So... I didn't realize my CICD pipeline was doing too much.

So... I didn't realize my CICD pipeline was doing too much.

So... I didn't realize my CI pipeline was doing too much.

For every Kubernetes project I've built, my deployment flow has looked something like this.

Code gets pushed to GitHub.

GitHub Actions builds a new Docker image, tags it with the commit SHA, and pushes it to Amazon ECR.

From there, the GitHub runner SSHs into my Kubernetes server, updates the image, runs Kustomize, and deploys the latest version.

It works.

I've built multiple projects this way.

But one thing always felt off...

My CI pipeline was responsible for both building and deploying the application.

Argo CD has been on my radar for a while. So when I finally got my hands dirty with it...

Instead of my GitHub runner reaching into the cluster to perform deployments, the cluster watches my Git repository and reconciles itself to the desired state.

The deployment doesn't happen to the cluster anymore.

The cluster pulls the changes itself.

It's one of those Kubernetes tools you don't fully appreciate until you start thinking about production-grade systems.

Every time I improve one part of my platform, I feel like my engineering skills improves too .

u/Defiant-Chard-2023 — 4 hours ago

Wow... I realized traffic wasn't my biggest problem.

When I started selling digital products, I thought my biggest challenge was getting more traffic.

More visitors.
More clicks.
More content.

But after my first few sales, I noticed something interesting.

Most of my revenue wasn't coming from my front-end product.

It was coming from the people who bought my upsell.

That completely changed how I think about selling digital products.

Instead of asking,

"How do I get more traffic?"

I started asking,

"How do I increase the value of every customer who already trusts me?"

Now every product I build starts with two questions:

👉 What's the easiest product someone can confidently buy today?

👉 What's the logical next offer that helps them solve the next problem?

That shift changed everything.

Traffic is still important.

But when every customer is worth more, you don't need nearly as many of them to grow.

I'm still learning every day, but one thing is becoming clear: getting your first customer is important. Building a business where every customer creates more value is even more important.

I'm still refining the process, but I documented the simple funnel and email sequence that's been working for me. If you're trying to get your first consistent digital product sales, send me a DM and I'll share it with you—no charge.

reddit.com
u/Defiant-Chard-2023 — 3 days ago

Wow... I realized traffic wasn't my biggest problem.

When I started selling digital products, I thought my biggest challenge was getting more traffic.

More visitors.
More clicks.
More content.

But after my first few sales, I noticed something interesting.

Most of my revenue wasn't coming from my front-end product.

It was coming from the people who bought my upsell.

That completely changed how I think about selling digital products.

Instead of asking,

"How do I get more traffic?"

I started asking,

"How do I increase the value of every customer who already trusts me?"

Now every product I build starts with two questions:

👉 What's the easiest product someone can confidently buy today?

👉 What's the logical next offer that helps them solve the next problem?

That shift changed everything.

Traffic is still important.

But when every customer is worth more, you don't need nearly as many of them to grow.

I'm still learning every day, but one thing is becoming clear: getting your first customer is important. Building a business where every customer creates more value is even more important.

I'm still refining the process, but I documented the simple funnel and email sequence that's been working for me. If you're trying to get your first consistent digital product sales, send me a DM and I'll share it with you—no charge.

reddit.com
u/Defiant-Chard-2023 — 3 days ago

Wow... I realized traffic wasn't my biggest problem.

When I started selling digital products, I thought my biggest challenge was getting more traffic.

More visitors.
More clicks.
More content.

But after my first few sales, I noticed something interesting.

Most of my revenue wasn't coming from my front-end product.

It was coming from the people who bought my upsell.

That completely changed how I think about selling digital products.

Instead of asking,

"How do I get more traffic?"

I started asking,

"How do I increase the value of every customer who already trusts me?"

Now every product I build starts with two questions:

👉 What's the easiest product someone can confidently buy today?

👉 What's the logical next offer that helps them solve the next problem?

That shift changed everything.

Traffic is still important.

But when every customer is worth more, you don't need nearly as many of them to grow.

I'm still learning every day, but one thing is becoming clear: getting your first customer is important. Building a business where every customer creates more value is even more important.

I'm still refining the process, but I documented the simple funnel and email sequence that's been working for me. If you're trying to get your first consistent digital product sales, send me a DM and I'll share it with you—no charge.

reddit.com
u/Defiant-Chard-2023 — 4 days ago
▲ 6 r/DigitalProductSellers+2 crossposts

Wow... I realized traffic wasn't my biggest problem.

When I started selling digital products, I thought my biggest challenge was getting more traffic.

More visitors.
More clicks.
More content.

But after my first few sales, I noticed something interesting.

Most of my revenue wasn't coming from my front-end product.

It was coming from the people who bought my upsell.

That completely changed how I think about selling digital products.

Instead of asking,

"How do I get more traffic?"

I started asking,

"How do I increase the value of every customer who already trusts me?"

Now every product I build starts with two questions:

👉 What's the easiest product someone can confidently buy today?

👉 What's the logical next offer that helps them solve the next problem?

That shift changed everything.

Traffic is still important.

But when every customer is worth more, you don't need nearly as many of them to grow.

I'm still learning every day, but one thing is becoming clear: getting your first customer is important. Building a business where every customer creates more value is even more important.

I'm still refining the process, but I documented the simple funnel and email sequence that's been working for me. If you're trying to get your first consistent digital product sales, send me a DM and I'll share it with you—no charge.

u/Defiant-Chard-2023 — 3 days ago

Wow... so PodDisruptionBudget (PDB) is exactly what I've been looking for.

Whenever I upgraded my Kubernetes cluster, my goal is to

Keep my application available.

My usual approach was to increase the replica count, wait for the new pods to become Ready, then carefully drain one node at a time while watching the deployment.

It worked...

But it also relied on me getting every step right.

After discovering PodDisruptionBudget (PDB).

