

Ask HN: I make $8/hour and can't pay for college. Any advice? - keiferski

My situation: I work a food service job and make slightly above minimum wage. To make a long story short, paying next semester's tuition bill is going to be tough. I could get another food service job, but I think I know enough to make a better living. The question is: how?<p>Here's what I can do / what I've done:<p>- I have two side projects: PitchRemix.com, a service that creates elevator pitches, and NamingKings.com, a name-creating service. Both have made money and are profitable (although costs are obviously low).<p>- I can write well. Check out my HN comment history or NamingKings.com/Blog for writing samples.<p>- I'm proficient at HTML, CSS, and WordPress. I can design minimalist sites and logos (check out the two sites above).<p>- I know "how" programming works (loops, variables, OOP, etc.). I just don't know how to implement it and make something. I'm currently going through Hartl's Rails tutorial to fix this.<p>Any advice on how to make more than minimum wage? Should I try the freelance sites (eLance, etc.)? Aim for a remote job/internship?<p>Thanks a million.
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zio99
1\. Regarding pricing your services PitchRemix and NamingKings (btw, love the
ideas, see potential to be more), check out Joel on Software's blog post:
[http://www.joelonsoftware.com/articles/CamelsandRubberDuckie...](http://www.joelonsoftware.com/articles/CamelsandRubberDuckies.html)
I'll certainly be taking it into account now that most of my customers are
saying that my book Ice Cream Startups: <http://sellfy.com/p/9j2z> is
underpriced. See background information here:
[http://startupframework.tumblr.com/post/29634915106/what-
i-l...](http://startupframework.tumblr.com/post/29634915106/what-i-learnt-
from-yc)

2\. If writing's your thing, check out <http://fiverr.com/> for selling
minified versions of your services. Winning projects at
<https://www.elance.com> takes more than showcasing skills; it comes down to
communication, which you're really good at, so I think you can win some bids
there. Focus on the fact that English is your first language, because they're
many on there that aren't fluent (and just auto-bid). Also set yourself up as
a company, rather than as an individual.

3\. Love your minimalistic approach (don't spin it as you're not a coder).
Spin it as you've got that scrappy attitude that most hackers have. If you're
looking into Python/Django, I'd start here:
[http://eddychan.com/post/15775730174/how-i-learnt-enough-
pyt...](http://eddychan.com/post/15775730174/how-i-learnt-enough-python-
django-to-be-dangerous-in-1)

4\. Finally, don't get a second food service job, but neither should you quit
your current one. Having one job I feel gives you a network that you may not
otherwise have access to, and keeps you sane in times of persisting amongst
failures. Keep your second job to building your websites. It's not easy, I
know - I'm a student working a day job, and on web projects as well - it tires
the crap out of me - but you gotta love what you do (here's why:
[http://startupframework.tumblr.com/post/29585034512/why-
do-w...](http://startupframework.tumblr.com/post/29585034512/why-do-what-you-
love)). Email me if you want to bounce more ideas off. Seems like you're in
the boat I was in 2 months ago (I too got one year left of school with tuition
money very hard to come by). You've got a lot of options, and it's great
you're taking action to figure them out. Good luck. aaron [at] brownieinmotion
[dot] ca.

------
trapexit
Hint #1: Your naming service is hugely underpriced. You could probably charge
10x-20x as much. See <http://www.namedatlast.com/>

Hint #2: You have an audience (your customers) _Talk to them!_ Ask them what
their challenges are. Call them up or email them and get an interview. Dig
really really deep and find out what really annoys them, frustrates them,
makes them fearful, or wastes their time.

Then, you can take one of several possible courses of action:

1) Do a lot of research on the topic... read everything you can find about it
on the Internet, plus 5 or 10 books (free at the library!). Create an eBook,
audio course, or video course that walks your customer step-by-step through
solving their problem, and sell it.

2) Find an expert in the subject area and partner with them to create an eBook
or online course, then sell it.

