Why I pay for friends (and you should too)

I know this sounds shallow, but I’m a simple spender.

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If something can save me time, improve my health, or generate more money, I’ll probably buy it.

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When I started my last corporate job, I was already mapping out my exit plan to go full-time as a builder within the first month.

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My directory site was steadily turning a profit, sparking the idea that could lead to true freedom.

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Boom. I found a solid monetization plan and a way to distribute my ideas.

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But I was lacking the confidence to actually take the damn risk.

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I’ve always thought of myself as a risk-taker.

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But the psychological risk of quitting my job felt similar to jumping off a cliff, not knowing if my parachute was going to deploy.

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And the problem with convincing yourself you’re going to take the leap is that if you don’t follow through, it can trap you in a cycle of self-resentment.

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So I decided to buy it – the confidence.

How I bought confidence

Confidence is like baking a cake, and I had to get the ingredients.

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So my plan was simple:

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I needed to meet people who had already made the leap – those who turned their side hustle into a full-time business.

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The more you’re exposed to something, the more normal it becomes. I needed to surround myself with risk-takers who had jumped off the cliff and landed on their feet.

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But how would I find them? And more importantly, how could I get them to open up and share their hard-earned insights with a total stranger?

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Then I remembered a simple ‘podcast’ hack.

The Psychology of the Ask

If you randomly ask someone to meet for a chat, it’s weird. It gives off “What do you want from me?” vibes.

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But if you package it as an opportunity to share their story? Now it’s valuable.

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I didn’t build a podcast.

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But I did build a website called HonestHustles.com (now offline, RIP) and made it a blog featuring stories of people who quit their full-time jobs to go all-in on their businesses.

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I jumped into Facebook entrepreneurship groups, cold-messaged people, and sent a pitch that went something like this:

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I based this on Alex Hormozi’s philosophy: An offer so good, it would be dumb to refuse it.

The Offer

• Share your story, from quitting your 9-to-5 to working for yourself, over a 30 minute zoom call
• Let me turn it into a blog article featuring your business (get a backlink)
• Get paid $50 for your time

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My thought process: If I invest $1,000, I can meet 20 people who successfully quit their jobs and ask them exactly how they did it.

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In many scenarios, people actually did it for free!

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And since it was for an article, I could ask anything—how much they were making before they quit, how much was profit, what mistakes they made. Stuff that’s usually gatekept.

What Happened Next

For every 100 people I reached out to, about 5-10 responded and qualified for what I was looking for.

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This led to dozens of zoom calls.

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One of those calls led to an invite to a private entrepreneur group with 7-figure business owners (including a matchmaker who charges $120k per client) that I’m still active in today.

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And naturally, when people asked what I did, I used that moment to pivot into SEO, offering a free consultation.

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I quickly realized its value just by watching their microexpressions the moment I mentioned those three letters.

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Within a few zoom calls, I had refined the way I explained SEO (despite still being a beginner).

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Eventually, this is how I got my first paid client.

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Then my second.

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Then referrals started happening.

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And before I knew it, I was charging $100/hr for SEO consulting, all because I was willing to pay for people’s time at the start.

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In the end, the real reward was learning exactly how dozens of people transitioned to a full-time builder successfully.

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Plus, I made some cool new friends along the way.

The Takeway

Yes, paying people to talk to you might sound shallow.

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But in the right context, it’s a powerful hack to meet people who are in the shoes you want to be in.

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And sometimes, all it takes is a little creativity and $50 conversation to change the trajectory of your career.

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If you want to connect with like-minded individuals building website directories, I launched the Ship Your Directory community this week.

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It’s free to join. Hope to see you in there 🙂

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Best,

Frey
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