Instead of relying solely on my upgrade process, I can now declare my availability requirement to Kubernetes itself.

Now Kubernetes knows that at least one pod must remain available during voluntary disruptions like node drains or cluster upgrades.

It's funny how some Kubernetes resources don't really make sense until you're building something people will actually use.

One thing I enjoy about building real client projects is that they constantly challenge the way I solve problems. There's always a better Kubernetes pattern waiting to be discovered.

u/Defiant-Chard-2023 — 5 days ago

Why Some Engineers Pass CKS but Still Struggle to Land Kubernetes Jobs

Passing the Certified Kubernetes Security Specialist (CKS) exam is a great achievement.

It proves you've invested time learning Kubernetes security and challenged yourself with one of the most practical certifications in the cloud-native ecosystem.

But here's something many candidates don't realize until after they pass.

The certificate alone doesn't get you hired.

Employers don't hire someone because they passed an exam.

They hire someone they believe can secure production Kubernetes clusters when the business depends on it.

That's an important difference.

The CKS certification can open the door, but your ability to demonstrate real-world skills is what convinces employers to invite you in.

In my opinion hiring managers are actually looking for?

1. Engineers Who Can Solve Real Problems

Interview questions rarely sound like exam questions.

Instead of asking you what an Admission Controller is, they'll ask how you would prevent untrusted container images from running in production.

Instead of asking about Network Policies, they'll want to know how you would isolate workloads after a security incident.

The engineers who stand out aren't the ones who memorized commands.

They're the ones who can explain why they're making each decision and confidently work through the problem.

That's why practicing real scenarios matters more than simply reading documentation.

2. They Want Engineers Who Can Stay Calm Under Pressure

Production incidents don't come with multiple-choice answers.

Neither do technical interviews.

You're expected to investigate, prioritize, and fix problems while communicating clearly.

The CKS exam rewards speed because real Kubernetes environments demand it.

The more realistic practice you get before the exam, the more confident you'll be when you're solving similar problems in an interview or on the job.

Confidence isn't something you read about.

It's something you build through repetition.

3. They Want Evidence That You Can Do the Job

A certification gets attention.

Practical ability earns trust.

When you can talk about securing an API server, implementing Pod Security Standards, configuring mTLS, or troubleshooting a broken cluster, you're demonstrating experience rather than simply listing technologies on a résumé.

Those conversations leave a lasting impression because they show employers how you think—not just what you've memorized.

Passing the exam is worth celebrating.

But don't stop there.

Use your preparation to become the engineer companies trust with production Kubernetes environments.

That's the difference between earning a certificate and building a career.

reddit.com
u/Defiant-Chard-2023 — 6 days ago
▲ 0 r/cissp

CKS Questions Can Take Up to 15 Minutes Per Question

One of the questions that looks like a 2-minute job during the exam is the Istio mTLS task.

Most people focus on writing the `PeerAuthentication` policy.

That isn't the difficult part.

The real challenge is understanding the sequence.

Before you enable `STRICT` mTLS, your workloads must already have the `istio-proxy` sidecar injected. That means:

Label the namespace for automatic sidecar injection.

Restart the workloads so new Pods are created with the sidecar.

Verify the sidecar is present.

Only then apply the `PeerAuthentication` policy in `STRICT` mode.

One exam tip that's easy to overlook...

During the CKS exam, you won't have access to an Istio blog with a ready-made `PeerAuthentication` example to copy. The Kubernetes documentation is available, but many product-specific examples are not.

That means you need to be comfortable writing manifests like this from memory.

The goal isn't to memorize every line.

It's to understand what each resource does, when to use it, and the order in which it should be applied.

Small details like these are often the difference between finishing a task in 5 minutes... or spending 15 trying to figure out why everything stopped communicating.

If your goal is to pass the CKS exam on the first attempt, practicing questions like these makes a huge difference.

I've put together a collection of realistic CKS practice scenarios designed to help you build confidence before exam day.

👉 [https://www.dripforgeai.com/CKS-offer\](https://www.dripforgeai.com/CKS-offer)

reddit.com
u/Defiant-Chard-2023 — 10 days ago

CKS Questions Can Take Up to 15 Minutes Per Question

One of the questions that looks like a 2-minute job during the exam is the Istio mTLS task.

Most people focus on writing the PeerAuthentication policy.

That isn't the difficult part.

The real challenge is understanding the sequence.

Before you enable STRICT mTLS, your workloads must already have the istio-proxy sidecar injected. That means:

Label the namespace for automatic sidecar injection.

Restart the workloads so new Pods are created with the sidecar.

Verify the sidecar is present.

Only then apply the PeerAuthentication policy in STRICT mode.

One exam tip that's easy to overlook...

During the CKS exam, you won't have access to an Istio blog with a ready-made PeerAuthentication example to copy. The Kubernetes documentation is available, but many product-specific examples are not.

That means you need to be comfortable writing manifests like this from memory.

The goal isn't to memorize every line.

It's to understand what each resource does, when to use it, and the order in which it should be applied.

Small details like these are often the difference between finishing a task in 5 minutes... or spending 15 trying to figure out why everything stopped communicating.

If your goal is to pass the CKS exam on the first attempt, practicing questions like these makes a huge difference.

I've put together a collection of realistic CKS practice scenarios designed to help you build confidence before exam day.

👉 https://www.dripforgeai.com/CKS-offer

reddit.com
u/Defiant-Chard-2023 — 11 days ago
▲ 1 r/k3s

CKS Questions Can Take Up to 15 Minutes Per Question

One of the questions that looks like a 2-minute job during the exam is the Istio mTLS task.

Most people focus on writing the PeerAuthentication policy.

That isn't the difficult part.

The real challenge is understanding the sequence.

Before you enable STRICT mTLS, your workloads must already have the istio-proxy sidecar injected. That means:

Label the namespace for automatic sidecar injection.

