Ask HN: Are you working on any side projects that make "small/passive" income? • Hacker News Board

Re: Ask HN: Are you working on any side projects that make "small/passive" income?

#171

Post by dko » Thu, Mar 24, 2011, 4:11 PM UTC

Carl_Platt wrote: post #39

dangero wrote: post #31

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I've been programming for a long time, so I don't think it had anything to do with productive programming. In fact, each attempt was less work than the previous. The thing that I didn't understand is that being successful in business has very little to do with having an original idea. You're much better off just looking at how other people are making money and becoming their competitor or improving upon what they are…

Most innovation happens this way. Get some existing idea, develop on it and market/sell it off as a better alternative. Seems simple. If only.

"If only" - totally agree.

Just building something people need/want, or improving upon what works, is a deceptively simple generalization. It boils down to execution, and that's where our originality still comes into play.

Re: Ask HN: Are you working on any side projects that make "small/passive" income?

#172

Post by joebadmo » Thu, Mar 24, 2011, 6:30 PM UTC

ovi256 wrote: post #106

chipocabra wrote: post #101

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Boring AND sleazy. Now I'm intrigued.

It's stripping for blind people.

That doesn't sound boring or sleazy to me.

Re: Ask HN: Are you working on any side projects that make "small/passive" income?

#173

Post by dangero » Thu, Mar 24, 2011, 10:04 PM UTC

dko wrote: post #171

Carl_Platt wrote: post #39

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Most innovation happens this way. Get some existing idea, develop on it and market/sell it off as a better alternative. Seems simple. If only.

"If only" - totally agree. Just building something people need/want, or improving upon what works, is a deceptively simple generalization. It boils down to execution, and that's where our originality still comes into play.

I agree as well. I wasn't suggesting that's all it takes, but rather, that was the missing ingredient for me. I think different people are missing different ingredients to success, and that was the one that I was missing.

Re: Ask HN: Are you working on any side projects that make "small/passive" income?

#174

Post by Bravais » Thu, Mar 24, 2011, 10:46 PM UTC

Very small, very passive side project. http://goo.gl/tPPJz

Wrote it for my own use as a better "alternative" to browse for Kindle books after too much frustration with Amazon's site for browsing about.

Since it works via affiliate fees, between friends and family I easily made my first dollar in the first hour of going "live" with it.

A few dollars come in here and there. A passive, side, small project for sure. But I still add stuff during the weekend.

Re: Ask HN: Are you working on any side projects that make "small/passive" income?

#175

Post by chopsueyar » Sat, Mar 26, 2011, 1:02 PM UTC

danneu wrote: post #164

chopsueyar wrote: post #114

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I assume this is affiliate marketing and not content creation?

Almost always based on either affiliate marketing or just sourced content. Source is cheap and common, and the same, tired adult content model still works: Horny guy, cock in hand, still whips out credit card. It's an aging model, but there's always margin on the dance floor.

Do you use AdWords for PPC traffic? Is that allowed by Google?

Re: Ask HN: Are you working on any side projects that make "small/passive" income?

#176

Post by hparra » Sun, Mar 27, 2011, 11:26 PM UTC

alphamale wrote: post #127

Just launched my Guy's Lifestyle site. Q&A and advice from Alphas. Expect it to be HUGE bros. I will be building it up in my spare time. http://www.alphamal.es/

Is that really Wandi on your site?

And fill out your "About" page. That's always one the first sections I look at.

Re: Ask HN: Are you working on any side projects that make "small/passive" income?

#177

Post by edge17 » Mon, Mar 28, 2011, 12:53 AM UTC

leftnode wrote: post #161

dangero wrote: post #139

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Just curious, why would you make it free if you could have continued to make money off of it?

I made it free to get a lot of users using it, and then I'm going to charge for the 2.0 version.

best of luck, think this through carefully. I had some software that had some 3-4m downloads for free. We later put out a pay-for version, the conversion rate was quite low (as expected) but netted some okay money for starving kids just out of college.