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Becoming a Full-Time Creator as a Software Engineer

blog.pragmaticengineer.com

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Re: Becoming a Full-Time Creator as a Software Engineer

#91

Post by ZainRiz »

sakopov wrote: post #3

I've been wrecking my brain how to make $10 on anything online for a good part of the past 10 years with a couple of failed startups and even more side projects that went nowhere. I envy anyone who can do this and I think it is truly an immeasurable amount of effort to make any kind of side income let alone something that replaces your salary. But I think articles like this one advertise it like it's something you ca…

I spent years also thinking I had nothing I could teach that people would pay money for.

Heck, I had a couple blog posts that made HN front page and still I didn't think that people would actually pay me money for that content.

Then a couple months ago I realized I could take one of those posts about interview advice to software engineers and turn it into a more in depth video lecture. I was amazed to see people actually buying it (sold $7k worth of that course!)

In case it provides inspiration, I wrote about what it was like making the course here: https://twitter.com/ZainRzv/status/1525211786710077449

Re: Becoming a Full-Time Creator as a Software Engineer

#92

Post by willhinsa »

AlwaysRock wrote: post #82

I've been running a technical podcast focused on interview prep/insights for the last two years that has OKAY traction but is still a long way from making me any money. It's hard! It cost me money. About $500 a month right now, not counting my time. I enjoy doing it but I've certainly had tough months when I wanted to stop. Doing freelance work has been the easiest way to bring in some extra cash as an engineer but d…

What does the $500/mo cost consist of?

Re: Becoming a Full-Time Creator as a Software Engineer

#94

Post by runnerup »

BadCookie wrote: post #85
spookybones wrote: post #78

Earlier quoted context omitted.

How do you keep your expenses so low? That includes rent, utilities, and groceries?

GP indicated in another comment that they are in India. Anybody living on that amount of money in the US would have to be homeless and/or surviving off of government or charity assistance, I would think …

It would be difficult but not impossible to eat properly on $150/mo in the USA.

There would be no money left over for other categories of spending like shelter or transportation.

Re: Becoming a Full-Time Creator as a Software Engineer

#95

Post by asicsp »

spookybones wrote: post #78
asicsp wrote: post #19

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Use Reddit. You don't need an existing audience for that. Make sure to follow the rules of the subreddit. Write a few tips/tutorial posts, help other learners, etc. Then you can try self promoting within the rules. And parallelly, you can build an audience on sites on Twitter. Read about marketing. Follow other creators. And so on. (Edit: You can self promote without existing audience with Show HN too, provided it fi…

How do you keep your expenses so low? That includes rent, utilities, and groceries?

As mentioned in another comment, I'm from India. $150 translates to about Rs 12000. That's indeed enough to cover rent (the place is more than fit for 2 people), food, maid service, etc. This wouldn't work in a bigger city (which was one of the reasons I left one) and I could further cut down expenses if I moved to a smaller town. Internet is via mobile, cheap and connection issues are rare (in fact, it has been better than broadband I had earlier).

Re: Becoming a Full-Time Creator as a Software Engineer

#96

Post by AlwaysRock »

willhinsa wrote: post #92
AlwaysRock wrote: post #82

I've been running a technical podcast focused on interview prep/insights for the last two years that has OKAY traction but is still a long way from making me any money. It's hard! It cost me money. About $500 a month right now, not counting my time. I enjoy doing it but I've certainly had tough months when I wanted to stop. Doing freelance work has been the easiest way to bring in some extra cash as an engineer but d…

What does the $500/mo cost consist of?

Editing costs is the bulk. I dont edit the episodes myself. The rest is mostly tooling cost (zoom, youtube, podcast hosting services).

Re: Becoming a Full-Time Creator as a Software Engineer

#97

Post by msadowski »

suslik wrote: post #53
msadowski wrote: post #36

I think this post is a treasure trove of good advice. I’ll have to do some deeper reading of this as the advice seem solid. Since I’ve quit my last job in 2018 I feel like I’ve tried it all when it comes to revenue sources: * consulting - still my main source of income * writing a newsletter - brings about $400-$600 a month but there are some dry days on the horizon * selling newsletter merch - I’m in red every month…

How do you find consulting gigs? I have no idea even where to start.

Initially I had a lot of luck on UpWork and managed to find some clients that I worked with for over a year. Initially, I was getting 90% of job requests from Upwork and 10% from my blog and LinkedIn, but about year ago the proportions flipped the other way round.

Re: Becoming a Full-Time Creator as a Software Engineer

#98

Post by cinntaile »

duncan_idaho wrote: post #90
elt wrote: post #87

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I assume you read my submissions and came to that conclusion-- but my service isn't in the ETL industry (although I do process very large amounts of data). I don't really share my service publicly and maintain a high level of privacy (hence no social media, etc).

Sounds like you're scared of competitors =)

Why would he help kill the goose that lays the golden eggs?

Re: Becoming a Full-Time Creator as a Software Engineer

#99

Post by wenbin »

This is gold!

I've been following Gergely's journey for quite a while. Personally I learn a ton from Gergely's writings / tweets.

As a fellow one-person business [1], the only thing I'd like to add here (after running my business for ~5 years so far) is that you are allowed to be flexible.

Businesses are different. Everyone's background / finance / skills are different. It's okay that you are doing something different from what you've read from the Internet.

For example, it's totally okay to do (or not do) micro-services for your little SaaS on the get go. It's also okay to try venture-backed route for a while then switch to do "lifestyle business". It's also okay to hire (or not hire) employees early. There's not one single formula that works for every one-person business.

Persistence really pays off long term. Good things might not happen until year 5.

[1] https://www.listennotes.com/blog/the-boring-technology-behin...

Re: Becoming a Full-Time Creator as a Software Engineer

#100

Post by tasuki »

nowherebeen wrote: post #68
tasuki wrote: post #61

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> I realized I have all the technical chops needed to build my business I don't know much about business, but I think you need business chops to build a business.

Absolutely, once you find the market, but at the ideation stage it’s more about spotting it in the first place. That’s much harder than it seems.

Sure, it just seems the technical chops are way down the list of priorities...
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