Restart the workloads so new Pods are created with the sidecar.

Verify the sidecar is present.

Only then apply the PeerAuthentication policy in STRICT mode.

One exam tip that's easy to overlook...

During the CKS exam, you won't have access to an Istio blog with a ready-made PeerAuthentication example to copy. The Kubernetes documentation is available, but many product-specific examples are not.

That means you need to be comfortable writing manifests like this from memory.

The goal isn't to memorize every line.

It's to understand what each resource does, when to use it, and the order in which it should be applied.

Small details like these are often the difference between finishing a task in 5 minutes... or spending 15 trying to figure out why everything stopped communicating.

If your goal is to pass the CKS exam on the first attempt, practicing questions like these makes a huge difference.

I've put together a collection of realistic CKS practice scenarios designed to help you build confidence before exam day.

👉 https://www.dripforgeai.com/CKS-offer

reddit.com
u/Defiant-Chard-2023 — 11 days ago

Where to get traffic for your digital product?

I am not a digital product guru, but I have done something that worked for me, so I know a thing or two that I can share with my younger self, or someone trying to make their first sale with a digital product.

Coming up with the idea is already difficult enough.

Then when you finally get past that phase, the next challenge is your first sale. 😂

And that is the hard part because it goes hand in hand with the traffic problem.

So yeah man...

How did you solve it?

I will try not to sound like a guru or an AI-generated post.

This is from hard-core experience.

I didn't buy any course.

Nobody taught me the way.

I did not have a mentor.

I was just a guy who lost his job, and my wife and kids still had to eat.

So I needed to sell.

Now when it came to selling, I was looking at all these templates, PDFs, Notion products, and ebooks people were claiming success with.

Whether it was true or not, I did not know.

But I knew one thing for sure.

I wouldn't buy a PDF for even $5.

And with AI, it got even worse.

So I spent months trying to figure out something I could sell.

I would have taken anything at that point.

But I also knew that "anything" doesn't sell.

And again, I am not a celebrity.

I don't have a huge fan base.

So in my case, I realized that I had been struggling to pass an exam.

At the same time, I could see many people in Reddit communities struggling to pass the exact same exam.

That was my lightbulb moment.

These are the people I can help.

So step one in solving the traffic problem was finding communities.

For me, that was Reddit, LinkedIn, and Twitter.

That is where I found success.

Not so much Meta hype.

I still haven't figured that one out.

Hopefully someday I will.

Now, once I found my market, everything became clearer.

The challenge was something I personally had.

I solved it.

Then I was able to sell that solution to people who wanted the same outcome.

So not just theory.

I had the scars to show for it.

If you need an idea for a digital product that can sell fast, don't waste your time chasing "trending products."

Instead, ask yourself:

What challenge have I solved that other people are still struggling with?

Then go to the places where those people gather.

Simple.

It does not need to be perfect.

And when you finally build it, it doesn't matter if it's a PDF, a Notion template, a Google Doc, or something else.

I started mine with a Google Drive file.

People were not paying for the file.

They were paying for the experience behind it.

The mistakes.

The lessons.

The shortcut.

Now I had my product.

The next challenge was the delivery mechanism.

I looked at all the existing platforms for selling digital products.

Most of them required me to build the product somewhere, host the landing page somewhere else, set up email automation somewhere else, and pay for all of it.

Every solution seemed to come with another monthly bill.

And remember...

At this point I wasn't even sure my idea was valid.

I needed to sell first, not keep spending money.

Luckily, I come from a software background.

So I built my own system.

A landing page for the product.

Payments directly into my Stripe account.

Email automation.

Nothing fancy.

Just what I needed.

Because again, I didn't want to pay percentages on every sale or juggle three different platforms just to get started.

Some solutions combine everything together, but for me they either felt overpriced or unnecessarily complicated.

Then came the final phase of solving the traffic problem.

The hyenas.

The people waiting in the wild to eat the meal you killed.

The moment you start posting in communities and trying to build organic reach, you will discover them.

Some people will support you.

Some people will attack you.

Some people will criticize you for trying to sell.

Some people will criticize you for even trying.

You know what I do?

I block them.

My father used to say:

"If you like me, I like you.

If you don't like me, I don't like you."

Simple.

If you are scared to put your product out there because somebody might say something negative, you will never achieve what you want.

And more importantly, you will never help the people you are capable of helping.

So be tough.

Be ready for the hyenas.

Now, I won't let all this value go by without also promoting my own solution.

If you need a simple system that can help you sell your first digital product the same way I did, look no further. https://www.dripforgeai.com/Digital-Product-Sale-Offer-DripforgeAI

Comment "dripforgeai".

The first 10 people will get access to my materials and access to my software free for 90 days.

I will personally help you get started.

Be wise.

And if you have something valuable to add, drop it in the comments.

If I pissed you off, block me so you don't have to see my posts. else, I will deal with you!

Problem solved. 😅

reddit.com
u/Defiant-Chard-2023 — 17 days ago

Where to get traffic for your digital product?

I am not a digital product guru, but I have done something that worked for me, so I know a thing or two that I can share with my younger self, or someone trying to make their first sale with a digital product.

Coming up with the idea is already difficult enough.

Then when you finally get past that phase, the next challenge is your first sale. 😂

And that is the hard part because it goes hand in hand with the traffic problem.

So yeah man...

How did you solve it?

I will try not to sound like a guru or an AI-generated post.

This is from hard-core experience.

I didn't buy any course.

Nobody taught me the way.

I did not have a mentor.

I was just a guy who lost his job, and my wife and kids still had to eat.

So I needed to sell.

Now when it came to selling, I was looking at all these templates, PDFs, Notion products, and ebooks people were claiming success with.

Whether it was true or not, I did not know.

But I knew one thing for sure.

I wouldn't buy a PDF for even $5.

And with AI, it got even worse.

