Ask HN: Are there 'dumb' ways to make money as a developer in your spare time?
As a 30-something, I've suddenly come to realize that retirement savings are important, and that small amounts of extra savings can add up. Suddenly an extra $100/week actually sounds worth thinking about.
Are there simple ways to earn a few extra bucks as a developer in your spare time? Or is it just down to 'invent some SaaS offering and hope people like it'?
What simple things have you do that have brought in a small bit of extra income?
114 comments
[ 4.2 ms ] story [ 215 ms ] threadA side benefit is that the more marketable skills you have, the easier/faster it is to get another job if you get laid off. My quickest time between looking for a job and getting an offer has been 4 days.
I guess that was just a long winded way of saying: I understand where this is coming from, but in some situations the logical next step may actually be a side gig :-).
I'd recommend you try side gigs. Pick the one that offers you the best learning experience. Then consider trying consulting full time. If you want to break the wage ceiling, consulting is a great low-risk business.
Still, it's probably a more efficient use of time to either work towards a better paying career move for long term income, or just cut expenses.
Seems like an incredible amount of work for not a lot of payoff. I attempted to create an online course before and stopped around 3 months in because I couldn't see an end in sight. The amount of research and planning that goes into a quality online course is massive. This is why most online courses are through larger organizations where professors are teaching an already existing curriculum.
I got the sense that the OP was looking for "dumb" easy ways to generate $100/week.
While one-to-one teaching/tutoring probably isn't much a career boost, it can be rewarding in other ways.
As for "dumb" things you can do: cook more at home, pregame before going out, do activities that are cheap or free (eg bike rides instead of theaters), bike more instead of driving everywhere, read library books, etc
(The benefit of these over "do consulting" answers also lies in the added quality time with family rather than more work.)
Ain't no law that says you have to spend everything you earn.
EDIT: spelling
Or just don't drink alcohol, it's is stupid expensive for something you're just going to pee out. Plus, it's empty calories.
Tea is cheap and good, milk is cheap and good for you, (tap) water is basically free.
Still, I'm a pretty dull guy, don't spend much, and have most of my savings in order. My goal is mainly to see if there's easy ways to better use the time I currently waste on video games, use my craft to make some money.
[0] I'm in the 47% tax bracket (Canada), so any extra income is hit at that rate, if I'm not dumping it into a tax-deferred account, which I totally would be.
Saving $100 is worth a lot more than earning $100, is the point.
In my experience if you are a pretty good developer and good at communicating, you can find small bits of work without much effort. Now I'm doing a lot of consulting so charge more, but previously I would pick low stress / low mental fatigue projects, with people I enjoy working with (often pre funding prototypes), and charge between $65-$85/hr which could be another $500-600 / month at 2 hours per week.
I also never used any of the freelancing sites, and always found work through personal connections, since it dramatically lowered the risk of getting a bad fit for me.
I was very lucky in that I happened to be good friends with a super-connector type person who always has people asking him for help. If you know other people who are doing consulting work, you can talk to them, if they are good they won't be particularly protective because good people always have more work than they can do.
In general, it can take time to build this up but in my experience it's valuable to see how you can help / give to others around you, and it will come back to you at some point. You have to learn to avoid the time wasting clients and people who look for you to do spec work, but after you've learned to spot them it's not so hard.
[0] http://www.nospec.com/what-is-spec
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spec_script
If you don't have an existing network freelancing/consulting is going to be very difficult. I've tried the online freelance website method before while I was in college. It sucks. The clients don't want to pay even a reasonable amount and they're usually pretty shitty clients to work for.
If you have a network I'd suggest consulting. If you don't then I'd say steer clear.
1. Consulting
2. Small SaaS (few hours per week for maintenance, bug fixes & new features) - more challenging than (1)
3. Teaching - only if you're naturally inclined/extrovert (this is a big space and I'm starting to believe that even a medium resume is enough to teach to people who never saw a command prompt before)
4. Blog in a semi-professional way (requires passion/research)
5. Write a book (novel, howto or technical). This is probably the most challenging and less profitable solution, but IMHO it could be something that matters (if you're going to novels, theatrical plays, etc.)
