10/09/2025
𝐈 𝐠𝐨𝐭 𝐩𝐚𝐢𝐝 €𝟏,𝟎𝟎𝟎 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐝𝐞𝐬𝐢𝐠𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐚 𝐝𝐢𝐠𝐢𝐭𝐚𝐥 𝐢𝐧𝐯𝐢𝐭𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐜𝐚𝐫𝐝! 🫢
⚠️ Long post ahead
This morning, someone reached out to me on TikTok asking if I could design a digital invitation card for a retirement party, with a budget of €1,000.
At first, I thought:
“No way, €1,000 for a simple digital card? You can make one on Canva in minutes!”
But because I like to stay 𝗼𝗽𝗲𝗻 𝘁𝗼 𝗼𝗽𝗽𝗼𝗿𝘁𝘂𝗻𝗶𝘁𝗶𝗲𝘀, I said yes and asked for details.
✅ He sent everything right away.
✅ The host name, date, time, and even approved a Pinterest sample I shared.
That’s when I thought:
“Hmm... €1,000 seems too much for a plain project like this with no automations involved.”
So, I decided to 𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗿𝗱𝗲𝗹𝗶𝘃𝗲𝗿 and offered to build him a funnel for free after completing the card, because that’s where the real value is!
He called me generous, said he would proceed, and claimed to send full upfront payment via PayPal.
But here’s where things went downhill...
❌ No payment notification from PayPal's email and app.
So he told me to check my spam folder (and if you use PayPal, you know real emails don’t go to spam).
Sure enough, there's an email and said my “payment was on hold” because I didn’t have a business account, and that I needed €500 from him to “upgrade” it.
🚩 𝗥𝗲𝗱 𝗳𝗹𝗮𝗴 𝗰𝗼𝗻𝗳𝗶𝗿𝗺𝗲𝗱!
I use a PayPal Business account, so this made no sense.
I asked for the transaction ID to report it to PayPal... and that’s when he disappeared.
💡 𝗠𝘆 𝗧𝗮𝗸𝗲𝗮𝘄𝗮𝘆𝘀
➡️ 𝗦𝘁𝗮𝘆 𝗼𝗽𝗲𝗻 𝘁𝗼 𝗼𝗽𝗽𝗼𝗿𝘁𝘂𝗻𝗶𝘁𝗶𝗲𝘀, 𝗯𝘂𝘁 𝘀𝘁𝗮𝘆 𝗱𝗶𝘀𝗰𝗲𝗿𝗻𝗶𝗻𝗴.
- Not every “dream client” is legit.
➡️ 𝗧𝗿𝘂𝘀𝘁 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗴𝘂𝘁.
- If something feels off, investigate before going all in.
➡️ 𝗣𝗿𝗼𝘁𝗲𝗰𝘁 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗯𝗼𝘂𝗻𝗱𝗮𝗿𝗶𝗲𝘀.
- Never pay to receive payment. Real platforms don’t work that way.
➡️ 𝗞𝗲𝗲𝗽 𝗺𝗼𝘃𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗳𝗼𝗿𝘄𝗮𝗿𝗱.
- Don’t let scams or setbacks stop you from doing what you love.
Even though I encountered this problem, I didn’t let it ruin my day.
I still showed up online, shared value, and continued doing outreach, because the right clients are out there, and they 𝗱𝗲𝘀𝗲𝗿𝘃𝗲 𝗺𝘆 𝗯𝗲𝘀𝘁 𝘄𝗼𝗿𝗸.
✨ So if you’ve been thinking about getting your funnel done, I still have a 𝗳𝗲𝘄 𝗱𝗶𝘀𝗰𝗼𝘂𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗱 𝘀𝗹𝗼𝘁𝘀 available for my Done-For-You 𝗙𝘂𝗻𝗻𝗲𝗹 𝗗𝗲𝘀𝗶𝗴𝗻 & 𝗕𝘂𝗶𝗹𝗱𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗦𝗲𝗿𝘃𝗶𝗰𝗲.
💌 𝗗𝗠 𝗺𝗲 if you’d like to finally have a 𝗳𝘂𝗻𝗻𝗲𝗹 that’s visually appealing, functional, and built to convert.
Scams and setbacks are just part of the journey, but 𝗵𝗼𝘄 𝘄𝗲 𝗿𝗲𝘀𝗽𝗼𝗻𝗱 is what matters most.
💭 Have you ever experienced something similar?
How did you handle it and what lesson did you take away from it?
Feel free to 𝘀𝗵𝗮𝗿𝗲 𝗶𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁𝘀, I'd like to hear it! 👇🏻