Look, I'm not going to waste your time telling you the job market is broken. I'm not going to blow smoke up your butt and tell you it will get better.
It won't.
You already know that.
You've sent out 1000 applications and heard nothing. You've been ghosted after final-round interviews. You've watched entry-level jobs require five years of experience.
You know it's bad.
So let's skip that part and talk about what actually works when traditional employment isn't an option.
Because here's the truth: you have more options than you think. They're just not the options you were taught to look for.
Option 1: Try Harder Than You Think Is Reasonable
Gary Vaynerchuk said something that pissed a lot of people off:
"When you're desperate for a job, you need to be applying to 30, 60, 80 jobs a day.
I get this all the time… 'Gary, I'm so desperate for a job.' I'll ask, well, how many jobs have you applied for? 'Six different jobs. I've done a lot!'
I think people have lost their way in understanding what 'a lot' really means."
He's right.
I sent out 450 applications in four months. That's roughly four applications a day. I thought that was a lot.
It wasn't.
Gary's talking about 30 to 80 applications a day. That's 210 to 560 applications a week. That's 900 to 2,400 applications a month.
That sounds insane. It is insane.
But hold on here a minute! Let's get real. The first comment on his post says:
"if you were to spend 8 hours per day applying to jobs, and you did 80 in one day, you'd have a maximum of 6 minutes to spend on each application. it normally takes that amount of time just creating an account on a company site."
I think Gary knows this, but he is just highlighting that it might just take a lot more than you are doing right now to get the job you want. If you're desperate, insane might be what it takes.
Here's what that actually means:
Wake up. Spend 6–8 hours a day applying to jobs. Not tailoring every resume. Not writing custom cover letters for each one. Just applying. Volume. Speed. Numbers.
Use every job board. LinkedIn. Indeed. Glassdoor. ZipRecruiter. Company websites. Remote job boards. Niche industry boards. Apply to jobs you're overqualified for. Apply to jobs you're underqualified for. Apply to jobs in other cities. Apply to jobs you don't even want.
Because at 80 applications a day, you're not being strategic. You're being relentless. And relentless works when strategic doesn't.
Is it soul-crushing? Yes. Is it demoralizing? Absolutely.
Does it work? Sometimes. And sometimes is better than never.
The reality: Most people who say they can't find a job have applied to 20, maybe 50 positions. If you've truly applied to 500 and gotten nothing, then it's time to try a different approach.
But if you're at 50 and complaining? You haven't tried hard enough yet.
Option 2: Freelance, Consult, Contract, Ghostwrite
Stop waiting for a company to hire you. Start finding clients who will pay you. You have skills. I don't care what your job was. You have skills someone will pay for.
- Were you a project manager? Companies need project management consultants.
- Were you in marketing? Businesses need marketing freelancers.
- Were you in operations? Startups need operations contractors.
- Were you a writer? Executives need ghostwriters.
Here's how you find them:
LinkedIn is your hunting ground.
Search for your target clients. CEOs. Founders. VPs. Directors. People who have budget and authority to hire you without going through HR.
Send them a message. Not a pitch. A conversation.
"Hey [Name], I saw you're building [Company]. I've spent 15 years in [Your Field] and I'm helping a few companies with [Specific Problem You Solve]. Would it make sense to chat about what you're working on?"
That's it. No resume. No formal proposal. Just a conversation.
Most won't respond. Some will. One yes pays your bills for a month.
Cold outreach works when you do it right.
Don't mass message. Don't spam. Don't use templates that sound like templates. Actually look at their company and actually understand what they do. Actually offer something specific.
"I noticed you're scaling fast but your LinkedIn content is inconsistent. I help founders like you maintain thought leadership without spending hours writing. Would it make sense to talk?"
Specific. Relevant. Helpful.
Freelance platforms are a grind but they work.
Upwork. Fiverr. Freelancer. Guru. Yes, the competition is brutal. Yes, people are bidding $5/hour from countries where that's decent money.
But if you position yourself right, you can charge more and win clients.
How?
Niche down. Don't be "a writer." Be "a ghostwriter for SaaS CEOs who hate writing but need LinkedIn presence." Don't be "a designer." Be "a UX designer who specializes in fintech onboarding flows."
The narrower your niche, the less competition you have and the more you can charge.
Start with one client. Then ask for referrals.
You don't need 20 clients. You need two or three good ones. Land one. Do great work. Ask them if they know anyone else who needs what you do.
That's how you build a freelance business. One client. One referral. One project at a time.
It's slow. It's hard. But it's faster than waiting for a company to hire you.
Option 3: Start a Business (Even a Small One)
I know what you're thinking. "I can't start a business. I need a job."
Wrong.
You can start a business while you're looking for a job. You can start small. You can start with almost no money.
What can you sell?
- A service. Consulting. Coaching. Freelancing. (See above.)
- A product. Digital products. Templates. Courses. Ebooks.
- Your expertise. Workshops. Training. Speaking.
Start as a side hustle.
You don't have to quit your job search to start a business. You start while you're searching. Spend mornings applying to jobs. Spend afternoons building your business.
Maybe your business takes off and you don't need the job. Maybe it doesn't and you land a job anyway. Either way, you're building something.
Examples of businesses you can start with almost nothing:
- Coaching. You know something someone else wants to learn. Charge them to teach it.
- Consulting. You have expertise companies need. Sell your knowledge by the hour.
- Content creation services. Businesses need blog posts, social media content, email newsletters. You can write those.
- Virtual assistant services. Executives need help managing schedules, emails, projects. You can do that remotely.
