If it was easy everyone would only work 5-10 years ;)
Ask HN: How can I add 10-15k to my annual income this year?
21–30 of 39 posts
Re: Ask HN: How can I add 10-15k to my annual income this year?
#22"The best time to plant a tree was twenty years ago. The second best time is now." - Chinese proverb.
"Don't end the week with nothing" - Patio11 https://training.kalzumeus.com/newsletters/archive/do-not-en...
Start building something you can sell. It could be a book, an app, a SaaS. You might not (probability won't) get it to +$15k this year. That shouldn't stop you from beginning. If you make something thst people are willing to pay for, you should be able to EVENTUALLY get to +$15k (and more!)
Re: Ask HN: How can I add 10-15k to my annual income this year?
#23Earlier quoted context omitted.
Isn't most freelance work a race to the bottom? This would be great, but most online job boards seem to go to the lowest bidder (who normally works for $10-12 an hour)
Remote freelance work is a race to the bottom. A better way to earn some extra money is to build a small service (SAAS) like OLark, or, Launchrock, and charge $10/month. Support your customers with a passion, add customers slowly, and before you know it, you will have 100 customers. That will earn you $12K every year forever. It is far better than doing odd programming jobs for others, there is no capital required, a…
If getting 12k/yr in annual in revenue is easy, then getting 1MM/yr is also easy (after going from 0->100, just make two more hops: 100->1000 and 1000->10000). Since we know that building a MM/yr business is anything but easy, one of our assumptions must be wrong. Which one is it?:
a) 0 -> 100 users is easy
b) 100 -> 1000 users is easy
c) 1000 -> 10000 users is easy
My gut feeling is that a) is actually the hardest step.
Re: Ask HN: How can I add 10-15k to my annual income this year?
#24Earlier quoted context omitted.
Remote freelance work is a race to the bottom. A better way to earn some extra money is to build a small service (SAAS) like OLark, or, Launchrock, and charge $10/month. Support your customers with a passion, add customers slowly, and before you know it, you will have 100 customers. That will earn you $12K every year forever. It is far better than doing odd programming jobs for others, there is no capital required, a…
If getting 12k/yr in annual in revenue is easy, then getting 1MM/yr is also easy (after going from 0->100, just make two more hops: 100->1000 and 1000->10000). Since we know that building a MM/yr business is anything but easy, one of our assumptions must be wrong. Which one is it?: a) 0 -> 100 users is easy b) 100 -> 1000 users is easy c) 1000 -> 10000 users is easy My gut feeling is that a) is actually the hardest s…
No. 0->100 is not easy (I know from my own experience), but it is a realistic goal and you can get there slowly. Adding even one user every weekday, you will get to 100 in six months. But, and this is a big one, if you support your users well, you will get referrals -- which is the best way to grow.
My whole point is to go for recurring revenues, and, aim for slow, sustainable growth. If you want to go for 10K users, you will need funding. And, that will be a much, much riskier path.
Re: Ask HN: How can I add 10-15k to my annual income this year?
#251. Switch to technical sales (typically you get a bonus based on the sales quota; downside is you travel a lot)
2. Post your resume and ask for 15k more
3. If you're not in the SF Bay Area, move there but note your cost of living will probably go up by 20k so you need to ask for $35k more than you currently make.
4. If you're in the SF Bay Area, see if your company will let you work remotely, and move to a state that has no income tax.
5. Marry/Date up (lawyer, doctor, programmer, executive :-)
Re: Ask HN: How can I add 10-15k to my annual income this year?
#26Create a presentation on what non-technical founders need to know about programming, before they start a start up. Promote this webinar via facebook ads and make it 30 minutes long and packed full of super useful stuff. Then at the end point them to your blog with lots of helpful resources. Finally, mention that you are available for one on one coaching, for a select group of people (and have a web form using stripe ready for taking payment in exchange for scheduling a one-on-one call with you). Offer a money back guarantee as long as they demonstrate that they did the action items you suggested.
This will be way easier than building a SaaS app. Trust me.
EDIT: No idea why this is getting downvoted. Any insight would be appreciated.
Re: Ask HN: How can I add 10-15k to my annual income this year?
#27Are you a programmer? Try to find freelancing work..
Isn't most freelance work a race to the bottom? This would be great, but most online job boards seem to go to the lowest bidder (who normally works for $10-12 an hour)
You'll get paid a lot more in person. Go to local tech meetups. Many already have a who's looking/who's hiring announcement at the end any many others will let you take the podium for a minute to ask, not to mention the person to person networking afterword eating and the like.
Re: Ask HN: How can I add 10-15k to my annual income this year?
#281. Build something on the side that creates recurring revenue 2. Build something on the side that you can sell for $10-15k 3. Build multiple things that, when combined, sell for $10-15k 4. Negotiate a raise at your current job 5. Start doing freelance work 6. Get lucky in the stock market 7. Get lucky in a casino 8. Get lucky in a lottery 9. Inherit some money Why do people in tech think we work in some magically bel…
No. 1 is the easiest. See my more detailed comment below.
You have to multiply by the chance of it working to get the expected value. It's easy to write an app or a service and just never get the customers to even break even on your time. Contracting is much more likely to pay back since you just have to complete the project and the employers has to keep their word to pay.
Re: Ask HN: How can I add 10-15k to my annual income this year?
#29Earlier quoted context omitted.
Remote freelance work is a race to the bottom. A better way to earn some extra money is to build a small service (SAAS) like OLark, or, Launchrock, and charge $10/month. Support your customers with a passion, add customers slowly, and before you know it, you will have 100 customers. That will earn you $12K every year forever. It is far better than doing odd programming jobs for others, there is no capital required, a…
If getting 12k/yr in annual in revenue is easy, then getting 1MM/yr is also easy (after going from 0->100, just make two more hops: 100->1000 and 1000->10000). Since we know that building a MM/yr business is anything but easy, one of our assumptions must be wrong. Which one is it?: a) 0 -> 100 users is easy b) 100 -> 1000 users is easy c) 1000 -> 10000 users is easy My gut feeling is that a) is actually the hardest s…
There are plenty of niches where the total market is smaller than a thousand users. It simply isn't worth a startup or existing businesses time.
For example I know a guy who sells detailed study guides for software engineering subjects tailored to his university. Even if he captured 100% of the market he would have maybe 300 paying customers.
Last time I spoke with him he was earning around 20k from the guides and another 30k from tutoring the students. An extra $50k on the side as an individual is massive but it's not really worth it to a growth focused business.
Re: Ask HN: How can I add 10-15k to my annual income this year?
#30You might find a few ideas in this similar thread from last year: