Embracing the Side-Hustle Culture: Tech folks are known for it. Why do you think this is? Have you explored side projects, and how do they impact your career?
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Top comments (8)
For me there are a few different reasons and I'll try to keep it short.
I run a local business from my home called ThenAgain Media where I convert old outdated media storage types to more modern ones. Like VHS to DVD and digital, cassette to CD and digital, floppy to flash, etc. These are some of the reason why I started doing this on the side..
1. Extra money: No matter how much we make in our 9-5 it's always nice to have a second source of extra income.
2. Experience and Commendation: Getting the experience in anything is good but some of us also do these things for the way our community sees us as holding value in our experiences.
3. Antidepressant: This one is purely personal and came after a horrible divorce of mine 3 years ago but I always keep my brain occupied because a busy mind doesn't have time to be depressed. My side hustle is another way for me to do that.
Thank you for giving me room to share and Happy Venturing π
I'd say it's because it's just so easy as a developer - there are so many opportunities, and unlike traditional industries, all you need to get started is a laptop and an internet connection.
For me, I live for open source, so I'm not in it for the money. But I have found that as a few of my projects have gotten of the ground, they naturally bring in a bit of extra income (without the need for charging users directly).
Mostly things like sponsorships, engagement-based earnings, privacy-respecting ads + partnerships and paid support have been the biggest earners.
You say it's easy, but most of the opportunities are either things like fiverr, where you're competing against existing members who have high ratings and can afford to work for pennies, or they involve handling all the aspects yourself - finding and talking to clients, negotiating pay, setting boundaries and deliverables, learning the quirks of their business, etc., and that's quite exhausting!
Yeah, I agree.
But there are certaintly other options beyond just gig work.
Your comment motivated me to get my act together, and finsh a post I was working on about side hustles :)
50 ways to bring in extra cash as a developer π°
Alicia Sykes γ» Nov 20
We have the power of creation. Creating the product from an idea is easy and has the potential for lots of payoffs like money, show-off projects, etc. For me, it is also learning the other stuff that makes a side hustle a success, like warm outreach, cold outreach, etc.
To build up the skillsets, knowledge and experience in the comfort of your existing job.
Another reason is to build alternative security to help you rely on your main job less so that in the event you are retrenched, fired or left the company.
I do in order to drive traffic to a paid SaaS product.
My hustle involves building free side projects related to my SaaS to drive traffic to paid product. This is a marketing strategy that involves creating free and useful tools or resources that are related to your main product, and using them to attract potential customers to your paid product.
For instance, let's say your SaaS product is a video editing software. What you can do is build a free tool that helps people create video thumbnails or captions, and then promote your paid product as a more comprehensive solution for video editing. The idea is to provide value to your target audience and generate interest in your paid product.
I think tech folks are just builders (or developers, haha) at heart. Why do we learn to code? Most do it to be able to build amazing things. The fact we are getting paid a decent salary is a bonus.