I'm in the same boat with similar skill set. Do you want to get-together on IM for some brainstorming? May be we can work together on something. Contact is in the profile, if you are interested.
Help HN: Want to build small web app for learning and side income.
11–20 of 45 posts
Re: Help HN: Want to build small web app for learning and side income.
#12Talk to people about what sucks about their job. Pick the problem with the most whines per lines of codeit will take to fix. Fair warning: $200 a month projects get drastically bigger if you figure out marketing.
Re: Help HN: Want to build small web app for learning and side income.
#13You can spend less than that $300 until you get going if you use GoogleAppEngine, where you'd only end up paying if you get higher levels of usage. Rackspace cloud will cost $10 a month for the basic server if you need to not use java/python, as it sounds like you might need to. You theoretically can do Ruby on GAE via a java implementation, and php I think... If you need web design, you're going to be a little short…
I use GAE as well for all my side projects. I recommend a service such as spreedly or recurly for billing.I've used PayPal subscriptions and 2checkout in the past but they suck. For design I recommend the minimalist approach such as letter.ly until you can hire a designer.
Re: Help HN: Want to build small web app for learning and side income.
#14I'd say you posted in the right place because lots of people here have the opposite problem - too many ideas, not enough time. Here's my list of random ideas that I feel can make some money each month if executed well: http://bulletxt.zetabee.com/share?n=1548888784&h=SHdydmJ... I haven't updated it in a few months because I've been busy with an interesting project. Maybe something on the list will inspire you. You're…
How would you monetize these? Mostly from just adding Adsense to the page? [For example, I'm looking at the geolocation of #hate/#love tags, and the imbored-counter.]
That works. In my experience, 1k visitors = $1. If you want $100/month, that's $3/day = 3k visitors/day. Not impossible to get with something catchy/popular. Make four of these and you hit your goal. It's not easy but it's not impossible either.
Re: Help HN: Want to build small web app for learning and side income.
#15The $1,000,000 dollar question... Literally
Re: Help HN: Want to build small web app for learning and side income.
#16The $1,000,000 dollar question... Literally
Well, the $1,000,000 answer is worth $0 if you can't make something out of it.
Re: Help HN: Want to build small web app for learning and side income.
#17Numbers 1, 2 and 4 are very easy to satisfy. Several people have already posted lists of ideas that they and others maintain. I seem to recall Y-Combinator posting lists of the types of projects they wish to look at in the future too, so it would be worth searching for them. If you can't self host then .NET hosting is going to cost you around US$10 a month, although there are deals to be had - I think I pay $35 for 6…
I also have a webapp to keep track of this: http://somebodybuildthis.com
As others have said, Good luck! :-D
Re: Help HN: Want to build small web app for learning and side income.
#18I would go to Elance and look through the things people are paying for. If you can find something that lots of people are buying but can be commoditized you've found a winner. Since you are experienced in PHP, make some PHP component that people want but the current solutions are crap. Web Developers will easily pay $100 for something of quality that will save time. I think it is easier to sell a digital product than SaaS if you want to do this part time. It's nice to get your money and have no further obligation to your customer. As far as marketing, you can submit a PAD of your software product. That will give you a surprising amount of free traffic. Also, you can giveaway licenses of your product via bloggers. To accept payments I use FastSpring. It looks professional and there are no setup or monthly costs (so no risk). Good luck!
Re: Help HN: Want to build small web app for learning and side income.
#19You should see if one of these works for you - http://www.sixmonthmba.com/2009/02/999ideas.html
There are some very clever ideas in there. Number 4 ("A website that you can submit your design and work with vendors to manufacture your own clothes line") is something I'm sure my wife would take advantage of. I wonder how much of a market there is for something like this, or how many people want to be a micro-boutique?
That exists already. It's fairly new, but I forgot the name.
Re: Help HN: Want to build small web app for learning and side income.
#20Here's a few links with ideas:
http://www.entrepreneur.com/businessideas/
http://www.sixmonthmba.com/2009/02/999ideas.html
http://www.ahbbo.com/ideas.html
http://ycombinator.com/ideas.html
http://astartupaday.wordpress.com/
http://www.coolbusinessideas.com/
I've taken all these from a list in the 'Start Small, Stay Small' book here: http://www.startupbook.net/
Good luck!