I've got an $8000 debt and feel like I'm stuck - Help!

What were you doing when you were hitting $250 - $450 a day?

Hi Mate,

Gotta stay positive man!

Tell me...what has changed since you were making $250-$450 per day?

Take Care,

Michael Silvester

When I was making $250-$450/day I had a great affiliate campaign until that niche fizzled out. I haven't been able to find a campaign as good as that since. The truth is I haven't put in much work for these 6 months I've also been busy with uni and jumping from project to project.

I've learned my lesson about focus from this and for my next project I'll be focusing on 1 thing at a time!

Now I'm trying to decide which project to pick...

- create an info product following Guru mastermind course
- CPA affiliate campaign on Azoogle or neverblue(never done one before, but I reckon I've got good PPC experience to be successful in this)

Two things come to mind when it comes to your mindset...

1. You've made $250-$450/day, so you know it's possible. That's a huge plus.

2. You asked if anybody else could relate to your situation...

Every entrepreneur I know has been in debt at one time or another. Take a look at "Pitchmen" on the Discovery Channel. Everybody they feature is in debt...until they hit it big.

If you believe it in, keep at it. Don't quit five minutes before the miracle.

I would a little more long term as well. Build you base. Brand yourself if you are building a business.

Get a blog.. preferably your name, and begin building your list.

Or set up a squeeze page, offering a free video or report showing a condensed version of how you made up to $450 a day. Also create a full video course or membership site where you teach your methods. This is where you give them the step by step method.

And as you build your list, each person will be exposed to the free course as well. Once you have a list, you can also promote similar products...even if they are not your own.

But get out of the "I need to make this money fast" mentality.

Peace brother

Koorosh

I have a question...

Are you allowed to borrow more money from the bank? I know that question might seem stupid if you're already in debt.

But let's say if you borrowed another $8,000 knowing that you would get $16,000 back, would it be worth it?

I would actually want to know from you or others if this was a possible solution, since 8K may seem a lot, but "a lot" is just whatever you think is a lot.

So my point is, perhaps borrowing more money and having a solid plan absolutely knowing that you would get your money back might help... I'm not suggesting this because it is your responsibility and your money, but I'm just putting it out as an option.

Afterall, people like John Reese were $100,000+ in debt and Donald Trump was $900,000,000+ in debt before they recovered.

I wish you the best of luck.

Tristan

Thanks for all the support, it's helped increase my business confidence and got my motivation right back up. I'm excited. You guys and gals are awesome!

Staying positive is easier said than done, but the most important thing is do not worry.

Because I am in self-improvement and related subjects I receive numerous emails from people needing help - some even suicidal - and I give them as much of my time as they need.

Credit card and other debt is a major issue.

First of all as I said - do not worry.

The more you worry about debt, the more you will attract - plain and simple.

Obviously you cannot completely forget about it, but just do not worry - that is crucially important.

If you cannot afford the monthly repayments, contact the card companies and explain your situation.

You will need a good story, so tell them you are a poor student doing your final exams, and later you will be able to repay all your debts.

You should be able to negotiate nominal payments of a $1 per month, and they should freeze the interest.

It is crucial to communicate with the card companies - they are generally very helpful.

With those worries out of the way you can focus on IM to get back on track.

The power of the Mind is infinite. Success in life is always 90% Mind, 10% application.

The reason why a very few IM'ers make millions with ease while the majority struggle is because of their mindset - that is it.

So you must get yourself back in to the making money mindset.

I don't know what IM you specialise in, but from the IM perspective there are plenty of warriors that can advise you including myself.

Alex, sounds like you're focussing on the debt. What you focus on expands. The issue of debt is getting bigger and bigger. Your parents are helping you keep focussed on the debt by nagging at you. Here's what I suggest. Focus on abundance. Focus on what you need to do in order to unleash the almighty cashflow. See it, feel it and smell the money you'll make. What you focus on expands. Keep focussing on the money you'll make and the way to make it will follow. Hope this helps.

Alex.... I was going to tick you off for running up a debt like that on a credit card for petesakes you know the interest rates.... However you have a tremendous opportunity here... Get your mind focused on the fantastic report you are going to publish as soon as you get out of the hole.... HOW I PAID OFF MY $8000 CREDIT CARD BILL IN X WEEKS etc etc. If you focus on the debt in a positive way like that you can feel EXCITED about it... go get em kid.

The only question I have is - how did you run up the $8K debt?

If it was paying for ppc / traffic or such (i.e. related to your IM activities), take a good hard look at your model, and your tracking & stats.

On the other hand, if it was just living it up - others have given you good advice, I don't have anything better to say.

Go for it.

Alex,

What you see as them being "on your back with limiting beliefs and scarcity mentality BS" is more likely just parents worrying about their child, as all parents do, even when the "child" is an adult. I'd imagine they think you're in way over your head.

And, to be honest, it sounds like you probably are; it sounds like you stuck your head in the sand for the past few months, wishing the problem would go away by itself. The fact that "The Secret" has been presented again and again in a "magically think all your problems out of existence" way probably doesn't help but, at the end of the day, it's your fault and it's not "all good"... the interest payments on an $8,000 credit card debt must be pretty big, and will only get bigger the longer you hold it.

Have you talked to your parents about it? It sounds like you didn't react too well to them being "on your back" about it but have you discussed it calmly and rationally with them?

If they're in a financial position to do so, an interest-free loan from them would be preferable to an ultra-high-interest CC debt. If the $20/day you're earning right now doesn't include living costs, you could give it to them (your parents) and pay off your debt (to them) in little over a year. That may seem like a long time but consider it a learning opportunity (in how not to do things and, more importantly, the fact that blood is (much) thicker than water).

That said, if you're about to finish your exams, and can re-gain focus on (actual) money making, it probably won't take a year. If your parents aren't in a position to give you all the money, what about part of it? Explain to them what you plan to do to pay it off. Even if they could only give you $1,000 (as an interest-free loan), it would postpone the pressure for a while. Of course, that isn't ideal, but is still preferable to your current situation.

Whatever you do, talk to your parents: It won't be easy to admit you need help but most parents won't hesitate for a second to help their children in any way they can, even when those children are now adults. I'm certain your parents won't be any different.

Finally, even if they aren't in a position to help out financially at all, just talking to somebody (in person; not over a computer screen) will help you feel better and more positive about things, more than you can imagine. (Always remember that you only owe creditors money; you don't owe them your mental or physical well-being.)

Tommy.

Hey Alex,

I feel your pain......

At one point in my IM career I was $100k in debt and it took over my mind.

I'm also a life-long student of psychology and success so I too knew that mindset was wrong while was in it.

I was losing sleep, feeling anxious all the time and feeling like my goals for my life might just be me kidding myself that I was special and really I was destined to struggle.

All of the advice I got about dealing with my debt at the time was - "declare yourself bankrupt - it's the only way. The laws have changed, it could all be gone/written-off within a few years".

Although the people giving me that advice thought they were right - it was fundamentally opposite to my mindset. I didn't want to get 'out' of the debt I just wanted a way to manage it so I could pay it back.

In my case my debt was from frivilous spending by me and my ex, so I had no-one to blame for it but myself.

The problem I had was that (as I'm sure you can imagine) I started to mentally attach myself to it. It was 'MY' debt. Once I heard myself talking like it was part of me and using it as an excuse for why I couldn't be successful ("If I didn't have this debt I could.........") I realised something had to change.

In my situation I had a decent job at the time but only made enough to cover the basic payments on the debts, so I was going nowhere fast.

I was watching TV and something reminded me that if I asked God (or the Universe) to make me brave - it would probably give me the opportunity to BE brave rather than just the quality.

So I decided that the debt was my opportunity to BE successful at making more money than ever before, with the up-side that when I succeeded and the debt was gone - I'd be making more money than ever before but have no debt sucking it all away.

That's where I am now. The debt has gone and I look back and think of it as the key to my opportunity to learn how to make more money.

Since you've already been successful you have a massive advantage over many people in IM - you KNOW it's possible. That makes a huge difference in how you follow-through on your plans.

If I said to everyone "I'll show you a plan that 'might' make you $100k" not many would take it seriously. If I said "I'll show you a plan that WILL make you $100k" - the difference would be massive.

That one word makes all the difference - and it's on your side.

Everything around you was bought by someone - your PC, your chair, your clothes, your food, the carpets - everything! There's a LOT of money being made every minute of every day.

You KNOW that $8k is a small amount for one of your 'mediocre' successes so you KNOW it's just a matter of time before the Universe puts things back as they should be.

The only issue is that while your mind has debt in it - there's no room for prosperity.

So, while it's perfectly normal for your parents to warn you away from the dangers of online money - they don't really understand like you do what's possible.

Don't hold it against them and don't kick yourself for being sucked in to that mindset.

You're only human - these things are great lessons for life.

Just remember that you're not stuck with your past, you just need to control what you think of now.