What are some examples of this?
A friend of mine makes a pretty decent living wage in CA (not bay area however) running a relatively small blog https://opentrackers.org/
It's pretty easy to make decent amount of money running blogs if you're willing to do a bit of research first.
Aside from the extra cash, it's a good way to mentally decompress away from tech, and to get the sort of exercise you tend not to get in an IT job.
Like, on weekends? I can't imagine the demand for bicycle couriers after 5PM is really that large.
I've often seen bicycle couriers in my city and wondered what it would be like to do that part time to get away from the stress of work. Then I see them from the tram on days when it's raining, snowing, windy...
Make some extra change, develop your social skills.
a slightly less dumb idea is to write a book. it's more upfront/unpaid work than when doing gigs, and more risk because it's up to you to create a good story, but significantly less risk than building a SaaS system. I've self-published five books so far, and books have three benefits over the gig economy idea:
1) you get to learn a ton of new stuff while researching for the book. writing a book is effectively forcing yourself to learn
2) even if books do moderately well, when you self-publish you retain most of the profit. my passive income from previously published books is roughly 3-4K USD per month now
3) books have an extra effect that they tend to bring name recognition and incoming work for consulting, and that can last a few years even if you don't plan to freelance and work as a consultant at the moment.
Another book was on an emerging technique for collaborative analysis for software projects, that started becoming popular some time back in 2008-9 but was still not well understood.
Two more were on practical tips for how to work with user stories and how to come up with good testing ideas.
I used to sell books on my own site as well until a few years back when EU created the stupid VAT on private electronic purchases that requires stores to adjust price according to the country of the buyer. I figured it's less hassle to just use leanpub for that.
For instance if I were interested in getting into mobile development and had spent some time studying but hadn't done it for a job, I would take a low paying gig as long as I had the right to show off samples of the work for future employment.
EDIT: This assumes the time and distance to travel to and from the center is short.
Not "developer" specific but worth mentioning at a general level.
It makes me wonder if it's a good idea (in regards to passive side-income) to make a benevolent site that appeals to the general population or a niche with targeted, unobtrusive ads, rather than trying to make the next amazing service or killer app.
From your question, I think you already knowthe reason you don't hear about it on here. An Amazon affiliate powered blog doesn't have to be written in Haskell, use microservices, invent some new AI technique, and Change The World™ with a self-driving basic income. It just makes money with well-understood technologies and business models.
* If you're going to use affiliate links, e.g. Amazon, then you really need the content on your site to appeal to people who have an intent to buy. For example, nobody really comes to Indie Hackers to buy hosting, so affiliate links for hosting companies don't do well. However, people come to learn more about building profitable online businesses, so links to websites and books and other educational resources in that area get lots of clicks. (This is true of any business, really: understand your customer and provide what they want, not what you want to sell.)
* I haven't tried Google Adsense, because I find the ads ugly. But I do use BuySellAds, and the revenue isn't great. I make something like $1 per 1000 visits. It probably doesn't help that ad-blockers tend to block these ads (unless you render them server-side).
* If your audience fits into a valuable niche, individual advertisers are often willing to pay quite a lot for some real estate. Of course, this requires some manual upfront outreach on your part, but it's easier to do than it sounds. I've had 20 minute phone calls that resulted in $1000 or $2000 ad buys.
EDIT: Also, if you're going to run a content site, create a newsletter that visitors can subscribe to. Make sure it goes out at least twice a month, so people don't forget who you are and unsubscribe. (You can completely automate it if you don't want to spend time maintaining it.) Newsletters are valuable real estate for ad revenue, and they also help you build an audience that you can potentially sell to if you ever create a product in the future. In fact, a newsletter can be your entire business: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=13630163
Which makes me bring the question, is it worth it?
$3.500 / 100 posts = $35 / post (per month) = $420 / post (per year)
I understand it's a marathon though and that value compounds. When you had 10 posts you were probably not making $350 and when you have 1000 posts you will probably be making a lot more than $35.000.