So I spent months trying to figure out something I could sell.

I would have taken anything at that point.

But I also knew that "anything" doesn't sell.

And again, I am not a celebrity.

I don't have a huge fan base.

So in my case, I realized that I had been struggling to pass an exam.

At the same time, I could see many people in Reddit communities struggling to pass the exact same exam.

That was my lightbulb moment.

These are the people I can help.

So step one in solving the traffic problem was finding communities.

For me, that was Reddit, LinkedIn, and Twitter.

That is where I found success.

Not so much Meta hype.

I still haven't figured that one out.

Hopefully someday I will.

Now, once I found my market, everything became clearer.

The challenge was something I personally had.

I solved it.

Then I was able to sell that solution to people who wanted the same outcome.

So not just theory.

I had the scars to show for it.

If you need an idea for a digital product that can sell fast, don't waste your time chasing "trending products."

Instead, ask yourself:

What challenge have I solved that other people are still struggling with?

Then go to the places where those people gather.

Simple.

It does not need to be perfect.

And when you finally build it, it doesn't matter if it's a PDF, a Notion template, a Google Doc, or something else.

I started mine with a Google Drive file.

People were not paying for the file.

They were paying for the experience behind it.

The mistakes.

The lessons.

The shortcut.

Now I had my product.

The next challenge was the delivery mechanism.

I looked at all the existing platforms for selling digital products.

Most of them required me to build the product somewhere, host the landing page somewhere else, set up email automation somewhere else, and pay for all of it.

Every solution seemed to come with another monthly bill.

And remember...

At this point I wasn't even sure my idea was valid.

I needed to sell first, not keep spending money.

Luckily, I come from a software background.

So I built my own system.

A landing page for the product.

Payments directly into my Stripe account.

Email automation.

Nothing fancy.

Just what I needed.

Because again, I didn't want to pay percentages on every sale or juggle three different platforms just to get started.

Some solutions combine everything together, but for me they either felt overpriced or unnecessarily complicated.

Then came the final phase of solving the traffic problem.

The hyenas.

The people waiting in the wild to eat the meal you killed.

The moment you start posting in communities and trying to build organic reach, you will discover them.

Some people will support you.

Some people will attack you.

Some people will criticize you for trying to sell.

Some people will criticize you for even trying.

You know what I do?

I block them.

My father used to say:

"If you like me, I like you.

If you don't like me, I don't like you."

Simple.

If you are scared to put your product out there because somebody might say something negative, you will never achieve what you want.

And more importantly, you will never help the people you are capable of helping.

So be tough.

Be ready for the hyenas.

Now, I won't let all this value go by without also promoting my own solution.

If you need a simple system that can help you sell your first digital product the same way I did, look no further. https://www.dripforgeai.com/Digital-Product-Sale-Offer-DripforgeAI

Comment "dripforgeai".

The first 10 people will get access to my materials and access to my software free for 90 days.

I will personally help you get started.

Be wise.

And if you have something valuable to add, drop it in the comments.

If I pissed you off, block me so you don't have to see my posts. else, I will deal with you!

Problem solved. 😅

reddit.com
u/Defiant-Chard-2023 — 17 days ago

Where to get traffic for your digital product?

I am not a digital product guru, but I have done something that worked for me, so I know a thing or two that I can share with my younger self, or someone trying to make their first sale with a digital product.

Coming up with the idea is already difficult enough.

Then when you finally get past that phase, the next challenge is your first sale. 😂

And that is the hard part because it goes hand in hand with the traffic problem.

So yeah man...

How did you solve it?

I will try not to sound like a guru or an AI-generated post.

This is from hard-core experience.

I didn't buy any course.

Nobody taught me the way.

I did not have a mentor.

I was just a guy who lost his job, and my wife and kids still had to eat.

So I needed to sell.

Now when it came to selling, I was looking at all these templates, PDFs, Notion products, and ebooks people were claiming success with.

Whether it was true or not, I did not know.

But I knew one thing for sure.

I wouldn't buy a PDF for even $5.

And with AI, it got even worse.

So I spent months trying to figure out something I could sell.

I would have taken anything at that point.

But I also knew that "anything" doesn't sell.

And again, I am not a celebrity.

I don't have a huge fan base.

So in my case, I realized that I had been struggling to pass an exam.

At the same time, I could see many people in Reddit communities struggling to pass the exact same exam.

That was my lightbulb moment.

These are the people I can help.

So step one in solving the traffic problem was finding communities.

For me, that was Reddit, LinkedIn, and Twitter.

That is where I found success.

Not so much Meta hype.

I still haven't figured that one out.

Hopefully someday I will.

Now, once I found my market, everything became clearer.

The challenge was something I personally had.

I solved it.

Then I was able to sell that solution to people who wanted the same outcome.

So not just theory.

I had the scars to show for it.

If you need an idea for a digital product that can sell fast, don't waste your time chasing "trending products."

Instead, ask yourself:

What challenge have I solved that other people are still struggling with?

Then go to the places where those people gather.

Simple.

It does not need to be perfect.

And when you finally build it, it doesn't matter if it's a PDF, a Notion template, a Google Doc, or something else.

I started mine with a Google Drive file.

People were not paying for the file.

They were paying for the experience behind it.

The mistakes.

The lessons.

The shortcut.

Now I had my product.

The next challenge was the delivery mechanism.

I looked at all the existing platforms for selling digital products.

Most of them required me to build the product somewhere, host the landing page somewhere else, set up email automation somewhere else, and pay for all of it.

Every solution seemed to come with another monthly bill.

And remember...

At this point I wasn't even sure my idea was valid.

I needed to sell first, not keep spending money.

Luckily, I come from a software background.

So I built my own system.

A landing page for the product.

Payments directly into my Stripe account.

Email automation.

Nothing fancy.

Just what I needed.

Because again, I didn't want to pay percentages on every sale or juggle three different platforms just to get started.