- Online courses. Record what you know. Sell access.
The key is solving a real problem for real people.
Don't start a business because you think it sounds cool. Start one because you know someone will pay you to solve their problem.
How do you know? Ask them. Find 10 people in your target market. Ask what their biggest problem is. If five of them say the same thing, you have a business idea.
Build the solution. Sell it to them.
Option 4: Content Creation
This is the long game. But it works. You create content. You build an audience. You monetize that audience.
Where do you create content?
Medium. YouTube. TikTok. Twitter/X. LinkedIn. Instagram. Threads. Substack. Pick one. Maybe two. Don't try to be everywhere.
What do you create content about?
Your life. Your expertise. Your hobbies. Your struggles. Your wins.
Be honest. Be raw. Be authentic.
People don't follow polished. They follow real.
I started writing on Medium in 2018.
Nobody read my work for years. I kept writing anyway. Now Medium pays me $2,500 to $5,000 a month. I also have multiple ghostwriting contracts that came from people finding my Medium articles.
It took seven years. But it worked.
YouTube works if you're consistent.
You don't need fancy equipment. You need a phone and something to say.
Post three times a week for a year. See what happens.
Most people quit after three months. That's why it works. You outlast everyone who quits.
TikTok and Instagram Reels are faster.
Short-form content can go viral overnight. It's rare. But it happens.
Post daily. Try different formats. See what resonates.
LinkedIn is underrated.
Write posts about your industry. Share what you know. Be helpful. You don't need millions of followers. You need 500 engaged people who trust you.
Then you sell them something. Consulting. Coaching. A course. Freelance services.
The model is simple:
Create valuable content for free. Build trust and authority. Offer paid services to the people who want more.
What All These Options Have in Common
Patience.
Stubbornness.
Perseverance.
None of this works fast. None of this is easy. None of this feels like a "real job" at first. But here's what I know after sending out 450 applications and getting zero offers:
Traditional employment isn't reliable anymore.
Companies ghost you. They reject you for being overqualified. They use AI to screen you out before a human ever sees your resume.
You can't control that. But you can control what you build on your own.
Freelancing takes 3–6 months to get your first consistent clients.
You have to hustle. You have to cold message people. You have to pitch. You have to follow up.
But once you land one good client, you can land more.
Starting a business takes 6–12 months to see real revenue.
You have to test ideas. You have to find customers. You have to figure out what people actually want to buy.
But once you find product-market fit, you have something nobody can take away from you.
Content creation takes 1–3 years to monetize.
You have to post consistently. You have to build an audience. You have to prove you're not going to quit.
But once you hit critical mass, the opportunities compound.
The Hard Truth Nobody Wants to Hear
You might do all of this and still fail.
You might apply to 1,000 jobs and get nothing.
You might freelance for six months and land zero clients.
You might start a business that goes nowhere.
You might create content for two years and never build an audience.
That's the risk.
But here's the alternative: do nothing and definitely fail.
At least if you try, you have a chance.
What I Did
I applied to 450 jobs. Got nothing. I freelanced. I ghostwrite for executives. I write blogs for clients. I do the work nobody sees.
I started a community on Skool called "40 and Unemployed." It's free. It has over 300 members. People who are in the same boat I was in.
I create content on Medium, LinkedIn, and Threads. I write about my life. My struggles. The job market. Mental health. Real stuff. And now I make $2,500 to $5,000 a month from Medium alone. Plus multiple freelance contracts. Plus the community I'm building.
It took seven years to get here. Seven years of writing when nobody read it. Seven years of freelancing when clients were sparse. Seven years of showing up when I had every reason to quit.
But I'm here. And I'm making it work.
Not because I'm special. Because I refused to stop trying.
So What Should You Do?
Here's my advice:
If you're desperate for a job right now:
Apply to 30, 60, 80 jobs a day like Gary Vee says. Go harder than feels reasonable. Volume works when quality doesn't.
If you have a little time:
Start freelancing. Find one client. Do great work. Ask for referrals. Build from there.
If you have a skill people need:
Start a business. Solve a real problem. Charge money. Start small. Grow slow.
If you can play the long game:
Create content. Build an audience. Monetize it. It takes years but it works.
Or do all of them at once.
Apply to jobs in the morning. Freelance in the afternoon. Build your business at night. Create content on weekends. Yes, it's exhausting. Yes, it's too much. Yes, you'll want to quit.
But you're already exhausted from getting rejected. You're already doing too much for no results.
At least this way, you're building something.
The Real Secret
There is no secret. Just stubbornness, patience, and a refusal to quit. You try harder than everyone else. You last longer than everyone else. You outlast the people who give up.
That's it.
I'm not smarter than you. I'm not more talented. I'm not lucky.
I'm just too stubborn to quit.
And if you're reading this, I'm betting you are too.
So stop waiting for permission. Stop waiting for a company to save you. Stop waiting for the job market to get better.
Start building your own thing. Today. Right now.
It won't be easy. It won't be fast. But it works.
And working is better than waiting.
Drop a comment and tell me what you're building. Let's stop pretending the old playbook still works and start sharing what actually does.
I sent out 450 applications at 57. Got nowhere. Now I'm freelancing and helping others do the same. Join my Skool group if you're 40+ and ready to build something that doesn't depend on age-blind hiring. It's free for now.
It won't be forever.
Also, if you are on LinkedIn or Threads and want to connect, let's do!
One more thing…
If this post added value to your life, consider either joining my Ko-fi, or leaving me a tip. Every little bit helps when you are trying to make a living writing.
