
From $0 to $20,145.92 in 2 months with a side project - zenorocha
(screenshot: https:&#x2F;&#x2F;share.getcloudapp.com&#x2F;yAu288nm)<p>I&#x27;ve been building open source software for the past 10 years. And I always thought that monetization was evil.<p>It took me a while to realize that money is not evil, money is oxygen.<p>In December 2019, I decided to learn more about sales. So I went to Amazon and bought several books.<p>In the end, I only read one - but I quickly realized that if I really wanted to learn this, I&#x27;d have to practice it in real life.<p>I love my job and I was definitely not looking to leave it. However, you can always start a side project, and that&#x27;s what I decided to do.<p>I opened GitHub, looked at my open source projects, and built a plan around monetizing Dracula, which is a dark theme for developers.<p>At first, this seemed like a crazy idea. Who would buy a color scheme for their code editors?<p>When you start, there are all these inner voices trying to stop you, but deep down, I knew I could build something meaningful.<p>In February 2020, I launched and... people started to buy. The feeling of receiving even $1 for your side project is unbelievable.<p>It&#x27;s really hard to explain. It opens your eyes to a different reality.<p>Two months later this side project already made $20,145.92.<p>If you&#x27;re considering creating a side project, stop waiting, and do it. Do it now. I mean it, close this page and start it right now.<p>I&#x27;m sure you&#x27;re not going to regret it a couple of months from now.<p>If you&#x27;re curious about this side project I created, you can check it out here: https:&#x2F;&#x2F;draculatheme.com&#x2F;pro
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justaj
This is honestly the first time I'm hearing about someone monetizing a color
scheme. I didn't even now such a thing was possible.

Was it already popular before you started to monetize it? I see that the
Github repo [0] has 12k+ stars, so I assume it was already pretty popular
beforehand. Did you get more exposure (and GH stars) after the choice to
monetize it?

Also, what things does the bonus screencast cover?

I just downloaded the Alacritty theme [1] and to my liking the background is
too bright (I guess I prefer it darker than Dracula hehe), so I changed it to
0x000000, but other than that I like it, it's definitely pleasant on the eyes.

[0]: [https://github.com/dracula/dracula-
theme](https://github.com/dracula/dracula-theme)

[1]:
[https://github.com/dracula/alacritty/tree/af38d360e9589a75a2...](https://github.com/dracula/alacritty/tree/af38d360e9589a75a27bc6d94f30b9931deb9e50)

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jpistell
> At first, this seemed like a crazy idea. Who would buy a color scheme for
> their code editors?

I have thoughts like this all the time when I look at my github repos.

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zenorocha
Totally! We think that our own projects will never be that successful, but
we'll only discover if that's true or not if we try.

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jpistell
I have a long drive this afternoon. You’ve given me a lot to think about.
Thank you.

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rcacho
What sales books did you read? Which would you most recommend?

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zenorocha
I read Launch by Jeff Walker
([https://amzn.to/2xoLNav](https://amzn.to/2xoLNav)). I would say it's a great
book for starters like me, which didn't even have a mailing list yet.

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seddin
That's great, how are you handling sales?

edit: i found out its via stripe

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zenorocha
I'm using Gumroad to manage transactions, affiliates, etc.

