I Made Peace With My “Useless” Skills — Then They Made Me $300K

Let me tell you something that might make your MBA cry.

The skill that earned me my first $10K client?

I annotated a screenshot.

No, seriously. I circled a button, added a sticky note saying “this probably confuses 60% of users,” and sent it off.

The next week, the client wired me $1,200.

That was the moment I realized: everything I thought was “too random to matter” — the doodling, the obsessive voice-matching, the annoying habit of asking “stupid” questions — could be turned into cold, hard cash.

We’re living in a weird little pocket of history where quirky, oddly specific micro-skills are worth more than your average coding bootcamp. Welcome to the “useless but profitable” era.

Let’s talk about five of them.

1. Screenshot Annotation — Yes, Really

Here’s the truth: people are drowning in data. They don’t want more. They want someone to tell them where to look.

So if you’ve ever been the person in a meeting who zooms in on one tiny UI detail and says, “That’s the problem,” congratulations — you’re sitting on a six-figure skill.

How to make it work:

• Pick a niche: SaaS, finance, UX, whatever.
• Grab 3–5 public screenshots.
• Use a tool like Kami or Adobe Acrobat to annotate them.
• Add insights like, “This dropdown is a retention killer.”
• Pitch companies with a simple cold email:
  “Found 3 UX issues on your homepage. Want a full breakdown?”

Bonus move: record a Loom video walkthrough — you can double your rate instantly.

I’ve seen people charge $500/hour just to highlight stuff others ignore.

2. Ghostwriting for AI CEOs (a.k.a. Professional Mind Cloning)

Every AI founder wants to go viral on LinkedIn, but none of them have time (or charisma) to write.

You? You become their voice.

I’ve helped clients sound exactly like themselves — only smarter, funnier, and way more viral.

Here’s the system:

• Collect 10–15 pieces of their content (tweets, interviews, emails).
• Analyze tone, metaphors, sentence rhythms (ChatGPT helps here).
• Write like them, but better.

The weekly schedule:

• Monday: 3 spicy LinkedIn posts
• Wednesday: A newsletter with bolded screw-ups
• Friday: One tweet thread using the 7–1–7 formula
  (7 words – 1 emoji – 7 words)

Real money?

• $5K/month retainers
• $15K “emergency ghostwriting” packages (especially when their startup just closed a funding round)
• Equity deals (my favorite)

You’re not just a writer. You’re their clone. And in the AI gold rush, the one who controls the voice prints the money.

3. Getting Paid to Ask Dumb Questions

This one’s personal.

I used to think my curiosity was annoying — the kid who asked, “But why do we even need this button?”

Turns out, that’s a $15K/month skill.

In 2025, ignorance is leverage.

Startups are hiring “Deliberate Naives” to poke holes in pitch decks. Consultants are running “Stupid Question Sessions” to uncover blind spots.

How to monetize your inner five-year-old:

• Build a “question portfolio”:
  • “What happens if I click this 3 times?”
  • “Explain this to a 10-year-old.”
• Use Otter.ai to transcribe your sessions.
• Offer “Stupid Hour” consults via Calendly.

And remember: AI doesn’t ask dumb questions — it tries to be smart. That makes you the X-factor.

4. Digital Nostalgia Farming

Remember Geocities? MIDI autoplay? Dancing baby GIFs?

People miss them. Like, pay-you-$3K-to-bring-it-back miss them.

This one’s a love letter to the 90s internet — and a goldmine for designers, copywriters, and anyone with a flair for retro.

How to tap into it:

• Offer “Web 1.0” packages: basic HTML, blinking text, guestbooks
• Recreate first-ever websites for VCs (they love the humility play)
• Sell dial-up modem ASMR to stressed-out tech workers

Real upsells:

• $500 Floppy Disk Time Capsules
• $300/month Fax Newsletters (yep, those are back)

The weirder, the better. Ironically, the less functional it is, the more premium it feels.

5. The Human Furniture Business

Okay, this one sounds fake. But I swear it’s real.

In 2025, remote work created a weird problem: empty offices kill morale.

The solution?

Hire someone to… just be there.

A Seattle startup paid $18,000/month for a guy who showed up 3 days a week, smiled, nodded, and took notes.

He didn’t do much. But his presence kept the energy alive.

How to get paid to exist:

• Take a body language course ($15 on Udemy)
• Practice “neutral face with slight interest”
• Offer “Post-Meeting Whisper” packages: subtle vibes, soft suggestions

Even better: team up with WeWork and offer “Rent-a-Warm-Body” services.

In a world obsessed with AI, humans are a feature again. Go figure.

Final Thoughts: Master the Overlooked, Cash the Checks

Here’s the thing no one tells you:

Most people chase the obvious. The big, sexy, credential-heavy stuff.

But the gold is usually hiding in the margins.

Your “useless” skill — the one you never thought to charge for — might be the exact thing some overworked, VC-funded exec would gladly pay $10K for.

So, ask yourself:

• Do you overanalyze everything?
• Got a knack for weird internet nostalgia?
• Can you mimic someone’s tone like a parrot on Red Bull?

Lean into it. Because in this economy, weird wins.

Quick Recap: 5 “Useless” Skills That Print Money

• 🖊️ Annotation — Sell insights, not content
• 🧠 Ghostwriting — Clone voices for founders
• ❓ Question-Asking — Monetize curiosity
• 💾 Nostalgia Farming — Revive the retro
• 🪑 Presence — Get paid just to show up

Not bad for “soft” skills, huh?