From 0 to 7k Profit in 3 Months Through Merch by Amazon With RJ Macalanda | TNE054

T-shirts. If you're an entrepreneur in this day and age, I'm willing to bet that at least 90 percent of you have thought about selling t-shirts at some point in your life. It's usually thought of as one of those quick buck entrepreneurial ventures like selling candy in middle school. But what if it isn’t? 

Our guest today took his t-shirt business to the next level with Merch by Amazon. Have you heard of it? We're joined by RJ, an online entrepreneur and digital nomad who went from 0 to 7k profit- yes, profit- in three months through taking a tactical approach that ultimately took one of his t-shirt designs to the 50th Best Selling shirt on Amazon. 

Using the funds that he made from his business, RJ ended up traveling and taking fishing trips all over the world. Today, RJ continues his digital nomad lifestyle, while he prepares to launch his podcast from corporate to coconuts. I like the way that sounds. 

Show Notes

[6:55] Why some people get stuck choosing a career that isn’t their passion

[14:00] Missed opportunities happens to everyone

[18:10] The realization that made RJ quit 80-hr a week his job

[20:20] RJ’s experience at the Nomad Summit

[26:45] How to start an Online Tshirt Business

[39:30] Tips on how to get invited to Merch by Amazon

RJ Macalanda's website:
https://corporatetococonuts.com


Omar's (Host) Social Media:

Instagram - @nomadables

TikTok - @nomadables

Facebook Group - NOMADABLES - Accountability & Growth Community for Remote Workers- Perfect to meet fellow online entrepreneurs, remote workers, and digital nomads.

YouTube - Omar Mo

LinkedIn - Omar Mo Nomads Cast

Twitter - @nomadables

Pintrest - @nomadables

Clubhouse - @pods

WEBSITE: https://www.nomadables.com/

Transcript

Episode 54- From 0 to 7k Profit in 3 Months Through Merch by Amazon With RJ Macalanda | TNE054

Intro-

T-shirts. If you're an entrepreneur in this day and age, I'm willing to bet that at least 90 percent of you have thought about selling t-shirts at some point in your life. It's usually thought of as one of those quick buck entrepreneurial ventures like selling candy in middle school. But what if it isn’t? 

Our guest today took his t-shirt business to the next level with Merch by Amazon. Have you heard of it? We're joined by RJ, an online entrepreneur and digital nomad who went from 0 to 7k profit- yes, profit- in three months through taking a tactical approach that ultimately took one of his t-shirt designs to the 50th Best Selling shirt on Amazon. 

Using the funds that he made from his business, RJ ended up traveling and taking fishing trips all over the world. Today, RJ continues his digital nomad lifestyle, while he prepares to launch his podcast from corporate to coconuts. I like the way that sounds. 

Now before we get started here, I would like to give a special shout out to a recent review that we got on Apple podcasts, from RodG3. Rod says, Omar is quite insightful, excellent guests! Really useful and insightful podcast with interesting and knowledgeable guests. Omar has an intuitive way about him, which leads to fascinating questions and intelligent practical information. Great entrepreneurial podcast!

I really, really appreciate those kind words, Rod. This podcast is here to inspire generations of entrepreneurs and reviews like yours really help us get one step closer to accomplishing that mission. 

Remember, Nomad fam, we've got some incredibly value-filled episodes planned out for you, so please hit that subscribe button and leave a review. Your review helps this podcast become more visible and ultimately inspire more people just like you. Here we go. My name’s Omar Mo, and this is The Nomadic Executive. 

You're listening to The Nomadic Executive hosted by Omar from nomadables.com. Join Omar as he sits down and speaks with leading online entrepreneurs, remote workers and digital nomads about everything from business strategy to travel and lifestyle design. Together, we're here to help you achieve a life of happiness, health and freedom. And now here's your host, Omar Mo.

Omar:

All right, RJ, welcome to The Nomadic Executive, man. Good to have you.

RJ:

Happy to be here.

Omar:

Yeah. I know I’ve been trying to make this happen for a little while, so I'm glad we finally got to happen.

RJ:

Yeah, that Clubhouse app is addicting.

Omar:

It is an incredible app, man. I swear. I have never had that many engaged people reaching into my DMs, trying to connect, you know, and just keeping up relations after you've actually spoken to them, man. What do you think about it?

RJ:

Yeah. So, for me, I actually switched from an Android to an iPhone just because of this app. As a marketer, it's like you know when something's going to hit, you need to get on it. And so, it's already paid itself over by buying the iPhone and switching over just for the app.

Omar:

That's amazing, man. When you know that you're changing a phone, a whole phone, to actually get on something early is when you know there's some serious merit behind whatever you're doing. So for anyone in my audience that's listening, I've been raving about Clubhouse for the past like five to six episodes, I think. Hop on there ASAP. Reach out to me if you don’t have an invite. I'll get you one.

So RJ, why don't you go ahead and tell my audience about yourself, man.

RJ:

Yeah.

Omar:

Something vague to start off, I suppose.

RJ:

Vague to start out with. So, I wear a lot of hats. I’m a Digital Marketer, I'm a fisherman. I have merch business on Amazon. I’m Filipino, I travel a lot and yeah, that's the big—absolutely.

Omar:

The big picture.

RJ:

Yeah, big picture.

Omar:

You said-- so I remember, give me, let's start with this timeline here, right. So you graduated high school and you went to college and you had this dream in college to kind of graduate and work a corporate job. So how was your college experience, overall, before all this crazy hat wearing stuff started?

RJ:

Yeah. So, I didn't know what I want to do with my life in high school. I was kind of forced into getting out in the open. I'm an introvert, naturally, and my parents forced me to, you know, get that doctor, lawyer position and how can we position them in that way. And so they put me into public speaking and competitive public speaking, so it's like tournament style public speaking where you're there every single weekend. It's like grinding, you know, 12 hours a day just talking, right? And that kind of cut my teeth and let me expand and I was able to talk to people, finally. And that--

Omar:

You sound well-spoken, if that's any merit. 

RJ:

Sure. But I didn't really know what I wanted to do and so when I found that I was good at this tournament style speaking, that's when it's like, how does this convert to college? And that's where it's like, okay, sales, marketing, and then it was like, I don't want to be a doctor or a lawyer but how can I, you know, twist that in a way to make my parents happy and, you know, my skills happy? And so that was medical device sales. 

Because, you know, every college student, they look up a list of like how can I get this degree to get this like six, seven figure job and medical device sales was kind of my end to, you know, be in medicine but also in marketing. So that was, that was my vision, right.