Some solutions combine everything together, but for me they either felt overpriced or unnecessarily complicated.

Then came the final phase of solving the traffic problem.

The hyenas.

The people waiting in the wild to eat the meal you killed.

The moment you start posting in communities and trying to build organic reach, you will discover them.

Some people will support you.

Some people will attack you.

Some people will criticize you for trying to sell.

Some people will criticize you for even trying.

You know what I do?

I block them.

My father used to say:

"If you like me, I like you.

If you don't like me, I don't like you."

Simple.

If you are scared to put your product out there because somebody might say something negative, you will never achieve what you want.

And more importantly, you will never help the people you are capable of helping.

So be tough.

Be ready for the hyenas.

Now, I won't let all this value go by without also promoting my own solution.

If you need a simple system that can help you sell your first digital product the same way I did, look no further. https://www.dripforgeai.com/Digital-Product-Sale-Offer-DripforgeAI

Comment "dripforgeai".

The first 10 people will get access to my materials and access to my software free for 90 days.

I will personally help you get started.

Be wise.

And if you have something valuable to add, drop it in the comments.

If I pissed you off, block me so you don't have to see my posts. else, I will deal with you!

Problem solved. 😅

reddit.com
u/Defiant-Chard-2023 — 17 days ago

Where to get traffic for your digital product?

I am not a digital product guru, but I have done something that worked for me, so I know a thing or two that I can share with my younger self, or someone trying to make their first sale with a digital product.

Coming up with the idea is already difficult enough.

Then when you finally get past that phase, the next challenge is your first sale. 😂

And that is the hard part because it goes hand in hand with the traffic problem.

So yeah man...

How did you solve it?

I will try not to sound like a guru or an AI-generated post.

This is from hard-core experience.

I didn't buy any course.

Nobody taught me the way.

I did not have a mentor.

I was just a guy who lost his job, and my wife and kids still had to eat.

So I needed to sell.

Now when it came to selling, I was looking at all these templates, PDFs, Notion products, and ebooks people were claiming success with.

Whether it was true or not, I did not know.

But I knew one thing for sure.

I wouldn't buy a PDF for even $5.

And with AI, it got even worse.

So I spent months trying to figure out something I could sell.

I would have taken anything at that point.

But I also knew that "anything" doesn't sell.

And again, I am not a celebrity.

I don't have a huge fan base.

So in my case, I realized that I had been struggling to pass an exam.

At the same time, I could see many people in Reddit communities struggling to pass the exact same exam.

That was my lightbulb moment.

These are the people I can help.

So step one in solving the traffic problem was finding communities.

For me, that was Reddit, LinkedIn, and Twitter.

That is where I found success.

Not so much Meta hype.

I still haven't figured that one out.

Hopefully someday I will.

Now, once I found my market, everything became clearer.

The challenge was something I personally had.

I solved it.

Then I was able to sell that solution to people who wanted the same outcome.

So not just theory.

I had the scars to show for it.

If you need an idea for a digital product that can sell fast, don't waste your time chasing "trending products."

Instead, ask yourself:

What challenge have I solved that other people are still struggling with?

Then go to the places where those people gather.

Simple.

It does not need to be perfect.

And when you finally build it, it doesn't matter if it's a PDF, a Notion template, a Google Doc, or something else.

I started mine with a Google Drive file.

People were not paying for the file.

They were paying for the experience behind it.

The mistakes.

The lessons.

The shortcut.

Now I had my product.

The next challenge was the delivery mechanism.

I looked at all the existing platforms for selling digital products.

Most of them required me to build the product somewhere, host the landing page somewhere else, set up email automation somewhere else, and pay for all of it.

Every solution seemed to come with another monthly bill.

And remember...

At this point I wasn't even sure my idea was valid.

I needed to sell first, not keep spending money.

Luckily, I come from a software background.

So I built my own system.

A landing page for the product.

Payments directly into my Stripe account.

Email automation.

Nothing fancy.

Just what I needed.

Because again, I didn't want to pay percentages on every sale or juggle three different platforms just to get started.

Some solutions combine everything together, but for me they either felt overpriced or unnecessarily complicated.

Then came the final phase of solving the traffic problem.

The hyenas.

The people waiting in the wild to eat the meal you killed.

The moment you start posting in communities and trying to build organic reach, you will discover them.

Some people will support you.

Some people will attack you.

Some people will criticize you for trying to sell.

Some people will criticize you for even trying.

You know what I do?

I block them.

My father used to say:

"If you like me, I like you.

If you don't like me, I don't like you."

Simple.

If you are scared to put your product out there because somebody might say something negative, you will never achieve what you want.

And more importantly, you will never help the people you are capable of helping.

So be tough.

Be ready for the hyenas.

Now, I won't let all this value go by without also promoting my own solution.

If you need a simple system that can help you sell your first digital product the same way I did, look no further. https://www.dripforgeai.com/Digital-Product-Sale-Offer-DripforgeAI

Comment "dripforgeai".

The first 10 people will get access to my materials and access to my software free for 90 days.

I will personally help you get started.

Be wise.

And if you have something valuable to add, drop it in the comments.

If I pissed you off, block me so you don't have to see my posts. else, I will deal with you!

Problem solved. 😅

reddit.com
u/Defiant-Chard-2023 — 17 days ago

Where to get traffic for your digital product?

I am not a digital product guru, but I have done something that worked for me, so I know a thing or two that I can share with my younger self, or someone trying to make their first sale with a digital product.

Coming up with the idea is already difficult enough.

Then when you finally get past that phase, the next challenge is your first sale. 😂

And that is the hard part because it goes hand in hand with the traffic problem.

So yeah man...

How did you solve it?

I will try not to sound like a guru or an AI-generated post.

This is from hard-core experience.

I didn't buy any course.

Nobody taught me the way.

I did not have a mentor.

