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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?

#611

Post by JohnFen »

self_awareness wrote: post #539
JohnFen wrote: post #76

I do have money-making side projects, but they are software projects as well.

Any chances of telling us what they are in more details?

I just have a couple of contract jobs on the side. Nothing particularly interesting. One is software for a custom physical security system (involves cameras, RFID readers, and various sensors), and the other is for an embedded system that is to be used for environmental monitoring and control in a greenhouse (monitors things like soil moisture, CO2, temperature, and so forth).

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

#612

Post by spaceman_2020 »

whatabackend wrote: post #264
puranjay wrote: post #33

I'm an amateur musician. I have a website where I review music gear, especially MIDI keyboards (have a bunch of them). It brings in a steady $1k+/month almost completely passively through Amazon affiliate commissions

Am interested in a MIDI keyboard that can be used to come up with basic tunes. Any recommendations?

Stay away from M-Audio. The newer Akais aren't very good either. Try Nektar.

It all depends on how well you already know the keyboard though. A cheap Akai LPK25 is good enough for absolute beginners. But if you have some piano playing experience, I would go for something like an Alesis VI49

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

#613

Post by dcchambers »

For a while I worked with a friend "reconditioning" laptops and selling them on Ebay (lots of just-out-of-warranty Dells and Thinkpads from local companies. Easy to work on: upgrade RAM, swap HDD for cheap SSD, replace broken keyboards, etc.) We could sell them for a nice profit with very little work. I wouldn't want to do this work on many "modern" laptops since many parts are not (easily) user replaceable these days.

Most passive income just comes from Index Funds/miscellaneous investments. But I don't really see it as income since it all stays invested/just grows until I retire some day. Still trying to find the right app/site/tool to build to bring in real passive income from something I have built.

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

#614

Post by puranjay »

memset wrote: post #56
puranjay wrote: post #33

I'm an amateur musician. I have a website where I review music gear, especially MIDI keyboards (have a bunch of them). It brings in a steady $1k+/month almost completely passively through Amazon affiliate commissions

Any interest in helping a fellow HN-er? https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=19712205

I get around 90% of my traffic through Google, so I would recommend targeting some important keywords with long form content.

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

#615

Post by samschooler »

I was a university student pretty recently. I started a company where I delivered cookies (freshly baked from scratch) on rollerblades to dorm rooms/apartments/houses on and around campus. It was such a fun way to make $12-$16/hour and get exercise.

Not sure what I’m going to do with the site now, but I went all out and built a fully delivery management platform for they side gig. Hit me up if you have ideas.

https://rollerbakers.com

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

#616

Post by utahcon »

thinnerlizzy wrote: post #533

I created ShutterDeck[1], a system for controlling multi-camera arrays. I designed and built the hardware and the iPhone app, which serves as a remote control for the device. I do basically no advertising or I'd probably sell more. The next batch I order will have the boards pre-assembled for me, which I'm really excited about. Most of my clients have photo booths, but I do have one researcher using it to try to trea…

I think this is pretty neat. I am not into photography myself, but love the concept and the way you are going about the work. Cheers!

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

#617

Post by utahcon »

abakker wrote: post #169

I make and sell custom tabletops compatible with the festool woodworking products. I cut them locally on my CNC router and advertise exclusively through craigslist. I do 3-5 per month of those, and another 10 projects / month that come from repeat customers - mostly hobbiests and contractors. Through craigslist, I’ve ended up making components used in the Apple campus, and service pieces used in a 3 Michelin star res…

What is special about a tabletop for festool products?

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

#618

Post by em-bee »

jawns wrote: post #602
em-bee wrote: post #579

Earlier quoted context omitted.

you made one years worth of a programmers salary from all your books? how much work was it to get there?

I would say that I did not devalue my time by doing it, but there's a good amount of risk involved, compared with a salaried position.

obviously, but that's true for starting a new business too, so if you can manage the risk then this is not bad.

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

#619

Post by scarface74 »

atom-morgan wrote: post #604
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.…

Did you do fitness classes at a gym or on your own?

I worked for a company that managed fitness classes for corporations, churches, and apartment complexes that had gyms. Later on, I just worked at the local Y.
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