Not too long ago, I was running a small brick-and-mortar business.
My job was all about buying fast-moving consumer goods, marketing them to my carefully selected prospects, and making deliveries.
I had tall dreams for that business.
Very tall dreams.
Nowhere in my wildest thoughts did I imagine I’d be a content marketer a few years down the line.
There was no connection between the two worlds.
Everything that happened was all about TIME and CHANCE.
I met Kc Agu who had just started exploring the world of blogging and freelance writing. We were in the same choir.
Somehow, Kc saw some of the articles I had written for fun on Facebook and planted an idea in my head – I could #MakeMoneyWriting.
It sounded like a myth until he showed me that a client had offered him some money to write for him.
The money was small, too small.
However, for the first time, I saw that it was possible to make money online.
One year later, my brick-and-mortar business was razed by fire.
The day it got burnt, guess who came to meet me again?
Kc!
I can never forget our conversation.
“What’s the way forward?”
My world was crumbling all around me, and there he was reminding me that he had been telling me for months to embrace this new and seemingly strange career path.
And for the first time, I agreed.
Fine, I would write.
But…
Where should I write?
Who should I write to?
Who was going to pay me?
What on earth should I write about?
So many questions bugged my mind, and I had no answers.
All I knew was that it was time to switch.
Just like that, I started my first blog.
I still remember the name, www.toby-hse.com.
I didn’t know much but I had read somewhere that I should choose a subject that had to do with my passion, my qualifications and my interest.
I was a graduate of Chemical Engineering, and I enjoyed my classes on Health, Safety, and Environment (HSE).
Boom, the idea was born.
I’d write about HSE and target oil companies.
I started writing immediately.
One week later, my blog was hosted, and I already had about two or three blogs there.
But there was a problem.
I was not enjoying what I was doing.
I loved writing. No doubt.
But I didn’t like Chemical Engineering one bit.
So I struggled.
But I refused to quit.
Three months later, I knew I had to stop.
And this time, I met with Kc again.
“I love to write, and you know so much about domains and hosting and publishing.
“I love personal development, and you do too.
“Let’s join forces together.”
Boom, tobyandkc.com was born.
The dream at that point was to build a personal development brand that would sweep across the United States and Africa.
We called ourselves “The Purpose Guys”.
Our first book was about overcoming failure.
We had a lot of experience in failing and decided to share it with others.
Armed with nothing but determination and vision, we started working our asses off.
The crazy thing is that we never really made a dime from that blog until it shut down.
But a few months down the line, we transitioned from being bloggers to becoming freelance writers.
A few months later, we were writing for platforms like Huffington Post, Good Men Project, and Entrepreneur.
I still remember when we rented and furnished our offices in town.
We were finally living our dreams.
Looking back, I still can’t connect the dots.
I went from studying Chemical Engineering to working in the bank, selling insurance, running a brick-and-mortar business, and even dabbling into event management at a point.
Honestly, it doesn’t even feel like there’s a dot to connect.
But all those experiences prepared me for that very moment.
Never in my wildest thoughts did I believe I could turn my life around in one year.
I stumbled into freelance writing and it changed my life.
I don’t want this to be longer than it already is.
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