Omar:

I get it. That's good. Why did you decide to do something that made your parents happy? Was it just out of respect? I mean, I'm Asian like you are, right? So, essentially, I'm half Asian, if anything. So, there is a traditional way of just like trying to keep your parents happy and doing what's good for them and not disappointing them and all that. That's always on your shoulder. So, is that what it was for you?

RJ:

I think it was just as I wanted to make myself happy and make them happy too. I think there's always a way to have a win-win-win scenario, you know. It's like it's not always somebody has to lose. 

And with making my parents happy, it's because I see the sacrifices that they went through in order to give me a better life and to me not to give back is kind of disrespectful, in my opinion, because, you know, I want to show them like, hey, thank you, you know. I feel, I don't feel like I'm in debt to them but I feel like my life has been possible because of the opportunities and doors that you've opened, right?

Omar:

I get it. First generation immigrants, I'm guessing. Just like mine. 

RJ:

Yeah. Right, right.

Omar:

I totally feel that, man. That's good. So moving forward then. You graduated college and you said you had one of the first keto websites. 

RJ:

Yeah.

Omar:

I’m super curious about that. How'd that go and how did it not blow up and why didn’t you stick with it?

RJ:

So, that started out when I was in my fraternity, that was my worst, like one of my worst years. I think I had a 2.3 or 2.6 GPA or something like that and I was on the verge of getting kicked out of my fraternity. I was really like depress-y and I was just in my room like eating all the time and I wouldn't go to class and like I dropped like two or three courses. So I only had like a three-course semester and still, like it just sucked. 

Omar:

What made that year so bad?

RJ:

Somebody in my family died and so I just kind of internalized a whole bunch of stuff and--

Omar:

I get it. 

RJ:

Yeah, and so I just kind of ate my feelings like some people do, you know.

Omar:

I get it.

RJ:

But yeah. So, I was down and then, all of a sudden, my good friend, my fraternity brother, he said, hey, like we're having a competition, you know, let's do a competition between all of us. Let's see who can lose the most body fat percentage by the end of this time and the finish line is spring break. And then we'll have like a panel of girls, like, you know, judging us. Okay, whatever.

Omar:

That’s a real bro move. I like that guy. What a great guy.

RJ:

Yeah, I know. He's really awesome guy. He's one of my best friends.

Omar:

That’s awesome, man.

RJ:

That was the spark. It's like somebody that was like, okay, let's do this. But also, we put money on the line, so like everybody threw in like 50 bucks and it's like okay, you know, I'll pull it together and--

Omar:

I get it.

RJ:

Yeah, yeah. And I was like, man, I want to do that. And so, I said how cool would that be? So that was the motivating factor.

And then, I flew out to Chicago because I was working for this marketing agency at the time and I told them about this challenge and they're like, you should try like this or that, or this or that. And then one girl was like, I've lost weight by, you know, just eating greens and protein. And so, that's when I like tried that and I said, oh, this is working pretty good. And then I was like, what actually is this? 

And I tried to research like different diets of what actually this thing is, and eventually, I stumbled on small websites talking about keto. And I was like, huh, what is keto? And so, I modified that to fit the keto style because like you just add fat and increase the thing. So just-- go ahead.

Omar:

Just on a side note here while you're talking about keto, about that, so I did keto for a little bit and I remember reading this book, I thought I was doing keto, let me rephrase that, and I read this book by Tim Ferriss and I didn't realize how strict keto actually is in terms of proportions with high fat with protein and greens and all that. So this entire time apparently that I was doing a really high fat diet but it wasn't keto, I was still losing weight, but apparently, it gets, there’s a point where it becomes too unhealthy.

So, whenever you were doing your keto diet, were you more strict on it or was it just more like a lose low carb diet? 

RJ:

Mine was lose low carb and there's different ways you can differentiate it. Like, even before Tim Ferriss was talking about this, like I knew all about the different styles and like what worked for me and it was before any products were out there too. Just really small, small websites. 

And then I tweaked things, so it's like how can I fit this to myself? And I was like you actually don't need any products, you don't need any things. So it was like, okay, I'll just eat this, this, this, this and this, and these are like my good foods and these are my bad foods. So it's those kind of like wild west days of keto.

To just give like a benchmark of when I started to sell, so keto on the subreddit, r/keto had about 20,000, 30,000 members and today, it's like, 2, 3 million or something like that. So just--

Omar:

Early, early adapter.

RJ:

Early, early adapter, right. And that actually changed my habits, my lifestyle and because-- it wasn't for the weight loss I found, it actually boosted my mental abilities too and so I started getting a 4.0 every single semester. And so, yeah, like I went from really low grades, almost getting kicked out of attorney to like, you know, really improving my life and turning things around. 

And the contest, you know, it was just like, hey, you know, we all have this money, let's just spend it on whatever fun things you can do in spring break instead and we all win, right? But the result was that, hey, we got out of this weird phase and then I started this website because there weren't any resources. 

And I started running marathons like, because I said, you know, I'm in, probably in the best shape of my life that I'll ever be in because I love food too much and I'll just cycle keto in when I want to.  So let's try marathons out. And so, I used that as like, how can I use keto in marathon training? Is there any research in this? And there wasn't too many at all, and so it's like I'm at the forefront of this diet. Everyone thinks I'm weird. 

And then I built this website. No one knew what I was talking about, no one really thought that this was going to grow big. And then I was at the fork, where it's like, okay, have this website, have this like small little audience. But now, I'm in my senior year. Do I spend my time that I have been doing it the last four years of studying marketing and all this stuff into a job or do I go after this website? And I chose the job.

Omar:

Is that, is that-- do you regret that? Because I personally feel like if you went all in on that keto website, you would—I mean, that would have blown up without a doubt, you know.

RJ:

Yeah, absolutely. Like there were only like four YouTube channels at the time with keto-related things and I just didn't believe in myself at that time and I didn't believe like the potential in it. And, you know, that security of having the paycheck was there and so--

Omar:

Lesson learned. If stuff like that happens, right?

RJ:

Well, you never know what happens, right? It's like I knew about Bitcoin when it was 7 dollars but it was like, you know, and you never know. So--

Omar:

Exactly. Context, right? So like I was just watching, I was scrolling through my Instagram and I looked at a story that David Dobrik just put up. And in his story, he's like, hey man, so like back about two years ago, I bought a million dollars with a Tesla stock and I sold it a week later out of scared, out of being scared and panicking and he's like, oh, but I checked today how much would that would be worth, and it would have been worth 13 million. So I mean, that's the context right there, right? 