I'd love to see the associated human costs and how many hours/week you are spending here, doing what and how that has evolved from the beginning (more automation, new challenges, etc).
Is the revenue so far worth the time I put into it? No, not by itself. But everything that I've done so far is really a launching pad for more, bigger, and better things, so I see it as an investment. At the very least, I've reached a point where I can survive on my own and work on my own projects indefinitely. Beyond that, I've built up an audience and community that I love, and I've got lots of plans in the works to try and deliver even more value to them + generate revenue in a more scalable way.
What do you mean by "completely automate". MailChimp or similar tools, or something more automated?
There's no such things as easy when it comes to making money. You'd have to put time and energy into it.
Define "easy". For me it's relative. Some stuff are easier than others. There is not an "absolute" easy. My job is 100x easier than most jobs I know. But I know many people making more money with less effort doing other tasks that are not necessarily jobs.
Then of course morality and legality enter in the equation. Very often, making something illegal or immoral increase the ratio pay/effort in your favor. E.G: spam or drugs.
Dumb = "simplifying or reducing the intellectual content of something to make it accessible to a larger number of people."
Also, not everyone has the capacity, time or even desire to pick low hanging fruit. For some the extra additional effort, even if small, is just not worth it outside of a full-time job and other commitments.
Last week a friend of mine came around. He had too much money sitting on his bank account and was looking to spend it on a flat. He is a terrible programmer. He just spams. He make 10 times what I do.
Personal example:
http://cases.goaggro.com/ (CS:GO case opening simulator)
Other examples:
http://www.survive-ark.com/taming-calculator/ (ARK taming calculator)
http://www.wowhead.com/ (World of Warcraft loot database)
Any of the wikias that popup for a game are also good examples. I feel someone could make a targeted wiki for a game, add their own ads, and become #1 community resource for a game by doing it early enough. Who doesn't want to be #1 on Google for "<Game> Guide" with an ad per page?
Posted on Reddit twice, (first initial spike once I finished it, second spike when I added more of the cases.) That's about the extent. Got me all the Google-juice I need to ride it out.
Total work probably around... 40 hours, at most. I stopped supporting it in 2014. HTML + Canvas. Used images hosted by VALVe instead of hosting my own. Never had the motivation to make it better. Hosting was provided for free by a friend.
Was at the top of Google for a while. Got knocked down by a much more active developer (which is monetized even better than mine.) I only display 1 banner ad instead of an aggressive 3. I didn't improve it at all since then. However, I feel I had a technical advantage over the Flash-based competitor, as mine ran great on mobile. I assume the competitor has since improved that aspect of theirs.
I get ~$100 payout every 4 months now (~$25 per month)
Spikes in January 2015 and Sept 2015 coincide with new CS:GO game updates. They added new cases to the game, which I never got around to implementing in the simulator. No doubt missed opportunities.
Things I could've done better:
- Actually keep working on it. (New cases, new features, better backend, trade-up simulator)
- Better monetization (Only 1 banner ad, when Google allows 3 on one page)
What went right:
- First person on the playing field. (Still was delayed, since cases were released in Aug 2013 and I released it on March 2014)
On the subject of the others: They're just aggregating data about the game. You can start with the smallest, easiest bit and slowly build up from it.
For Wowhead it was: Aggregate item data. Then quests. Then zones w/ maps. Resource spawn points. Raid information and guides. Etc. etc. They were one of the first information providers for World of Warcraft and then they got acquired by Curse.
In the case of the Ark calculator, it started as: "This algorithm in the game is mysterious to players, I'll recreate it in the browser." Then they added stuff like "this Dino destroys X stuff", "this Dino can do Y"
1. Pick a topic I'm interested in, or that I would like to be interested in and follow regularly. It could be anything from sci-fi to front-end web dev. My only requirement would be that I know where to find other people who are interested in that topic, and that they're a group that's comfortable with email.
2. Start a regular newsletter where I'd aggregate content around that topic and maybe editorialize a little bit by adding my own summaries. I'd keep it short and simple and send it out 3-5x a week.
