This post is another “thinking out loud” moment for me.

If you’ve been following along with the Zero to Hero project, you know I’ve been exploring different equity assets. These are things that require some upfront work or investment, but once established, they generate money over time.

The long-term one that keeps grabbing my attention is vending machines, which I talked about in the last post.

But over the last few days, I’ve circled back to a more basic idea. Something I was originally researching back in December of 2025.

eBooks.
Digital products.
Faceless theme pages.

Starting With Assets I Already Have

One thing I’ve been doing during this process is looking at assets I already own.

That includes domains, blogs, and social media accounts that have been sitting dormant for years. Some of them actually have decent history and weight behind them.

One Instagram account in particular already has around 10,000 followers.

The blog tied to it is very old and has a massive amount of content, but it’s been dormant for a long time.

So the question becomes:

Instead of starting something new, can I revive something old?

Testing the Faceless Theme Page Strategy

Over the last three days, I started experimenting with faceless theme page techniques.

This basically involves reposting interesting or viral-style content around a niche topic, without the account being tied to a specific person.

Right now, my goal is simple.

Phase one is follower growth.

So far, the results are mixed. I’m getting decent views but not a lot of follower conversion yet. That’s okay though. It’s only been three days.

I’ve said this before: I’m a grinder.

My approach is to set a daily system and stick with it.

Right now that system is simple:

Three posts per day.
About 15 minutes total.

I do this in the morning so it’s out of the way for the day.

The Monetization Plan

If this strategy works, there are three potential revenue paths.

1. Sponsored Shoutouts

Once the account grows, it could sell shoutouts or promotions.

Initially these would probably be small deals. Maybe $50 here, $50 there. But if the account reaches real scale, those numbers can grow.

My first milestone is 50,000 followers.

Right now we’re at 10,000, so there’s still a long way to go before I’d even consider pitching sponsors.

2. Instagram Monetization

Another option is direct monetization through Instagram itself if the account qualifies.

I’m not counting on that yet, but it’s part of the long-term potential.

3. Driving Traffic to the Blog

The real play is connecting the account back to the blog.

From there I can use affiliate links, primarily through Amazon Associates, to generate income from products related to the niche.

That’s the system I used years ago, and it worked well.

Keeping the Investment Low

One thing I’m intentionally doing right now is keeping the cost at zero.

There are tools like Later that would allow me to schedule Instagram posts weeks in advance. I’ll probably use something like that eventually.

But for now, I’m avoiding spending money until I see some proof of concept.

If the account starts growing, then I’ll consider upgrading the workflow.

The eBook Direction

At the same time, I’ve been brainstorming ideas for eBooks or digital PDFs.

I’ve got a whiteboard going with several possible topics.

A few ideas include:

• A reseller guide based on flipping experience
• A monetization strategy guide inspired by a documentary I watched
• A “zero to hero” style checklist guide

There’s also one topic related to a hobby of mine. Ironically, that’s the one I’m most excited about, even though I’m not sure if anyone would care about it.

But sometimes the thing you’re excited about is the best place to start.

Current Scoreboard

While I’m exploring these new ideas, the core engine is still eBay reselling.

That continues to generate the majority of the income for the Zero to Hero fund.

As of today:

The Growth Fund is sitting at about $6,000.

That money started at zero.

It came from selling things around the house, flipping items from Goodwill, and occasionally buying bulk lots off Facebook Marketplace.

On top of that, there are a few smaller income sources contributing.

The Google Device Usage Study generates about $30 per month, which comes in as a gift card that the household buys from me and converts into cash for the fund.

Branded surveys have produced around $50 so far.

I also signed up for one of those mobile gaming reward apps. Right now that’s only about $10 worth of earnings, and I’m careful not to waste time on it. I only do it while watching TV or winding down at night.

The Next Goal

Right now, the Growth Fund is gaining roughly $2,000 per month.

The next challenge is figuring out how to turn that into $3,000 per month.

At the same time, I’m actively researching trades and options strategies to see how we can take the $6,000 currently in the fund and grow it further.

So the focus right now looks like this:

• Continue eBay reselling as the primary engine
• Build the Instagram theme page toward 50k followers
• Launch the first eBook
• Continue stacking small income sources

It feels like the direction is starting to crystallize.

Now the next step is turning these ideas on the whiteboard into actual deadlines and milestones.

Because ideas are easy.

Execution is the real work.