And then another thing, like back when I was in first year of my university days, I was outside, and this is a funny story that I like telling and this is just, this relates to what you just said there about Bitcoin. I was sitting out there with this guy who's like this computer hacker type. You know what I mean? Like he’s just kind of there, always surfing the internet, just wears a hoodie all the time, just really like computer hacking. That's what he screams, that's his vibe. 

And he was talking about something called Bitcoin, and this was back in 2011, back when it was fractions of a penny, right? So I'm sitting there and we're both just having a smoke and I'm talking to him about it and I’m like, yeah, so what is it? And it kind of crosses my mind and I’m like, I'll check it out later on the internet, whatever. 

Well, right in 2012, and I knew this kid throughout college, right in 2012, it decides to blow up all the way to like 300 bucks in that year and kid dropped out of college, deleted all of his social media. I have not seen him, I have not heard from him. I have searched for him on Facebook, don't know where he is, what happened to him. But he's somewhere out there, man, and he's loaded now and that's one of those things that I think back like what if I got into Bitcoin? So I totally feel you about, I mean, sometimes trains just pass by. You know what I mean?

RJ:

Right. But I mean, like there's also the failed stories, right? So it's like those, that's the what if, if it was good, but what if it was bad? Could have been worse like--

Omar:

That is true. Yeah, don't look back, right? Just keep moving forward.

RJ:

Yeah, yeah. Exactly.

Omar:

So what happened after that? The train flew past, but then you decided to go to an actual paying job.

RJ:

Yeah.

Omar:

What job was that?

RJ:

So, I got recruited in the career fair into insurance sales. So I tried to get into medical device sales, that was my dream during college but I don't have a bio degree and I didn't have sales experience, I just had marketing experience, right?

Omar:

Why medical device sales?

RJ:

So, I wanted to bridge the gap of like my parents wanting me to be a doctor and then also me spending this time into marketing that sales was just the obvious choice. And I was like, okay, that's lucrative and I can be in the hospital and like, I think that's pretty cool.

Omar:

Cool. Okay. So, carry on with the corporate story.

RJ:

 So, I was in the corporate office as an insurance broker and basically the job was inside and outside sales. And this is where I was going to cut my teeth on just sales in general because you can go into door knocking, you can go into car sales or you can go into insurance. So those are the three like, you know, big ones that any kind of salesperson would look at and say like, wow, like if you can make it there, you can make it anywhere. And so, that's where I was trying to get into. 

And basically, I was running around town during the day to find real estate brokers or mortgage people or real estate agents to find leads for home and auto insurance. And then, when I was back in the office at like five o'clock, that's when I would hit up their clients as referrals and it's like, hey, you know, you just closed on this house. Let's deal the insurance out. 

And so from like five to, you know, eight or nine-ish, I'd still be in the office and then I'd repeat that at the end of the day, drive back home an hour and then come back in the morning at like six or seven to start out and plan my day the next day.

Omar:

Hustling.

RJ:

Yeah. And then even like weekends, like it wasn't required to work weekends but it was encouraged because it's like, you know, you can be still calling people during the weekends because that's when they're free. So, I was like I really need to prove a point here and like really driving home that I can do this if I want to make it into med device sales. And I found out working 80 hours a week driving around town sucks, you know. It takes the life out of you.

Omar:

You would think, right?

RJ:

Right? So, I fell asleep like three times at the wheel and it was the third time when I was just like, you know, it’s not worth it. It's not worth it. It's like I don't want to do this anymore, it's like for what? They're only paying me, you know, a fraction of the commission that I'm making for them and then I don't even get to keep the book of business afterwards and so it's like it's not worth it. 

And then I went back to the office and, you know, people were still living the same lifestyle if it was 40 years old, 50 years old, 60 years old. It's like the grind doesn't end. And so, it was that moment that I realized like I need to figure something else out. And I looked online and I did what everyone else does and I typed in how to make money online--

Omar:

Every time.

RJ:

Right?

Omar:

Every time. That's all I hear that’s how everyone starts. It's hilarious.

RJ:

But the floodgates open. It's like we're in, what is that movie? The--

Omar:

Noah’s Ark?

RJ:

Mad Max. Mad Max. So it's like--

Omar:

Why did I think Noah's Ark? Carry on.

RJ:

So basically, it's like imagine everybody's there in the desert, they're like sucking the soul out of you out in this desert, it's like you need water, it's like I need information and then you type in how to make money online and then it's like, they open up the water.

Omar:

Pandora’s box.

RJ:

Everything just comes at you at time. And so I try to navigate it and then I've been reading books. I read probably like a book or two a week since college and Millionaire Fastlane is one that I really loved, and I went to--

Omar:

That’s a good one. I followed the forum on there too.

RJ:

Yeah. So that forum kicked it off for me actually. It’s this kid that was like selling apps. He's like 16 years old. He wasn't a developer and basically, he was drop shipping apps. So he was taking contracts from America and then, you know, going to India or Asia and getting developers and then just taking the profit margin off of the two.

Omar:

Smart move. Yeah.

RJ:

And so I said, wow, this kid’s 16. Like, why did I go to school if I could do this? And I tried that and then eventually I found digital nomads and I was like, whoa, there's people that are traveling and working online and they have businesses. I said that's amazing. And then I saw the Nomad Summit and I said, okay, I got to go meet these people, I got to see what this is about. 

And the Nomad Summit, if you can YouTube it, all the speakers are available for free on YouTube and it's just the networking there that's really the key.

Omar:

Right. Where was this? I think I've heard of it before. I've heard of some of those conventions but I haven't heard of Nomad summit. 

RJ:

So this is year-round in Chiang Mai, Thailand and then they also have one off somewhere around the world. They've done like Las Vegas, they've done Mexico, they've done-- they’re trying to do Georgia. There’s just different ones around but always Chiangmai is like the essential one.

Omar:

Makes sense. Yeah.

RJ:

Yeah. So, I go to this conference-- well, actually back up a little bit. I quit my job and then I was thinking about like okay, now what, right? So I put together my business plan. 

Omar:

So wait, you just quit? Didn't have a backup plan right then and there but the floodgates had already been open and you were just like, you know what, I'm tired, and you quit? Was it like that?

RJ:

So, my semi plan was like to follow that kid, make an app company, and while I was in that--

Omar:

And you were that inspired, huh? Nice.

RJ:

Yeah. Like that's easy, right? It's like he's making 40 grand off of like one app and I was like, you know, he could do it, I could do it and that's really the key of anything. It's like if they did it, you can do it too. A lot of people look at my life and they're like, wow, like you're like up here, and I'm like I'm no different than I was in high school.

