to run Google or Facebook ads to find his first clients. And while that could've worked, his idea of using Google Maps and simple flyers was much more creative and most likely less costly. 
• Post the process. Mark posts pool cleaning videos on TikTok now, and some of them have blown up with millions of views. That's a good look for his business. 

Jobs 👔

Looking for a remote job?

FlexJobs just published their "Top 100" list of companies offering remote jobs. Check it out here. 

Tips and Tricks 💡

Google's 20% rule for learning new skills

Google's 20% rule involves spending 80% of your time on your essential day-to-day to-dos and 20% of your time learning and working on something new. This can help you discover a new passion, create a new revenue stream, meet a new connection, or learn a helpful lesson.

Here are the key points to keep in mind when following this rule:

1. Clearly identify what you want to learn. Be specific. Choose one thing vs. ten different things.
2. Win -- even if you lose. Think about the minimum benefit you'd get out of your new endeavor. If the bare minimum sounds good, then it's probably worthwhile.  
3. Be flexible and committed. Don't let your 20% time slip away from you. If you miss a day, make up for it. 
4. Make it fun. This one's self explanatory.
5. Think in decades. Results don't happen overnight. 

MANAGE MONEY

Tips and Tricks 💡

An example of an automated financial system

In Ramit Sethi's book "I Will Teach You to Be Rich" (highly recommended) he breaks down a simple money automation system that looks like this:

Well, he recently tweeted out one of his reader's systems, and it's really neat to analyze:

There's a lot going on, but if you take time to look at how his system works, you might get some ideas for your own. It's definitely inspired me to improve my automation!

MULTIPLY MONEY

Market Recaps ⚡

📈 Stocks 

Source: Google Finance

Major indexes gained this week, with the energy and basic materials sectors leading the way. 

Related:

• US inflation hit a 40 year high of 7% YoY in December 2021, rising from 6.5% in November. This was the expected number by analysts. Biggest contributors to the rise were shelter and used cars/trucks. (CBC)

🔮 Crypto

Sources: Google Finance and CoinMarketCap. Price data as of 8:38PM PST

Crypto prices slightly recovered this week, potentially due to the inflation numbers reported above.

Related:

• Only 5% of JPMorgan’s Clients See Bitcoin at $100,000 by Yearend (Bloomberg)
• Liquor NFTs are a thing now, with brands like Hennesy selling digital bottles of liquor (Blockbar)
• A Bank of America analyst stated in a report that they believe Solana could become the ‘Visa of crypto’ (Cointelegraph)
• 24% of small businesses surveyed by visa planning to accept crypto in 2022 (Visa)
• A US congressman wants to prohibit the Fed from issuing a CBDC. He explains why in a Twitter thread.
• Gap has entered the NFT world (CoinDesk)
• PayPal says it's 'exploring' a stablecoin (The Block Crypto)
• Mark Cuban says 80% of his investments that aren’t on ‘Shark Tank’ are crypto-related: Here’s ‘where I look to invest’ (CNBC)

Hope you enjoyed this week's letter!

Which part was your favorite? What do you want to see more or less of? Hit reply and let me know!

Enjoy the rest of your weekend!

- Dylan

PS: Past letters if you missed 'em: #75, #74, #73, #72, #71.

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