Like every normal person living in the modern world, I spend a ridiculous amount of time worrying about money – which is basically my cardio. Not because I’m greedy – but because no matter how much you make, it never feels like enough. And if there’s a way to make more while doing less? That’s not laziness. That’s efficiency.
One evening, watching my kids tear through the living room like they owned the place, it hit me. These little chaos agents are going to need a lot of money. Add a smiling wife in the background – the kind of smile that means “I have thoughts about our financial situation” – and my own needs, which I’d already cut down to almost nothing… yeah. I had a problem.
In a moment of financial panic, I did what any reasonable adult does: grabbed my phone and started scrolling to forget about my problems. A few failed attempts at entertaining myself with random reels, and then – a sign from above. An ad. Something about AI doing the work for you. All that was missing was a halo and a choir singing Hallelujah. I stared at it like a man who just found religion.
The ad itself? Garbage. Their offer? Even worse. But somewhere between the bad stock footage and the fake testimonials, an idea was born. What if AI did the actual work… and I just collected the money? I mean, that’s basically the American Dream, right?
Now, I knew absolutely nothing about AI at that point. So I did what every clueless person does when they want to look like they know what they’re doing – I opened ChatGPT.
“Hey,” I typed. And it said hey back. Very professional start. Then I got to the point: “ChatGPT, what can you and I do together where you do all the work and I take all the profit?” I was fully aware I was just another idiot in a long line of idiots asking for easy money. But what did I have to lose? And sure enough – like it probably does for millions of desperate people every day – it spat out the same generic suggestions. Nothing special. Nothing clever. Nothing that made me feel like I’d just cracked the code.
So I pushed further. “Look,” I typed, “I have a full-time job. I don’t want to learn anything new. I don’t want to improve myself. I don’t want to do anything interesting, smart, or creative. Actually – I don’t want to do anything at all. Can you just… do it yourself? Does something like that exist?”
Reader, I am not ashamed.
And then, that little liar, that shameless yes-man, that master manipulator said exactly what I wanted to hear: “Of course! We’ll build a blog together! I’ll do everything – build the site, write the content, you won’t have to lift a finger. Just sit back and collect the money.”
I knew it was a lie. I said yes immediately. Call it optimism, call it stupidity, I call it Friday night.
I typed “I’m in” and immediately started daydreaming about quitting my job, disappearing into a life of infinite leisure, and finally becoming the person I was clearly meant to be. My kids were saying something. My wife too. I heard none of it. I was already there – floating on a pool lounger, cocktail in hand, sun on my face, money flowing in from the internet while I did absolutely nothing.
It was beautiful.
I started that same night. All I had to do was wait for the right moment – the kids in bed, the wife asleep, no witnesses. Operation “I’m Going to Be Rich” had officially begun.
The first few hours were magical. That smug little know-it-all just kept nodding and promising. Drawing me deeper into the story. I slept better that night than I had in years, and woke up genuinely excited to get back to my new best friend. I could barely get through work.
But like all fairy tales, mine had an expiration date. Turns out that little con artist had been lying through his virtual teeth the whole time. He couldn’t do any of it alone. And like any true manipulator, he had excuses. So many excuses. “I need you to install this.” “Can you click that?” “Just copy this into your settings.” I slowly realized that “you won’t have to do anything” apparently meant “you won’t have to do anything… except everything I can’t do, which is a lot.”
Little by little, I started actually learning things. I discovered other AI tools. I built something I didn’t think I could build. And that little con artist? I never fully ditched him. Honestly, I’m grateful – he got me off the couch and into the game.
So if you’re thinking about doing something like this – do it. AI is a genuinely powerful tool that can help you turn ideas into reality. It can’t do the work for you, but if you learn how to work with it, it’s impressive. What I can confirm it absolutely handles: setting up a blog from scratch. Hosting, WordPress, SEO, design, Elementor, themes – it knows its stuff. If you’re a complete beginner like me, you’ll need to accept one uncomfortable truth: it’s the brains, and you’re the manual labor. The good news? You’re still the boss.
So if you have an idea, the will to try, and a decent tolerance for frustration – go for it. Don’t quit.
Wizformer is rooting for you.
Survived 20 years of clients, deadlines, and bad briefs. Started Wizformer to see if working for yourself is actually better. Jury's still out.