But basically, I was networking and I was pitching, you know, app development on the side. It's like, hey, if you know anybody that needs an app, like let me talk with you but also, I could do your insurance. And so I went out and I found a contract and basically, like that was the moment. When somebody was interested in having an app developed, I was like, okay, this could work.

Because it's the same exact process with insurance. You’re still like pitching and selling and networking and all that. So I said, okay, if this guy was interested, there could probably be like, you know, 10, 150, people that are interested also. And so that was my like, okay, aha, let me go find the developers now. So, that was my game plan going into Thailand.

Omar:

Nice. So you already had a lead, I guess. You were following--

RJ:

I had a lead, yeah.

Omar:

I get it. That's cool. All right. 19:13 So sales is sales anywhere, right? So if you're able to sell one thing, you can sell anything. 

RJ:

Exactly and the same with marketing. 19:18 It's like you got to find your audience, you got to make your product to fit that audience and then you got to go figure out where to pitch your product, right?

Omar:

That’s right.

RJ:

19:25 That's the same thing. And if you're selling, you know, like a 5-dollar book or a 50,000-dollar course, you could still figure it out like the same process that is in the same framework, right?

Omar:

That's right. That's right. So you went to Chiang Mai. 

RJ:

So I went to Chiang Mai and I met all these amazing people. I think like the net worth at the table in one of the co-working spaces were like 4 million or something like that. There are people making like 40 grand a month and we're all here in like our tank tops and flip flops and I said, wow, this is so cool. I feel out of place but I feel like I could just, you know, absorb the knowledge that they're all talking about. I don't know what they're talking about but I'm going to learn. 

And what was cool about that is like everyone had their laptops open and you could ask them questions and the community there is just so amazing because it's not like, hey, I'm going to take advantage of you, it's like let me just teach you because I know this lifestyle is hard and I know you're new to it. And the vibe there is like we're all in this together, right. No matter what kind of business model you're in, we're here to learn, we're here to teach, and that really opened my eyes. 

Because back home in the states, it's like let me like grab everything I can. It's like let me protect myself and, you know, shutter all that out, but in Chiang Mai, in Thailand, it's like we're all just fun, we're happy, we’re free and we're good. So let's just keep this going. 

Omar:

That’s the vibe that I like about digital nomads' period or travelers in general, you know. They're just a bit more empathetic, I guess that's the word. 

RJ:

Yeah. It's going to be interesting with this next new wave after COVID. See how the vibes change but--

Omar:

I think it's going to be busier, to be honest. That's just kind of like what I'm thinking right now because 21:02 everyone's so cooped up and they're ready to travel and get going and start moving again. But from what I think is going to happen and what statistics are showing is that business travel is going to go really, really down, but then digital nomads and remote work is going to go really up. So.

RJ:

Yeah, I think so too. 

Omar:

So leisure travel. 

RJ:

Right. So yeah, I took all my knowledge, my skill sets and everything that I learned from Chiang Mai and then I brought that back to the States and started hustling. Like working, you know, 34 hours a week. People thought I was crazy, people thought it was like, that's not possible, it's like they're just trying to scam you.

And sure, like when you open up the floodgates initially and you search some terms of like how to make money online, there are people that are trying to just take advantage of you but--

Omar:

100 percent.

RJ:

--actually, meeting those people that are doing it and living it and like teaching me for free, let me try it out, right? And so I was taking, you know, a few lessons trying out a few business models and for six months, just wasn't working out for me. 

And then the app agency, I was still running around town, I was still meeting people, still doing the same exact process as it was for insurance. And, you know, I just wasn't being paid for it and it was at the point where it's like one of my partners, they went under the table and swooped up the contract from me and that was like my quitting point. I was like, okay, I'm done. I don't want to deal with this anymore. I want to try this more like digital stuff, you know.

And eventually, after six months, I got an acceptance invite to Merch by Amazon and I actually thought it was a scam at first. I was like what is this thing? E-mail from Amazon said, hey you got accepted. I don't even remember applying for it. Back then, it took like six months or eight months to apply and then get accepted. 

Omar:

Yeah. Now it's like two to three weeks from what I--

RJ:

Now it's like 24 hours sometimes. 

Omar:

Yeah. I applied for it. I got rejected within the first two weeks but that's because I literally-- when I first opened the floodgates by writing how do I make money online, that was the first thing I ever applied for without any knowledge or experience or anything. So naturally I got rejected from Amazon but I’m glad I did because I got to search up a lot more and really find out what I’d like to do, you know.

RJ:

Awesome. Yeah. And there's definitely a tactic to like get accepted for that but we could wrap that for another other time.

Omar:

You can throw that snippet in afterwards. I'm sure my audience would find a lot of value from that. 

RJ:

Sure. So where were we at?

Omar:

So you got accepted by Amazon after six months. What happened after that?

RJ:

Yeah. So, I had a small t-shirt company in college. I had this like 800-dollar heat press in my dorm room and it would heat up to like 1000 degrees and I'm in like the single wall socket for my dorm but I knew that was a lot of work and it's like too much. But when I got this acceptance letter from Amazon and they said it's print on demand, I said what’s print on demand? And it's like you don't need to have the heat press or the-- a arm like screen printing press. 

All they do is they handle the printing, the shipping, the customer service and they list it for you. So all you got to do is basically get the design, plug that design in and then write the descriptions and it looks like any other Amazon listing. So I said, that's amazing. You cut out so much of the marketing and cut out so much of the, you know, wholesaling, cut off a lot. 

And you don't even need to pay for this too because it's like if you're in FBA, you need to pay a monthly fee to have your stuff warehouse. With this stuff, it's like you can have, you know, 1000 keys, you can have like 5000 keys, you got 100,000 keys and you still don't need to pay any monthly fee to Amazon, so that's great. I want to do this. 

And so, I spent like 40 hours a week just hustling because I tried it on my own and I looked at this as a big business from the start. It's like, how can I possibly make 10,000 shirts just by myself? I can't do that. Okay. I don't want to learn Photoshop, I don't want to learn illustrator. I'm not a designer. How can I do this? I said I need to hire a designer, let's go to Upwork. I need to basically put in the systems of how can I scale this thing first.

And so, I got my designer. I said, hey, like make this design, make that design. I started out like $15 per shirt paying for that and then I'll keep the royalties.

Omar:

What kind of margin does that give you?

RJ:

So, if, at the time, if you had a 20-dollar shirt, you were going to be making 7 dollars. It's around like 5 right now. 