I was just a guy who lost his job, and my wife and kids still had to eat.

So I needed to sell.

Now when it came to selling, I was looking at all these templates, PDFs, Notion products, and ebooks people were claiming success with.

Whether it was true or not, I did not know.

But I knew one thing for sure.

I wouldn't buy a PDF for even $5.

And with AI, it got even worse.

So I spent months trying to figure out something I could sell.

I would have taken anything at that point.

But I also knew that "anything" doesn't sell.

And again, I am not a celebrity.

I don't have a huge fan base.

So in my case, I realized that I had been struggling to pass an exam.

At the same time, I could see many people in Reddit communities struggling to pass the exact same exam.

That was my lightbulb moment.

These are the people I can help.

So step one in solving the traffic problem was finding communities.

For me, that was Reddit, LinkedIn, and Twitter.

That is where I found success.

Not so much Meta hype.

I still haven't figured that one out.

Hopefully someday I will.

Now, once I found my market, everything became clearer.

The challenge was something I personally had.

I solved it.

Then I was able to sell that solution to people who wanted the same outcome.

So not just theory.

I had the scars to show for it.

If you need an idea for a digital product that can sell fast, don't waste your time chasing "trending products."

Instead, ask yourself:

What challenge have I solved that other people are still struggling with?

Then go to the places where those people gather.

Simple.

It does not need to be perfect.

And when you finally build it, it doesn't matter if it's a PDF, a Notion template, a Google Doc, or something else.

I started mine with a Google Drive file.

People were not paying for the file.

They were paying for the experience behind it.

The mistakes.

The lessons.

The shortcut.

Now I had my product.

The next challenge was the delivery mechanism.

I looked at all the existing platforms for selling digital products.

Most of them required me to build the product somewhere, host the landing page somewhere else, set up email automation somewhere else, and pay for all of it.

Every solution seemed to come with another monthly bill.

And remember...

At this point I wasn't even sure my idea was valid.

I needed to sell first, not keep spending money.

Luckily, I come from a software background.

So I built my own system.

A landing page for the product.

Payments directly into my Stripe account.

Email automation.

Nothing fancy.

Just what I needed.

Because again, I didn't want to pay percentages on every sale or juggle three different platforms just to get started.

Some solutions combine everything together, but for me they either felt overpriced or unnecessarily complicated.

Then came the final phase of solving the traffic problem.

The hyenas.

The people waiting in the wild to eat the meal you killed.

The moment you start posting in communities and trying to build organic reach, you will discover them.

Some people will support you.

Some people will attack you.

Some people will criticize you for trying to sell.

Some people will criticize you for even trying.

You know what I do?

I block them.

My father used to say:

"If you like me, I like you.

If you don't like me, I don't like you."

Simple.

If you are scared to put your product out there because somebody might say something negative, you will never achieve what you want.

And more importantly, you will never help the people you are capable of helping.

So be tough.

Be ready for the hyenas.

Now, I won't let all this value go by without also promoting my own solution.

If you need a simple system that can help you sell your first digital product the same way I did, look no further. https://www.dripforgeai.com/Digital-Product-Sale-Offer-DripforgeAI

Comment "dripforgeai".

The first 10 people will get access to my materials and access to my software free for 90 days.

I will personally help you get started.

Be wise.

And if you have something valuable to add, drop it in the comments.

If I pissed you off, block me so you don't have to see my posts. else, I will deal with you!

Problem solved. 😅

reddit.com
u/Defiant-Chard-2023 — 17 days ago

Where to get traffic for your digital product?

I am not a digital product guru, but I have done something that worked for me, so I know a thing or two that I can share with my younger self, or someone trying to make their first sale with a digital product.

Coming up with the idea is already difficult enough.

Then when you finally get past that phase, the next challenge is your first sale. 😂

And that is the hard part because it goes hand in hand with the traffic problem.

So yeah man...

How did you solve it?

I will try not to sound like a guru or an AI-generated post.

This is from hard-core experience.

I didn't buy any course.

Nobody taught me the way.

I did not have a mentor.

I was just a guy who lost his job, and my wife and kids still had to eat.

So I needed to sell.

Now when it came to selling, I was looking at all these templates, PDFs, Notion products, and ebooks people were claiming success with.

Whether it was true or not, I did not know.

But I knew one thing for sure.

I wouldn't buy a PDF for even $5.

And with AI, it got even worse.

So I spent months trying to figure out something I could sell.

I would have taken anything at that point.

But I also knew that "anything" doesn't sell.

And again, I am not a celebrity.

I don't have a huge fan base.

So in my case, I realized that I had been struggling to pass an exam.

At the same time, I could see many people in Reddit communities struggling to pass the exact same exam.

That was my lightbulb moment.

These are the people I can help.

So step one in solving the traffic problem was finding communities.

For me, that was Reddit, LinkedIn, and Twitter.

That is where I found success.

Not so much Meta hype.

I still haven't figured that one out.

Hopefully someday I will.

Now, once I found my market, everything became clearer.

The challenge was something I personally had.

I solved it.

Then I was able to sell that solution to people who wanted the same outcome.

So not just theory.

I had the scars to show for it.

If you need an idea for a digital product that can sell fast, don't waste your time chasing "trending products."

Instead, ask yourself:

What challenge have I solved that other people are still struggling with?

Then go to the places where those people gather.

Simple.

It does not need to be perfect.

And when you finally build it, it doesn't matter if it's a PDF, a Notion template, a Google Doc, or something else.

I started mine with a Google Drive file.

People were not paying for the file.

They were paying for the experience behind it.

The mistakes.

The lessons.

The shortcut.

Now I had my product.

The next challenge was the delivery mechanism.

I looked at all the existing platforms for selling digital products.

Most of them required me to build the product somewhere, host the landing page somewhere else, set up email automation somewhere else, and pay for all of it.

Every solution seemed to come with another monthly bill.

