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Ask HN: Are there 'dumb' ways to make money as a developer in your spare time?

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Re: Ask HN: Are there 'dumb' ways to make money as a developer in your spare time?

#101

Post by adzicg »

vram22 wrote: post #86
adzicg wrote: post #76

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I wrote one on how to use an opensource testing tool for which there was lots of interest but not a lot of documentation at the time. That was quite popular for a while (almost 11 years ago). 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 wor…

Interesting. If you don't mind saying, do you self-publish on sites like Gumroad, Leanpub, Softcover, on your own site, or both? If on your own site, you would need some system to accept payments, right?

I publish using leanpub and KDP (amazon kindle) for ebooks and using Lightning Source for paper books. I used Lulu 10 years ago but their customer service was appalling back then so I moved to LS, which gets the print book in almost all good online stores anyway.

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.

Re: Ask HN: Are there 'dumb' ways to make money as a developer in your spare time?

#102

Post by nurettin »

morgante wrote: post #48
_mg wrote: post #24

Investing. Not "developer" specific but worth mentioning at a general level.

If by "investing" you mean picking and trading stocks, this is terrible advice.

If by "picking and trading stocks" you mean putting money on type A funds when the market is trending, it can be quite profitable at a lower volatility rate.

Re: Ask HN: Are there 'dumb' ways to make money as a developer in your spare time?

#103

Post by qohen »

vram22 wrote: post #89
moflome wrote: post #84

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think in this case, the parent meant working speculatively [0] which can be seen as risky for some, but also a way to get some reputation & awareness. [0] http://www.nospec.com/what-is-spec

Thanks. Yes, I think this is what the original comment meant that I was asking about. Now I remember where I read the term "spec work" - it was some weeks ago on avc.com, Fred Wilson's blog. And someone gave the same answer there as you, IIRC.

It's not specifically a tech term, e.g. spec scripts in the entertainment business:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spec_script

Re: Ask HN: Are there 'dumb' ways to make money as a developer in your spare time?

#104

Post by ajeet_dhaliwal »

mabbo wrote: post #92
beambot wrote: post #5

Focus on cutting unnecessary expenses... As that serves double duty: saves that $100 and simultaneously reduces the savings burden to retire. 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…

This actually works even better than you think. My father explained to me once: 'Earning an extra $100, you have to pay half[0] to the government. Saving an extra $100, you get to keep all of it.' 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. […

You've already paid the tax on the amount you are saving.

Re: Ask HN: Are there 'dumb' ways to make money as a developer in your spare time?

#105

Post by vram22 »

adzicg wrote: post #101
vram22 wrote: post #86

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Interesting. If you don't mind saying, do you self-publish on sites like Gumroad, Leanpub, Softcover, on your own site, or both? If on your own site, you would need some system to accept payments, right?

I publish using leanpub and KDP (amazon kindle) for ebooks and using Lightning Source for paper books. I used Lulu 10 years ago but their customer service was appalling back then so I moved to LS, which gets the print book in almost all good online stores anyway. 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 ad…

Thanks for the info.

Re: Ask HN: Are there 'dumb' ways to make money as a developer in your spare time?

#106

Post by jetti »

xeonoex wrote: post #33

On this topic, I've always wondered how profitable it is to develop a site meant to make ad money. People love to talk about their interesting, cutting edge projects on HN, but no one talks about making websites whose main purpose is ad revenue. The web is littered with clickbait sites and sites that just make money off of Amazon affiliate links. The people that create them usually don't share their revenue, although…

I put up a site that is nothing but affiliate linking to Amazon. It is selling programming books but I actually am putting work into it to ensure that only highly rated programming books are listed as well as highly rated books on newer programming languages. In the first week I've made 5 sales, though none of them have shipped yet, which will net me around $5 which is enough to cover server costs. I figured that even if I don't make money I'm learning a lot about deploying Phoenix/Elixir applications as well as just web config in general as this is my first actual website (if you don't count my Diablo guild website from back in the mid 90s)

Re: Ask HN: Are there 'dumb' ways to make money as a developer in your spare time?

#107

Post by rexreed »

vram22 wrote: post #81
rexreed wrote: post #40

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm assuming the commenter is referring to interest on savings. Which of course is quite laughable these days.

Why is it so low? I think I read it happened after the 2008 recession, but why so low, and still? seems extra unusual.

Quantitative Easing and the US Fiscal policy. Look it up.

Re: Ask HN: Are there 'dumb' ways to make money as a developer in your spare time?

#108

Post by mabbo »

ajeet_dhaliwal wrote: post #104
mabbo wrote: post #92

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This actually works even better than you think. My father explained to me once: 'Earning an extra $100, you have to pay half[0] to the government. Saving an extra $100, you get to keep all of it.' 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. […

You've already paid the tax on the amount you are saving.

Yes, but $100 feels like $100. It feels equivalent, but it's not.

Saving $100 is worth a lot more than earning $100, is the point.

Re: Ask HN: Are there 'dumb' ways to make money as a developer in your spare time?

#109

Post by mkaziz »

raintrees wrote: post #75

One thing I wished I had done earlier is study money enough to have figured out my favored investment vehicle and how to best utilize it, preferably before my first dollar earned at any job/trade. That and the tax code (incentives) of my country/state (US). 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…

You need a lot of capital to get involved in the above, no?

Re: Ask HN: Are there 'dumb' ways to make money as a developer in your spare time?

#110

Post by vram22 »

rexreed wrote: post #107
vram22 wrote: post #81

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Why is it so low? I think I read it happened after the 2008 recession, but why so low, and still? seems extra unusual.

Quantitative Easing and the US Fiscal policy. Look it up.

Thanks.
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