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ASK HN: Easy ways for a web developer to make online cash?
73 points by snow_mac on Dec 5, 2010 | hide | past | favorite | 47 comments
I'm looking for some ways to make some cash online. I'm thinking of writing some Wordpress themes and selling them online. What could be some good avenues to creating some passive income online?

My Dev skills are: jQuery, HTML, CSS, Javascript, PHP, SQL and Coldfusion. I'm heavily experience in Photoshop and Design.

Any thoughts? I'm a college kid looking for a way to get some cash.




You're unlikely to do well generating passive income. The profit is going to go to the person running the WP theme site or whatever. There's plenty of work doing small business websites, though. Certainly it beats helping English majors try to recover the only copy of their thesis in the computer lab like I did in college.

Send me an email with samples. I know people in need of someone on the technical side (sales, customer service and graphic design they already have covered).

Web developers are a dime a dozen. Competent web developers are harder to find.


Is there a skill set that defines a competent web developer?


Solid cross-browser compliant code. You enjoy hanging out on Quirksmode. Deep understanding of JS and how to make things dance with frameworks like Jquery. Have a solid background with one server-side language (PHP, Ruby, Python etc) and have a lot to show with it. Understand what a HTTP request is. Understand what AJAX really is. Security: Know about SQL injection and CSRF. As a experienced web dev, I think thats a good place to start. There's a lot to know actually, usually takes 3-4 years for someone to even get decent.


To add on:

Speed, use of both standards and best practices while retaining cross-browser compatibility.

Helps to know web semantics as well, I see way too many headers as masthead logos or call-to-actions, rather than section titles and <div id=“logo”>


Freelancing in 6 steps.

1. Find some businesses or non profits that need what you can do for them

2. Tell them how you can help and that you can do it cheaply and with a 100% guarantee that you will refund their money if they don't like it

3. Make a portfolio of work you've done

4. Find other businesses that need what you can do for them

5. Tell them how you can help them. Show them work you've done and the results you've generated. Give them a price for the results you will get them

6. Repeat steps 4 and 5 indefinitely


Might be worth trying to make an infoproduct: http://unicornfree.com/

(like e-books, screencasts and things like that to help teach people things, distilled information certainly has a value)


seconded. if you can, read '4 hour work week' too, to figure out what might make you the most cash with the least time.


Hi. I'm the author of Unicorn Free. Since the topic is extra income, you might enjoy my post about how I brought in $216,000 of product income in 2010 up thru October (actually it's nearly $300k now that it's December).

http://unicornfree.com/2010/i-made-216668-from-products/

In case anyone wonders, I'm a self-taught graphic/interaction designer and Ruby/JavaScript developer. I freelanced/consulted for >10 years and was employed in technical leadership positions for 2.5.

Freelancing can be incredible because it exposes you to so many projects & tools & ideas you'd never investigate on your own. You can't beat it for developing breadth. But products are absolutely the way to go in the end.


You used to be able to create a Facebook app with some viral hook and slap ads on it and make hundreds to thousands a day. Now it's much, much harder due to Facebook cracking down so hard on virals, but it can still be done.

Another way is to build some kind of content site and get into the arbitrage game. That is, drive a small amount of traffic to it, ruthlessly optimize your ad placements to max each visitor's returns, and then once you're paying less for traffic than you're getting back out, crank up the dial on traffic being sent to your site.


Now it's much, much harder due to Facebook cracking down so hard on virals, but it can still be done.

Bummer. I've got a viral Facebook app in the pipeline.

Is this what you're referencing?

"On September 21, 2010 Facebook took games off the news feed, limiting viral channels to discovery stories and invites." http://www.mediabistro.com/fishbowlny/game-building-on-a-bud... ("Distributing on Facebook" section)

"Facebook is cracking down on free promotion | kills profile boxes" http://rooturaj.com/social-media/facebook-is-cracking-down-o...

Is there more to it?


There's also the rule against creating direct incentive for invites, which seems to strike at the heart of many viral mechanics.


It's not passive, but if you can do great Wordpress themes, I'd be able to give you some projects. Email's in my profile if you want.


Freelance.

Create a portfolio so that people can see the kind of work they can expect from you. Then find people who want work done, show your portfolio, and do some work for them.

As you can see from the comments, there's no shortage of people who need quality work done.

Heck, there are even people who just need a quick job done and quality is less important.


Unless you're targeting a specialized market where you're really in demand, I'd have nothing to do with "web freelancing".

A few years ago I worked at a job shop that did web sites for small businesses, and I was talking with my accountant about getting my taxes done and he asked me how much we'd charge for a web site. I told him it would be around $2000... That would include a CMS install, original template, and some SEO. A pretty fair price for the time of the talented people it takes, plus the sales overhead. He was shocked. Although just getting another 10-15 clients a year would have paid for his site quickly, he was hoping he could get one for more like $50.

4 out of 5 small biz clients will let you make a tiny profit, but 1 out of 5 is a client from hell who'll balloon a $10k fixed price project to something that costs you $30k and wipes out the product you made from the other 4.

Not for me. I make web sites for my own account.


Charge more and ignore the people who want something for nothing.


He will find out eventually that he both needs a website, and that they cost more than $50. He can either go straight to the $2000 solution, or find out the hard way with two or three cheap sites that don't work and end up at the $2000 solution 6-12 months later anyway.

The best clients are those who either understand or who have already burnt through months or years of frustration with the cheap shops.

Use that as part of the pitch, ie. 'Ye you can get somebody offshore for $100, and I will see you in a year, or we can just get it done properly now'


Work with people where your services are going to make them lots of money. I've never met anybody who won't spend $5k for $50k of added value to their business.


