If you love a good origin story, this one is for you. Find out how Troy went from his dot-com job to making vape tester/reviewer/content creator his full-time career. Watch the video for some ideas on how you can find work in the cannabis industry.
The Making of a Content Creator
To set the scene, Troy was working from home at his dot-com job, a 15-year career in SEO, marketing, and software development. During this time, he picked up on how he could use these skills to monetize his passion. The first passion he leaned into? Bowling balls. From there? Grills.
As an avid griller and fan of Weber Original Kettle Grills (if you know, you know), Troy wrote about the subject because he had a passion for it. It wasn’t long after Troy found success with affiliate links that Puff It Up introduced their affiliate program. And as a guy who had bought 3-4 vapes, it felt like something he could pour himself into. So he thought about it… for six months.
Once he secured the domain (not yet 420 Vapezone) and thought about how he could monetize his hobby, Troy immersed himself into the world of dry herb vaporizers. As he consumed content in this niche space, he noticed something. Many reviews were praising low quality devices. Why? Because the people reviewing them were being paid to do so.
This is when Troy figured out what the space was missing: someone who objectively reviewed these products. As someone who was an active consumer, and already knew which devices were really worth the spend (and worth monetizing), Troy worked to create an even playing field for vaporizers. Reviewing what he could with honest feedback, and offering enough recommendations to pay for his next vape purchase was the initial goal. And he did that!
But Troy wanted to do more than just write vape reviews. And he wanted to give his passion the time and commitment it deserved.
Big Changes
So Troy quit his cushiony WFH job to pursue work in the vape space. Without the fear of his job finding out about his cannabis consumption, and a general newfound freedom, Troy started creating content on YouTube to reach a wider audience. The now twice deleted channel, has proven to be tricky to grow with YouTube’s disdain for cannabis content but he continued building a community and what would become the 420 Vapezone brand on forums in the dry herb vape space.
Combine Troy’s vape savvy and the following he cultivated with the monetization opportunities that presented itself, and you’ll see how 420 Vapezone became his full-time career by 2017.
As a destination for those looking for educational content and reviews on dry herb vapes, 420 Vapezone grew into a community that lives beyond YouTube. With a thriving discord channel committed to providing a welcoming space for discourse on all things cannabis-vape related (and more) Troy has built something special.
In an industry that continues to change and grow, job opportunities can come and go quickly. So how can you get started with work in the cannabis industry? Our advice is simple: find what you are passionate about, do it for free, and opportunity will follow.
Join the Community
If you have any more questions, or you wish to get more engaged with others who vaporize their herbs, you are welcome to join the 420vapezone Discord. We have a friendly community of weed vape enthusiasts who enjoy vaping together and engage in discussions of all kinds. Cheers, and happy vaping!
For more content on dry herb vapes and vaping weed, check out Troy’s separate Twitch and YouTube channels for live discussions and vape sessions, and drop by the 420 VapeZone website for more cannabis vaporizer news and reviews.
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