I want to tell you about something I learnt that has made me more money in a year than all my life. That lesson is, “TRY EVERYTHING”. My learning started some months back while I still worked at my full-time intern job and I had to pick side-jobs to pay bills. This often meant working late hours, like the night I found myself at 10.30 pm, still at the office, sitting at my desk, no body else is here but I feel caged and contained. My eyes are heavy. The internet connection at home had expired and I had to complete my tasks. I stare blankly at the computer screen as I replay in my head, the day I got this job as a design intern. It was practically unpaid but I needed experience. Now, I had to pay bills too. I just have to do my best.
I exhale and take a deep breath as I begin the next task. I already completed a Wedding reservation website for Don, my side client. For my manager, I need to change the images on the company’s website before my manager’s demo at 10 am the next day. I can not find suitable stock or non-stock images. I spent so much time trying the usual google search and trying image libraries. At that point, I felt hopeless. I was scrolling through YouTube, looking for any kind of inspiration (or maybe just a distraction and a caffeine boost)… It was then that a video title caught my attention: ‘Stock Images are Dead. Long Live AI Images’. My immediate thought was, ‘Oh really? Yeah right 😅’.
I am thinking about alternatives as I go grab a cup of coffee. I want to blame my manager for not choosing a photo-shoot instead. I want to give this opportunity my best to impress my manager but I just feel I do not have enough time and I have not figured how to get suitable images. I spent so much time trying the usual google search and trying image libraries. At that point, I felt hopeless.
Tick tock, it is now 11.00 pm. I still have no progress and the coffee is not helping. A voice in my head says, “You have not tried everything”. Giving in, I clicked back on Youtube and watch the “Stock Images are dead. Long Live AI images video I had seen earlier. Ladies and Gentlemen, my “aha” moment lasted 5 mins. I am mini-shouting “omg”, “this is good”, “damn damn” as I follow the instructions from the Youtube video telling me about AI Models and AI Agents and to try out different models and the prompts to generate images. Its 11.36 pm. I am alive again.
Discovering AI Agents got me filled energy again. I completed replacing the images on the company website. I also improved all the images on Don’s wedding reservation website. All in about 20 minutes. Why did I not try this earlier. You will say the same thing after I show you how I used the AI Agents and AI models.
Fast forward to the next day at the meeting, everyone is impressed when my manager presents the company website. He even got a round of ovation. My manager took all the credit for the visuals. I guess my reward was just that I did a good job. I thought this was a good time to ask for a raise or bonus because I really needed cash. After the meeting my manager asks me to see him.
My manager proceeds to ask how I got visuals that made the company website look so great. I tried to explain how AI images are generated but I saw my manager’s face change when I mentioned I got them at no-cost. My manager got pissed off, saying I did not get stock images and I should have done exactly as instructed and the website would have looked better. Like WAAHT 🙆♂️.
At the end of the day, an email from HR confirmed it. I was fired. I went home with a heavy mix of fear and uncertainty, especially about Don’s website. I had emailed him the invoice that morning, and it was now past 5 pm with no reply. Finally, unable to bear the suspense any longer, I mustered the courage to call Don. He picked up on first ring. He was filled with excitement, telling me how much everyone loved the website and the images and he was going to send my balance but wanted to discuss me handling more website work for him.
Guys, I made $4,000 in the following 3 months. That was 10 times my internship salary. Don gave me more jobs and referred me to other clients who kept me on retainers. I went from working under so much stress and being under-appreciated to being free because I use AI models, tools and AI Agents. I am free because I tried everything.
I got jobs and worked on Brand Makeovers, Website designs and Ad designs for clients and I used AI for all of them.
Here’s how I use the top 5 AI tools to wow clients and get more done in less time:
1. Brand Makeover: black-forest-labs/flux-1.1-pro
Faster, better FLUX Pro. Text-to-image model with excellent image quality, prompt adherence, and output diversity.
- What it does: Generates custom, on-brand photos (including diverse people, matching company colors).
- How I use it:
- Write prompts like:
- “Photograph of a group of [local demographic] professionals wearing [brand colors], modern office background, happy, vibrant, high quality.”
- Download and use these images for hero banners and team sections on websites.
- Write prompts like:
2. Ads and Social Media: ideogram-ai/ideogram-v3-turbo
Turbo is the fastest and cheapest Ideogram v3. v3 creates images with stunning realism, creative designs, and consistent styles
- What it does: Quickly designs striking ads and social media visuals.
- How I use it:
- Paste in product photos or tell Inkscape what your promotion is.
- Use prompts such as:
"Design an Instagram post promoting a summer sale for [brand]. Bright colors, modern fonts, fun and engaging." - Adjust layouts and text if needed, then export to schedule on your social platforms.
3. Realistic Photo Editing: black-forest-labs/flux-kontext-max
A premium text-based image editing model that delivers maximum performance and improved typography generation for transforming images through natural language prompts
- What it does: Makes detailed photo edits—background removal, lighting, resizing, swapping out elements.
- How I use it:
- Upload original images.
- Use prompts like:
"Remove background, place subject in an upscale city office, adjust lighting for a professional look." - Use results on websites, in ads, or client portfolios.
4. Websites from Mockups: anthropic/claude-3.5-sonnet
Anthropic’s most intelligent language model to date, with a 200K token context window and image understanding (claude-3-5-sonnet-20241022)
- What it does: Takes sketches or design ideas and produces live website code.
- How I use it:
- Upload wireframes or describe your ideal site layout and features.
- Use prompts such as: Copy
"Turn this Figma design into a responsive, modern HTML/CSS/JS landing page for a consulting agency." - Copy generated code, tweak details, and launch faster.
5. Website Copy: Google Gemini 2.5 Pro
Gemini 2.5 Pro can comprehend vast datasets and challenging problems from different information sources, including text, audio, images, video, and even entire code repositories
- What it does: Writes high-converting, SEO-friendly website copy in seconds.
- How I use it:
- Share key info (target audience, features, tone).
- Prompt example: Copy
"Write an About Us page for a tech startup focused on AI-powered brand design. Friendly, trustworthy, innovative." - Review and personalize before publishing.
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From Fired to Free: Your First $500 Using AI (Today)
My story started with getting fired, but yours can start with taking action. Here’s the simple path I took to go from unpaid intern to making $4,000 in 3 months after losing my job:
- Pick one service (website images, social posts, etc.) that clients need.
- Use the related AI tool by signing up to Tohju.com and creating an AI Agent with the mentioned above (Flux Pro, ideogram-v3-turbo, etc.) models, follow the prompts, and make a sample of your work.
- Post your sample in design communities or freelance platforms.
- Offer your services to 5 real businesses—custom visuals, ad graphics, or websites, powered by AI.
The firing felt like the end, but it was just the beginning of me building a future on my own terms with the help of AI. You don’t have to get fired to start, but you can learn from my journey and start leveraging these tools today to build more income and freedom for yourself.