If it makes it any easier - associate your online projects with bills/debts so that whenever you're working on one - you know which debt is being attacked by the results of it. It'll also make you more aware of how effective you're being and to track your results by what matters (sales).

Good luck with it - not that you need it.

Andy

I second Chris Drinkwater's reply. If you could think of your debt as an asset, an opportunity to leverage the elimination of your debt into a product showing others how to eliminate such a debt in 30 days or so--I think you would have a real winner on your hands.

Without going into too much detail, I've owed a sizable debt in the past, paid everything off through Internet Marketing within a year, and am now comfortably earning a living online paying all my bills in FULL.

I know, not too inspiring a story, but I completely understand where you're coming from, and a little debt is definitely NOT the end.

Solomon Huey

Do you want to be a salesman or an entrepreneur? Do you want to build other people's business or your business?

Tyrus

$8000 in just the past few months? what the heck were you buying?

The key here is to cut unneccasary expenses. If you live with your parents still it should be a little easier for you than others... spend a lot of time working on bringing your income back up to $200 a day or even $50 a day and you can get out of debt if you do it right.

One thing that bothers me... you were making $250-$400 a day yet only netted $18k last year? That does not give me a lot of faith in the internet marketing field.

I would NOT spend money on PPC right now. I would work with free advertising. Possibly blogging and/or article marketing until you get your debt paid off. Adding more debt WONT help.

You know I am around $30,000 in debt and it is taking over my life,god knows how I accumulated it.
Maybe a combination of my first wife leaving me in debt after out divorce and bringing up three kids on a crap wage are some reasons to blame.
That is why I am here to primarily get outta debt, I have made just under $100 so far and due to this great forum and some of the wonderful Warriors on here maybe just maybe I will one day climb out of debt.
I am taking action and hope to keep taking action I will not give up untill my resources are spent.

cheers

Marcus

Alex, I can relate to the way you feel when you first didnt look at it seriously. I had the same mindset - like oh who cares im putting $2000 on my card right now...i'll make that back really fast when im making thousands a day off my internet businesses.

Its almost like a defense mechanism or something - or a way of making you think less of the debt you are about to take on. I have had the same mind set after my hosting busines became very successful - for awhile i was living large, buying all the crap I wanted without a 2nd thought.

Fast forward years later I am slowly building up debt but am now well on my way of clearing it out.

What I suggest you do is forget about it and just start working your butt off online. Just do all the free methods until you get your debt off....then go from there.

Just dont sit around creating threads on forums about it...or overly worry about it or else you will make yourself sick

Why not write a report on exactly the steps you took to make you $250 a day. While you're writing about it put those steps into action again - with another niche if the old one isn't working anymore.

Then put your report up as a WSO.

Hopefully when you put the steps back into action yourself you will be earning good money again and you might also earn some by selling your report.

If it's really good you could even put it on Clickbank or something and get some affiliates promoting it for you.

Oh and stop using the credit card!!!

I think Josh makes a good suggestion: stick with what you've done successfully and scale it up if possible. This might not mean continuing with the niche that gets you $20/day, but if you have skills and a business plan that once brought in $250-450/day, you can definitely re-apply that strategy to scale up your current earnings. Once you're in a position where you can service your debts, then try something new.

Stop using your credit card and start increasing your income. It may take more of your hours to bring in more money on the table but for now, you gave to make sacrifices and adjustments to get yourself out of debt. I've been in the same situation myself and I couldn't get a good night's sleep just thinking of all the debts I owe. I have to stretch myself a bit to pay off my debts. It was tough but I have to do it.

You can do it, Alex. You've done it before. No reason to fail now. Good luck.

thanks for the advice and support everyone, it truly helps and I'm more motivated than ever to kick ass!

For now I've transferred one of my cards from 18% to 11%. The next step will be to increase my income by putting in some solid work and getting my hands dirty.

When I begin working full time in a week from now, I should be able to pay it off within a month. I'll let you know how it goes.

good luck in your pursuit of getting out of debt!

To put it into perspective, $8000 debt is not that much of an amount at your age. Many college and university graduates are saddled with several times that amount in debt before they have even started their first job. Morover, any mortgage would be much more than that. Although 11% is quite a high rate compared to a mortgage. One must remember that people have mortgage rates much higher than this in the past.


Derek

Hey good luck man. You'll be all right, I know what it's like to worry about debts but it'll all work out in the end.

Concentrate on what you know for now, that's the benefit of being in your position. You can experiment when you're in a more solid position.