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Ask HN: What is your money-making side project outside programming?

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Re: Ask HN: What is your money-making side project outside programming?

#581

Post by agumonkey »

SegFaultCDumped wrote: post #95
MrFoof wrote: post #84

I buy cars, repair them and recondition them to my level of satisfaction, and send them back out the door, typically targeting 55-65 year olds. I focus mostly on entry level luxury crossovers around 7 to 10 years old, though starting to also do hybrids since there’s more profit in it since everyone is seemingly allergic to batteries and pack replacement/rebuilds. Parts are cheap, I listen to music or a podcast, I do…

Can you make YouTube videos about it? I watch Chris Fix all the time, not for educational purpose (I don't own a car), but because they are so freaking satisfying to watch. Seeing things go from 'meh' to 'wow.'

I wonder how many people are going into diy/craft in the recent years.

chrisfix makes nice videos, kingofrandom, dan rohas; for french car/bike chops: '103 mob stories' and 'Garage, Bangers and Rock'n Roll'

matthias wandel and others for woodworking

AvE OldTony for mech/metal

Tons of electrical engineering

Re: Ask HN: What is your money-making side project outside programming?

#582

Post by thunderrabbit »

TL;DR: not making money yet, but enjoying stop motion animation of marble track construction.

Back in the day, my brother and I would use Legos to build tracks for marbles, using roof pieces as ramps. Eventually I started making marble tracks out of popsicle sticks. Over a period of some years, I built a track 2+ feet (70cm) tall with lots of tracks intertwining each other all the way down.

After moving and leaving that old track behind, I made Marble Track 2 over an eight-month period in my free time at work.

I posted the finished track on YouTube[1] and comments fell into 2 categories.

Trolls: U suck, it's garbage, get a gf, etc.

Fans: U rule, it's amazing, make a tutorial, etc.

Me: "Make a tutorial? about how to make a marble track?? hmmmm that gives me an idea!"

So far, I have about 11 minutes[2] worth of (silent) video of little pipe cleaner characters placing wooden pieces onto a stage. They are answering the question "how do you make a marble track?"

The project has its own website[3], which reinforces the story that the characters are building the track.

(fake spoiler) However, it's actually me behind the scenes moving the characters to make the movie in which they build the track!

300+ hours of livestream[4] answer the question "how do you make a stop motion movie which answers the question of how to make a marble track?"

The livestreams are long, dull, often quiet, interspersed with a few ramblings that go through my head.

So, back on track (ahem) for this thread, I believe there are people who'd be interested in this project, and eventually we will figure out how it can be monetized. I am just enjoying the creation process and open to possibilities.

[1] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mlUqu6QE7bw

[2] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-KjsYc4Mb5g&list=PL0osPGt21F...

[3] https://www.marbletrack3.com/

[4] https://www.marbletrack3.com/episode/

Re: Ask HN: What is your money-making side project outside programming?

#583

Post by jpgvm »

em-bee wrote: post #580

how about blacksmithing? https://www.wired.com/2013/02/provos/ i don't know if nils is doing commission work or selling his swords, but i am pretty sure he could sell those for a good price.

Also the author of libevent and all around awesome guy.

Re: Ask HN: What is your money-making side project outside programming?

#584

Post by MattBearman »

My wife and I have a YouTube channel on which we are fixing up an old Toyota MR2 [0], we’ve no desire to be full time “YouTubers”, but we enjoy making the videos and get about $70 / from patreon/ads

0 - https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCe1gNnS8EDytTYqSG0IEbXw

Re: Ask HN: What is your money-making side project outside programming?

#585

Post by em-bee »

tcmb wrote: post #287
ynac wrote: post #109

* Act as a standby for dish pits at the local restaurants - filling in only when someone doesn't show since I don't want to take what could be a lifeline job for someone AND having a standby like me means they can keep their job instead of just being a no-show * Write articles for other people - usually on topics I really don't have a lot of knowledge or feeling about to start. * Mow lawns - I'm allergic to grass. Bu…

> Write articles for other people That sounds interesting. What kind of people, and how do they find you? Where are the articles published? How much time do you usually have for writing them (days, weeks, months?) Do they get published under your name or the buyer's name?

if you are interested to get into that line of work check out http://www.hitsubscribe.com/ they are hiring writers (part time i believe).

eric dietrich who is one of the founders of the company is a frequent speaker on the freelancers show ( https://devchat.tv/freelancers/ ) and seems like a nice guy to work with.

seems like a good way to get started and learn the ropes

Re: Ask HN: What is your money-making side project outside programming?

#586

Post by travbrack »

Teever wrote: post #550
travbrack wrote: post #199

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's illegal in my state to sell a car for the purpose of making a profit as an individual without a dealer license, and there's a limit of 4 per year. https://dor.wa.gov/get-form-or-publication/publications-subj...

Wait, are you saying that private used car sale is illegal in your state?

No, private car sales are legal as long as the seller isn't trying to make a profit off the car.

Re: Ask HN: What is your money-making side project outside programming?

#587

Post by WhyAmIAwake »

scarface74 wrote: post #224

About 10 years ago and ten years into my career, I had been working and stayed at the same job way too long and both my salary and career stagnated. I had two part time money making side projects. I was a part time fitness instructor and had some rental real estate. Teaching fitness classes was fun, I made a lot of friends, and it gave me a release valve from working at a computer all day. Real estate was a headache.…

Can you tell me more about your cloud consultant, “digital transformation consultant”, or “Architect” as in what area are you looking to go (or already are in)?

I'm guessing you are helping companies move to Azure or Amazon?

Thank You.

Re: Ask HN: What is your money-making side project outside programming?

#589

Post by qznc »

m0zg wrote: post #353
paulgb wrote: post #78

Betting on politics on PredictIt. I wouldn’t recommend it as an income stream, but having an interest in probability, markets, and international politics, it has taught me to read the news more objectively.

Should be pretty easy: just check what CNN says and bet in the opposite direction.

The problem with such predictions (likewise stock market) is that they are not binary. The question is not if a stock goes up or down. The question is "when?". There is no such thing as "opposite" of a date (in a useful sense).

There is actually another questions "how much?". There is also no opposite for that.

Re: Ask HN: What is your money-making side project outside programming?

#590

Post by FailMore »

grecy wrote: post #94

I've written a couple of books that sell on Amazon and Apple iBooks - it takes zero minutes per month work for me, but brings a nice little side income. I won't get rich, but it's nice to have the money come in for doing nothing after I hit the "publish" button. Even the printed books cost nothing. I'm about to hit publish on a photo coffee-table book from my three years around Africa, and I'll write an Africa guide…

I'm going to be self publishing a book this year - very curious about what have you found in terms of income? And if you have any ideas on how people find your work?
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