Not everybody is meant to be a consultant, and consulting (or running any business, or performing any job) is a lot more work than "just writing code".


Is freelancing really viable for developers?

It obviously works for writers, designers, artists etc, but for various reasons, I've always been skeptical about whether the work would be there for a developer.


There's tons of work. I've freelanced with Ruby on Rails for a good chunk of the last few years, and I know at least half a dozen other freelancers who do Ruby, PHP, and Objective-C work as well. The hardest part, I think, is finding the work. It is indeed out there, but the signal to I-just-need-a-quick-wordpress-template-thrown-up noise ratio is small. One of the best avenues I've found for freelancing is to network with web development and creative agencies, do a little subcontracting for them, and then subsequently absorb some of the smaller projects they're approached with but are too small to be worth it for them.


Well, I've been freelancing for the better part of 15 years now. Mostly as a web developer.


There's a lot of work available - I did freelance PHP and other platform development during university. The issue is aligning customer expectations. "Make me a facebook for $200" etc.


Beyond article / blog post writing, submitting quick designs to theme sites or working the affiliate game...

Have you thought about developing a few small, niche targeted for-pay lessons?

For example, a lot of people want to learn how to design and code WordPress templates to sell on theme sites. Whip up a micro site and a very complete tutorial. Buy an ad on one of the smaller template sites, do some low volume adsense and you should have a few subscribers. Keep it cheap and make sure that you get excellent feedback.

You have a good mix of skills listed above and if you identify some things that people want to learn (use some keyword tools for this), you'll likely have a good source of sustainable income.


What are some of these "smaller" template sites?


The Ultimate Web Cash Flowchart http://www.fastcompany.com/1706973/how-to-make-money-on-the-...


Thank you guys so much, here is my portfolio: http://adambourg.com/ -- I'll soon be in contact with all of you.


Good job. I would expand on your responsibilities on each site a little more. For example, you say "Redesigned the site in HTML and CSS" Why did you do this? What were the benefits? Did it load faster? Was it easier to maintain, thereby saving money down the road?

Here is my portfolio page if you want to have a look - http://mattmccormick.ca/portfolio

Since I put that up, I have basically gotten at least an interview to every position I have applied for that matched my skills.


nice portfolio but the page header is partly off-the-page. the top of the writing (of your name) is cut off. this is on Safari 5 on Mac OS 10.6, fyi


Watch out for that bad ' in "Site’s I designed & built"

Edit: Nevermind, you fixed it now :)


My Mom pointed that out to me too, thank you!


Since a lot of people are suggesting freelancing, a couple of previous posts and accompanying discussions on getting started with that:

http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1763634

http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1767620


I'm working on my own premium WordPress themes site, though it's been pushed back constantly due to freelance work (site's up at alphathemes.com though). If you want any advice, feel free to get in touch! (username at gmail)


You didn't explicitly make a recommendation to make premium Wordpress themes, but I want to second your implicit suggestion ;-) It seems to be a big area and I certainly pay for themes that are just right - saves a lot of time. You even get the option of building bespoke ones or making a more generic one and selling it to many people.


The most direct (albeit non-passive) would be to freelance. I think the fastest passive route would be to build a high quality affiliate website. Themes could work, but if they get popular you're on the hook for support.


Like others have said, WordPress themes are a good way to make some cash. I run one of those sites and need some help, so feel free to send me an email. adam [dot] barber 1 [at] gmail [dot] com


what do you think about wordpress plugins market ?


I have to say though, that finding work is a skill of its own. You should setup a site, start posting all over the place, etc. You want to have a lot of channels to get work through, when you're starting out you'll have to spend more time looking for work than doing work. Also, get in touch with freelance professionals in your area. You can get a lot of business through referrals and the sale is so much easier when they've been referred from someone they trust.

As others have said, WordPress themes.

The market is crazy right now, go find a designer and partner with them to make themes. I found the whole niche by chance, I needed a designer for another project and saw on craigslist a designer looking for someone to create a theme from his designs for a new site in exchange for a free design.

I replied, did the theme and setup his new site, then we started working together. I ended up dropping the other project once I saw the demand. Saving that free design for something else now.

He's one of the best designers I've worked with, show him a few designs you like from his portfolio tell him a little bit about your company/project and he comes back with a stunning design in a day or two. A few days later I've got it turned into a WP theme. You can see his portfolio here: http://highendcustomlayouts.com/portfolio

We're working on a RoR app to take PSD files and turn them into WP themes in about 5-15 minutes.

Also, find a writer, if you can offer the whole package from copy to design to hosting it makes getting the deal that much easier.

We're starting to get pretty busy with work doing this so if you drop me an email I might be able to hook you up with some work in the future.


That app, if it produces work comparable to the $150 outsourced slicing services, will make a mint. Email me and I will find you beta customers -- my SEO buddies would eat it up.


I’m fascinated by the goal of making websites easier to create (most existing solutions are just crummy). Please post details of your app when you have something to show!


I was impressed by Squarespace.


This is more of a pro tool than let your mom make websites type thing. The idea is to remove the tedious image slicing / linking from Photoshop and make it easy to link in the relevant parts of WordPress. Will definitely post on HN when done. Send me an email if you want an email when it's done, or want to beta test.


Any references to previous work (eg. deviantart, etc.)? I'd be happy to contact you in the future.


+1 (same question.)

A company I work with does a high volume of WP themes and there are residual income opportunities there. Do you have a portfolio or reference URLs you can provide? My email address is in my profile if you don't want to post here.


My website is http://adambourg.com


Hey, if you're looking to freelance we're intestered in you. contact: paolo-at-orioneweb-dot-it


Web hosting for your clients can be an easy way to generate some passive income.


E-mail me: daniel@hybridgroup.com maybe I can give you work.




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