My Dumb Journey with This “Easy Money” Thing
Alright, so yesterday I stumbled upon this video about Tim Estenson and his “easy money” strategy. Honestly, it kept popping up everywhere, and the title just screamed “TOO GOOD TO BE TRUE.” But, you know me, I’m always down to dig into something new, even if it smells funny. Figured I’d follow along step-by-step like a lab rat. Here’s exactly what went down.
Step 1: The Rabbit Hole
First thing I did? Went straight online. Typed in his name. Bam, tons of stuff – videos, courses, testimonials looking way too polished. It all basically said the same thing: “This dude makes passive income SUPER easy, just buy his course/listen/watch and copy his moves.” Big promises. My first thought? “Yeah, okay buddy.” But curiosity won.
I hunted for the core idea everyone kept mentioning. Looked like his big gig is dropshipping. Not exactly new, right? But Tim claims his approach is the magical sauce. Finding cheap junk from sites like AliExpress or Temu, slapping your own label on it (or not, sometimes), and selling it way higher on your own website, usually Shopify. He talks a lot about finding “winning products” – stuff that suddenly gets popular.
Red Flag Numero Uno: Everything pointed to paying for his “secret” system or course.
Step 2: Jumping In Anyway
Call me a sucker, but I wanted to understand the actual work involved, not just the hype. So, I pretended I’d bought the course. What would the steps be?
- “Find a Winning Product”: This meant hours of scrolling through AliExpress, Temu, TikTok. Looking for stuff with tons of views or orders – fidget toys, trendy water bottles, weird kitchen gadgets. Anything people seemed obsessed with suddenly. Man, this is tedious. Eyes crossed after an hour.
- “Set Up Shop”: Okay, I already know Shopify a bit. Created a brand new store called something cheesy like “Trendy Finds Co.” Added a basic theme. This part was straightforward, but costs money upfront – Shopify subscription, domain name. No way around that.
- “List the Stuff”: Found this light-up phone charger cable that was supposedly hot. Copied the images straight from AliExpress (bad practice, I know!), wrote a quick description making it sound AMAZING. Set the price: bought for $2.50, selling for $19.99. Feels scammy typing that.
- “Drive Traffic”: Tim pushes paid ads HARD, especially TikTok. This is where his “easy money” claim starts crumbling. Set a tiny budget (like $5/day) for a TikTok ad. Making the ad itself? Ugh. Tried filming a quick video showing this dumb cable lighting up. Felt super awkward.
Step 3: Reality Hits Like a Truck
So, I ran my little ad for two days. Results? Let’s just say silence was loud.
- Zero Sales. Zip. Nada. Big surprise? Not really.
- TikTok ate my $10 budget like it was nothing. Got maybe 200 views? Most just scrolled past.
- Got a notification from AliExpress about potential copyright issues because I nicked images. Panicked and deleted the product.
- Checked back on the original “winning product” source – the sales numbers had dropped off a cliff. Guess the trend died?
My “Aha!” Moment: Where does the money actually come from? His course sales! His viewers! His ad revenue! He MAKES money by TEACHING this stuff, showing screenshots of “sales.” But for someone like me actually trying to do it step-by-step? The real money flow felt backwards.
So What Actually Happened?
Following Tim Estenson’s “easy” strategy basically meant I spent money (Shopify fee, ads) and tons of time. Zero return. The parts he glosses over are the grind:
- Finding legit “winning products” before the trend peaks? Requires insane luck or constant research.
- Not stealing product images? You need to order samples, take your own photos/videos. More money, more time.
- Getting actual traffic without big ad spend? Almost impossible for a nobody store. Organic reach is dead.
- Customer service? Returns? Dealing with slow shipping? That’s where the real work begins!
The Real Conclusion: His strategy isn’t “easy money” for most people doing the actual selling. It IS easy money for Tim Estenson himself by selling the dream of easy money. It’s a classic case of the teacher making more than the students trying to follow the lesson.
After my little experiment? My Shopify store sits abandoned. I lost a bit of cash. But I gained something: a clearer head. Real online business needs real work, real product value, real marketing skills. There are no magic shortcuts, no matter how well explained the strategy sounds in a video.
My honest advice? If a strategy screams “EASY MONEY,” run. Walk. Crawl away. Go build something solid instead.
