I signed up for Iman Gadzhi’s free five-day AI Income Challenge because Mark Tilbury was involved. The sign-up page talked about building a $373-a-day side hustle with AI. I’d be happy with a bit of extra money to put towards my time in Spain. What I wanted to see was how you go from having an idea to getting one person to pay for it. AI Income Challenge sign-up page
Four sessions later, I hadn’t made any money. I had seven sales emails in a day and a very precise figure in my notebook. £1,524.22. Here’s how I got there.
Day one: Three steps and a long wait for Mark
Iman started with the ‘turning point’, which is when your side hustle starts bringing in more than your job. Then he explained the idea. Use AI to help you make a digital product that solves a problem.
An hour in, I’d heard plenty about what other people had made and why I ought to worry about relying on my job. A mystery box appeared under a red cloth. Iman looked surprised and said he hadn’t expected it until tomorrow. Good job he can make money other ways, because I wasn’t buying the acting.
By about an hour and 20 minutes, I had the three steps in my notebook.
- Develop. Create a digital product that solves a problem. Iman said you could start without specialist knowledge or money upfront.
- Distribute. Position it so the right people find it. The idea was that you wouldn’t have to hunt them down. They’d show up. I was still waiting for the part where he explained how.
- Deliver. Set things up so the customer gets the product automatically when they buy. That’s where Whop came in.
Then we got homework to write down why we wanted to do this. Mark finally came on about an hour and 45 minutes in, and Iman interviewed him about his story. By the end there was a $1 offer to save a space through WhatsApp. I still had the same question in my notebook. How do I actually get somebody to buy the thing?
Day two: The price of finding out
Day two was meant to get into developing the product. Iman talked about finding a ‘profitable pocket’. As I understood it, that meant finding a specific group of people with a problem they’d pay to solve.
About 25 minutes in, he asked us to put an answer in the chat. Mine never opened, even though I could see other people commenting. Then I saw a message saying only selected people could comment. That made me a bit wary. At 33 minutes we were back on profitable pockets, and I still couldn’t have told you how to find one.
I started to drift. My notes say something about 150 sources and why we needed ‘specialised AI’. I wished I could put it on double speed, but it was live. So I invented a drinking game. Take a sip every time Iman says ‘specialised AI’. I don’t think I’d have got to the end, which by then sounded quite appealing.
Around the hour mark, he introduced Monetise. Synthesise AI was part of the paid package, and the idea was that it would help you spot a problem worth solving and outline a product. About an hour and a half in, I got to the price I was being asked to pay. £1,524.22. It’s the 22p that gets me. Monetise product information · Monetise terms
And after all that moaning, I was still tempted. I Googled it, asked ChatGPT what it thought and gave myself a bit of time away from my credit card.
Day three: So now I’ve got to cold call people?
Yes, I came back. You’ve got to give me a point for sticking with it. By day three I was up to seven sales emails a day, so if nothing else, I’d managed to grow my inbox.
This time the idea was to partner with a creator who already had an audience. The way I understood it, I’d make a product their audience might want and ask the creator to help sell it. A list of creators was talked about like it was gold dust. I could see how it might save me some digging, but I’d still need to work out what to make, who to approach and what on earth to say to them.
That was the bit that made me think. I was weighing up spending £1,524.22, and I’d still have to do the cold outreach and persuade someone to work with me. I hadn’t even settled on a product yet.
Day four: Welcome back, Mark
Mark opened day four with about 23,500 people signed in, going by the count on my screen. A far cry from the 165,000 I’d noted at the start of day one.
Welcome back, Mark. I did all this for you.
And do you know what? I was so engrossed that I’ve got absolutely no notes on what he said. I know he turned up. I know he told us a story. Could I tell you what it was about? Apparently not.
I’m writing this before day five. I don’t think I’ll watch it, although curiosity might get the better of me. If it does, I’ll come back and update this.
Would I pay £1,524.22 for Monetise?
I’m keeping my money. I haven’t bought Monetise or used its tools, so I can only tell you what I made of the free challenge. I went in hoping to see how a beginner could get their first sale. I came away knowing the three steps and how much the paid package cost, but I still didn’t know what I’d do first.
I couldn’t resist doing the maths. 1,000 × £1,524.22 = £1,524,220 in sales before costs and refunds. That’s if a thousand people paid the same price I was quoted. I’ve no idea how many actually bought it.
The funny thing is, I do still want to try making a digital download. I’d like to find one small problem I can help with, make something useful and see if one person will pay for it. I’m still figuring out how to do that, and I’d like to see how far I can get without spending £1,500 in the first place.
So thank you for the fire in my belly, Mark. I’m still curious about your other challenges. I’m just hoping the next one gets to the practical bit a little sooner.