3) Find a programmer buddy and build a web app that solves their problem, and
sell it.

------
pixelcort
Check with your school's financial aid department; there may be grants and
scholarships available. I know this seems pretty obvious, but many of my
former classmates never even attempted to check.

------
late2part
I will fund your education in exchange for 20% of everything you ever make
pre-tax.

~~~
debacle
Funny, Sallie Mae offered me the same deal.

------
SoftwarePatent
In the Bay Area and NYC, a self-taught coder can find work without a college
degree. I recommend that you work very hard on your Rails skills, build a
website all by yourself using rails, and put the source on github. If your
site works, looks good, and you know how to present yourself in an interview,
you can get a paid internship at a startup that uses rails. Of course this
doesn't solve your short-term cash crunch, but depending on how disciplined
you are, you might not need to finish college right now.

~~~
keiferski
I'd prefer to finish my degree right now. Thanks for the advice though, that
may be my best shot post-graduation for a real job.

------
bdunbar
_I make $8/hour and can't pay for college. Any advice?_

Join the Air Force or Navy for the GI Bill.

------
dutchrapley
If you are not in a large city (DC, Boston, New York, Chicago, etc.), move to
one. My first job paid $9.25/hr. I was an office temp for 2 months. I
networked like crazy and 2 months later I was doing web "stuff." I got this
job through someone I met. It wasn't glamorous. I was scanning word documents
and books, proof reading them, and formatting them with HTML. It wasn't
glamorous, but I got to work with some great people. Some of which led me to a
better job later. In the evenings, I volunteered my time helping setup a
server room and doing reinstalls when employees left. I didn't get paid for
this b/c I wanted to learn and volunteered for the sake of doing so.

Never stop meeting people. Always be learning. If you read Hart's book and it
doesn't stick. Do it again. Once you're done with it a 2nd time, then go over
to CodeSchool.com and work through Rails for Zombies 2 ($20/mo.).

Good Luck!

~~~
keiferski
Well I can't exactly get up and move to a large city at the moment (I'm in a
college town and I just signed a lease).

I will look up some meetups, though. Thanks.

~~~
late2part
Many states allow you to break a job if you are moving for a job.

[http://www.lsnjlaw.org/english/placeilive/irentmyhome/tenant...](http://www.lsnjlaw.org/english/placeilive/irentmyhome/tenantsrights/chapterfive/index.cfm)

~~~
subway
This typically has very little to do with the state, and everything to do with
the particular lease. Your link provides no supporting evidence for your
statement.

 _If you move out before the end of the lease, the landlord may be able to
hold you responsible for the rent that becomes due until the apartment or
house is rented again, or until the lease ends._

------
keiferski
Links, if you want to check out my projects:

<http://namingkings.com>

<http://pitchremix.com>

------
iworkforthem
\- start a blog -> blog about your experience, hits & misses while working on
your 2 projects. \- share your codes via github. lookout at the monthly hiring
thread for job offers.

most importantly look around you to find issues/problems that people are
willingly to pay a tiny $5-$20 to get it solve. build mvp, reiterate...

------
livestyle
I second the fiverr reply..and I will buy your first gig on there..

------
dinkumthinkum
I would say just get the loans. Study something that makes sense and just get
the loans. Also, to get a better part time job ... Well, are you applying to
positions. Keep learning and actually apply to positions. If you write your
resume well and are energetic, etc in the interview, you have a good chance of
finding an employer if you are in a populated area. Hope this helps. :)

~~~
codeonfire
I agree, looking back, low wage jobs were an incredible waste of time and
energy. I would have been better to do some simple business than work. That
being said, not everyone qualifies for federal loans due to drug convictions,
being a foreign national, and a couple of other exclusions.

~~~
actionbrandon
yeah, and the inability to just decided to earn 100K+/yr "on the side" should
not discourage people from going to college. just make sure you actually learn
something.