Omar:

Not too bad. 

RJ:

Yeah. And so eventually I scaled that to-- I mean, I took that and I pay 1 dollar to 2 dollars per design. And so it's like if I saw one shirt, then I'm already in the green.

But after I played around with a few designs, I uploaded my first ten, and then within three days, I had my first sale. And that was like--

Omar:

You made your first buck. Nice.

RJ:

I made my first dollar after like, you know, no income for a while and I was like, man, this is amazing. And that's when I really got hungry with that because I was like that was too easy. Like how can I replicate that? And so I started to build out what works, what doesn't work. AB test all these different things.

And then the first month, I made like 60 dollars, and then the second month, I made 360 dollars and I was just like, wow, it's scaling, we're doing this. And then the third month, one of my shirts caught fire and it was trending.

Omar:

Caught fire?

RJ:

Yeah. So--

Omar:

Oh, you meant--

RJ:

Oh, that is like—not literal fire, just like fire.

Omar:

I was like what? What did Amazon do? Your shirt has caught fire, like I'm sorry.

RJ:

The heat press was too hot.

Omar:

That’s funny, man.

RJ:

So yeah, one of my shirts caught fire that month and it started trending and so it started to go up and up and up and up and I made 7,000 profit that month and I was like, whoa, this is crazy. And so, I went out, I’m having--

Omar:

Nice.

RJ:

Yeah. I was in Canada at the time and I was like, I'm doing it, I'm living it. I can retire. And so I let that go passive. I had my shirts that were evergreen which are the ones that can sell year-round and I had the systems put in place, I had the products and I reached the peak where it's like, you know, you can't get past the best shirt, the 50th best shirt on Amazon. Like, there's only 49 other placements.

And I felt this like void now where it's like, I don't feel like I need to keep pushing past this. What's next, you know? I think a lot of people come to that when they either sell their businesses or they reach like, you know, 10k a month for the first time or something like that and it hit me.

Omar:

You lose your sense of challenge almost. 

RJ:

Yeah, yeah.

Omar:

28:02 And I honestly think it's more of an entrepreneur thing than a general person thing because as entrepreneurs, if something gets a bit too easy or we've already hit a milestone, we want that next challenge, that next fix of that hustle and bustle that can really get us going. 

But if it's something like that we had to work our ass off to and you consistently have to work your ass off to and you unlock new levels, like a video game I like to say, that’s where that challenge and that sense of wonder and everything always stays and we can stay consistent with something. That's what I've seen firsthand with myself and that's what I've seen firsthand with other entrepreneurs as well. 

RJ:

Maybe it is like your Noah's Ark thing, right? It's like okay, we're, we just survived the flood and now we're on the boat, but isn't there something better out there? It's like life just can't be in the boat. Like what else is out there? And so, yeah, it was nice because that's a passive income business. I'm just collecting royalties. Like, I already uploaded my shirts, everything's going, it's flowing and we're good. 

So I said, Okay, I can travel, I can fish. Like I can finally do what I set out what I wanted to do. So I fished for an entire month and I got bored of that. And so it's like if anyone ever tells you that, oh, you know, retirement’s easy. You can just retire and live on the beach forever, it's not true. It's really not true. Like you can do what you love for 30, 60, 90 days and then you'll get bored of it. That's something that's like, I think it's a big lie, you know? What do you think?

Omar:

I think if it's the same thing, then yeah, definitely. As long as I think variability is the spice of life, right? 

RJ:

There's always another level. 

Omar:

Yeah, exactly. So like 29:44 if you're retired and you're doing the experience A and then you hop to experience B and then hop to experience C all the way down and you have like 500 different experiences in a matter of 10 years, I don't think you'll ever get bored at retirement. But if you're retired sitting on the beach fishing all day or if you're retired hitting the casinos in Vegas every single day for a year, yeah, I mean, inevitably you're going to get really, really bored. 

RJ:

Right. Yeah. So like the different level--

Omar:

What did you do?

RJ:

Well, just to take that fishing analogy, I did fish for 30 days straight. I got tired, I got, you know, tennis elbow and then I was like, you know, this is kind of boring. And just to get a little background of why I'm a fisherman, I took that and got to the professional level and then to like the national level and so the sponsor level 2, and then I figured that's not really what I want to do anymore. 

But taking it back down to that month, I put out, you know, what else can I do in the world? And I said I'm available, like let's see what's happening. And then I went to the digital nomad subreddit and somebody put out a job offer and they said, hey, I'm hiring a marketer, is anyone interested? And I said, you know, I think I want to do this because it's active work. It's like it's going to keep me busy, everything’s changing. With merch, it's like it's the same process over and over and over again, like I've already mastered that. I'm good. And I can't sit in front of my computer and just to do the same exact thing over and over again. I want some challenge, some change. I said maybe this will be my thing.

So I applied and then I got accepted. So, this was a smaller agency and I got my first client, which was a small triathlon brand. They were only about two years in the business and that's when I was like, okay, I'm now taking on this client in a bike brand that their bikes range from like 7,000 dollars to 30,000 dollars and I was like, whoa, this is different. So that's what got the juices flowing again. I was like okay--

Omar:

Expensive bikes.

RJ:

Yeah. So I was like, okay, let's go into this. And so I worked with them for about three years and learned all different things about marketing and strategy and, you know, I was on NBC commercials, had some projects in there, I had, you know, negotiation calls that I was on with, you know, the executives of Iron Man. We had campaigns with all the pros in the triathlon industry. We were launching bikes, we were doing all these cool things. And yeah, so that's what I was doing and traveling around the world and--

I was actually-- no one knew what I was doing for a long time. For three years, I was very secretive about like online work and digital nomadism and people thought I was just vacationing and, you know, just doing whatever and I was funded by my parents or whatever. But they never funded anything and yeah. 

So that's what I've been doing for the last three years and then started my own agency, tried to figure out what's it like on the upper level of that. So instead of being the marketer, how can I elevate and try to find clients my own? And tried that for a bit and then, you know, COVID happened and things got kind of weird and said, I think I want to do a little revamp. 

And that's when I started this podcast called corporate to coconuts where I show people like, hey, this is how we can flatten the learning curve for you. 33:11 Because for me, it took six months of just grinding different business models out and what worked for me is not going to work for you. What works for, you know, other people might not work for me and that's just the truth. It's because people are already filling the voids that they're passionate about and they have skills in and it's very hard to replicate that sometimes. 