And remember...

At this point I wasn't even sure my idea was valid.

I needed to sell first, not keep spending money.

Luckily, I come from a software background.

So I built my own system.

A landing page for the product.

Payments directly into my Stripe account.

Email automation.

Nothing fancy.

Just what I needed.

Because again, I didn't want to pay percentages on every sale or juggle three different platforms just to get started.

Some solutions combine everything together, but for me they either felt overpriced or unnecessarily complicated.

Then came the final phase of solving the traffic problem.

The hyenas.

The people waiting in the wild to eat the meal you killed.

The moment you start posting in communities and trying to build organic reach, you will discover them.

Some people will support you.

Some people will attack you.

Some people will criticize you for trying to sell.

Some people will criticize you for even trying.

You know what I do?

I block them.

My father used to say:

"If you like me, I like you.

If you don't like me, I don't like you."

Simple.

If you are scared to put your product out there because somebody might say something negative, you will never achieve what you want.

And more importantly, you will never help the people you are capable of helping.

So be tough.

Be ready for the hyenas.

Now, I won't let all this value go by without also promoting my own solution.

If you need a simple system that can help you sell your first digital product the same way I did, look no further. https://www.dripforgeai.com/Digital-Product-Sale-Offer-DripforgeAI

Comment "dripforgeai".

The first 10 people will get access to my materials and access to my software free for 90 days.

I will personally help you get started.

Be wise.

And if you have something valuable to add, drop it in the comments.

If I pissed you off, block me so you don't have to see my posts. else, I will deal with you!

Problem solved. 😅

reddit.com
u/Defiant-Chard-2023 — 17 days ago

Where to get traffic for your digital product?

I am not a digital product guru, but I have done something that worked for me, so I know a thing or two that I can share with my younger self, or someone trying to make their first sale with a digital product.

Coming up with the idea is already difficult enough.

Then when you finally get past that phase, the next challenge is your first sale. 😂

And that is the hard part because it goes hand in hand with the traffic problem.

So yeah man...

How did you solve it?

I will try not to sound like a guru or an AI-generated post.

This is from hard-core experience.

I didn't buy any course.

Nobody taught me the way.

I did not have a mentor.

I was just a guy who lost his job, and my wife and kids still had to eat.

So I needed to sell.

Now when it came to selling, I was looking at all these templates, PDFs, Notion products, and ebooks people were claiming success with.

Whether it was true or not, I did not know.

But I knew one thing for sure.

I wouldn't buy a PDF for even $5.

And with AI, it got even worse.

So I spent months trying to figure out something I could sell.

I would have taken anything at that point.

But I also knew that "anything" doesn't sell.

And again, I am not a celebrity.

I don't have a huge fan base.

So in my case, I realized that I had been struggling to pass an exam.

At the same time, I could see many people in Reddit communities struggling to pass the exact same exam.

That was my lightbulb moment.

These are the people I can help.

So step one in solving the traffic problem was finding communities.

For me, that was Reddit, LinkedIn, and Twitter.

That is where I found success.

Not so much Meta hype.

I still haven't figured that one out.

Hopefully someday I will.

Now, once I found my market, everything became clearer.

The challenge was something I personally had.

I solved it.

Then I was able to sell that solution to people who wanted the same outcome.

So not just theory.

I had the scars to show for it.

If you need an idea for a digital product that can sell fast, don't waste your time chasing "trending products."

Instead, ask yourself:

What challenge have I solved that other people are still struggling with?

Then go to the places where those people gather.

Simple.

It does not need to be perfect.

And when you finally build it, it doesn't matter if it's a PDF, a Notion template, a Google Doc, or something else.

I started mine with a Google Drive file.

People were not paying for the file.

They were paying for the experience behind it.

The mistakes.

The lessons.

The shortcut.

Now I had my product.

The next challenge was the delivery mechanism.

I looked at all the existing platforms for selling digital products.

Most of them required me to build the product somewhere, host the landing page somewhere else, set up email automation somewhere else, and pay for all of it.

Every solution seemed to come with another monthly bill.

And remember...

At this point I wasn't even sure my idea was valid.

I needed to sell first, not keep spending money.

Luckily, I come from a software background.

So I built my own system.

A landing page for the product.

Payments directly into my Stripe account.

Email automation.

Nothing fancy.

Just what I needed.

Because again, I didn't want to pay percentages on every sale or juggle three different platforms just to get started.

Some solutions combine everything together, but for me they either felt overpriced or unnecessarily complicated.

Then came the final phase of solving the traffic problem.

The hyenas.

The people waiting in the wild to eat the meal you killed.

The moment you start posting in communities and trying to build organic reach, you will discover them.

Some people will support you.

Some people will attack you.

Some people will criticize you for trying to sell.

Some people will criticize you for even trying.

You know what I do?

I block them.

My father used to say:

"If you like me, I like you.

If you don't like me, I don't like you."

Simple.

If you are scared to put your product out there because somebody might say something negative, you will never achieve what you want.

And more importantly, you will never help the people you are capable of helping.

So be tough.

Be ready for the hyenas.

Now, I won't let all this value go by without also promoting my own solution.

If you need a simple system that can help you sell your first digital product the same way I did, look no further.

Comment "dripforgeai".

The first 10 people will get access to my materials and access to my software free for 90 days.

I will personally help you get started.

Be wise.

And if you have something valuable to add, drop it in the comments.

If I pissed you off, block me so you don't have to see my posts. else, I will deal with you!

Problem solved. 😅

reddit.com
u/Defiant-Chard-2023 — 17 days ago

Where to get traffic for your digital product?

I am not a digital product guru, but I have done something that worked for me, so I know a thing or two that I can share with my younger self, or someone trying to make their first sale with a digital product.

Coming up with the idea is already difficult enough.

Then when you finally get past that phase, the next challenge is your first sale. 😂

And that is the hard part because it goes hand in hand with the traffic problem.

