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Ask HN: Those making $500+/month on side projects in 2017 – Show and tell

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Re: Ask HN: Those making $500+/month on side projects in 2017 – Show and tell

#161

Post by donutdan4114 »

vram22 wrote: post #158
donutdan4114 wrote: post #17

I launched an app for Shopify about a year ago called Custom Fields: https://customfields.bonify.io Currently it's making about $5,000 / month. It's been a very interesting process dealing with building the app, marketing it, and dealing with support. The app is $19/mo for regular Shopify stores, and we have about 700+ total customers (only some are paying). We get A LOT of support requests for misc things and have b…

Congrats. What is the tech stack for developing Shopify apps?

Shopify Apps can be largely just API calls using any language/framework you'd like, or you can use their Embedded App SDK which is more JS-heavy. I built the Custom Fields app with Drupal 8 and PHP 7. I chose that stack because that's what we work with on a daily basis as a web-dev agency.

Re: Ask HN: Those making $500+/month on side projects in 2017 – Show and tell

#162

Post by RikNieu »

buf wrote: post #138
RikNieu wrote: post #135

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is pretty interesting! Why/how did you get it started?

I'm an amateur voice actor and felt like I knew my audience pretty well.

And how did you market it initially? Did you market it to voice artists or clients? How?

Re: Ask HN: Those making $500+/month on side projects in 2017 – Show and tell

#163

Post by markfer »

https://www.recapped.io is what I actually launched 2 months ago since I was frustrated by the lack of existing solutions for my sales team.

Around $600/mo now, but believe I should hit $2,000+ MRR by next month.

TL;DR: Sales-enablement that helps sales reps communicate, collaborate, and engage with potential customers.

Re: Ask HN: Those making $500+/month on side projects in 2017 – Show and tell

#164

Post by onesneakymofo »

jadeydi wrote: post #130

ICO, we raised more than $15M in 9 minutes, we only built a website with homepage, lol

Really? Looking at your Twitter, you work at toptalkedbooks.com which according to your associate that posted in this exact thread a few posts below (https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=15149593) isn't even making any money. Hmmmm?

Re: Ask HN: Those making $500+/month on side projects in 2017 – Show and tell

#165

Post by donutdan4114 »

thisisit wrote: post #140
donutdan4114 wrote: post #17

I launched an app for Shopify about a year ago called Custom Fields: https://customfields.bonify.io Currently it's making about $5,000 / month. It's been a very interesting process dealing with building the app, marketing it, and dealing with support. The app is $19/mo for regular Shopify stores, and we have about 700+ total customers (only some are paying). We get A LOT of support requests for misc things and have b…

I think 3rd party providers are underrated when it comes to building side income streams.

I think it's the easiest way. Creating your own app or service from scratch, marketing it, and retaining users long-term is nearly impossible (seems like). All of those problems are solved by integrating with a 3rd party.. Granted, that has it's own risks and limitations, but seems worth it for small side projects.

Re: Ask HN: Those making $500+/month on side projects in 2017 – Show and tell

#166

Post by tonetheman »

geerlingguy wrote: post #46

https://hostedapachesolr.com - since 2013, started with intention of just hosting my own search indexes (since cheap shared hosting didn't allow java apps to be installed), then ballooned from there. Minimal maintenance, almost every process is automated with Ansible + Jenkins + tiny bits of PHP glue code. https://servercheck.in - since 2012, same as Solr, I started it to do SMS messages for my own site outages... th…

Your book is great!

Re: Ask HN: Those making $500+/month on side projects in 2017 – Show and tell

#167

Post by GoLocalApps »

We launched AppToolkit.io earlier in the year and it's now breaking $500 monthly. Since we use it in-house, we don't judge it quite the same as if it needed to support itself. It isn't profitable yet, but as more app developers sign up for our Super User and Cloud Config service, we're seeing faster revenue growth.

Our original goal was to cover the AWS bill and pay for all the in-house dev work and I think we'll have that by the end of the year.

If you're interested in the background to AppToolkit and where it came from, we did an interview on Indie Hackers here - https://www.indiehackers.com/businesses/apptoolkit

Re: Ask HN: Those making $500+/month on side projects in 2017 – Show and tell

#168

Post by vram22 »

donutdan4114 wrote: post #161
vram22 wrote: post #158

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Congrats. What is the tech stack for developing Shopify apps?

Shopify Apps can be largely just API calls using any language/framework you'd like, or you can use their Embedded App SDK which is more JS-heavy. I built the Custom Fields app with Drupal 8 and PHP 7. I chose that stack because that's what we work with on a daily basis as a web-dev agency.

Thanks, useful info.

Re: Ask HN: Those making $500+/month on side projects in 2017 – Show and tell

#169

Post by weej »

timmaah wrote: post #6

I screen scrape camping reservations and send out notifications when a campsite becomes available. http://reserve.wanderinglabs.com/ Currently working on integrating the new CA reserve website. It is a shit show.

Well done. I was talking to a colleague earlier this week about creating something similar for WA. We have the exact same problem with reservation windows being several months in advance and cancellations popping up.

I wasn't aware of ReserveAmerica. I always go straight to state or national parks sites to reserve.

What's the differentiator between what wanderinglabs offers vs. reserve america - pull checks & notifications?

Re: Ask HN: Those making $500+/month on side projects in 2017 – Show and tell

#170

Post by weej »

karjaluoto wrote: post #134
timmaah wrote: post #6

I screen scrape camping reservations and send out notifications when a campsite becomes available. http://reserve.wanderinglabs.com/ Currently working on integrating the new CA reserve website. It is a shit show.

Interesting—we’re doing something similar with https://www.campnab.com Currently available in B.C., Ontario, and Washington State. Now adding national parks in Canada.

Excellent user experience. Thanks for including Washington State. I'm already sharing this with friends.
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