There are business models that will work. For example, like let's say Merch by Amazon. You can put up so many different t-shirt designs in one different, in one category and if you try to copy that category, then you might lose because I'll master the fishing category and if you try to come in with fishing keywords that you don't know, I have so much more of a dictionary of fishing knowledge than you do, and I'm going to beat you ten times at a time, right?

Omar:

It's kind of like stay in your own lane when it comes to that.

RJ:

Yeah exactly. But the model works, like just mastering on your own passion side, right? So, yeah.

Omar:

So are you just running this podcast now or do you still have this marketing agency going on on the side? [Inaudible 34:07] cash flow, I guess.

RJ:

Yeah. So, I have clients that just on like as needed basis. People pop in and out and I just help them when needed. And then if like, you know, the need is big, then I'll jump on full time. So, yeah, just depends.

Omar:

Interesting. And now you're trying to monetize corporate to coconuts. You haven't gotten there just yet, have you?

RJ:

I'm not really necessarily trying to monetize it, it's more of just like let’s see what happens because I know that the stories need to be told. There are all these people that have huge followings but what about the ones that don't? And the people that I’ve met throughout the years are just like regular people that you'd never expect how they made money online and started traveling and those are the stories that people need to hear. 

Because it's like you have everybody screaming at top mountains like, this is the one that needs to have attention right now. But it's like what if it's not? What if it's actually this one that actually is with somebody else's lane, you know? 

And so it's just sharing that, sharing the learning curves, cutting the learning curve and teaching people the travel hacks, teaching people like the different business models and just kind of like the pitfalls that people kind of go through and the struggle from corporate to coconuts, you know.

Omar:

It's funny like, when you mentioned big followings like that, I think something that I've recently realized maybe in the past six months, and the Clubhouse app definitely helped with this and on top of that, I think you're a living testament to what I'm about to say. But 35:32 people with big followings aren't necessarily always the ones that are the best at what they do. It's dependent from person to person. Like I have met some very, very skilled, very smart, successful business people that don't have any sort of following on social media and it's all under wraps, you know, and it's like how do you find those people? Because that's who I really want to learn from, you know. 

RJ:

Exactly. 

Omar:

So--

RJ:

Go ahead.

Omar:

Jinx. Go ahead.

RJ:

So, 36:01 when I go to different conferences, I don't really pay attention too much to the speakers because like, the knowledge is going to be online. You can just google them and you're going to find, you know, the podcast or whatever. The real knowledge is the people that don't talk. And when you talk to the people that don't talk, you'll find the secret billionaires in the room and I've met a few billionaires just by talking to people that don't talk. 

I've met so many incredible people with crazy stories that they just don't have an audience but they're just there to hang out, you know. And so, those people gravitate towards the events because they want to see what's happening, what's fresh, what's new, what they can apply to their business, but they aren't really too keen on jumping on the stage. Maybe they're an introvert or maybe they just want to chill. 

Omar:

Yeah, they’re the least flashy people from what I’ve noticed.

RJ:

Exactly, exactly.

Omar:

To go back a little bit here just before we start moving forward from there, for your Amazon Merch, and I think this would be a good piece of advice from my audience here, if you wanted to fast track being accepted, what's one tip that you could put out to kind of help your acceptance for that?

RJ:

I'll give a handful of tips. So, there, you need to look at this from Amazon's perspective. Why would Amazon want to have you on their platform? And it's because you can bring the money, you can bring them a whole bunch of audience members, you can bring them, you know, just general safety and trust that they can put on you, right? 

So, imagine you have somebody that just applies randomly, it's like I just want to make money and that's how they apply. But if you have somebody that says, I understand the terms of conditions, I've read through them, I've gone physically and read line by line, everything. I understand trademark, I understand copyright, I understand all this different stuff. I'm a member of this group, this group, this group and this group. I've already made shirts for them in the past, they're keen to buy designs from me, I just need a platform to advertise that on. I found you guys because you guys are the best solution. Put me on this platform.

That's way, way better than having somebody that just says I want to make money online. So you need to look at it from Amazon's perspective. It's like can they trust you to not throw Disney designs up or like trademark designs up? Can they trust you to actually bring sales and how have you had your experience in the past to leverage into their platform? So that's how you can make a good application.

Omar:

Yeah, it makes a lot of sense. I mean, you’re taking the approach of seeing what the algorithm, the company, whatever on the other side wants and that's how you really win the game, right? And I mean, you can apply the same things to social media for example. Always follow the-- please the algorithm, please the person that you're trying to, whose terms or environment or whatever that you’re trying to win on and that's how you really win. So that's what I like.

I also like the fact that podcasts are decentralized in a way as well because it's you’re not really trying to please anybody or please anything and it's just your show. But that's a side note and this is a conversation that I just had with somebody the other day, how podcasts in my opinion are better than social media platforms or sort of trying to sell on eBay or Amazon and things like that, but I don't want to get too irrelevant with conversation so I'm not going to go that way. 

So RJ, what's going on with you next, man? Like, you're here now. Coronavirus has pretty much come into the near end and you have some dreams of traveling, you still have this digital marketing agency going on. You have any plans of what you want to do? I see you're still fishing a little bit.

RJ:

Yeah. So, I was at my fork of do I want to start this fishing company or do I want to go after this podcast? And the void right now in the world is helping those people learn how to work remotely, how they can travel for cheap and all the digital nomad stories of like hey, how can you build out a business and bootstrap it and do all this stuff. And so, that's what I'm working on right now and so that's corporatetococonuts.com. 

And then the other side was exoticfishingtrips.com. That's the dream that I have on pause where I'm taking people on exotic fishing trips around the world because after going on, you know, over 50 international trips and fishing along the way, I just want to share that experience. And so, those are the two things that are kind of top of mind right now

Omar:

Is that more like a hobby business or is that something that you're really passionate about in like the scale?

RJ:

That's something that I'm passionate about both, but I just think that the void right now in the world is more on the corporate to coconut side. So, that's where I'm going after.

Omar:

Do you want to start mentoring people on your own? Because I mean, that's kind of like the idea behind corporate to coconuts, right? Flattening the curve. So, would you be open up to mentoring people and getting people under, you help them the same way that you kind of learn and flatten the curve for yourself?

RJ:

I'm just kind of putting it out there and seeing what happens. So, a crazy thing, I talked a little bit about this is that I had-- the same guy, actually, the same guy I talked about in the beginning with the idea of hey, let's do this this fitness challenge. He was an investment banker I n Wall Street and he was, you know, making six figures a year and crushing it. 

And then we went to our fraternity brother's wedding and he said, yeah, you know I'm really questioning with this investment bank stuff. What are you doing, RJ? And me like, you know, really quiet about my stuff, I just told him, you know, I make sure it's, I had it big and it's been going pretty good. He's like, wait what? And so, he’s like wait, you're traveling and just making shirts online? Like all of these t-shirts and you're making crazy amount of money? I said, uh, yeah. And he's like, oh man, if I could do that, then I can do that. And so, I inspired him too.

He didn't tell me, actually, he quit his job. Because I went out and did it and then he started his own business and then he came back on my podcast, you know, two years later, with a six-figure business and he's like, hey, I'm looking to sell. Do you know anyone in the industry? And what he really wanted to focus on was leadership and he was a Tony Robbins leader for a long time and this business was just kind of like tying him down because he really wanted to focus on helping people, not on the business that he started and so he wanted to sell this.

And knowing me in the online space, it's like yeah, I know plenty of people that could buy your business. So I found myself accidentally being a business broker. So that's one of the, you know, income streams, I guess, that has come out of it.

So I don't really know like how it's going to monetize, I just know if I put the value out there, people are going to come to me and say like, hey, I need this, this, this and this. Do you have that? And then if I don’t--

Omar:

Through entrepreneur.

RJ:

Yeah, like I can go make it. So, I mean, 42:36 there's no point of building a house that nobody wants, right? It's like you got to find what people actually want first and provide the value there and show people that it's like hey, we can do this together if you want.

Omar:

Absolutely. You bring out the value and people will come. You know, so many, there's like so many people that are always focused, and this was a lesson that I learned throughout my journey as well that really hit hard a couple years back, but so many people are just focused on getting things from other people, you know, instead of actually trying to provide value first. 

And what I've been trying to teach people lately and just people that have reached out to me, not only do the podcast or a social media platform or anything like that, just people that have reached out and asked, hey, how do I start my own journey or how do I make money online? My first answer always is lead with value first. Because if you provide value out there, the people that are actually attracted to that value will buy from you and they will purchase things from you.

And you don't try to sell to people that you don't provide any value for-- to, you know, and don't keep a front up of like saying, oh yeah, I can twist this in a way where it's going to be valuable for you. But then, and then try to get them to purchase it only to, not only feel like shit about selling something to that person but that person not getting anything from it as well. It's a lose-lose scenario in that situation, right? So lead with value first and I think you made a very good point right there with what you did. 

But another thing that I've been trying to push on the show lately is mentorship and what I think that you're doing with corporate to coconuts, in a way, is going to be helping I guess younger generations of digital nomads, online entrepreneurs and different types of entrepreneurs to just kind of when they open the floodgates for themselves to kind of be guided into what your podcast is teaching them and hopefully move them quicker to that point of actually having some sort of online business and being able to travel and live that life that so many people only dream of. And so many people don't think it’s possible just yet, you know.

So, I think it's good what you're doing and if you are listening to this right now, definitely check out corporate to coconuts. Now, while we're on the subject of travel here, I do want to pivot here for a second and I want to talk about your actual travels that you've been on. 

So I know you've been to Chiang Mai, what other countries have you been to and if there is a significant memory, so it doesn't have to be your best memory, but the memory that stands out the most for you from your travels, what is it?

RJ:

So, I actually don't know off the top of my head how many countries I've been to. I said at the beginning, it's like my whole calendar year is just one big mush. It's 50 International trips over that. I've been to Asia, Canada, Mexico, Brazil, Europe. I haven't done Africa yet. And the memories that standout, I think this is the best one.

So if you ever go to Tokyo, I’ve been six times, if you ever go there, you need to get the international driver's permit from where you are in your country. You can't get that anywhere else, you can't get it like delivered to you, you have to get it before. So if you have a flight to Tokyo, get the international driver's permit. Why? It’s because you need to go on Mario Kart. 

This is a business where you go on a red go kart around the streets of Tokyo dressed as a Mario character. And so you're driving in line with like all these different Mario characters in a go kart on the streets of Tokyo and everybody's looking at you taking pictures and you're like, you know, like waving at everybody. You feel like a celebrity. It's the coolest experience ever. You go on the highway, you're going like 50 miles an hour on a go kart next to like--

Omar:

[Inaudible 46:23]

RJ:

Right? It's the coolest thing ever and you need your international driver's permit in order to get on these carts.

Omar:

So, the International driver's permit. You're American or are you Canadian?

RJ:

American.

Omar:

All right. So something that I noticed, or at least go into other countries myself, the American license counted double as like an international driver's permit. So from what I saw, at least in some countries, I don't know about Tokyo, maybe because it's a foreign country as in they speak, they don't speak English as their first language. Maybe it’s different. But the English-speaking countries that I went to at least accept other English-speaking licenses. So maybe it is different in Japan. I guess that would make sense. 

RJ:

Yeah. So it's like if you go to Thailand, you can still drive a motorcycle with your--

Omar:

American license.

RJ:

--American license. You just need to go register for something and grab your motorcycle. Some people don't. 

Omar:

I feel like Thailand would just not give a-

RJ:

Yeah. Some people, you just give them like 20 bucks and they give you a bike but—but yeah, no, Japan was pretty strict on this one and I've researched before. 

Omar:

Yeah, Japan's been on my list for a while, man. So that is a very distinct memory that definitely stands out. How about your most, and these are actually-- so I had someone who interviewed me yesterday and she asked me some of these questions and I'm curious now because I want to ask other travelers these same things. So, what is the one moment during your travel that stressed you out the most or was the most dangerous moment for you? 

RJ:

Okay, this was something that I thought was going to be the most dangerous moment. So the first time I booked a flight to Mexico, I gravitate towards the cities, not towards the beaches because I'm Filipino, I've been to the most amazing beaches in the world and it's just I want to explore something new. I want to experience the culture, food and just people. 

So I went to Mexico City and I wanted to see like, what's up over there. So I went to Obrera Doctores. So if any Mexicans are listening, it's like a lot of people don't go there because that's dangerous. That's like gang central basically and I didn't know that. I just booked in a pretty Airbnb and I thought like oh, that'd be cool to go and be in this like hostel or community or whatever. All this like cool paint on the wall and different themes of like, you know, hipster kind of stuff. 

And I go on my taxi, my Uber to this this Airbnb and when we're driving through the city, I'm like, oh my god, this is so scary. Like there are, everybody's--

Omar:

Dark alleyways.

RJ:

Yeah, dark alleyways, like shady people and like all the garage doors were just shut and it's like 32. And I was like, okay, I thought this was like some kind of, you know, fun rainbow place that I booked, and the driver says we're here. I said, are we here? And he’s like hey, like be careful out here. Like the driver actually warned me about the place and I didn't see any like sign or anything that there was a hostel there. 