So yeah man...

How did you solve it?

I will try not to sound like a guru or an AI-generated post.

This is from hard-core experience.

I didn't buy any course.

Nobody taught me the way.

I did not have a mentor.

I was just a guy who lost his job, and my wife and kids still had to eat.

So I needed to sell.

Now when it came to selling, I was looking at all these templates, PDFs, Notion products, and ebooks people were claiming success with.

Whether it was true or not, I did not know.

But I knew one thing for sure.

I wouldn't buy a PDF for even $5.

And with AI, it got even worse.

So I spent months trying to figure out something I could sell.

I would have taken anything at that point.

But I also knew that "anything" doesn't sell.

And again, I am not a celebrity.

I don't have a huge fan base.

So in my case, I realized that I had been struggling to pass an exam.

At the same time, I could see many people in Reddit communities struggling to pass the exact same exam.

That was my lightbulb moment.

These are the people I can help.

So step one in solving the traffic problem was finding communities.

For me, that was Reddit, LinkedIn, and Twitter.

That is where I found success.

Not so much Meta hype.

I still haven't figured that one out.

Hopefully someday I will.

Now, once I found my market, everything became clearer.

The challenge was something I personally had.

I solved it.

Then I was able to sell that solution to people who wanted the same outcome.

So not just theory.

I had the scars to show for it.

If you need an idea for a digital product that can sell fast, don't waste your time chasing "trending products."

Instead, ask yourself:

What challenge have I solved that other people are still struggling with?

Then go to the places where those people gather.

Simple.

It does not need to be perfect.

And when you finally build it, it doesn't matter if it's a PDF, a Notion template, a Google Doc, or something else.

I started mine with a Google Drive file.

People were not paying for the file.

They were paying for the experience behind it.

The mistakes.

The lessons.

The shortcut.

Now I had my product.

The next challenge was the delivery mechanism.

I looked at all the existing platforms for selling digital products.

Most of them required me to build the product somewhere, host the landing page somewhere else, set up email automation somewhere else, and pay for all of it.

Every solution seemed to come with another monthly bill.

And remember...

At this point I wasn't even sure my idea was valid.

I needed to sell first, not keep spending money.

Luckily, I come from a software background.

So I built my own system.

A landing page for the product.

Payments directly into my Stripe account.

Email automation.

Nothing fancy.

Just what I needed.

Because again, I didn't want to pay percentages on every sale or juggle three different platforms just to get started.

Some solutions combine everything together, but for me they either felt overpriced or unnecessarily complicated.

Then came the final phase of solving the traffic problem.

The hyenas.

The people waiting in the wild to eat the meal you killed.

The moment you start posting in communities and trying to build organic reach, you will discover them.

Some people will support you.

Some people will attack you.

Some people will criticize you for trying to sell.

Some people will criticize you for even trying.

You know what I do?

I block them.

My father used to say:

"If you like me, I like you.

If you don't like me, I don't like you."

Simple.

If you are scared to put your product out there because somebody might say something negative, you will never achieve what you want.

And more importantly, you will never help the people you are capable of helping.

So be tough.

Be ready for the hyenas.

Now, I won't let all this value go by without also promoting my own solution.

If you need a simple system that can help you sell your first digital product the same way I did, look no further.

Comment "dripforgeai".

The first 10 people will get access to my materials and access to my software free for 90 days.

I will personally help you get started.

Be wise.

And if you have something valuable to add, drop it in the comments.

If I pissed you off, block me so you don't have to see my posts. else, I will deal with you!

Problem solved. 😅

reddit.com
u/Defiant-Chard-2023 — 17 days ago

What to do if you want to solidify your Kubernetes career?

What should you do if you want to solidify your Kubernetes career?

I know some of you are frustrated.

You passed a Kubernetes certification months ago.

Your friend passed one too.

Yet neither of you have landed the role you wanted.

And now you're wondering:

"Was it even worth getting certified?"

My answer is yes.

Getting certified won't magically get you hired.

But it absolutely improves your chances of getting interviews, standing out from other candidates, and negotiating better salary offers.

What I recommend is this:

CKAD ➜ CKA ➜ CKS

Not because you need to become a KubeAstronaut.

But because each certification builds on the previous one.

CKAD teaches you how applications run on Kubernetes.

CKA teaches you how Kubernetes works under the hood.

CKS teaches you how to secure everything you've learned.

Don't stop there because nothing can beat getting your hands dirty.

The certification gets attention.

The projects, hands-on experience, and consistency get the job.

Keep going.

You're probably closer than you think.

I am no guru, but I have been where you are before.

If you ever need help to pass your ckad exams - I have exam-like for you HERE

reddit.com
u/Defiant-Chard-2023 — 21 days ago

What to do if you want to solidify your Kubernetes career?

What should you do if you want to solidify your Kubernetes career?

I know some of you are frustrated.

You passed a Kubernetes certification months ago.

Your friend passed one too.

Yet neither of you have landed the role you wanted.

And now you're wondering:

"Was it even worth getting certified?"

My answer is yes.

Getting certified won't magically get you hired.

But it absolutely improves your chances of getting interviews, standing out from other candidates, and negotiating better salary offers.

What I recommend is this:

CKAD ➜ CKA ➜ CKS

Not because you need to become a KubeAstronaut.

But because each certification builds on the previous one.

CKAD teaches you how applications run on Kubernetes.

CKA teaches you how Kubernetes works under the hood.

CKS teaches you how to secure everything you've learned.

Don't stop there because nothing can beat getting your hands dirty.

The certification gets attention.

The projects, hands-on experience, and consistency get the job.

Keep going.

You're probably closer than you think.

I am no guru, but I have been where you are before.

If you ever need help to pass your ckad exams - I have exam-like for you HERE

reddit.com
u/Defiant-Chard-2023 — 21 days ago