3. I'd throw up a simple landing page where people can subscribe to the newsletter, then advertise it by sharing my insights on Twitter and in various online communities every now and then. If this is your only focus, you should be able to sign up at least 250-500 ppl/mo. If you can't get that, then your content probably isn't compelling.
4. Sell ad spots in the newsletter to advertisers, specifically advertisers who are in the same niche that your newsletter is. You should be able to make at least $50-100 per 1000 subscribers for each email you send out, which is one of two reasons to send frequently. (The other is that high frequency helps people become familiar with you and turn into regular readers.)
Ideally it's a win-win-win. You get motivation to keep yourself up-to-date with a topic that you care about, and you also make money. Your advertisers make sales. (Hopefully they're good companies that you hand-picked.) And your readers get free high quality info on a topic they care about without having to do the research themselves.
Advertisers generally have a lot less interest placing ads with audiences who will never pay them.
There are certain niches where you can passionately write about stuff, amass a large audience, and discover that audience is very poorly monetisable. Best to avoid that if you're looking for income.
Due to various life events I got behind on that this past year. As a result, a decent sum (for me at least) piled up in my checking account earning a lovely .05% interest rate. My savings account earns 1%. Needless to say, a few mouse clicks later and I earn much more interest every month. Enough where I want to punch myself for not making it a priority earlier in the year for something so stupidly simple.
The next step is to complete my final 401k rollover (god do they make that tedious) before rebalancing my investment allocations and opening a Roth. Those tasks will earn me considerably more than $100/mo on average, particularly with the magic of compound interest over a span of decades.
My whole point is, don't just focus on jobs/SaaS/whatever while ignoring basic management and optimization of your personal finances. For many who do not actively manage their finances, pulling a few of those levers can add up to significant amounts and the actual work involved outside of research is (typically) less painful than doing something like starting a SaaS business.
There's always money in the banana stand.
Of the main three (building businesses, real estate, and paper assets/commodities/derivatives) I figured out that I personally favor real estate. So that is where I choose to focus and feel most comfortable.
I also learned that an over-funded whole life insurance policy can be used as a savings account with benefits (thanks Grandpa!). Depending on the company (and there are specific criteria), I found one that is paying 4% on amounts I over-fund, as well as on distributions (it has to be a mutual company), which I can borrow against for down payments on the next property, while still having Life Insurance addressed for my spouse/other survivors. They (I have more than one) are also the foundation for a family trust my partner and I are setting up for our families.
Finding mentors who have already walked the road that fits is key for me. She or he can point out things I am missing, help with obstacles, suggest areas to study, etc. For example, there are many Life Insurance policy types, and the one that I favor is not well known or recommended by most insurance brokers (they stand to make quite a bit less commission). It is also at times railed against by the Ramsey/Orman crowd, not always for the right reasons based on my values/strengths (everyone is different). With real estate, there are so many markets and sub-markets, figuring out what best suits can take a bit of effort. Same with paper assets/commodities/derivatives, and obviously (as this community is fairly well familiar with) businesses that are grown into IPO/sale/other-exit-plan candidates. And a good CPA is constantly studying the tax code (it is always in flux) so they can be a great source of planning information for the various financial endeavors I get into. Oh, additionally a knowledgeable attorney can assist with the right entity and liability limitation planning, among other facets.
For what it is worth, of course.
There are also ways to partner with others to combine a down payment, as well as putting together a deal with no money down (funded by others). It is incredibly important to study/investigate ahead of time before creating a deal with more than one partner, as there are financing rules that may apply (for example, the SEC can be involved with syndication, if it gets to that).
There is quite a bit of money in the world looking for good investments, so if you can become someone who puts together good investment deals, attracting capital will not be an issue. Some have started by creating a deal where they had no money down but instead received 10% or 20% for putting the deal together and making it happen. The next deal can be a higher percentage (success builds trust), until eventually you have built up enough capital to be doing your own deals, if that is your preference.
The team you build is more important - Attorneys, CPAs, Property Managers, Insurance Brokers, etc.