So I go in and I flipped open the garage door, which I hoped was the hostel, I opened up this rainbow hostel, I was like okay, I got it. So I go inside and I set all my things up and now it's like okay, I got to eat and I said I got to go back out there. Oh man, it's kind of scary out there. 

So I go out and I do a few blocks, I walk around the city, or in the neighborhood, and there are all these like street stalls that are open, none of the restaurants are open and it's in this like shady neighborhood and people are like staring at me and I look like a foreigner and I'm like trying to not look like a foreigner, but I also don't know Spanish that well. 

And so I'm still walking around and I'm trying to judge by the food trucks of like okay, if there's a lot of people there, it's probably good but I'm shy and I don't want to look like a foreigner. But also, if there's nobody at the food truck, that means the food's probably bad and I might get sick. And so I was doing the ratio of like, okay, which one can I eat at?

Omar:

The safe bet’s probably right in between.

RJ:

Right? Right in between. I was looking for that like, you know, three to four customers. Yeah. And so it’s like all right, and I'm walking around like going back and forth, people are noticing and I'm like, man I'm so scared. And then I sit down finally, just exhausted and I'm like I'm hungry and like let's just eat. And what I found, which I thought was dangerous, is that it's actually better to go to these kinds of places, because they’re not used to tourists. 

So I sat down and the guy was there and he said hey, like, you know, welcome. Like, is this your first time here? And he noticed I was struggling with my Spanish and so we were trying to converse like in caveman, like, this one's good, right? And he puts together this plate of what he had and then he goes to every single food truck, every food stall, and then he adds more to the plate from every single vendor and he builds this like big plate for me. He's like, hey, here you go. 

And so I was trying different things of like all the different food stalls and I was like, wow, this is all delicious and then he said, oh, is this one good? Let me go back. And he went back to, you know, the other food truck and got some more before I could even, you know, say anything. 

Omar:

That's hilarious. Like you circled around all these food trucks and at the end, you end up eating from all of them. 

RJ:

Yeah. And so he just kept like feeding me and feeding me and I was like stop but then it’s like, it's too good though. And so, eventually, I was like, okay, like how much do I owe you? And then he said don't pay for it, it’s free. And I was like, whoa, like that was probably the most like hospitality I've ever had in any country I've ever been to and it's in a place that people don't recommend to go to. 

And so that's what you need to look at. It's like the places that people don't go to are the ones that the locals are more open to help you out, right? It's like you're new to them. It's like let me show you my culture, show you my food, let me show you my family and you'll find yourself in the most amazing experiences. 

And then it's like after I left that small neighborhood that was dangerous, I went to the tourist area and I didn't find anything like that of what I found in the dangerous spot. And so, yeah, that's my dangerous story. 

Omar:

Yeah. I mean when it comes down to it, I feel like people really are all the same on the inside, and no matter where you really go, like I think those kinds of places might be dangerous to the locals to some degree. Like for example, if I was an American going to walk in the most dangerous neighborhood in Houston simply because I’m an American, that would make a lot of sense. Like I kind of stand out, you know, and I mean, in a neighborhood that's “dangerous,” but even in those neighborhoods, there's so many great people that are just trying to show the best selves and probably just unfortunate situations.

And that's why I think cultural travel is so important because you go off the beaten path in that sense and you meet what the local people are actually like. And especially in countries like South America and Mexican cities, Asian cities, I'm sure you're aware of that, they're so hospitable, so open. Much different than that hustle and bustle that you have in these big cities like that you live in and that I live in, you know. So it's a lot different in that sense and don't judge a book by its cover, that’s what I’d like to say.

RJ:

Exactly. Exactly.

Omar:

You know, like go experience that firsthand and you realize it's not nearly as bad as you think it's going to be. 

RJ:

Yeah. And then sometimes, it's the inverse, and sometimes the places that people are like pitching that this is the best travel experience ever, it’s flooded, it’s crowded and it's like it's not as good as you thought it was going to be, you know.

Omar:

Exactly. The world, a big oyster, and I think it's, there's much more merit to kind of exploring every place rather than just doing the whole tourist trap of going to the Eiffel Tower to Big Ben clock in London and then go into New York City Time Square. Like I mean, that's, there's a lot more to travel than just that and I'm glad you find, I'm glad you're saying what you're saying because it's good to hear that. It's good. 

So, to wrap up the podcast here then, I got one final question for you here and his is something that I ask every single listener or every single person that I interview on my podcast. So, if you had a billboard in space and on that billboard, everyone from Earth could see it and you could write whatever you wanted on that billboard, whether it's one sentence or a few, what would you write on there?

RJ:

Who's the audience? Just anybody or is it the aliens?

Omar:

The entire planet.

RJ:

Oh wait. So everybody in the world can see this, right? 

Omar:

Everybody on earth can see it, yes.

RJ:

Give me some time. That's a lot of power in one billboard.

Omar:

It sure is.

RJ:

Man, there's so many things that I want. Ah, I got it. 

Omar:

Let’s hear it. 

RJ:

As a marketer, this is my answer. I would put a bit.ly link to a website and then I would put all the other information that I would put on this document.

Omar:

That's a creative answer. That's like the guy who wishes for 100 wishes to a genie.

RJ:

Right. But as like a human, as a bro, I’m just--

Omar:

Yeah, if you had to put something serious then. I like that answer. That was very creative. I've never-- no one's ever answered it that way, so I respect that answer. 

RJ:

As a human, I would just say, did you smile today? And that would be one on my Billboard. 

Omar:

I like it. That's profound. Nice. Good way to end the show.

RJ:

Yeah, thanks for having me. It's been fun.

Omar:

Yeah, man. I appreciate you coming on today, RJ.

Outro-

I don’t know about you, but I always love episodes where possibilities are opened up. It just goes to show you that you don’t need a degree or decades of experience to be able to make money online. The resources are available to you right at your fingertips. You just have to put in the sweat equity and get a little creative. So, be sure to keep Merch by Amazon in mind as one of those tools in your tool belt. And if you want to add another of those tools to add to your tool belt, be sure to listen to Episode 41 of the Nomadic Executive with Michael. In that episode, we talk all about agency life and how you can take any sort of online service and turn it into a business to generate another income stream. 

Remember, Nomad fam, we've got some incredibly value-filled episodes planned out for you, so please hit that subscribe button and leave a review. Your review helps this podcast become more visible and ultimately inspire more people just like you.

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