📖 2 min read
Getting Fired Was the Best Day of My Life
Monday, 9:47 AM. “We’re going in a different direction.” Classic. Ten years of loyalty, gone in a 4-minute Zoom call. I sat in my car for 20 minutes, then opened ChatGPT.
“I just got fired. I have $2,300 in savings and rent due in 3 weeks. Give me 3 AI-powered businesses I can start today with $0 that will replace my $6,500/month salary.”
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Side Hustle #1: AI Content Agency ($14,200/month by Week 3)
ChatGPT identified that local businesses are desperate for content but can’t afford agencies. I built an AI pipeline that produces 30 blog posts per client per month. My cost: 2 hours of prompting per client. Their cost: $800/month. I signed 18 clients in 19 days.
The secret weapon? A custom GPT fine-tuned on each client’s brand voice. They literally cannot tell it’s AI. Their Google traffic went up 340% on average.
Side Hustle #2: AI Ad Creative Studio ($8,700/month)
Facebook and Google ads need constant creative refreshes. I use Midjourney V7 + Claude for copy + a custom n8n workflow that generates 50 ad variants in 10 minutes. Agencies charge $5,000 for what takes me 30 minutes.
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Side Hustle #3: AI Automation Consulting ($8,500/month)
Small businesses are drowning in repetitive tasks. I build n8n automations that save them 20+ hours per week. Average project: $2,500. Time to deliver: 4 hours. The math is stupid good.
The Friday Phone Call
Five days after getting fired, my phone rang. It was my old boss. “We made a mistake. We’ll match whatever you’re making now plus 20%.” I laughed. “You’d have to pay me $37,680 per month.” Silence. Click.
The AI tools that made this possible:
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- ChatGPT Plus ($20/mo) — Strategy + client communication
- Claude Pro ($20/mo) — Long-form content + analysis
- n8n (free) — Automation backbone
- Midjourney ($30/mo) — Ad creatives
- Gamma (free) — Proposals that close
Total tool cost: $70/month. Total revenue: $31,400/month.
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