Table of Contents
1. Selling Templates
2. Technical Writing
3. Become a Youtuber
4. Use Social Media
5. Affiliate Marketing
6. Create a Saas Product
7. Freelance Platforms
8. Selling ebooks
9. Creating and Selling WordPress/Shopify plugins
10. Offering Maintenance
11. Renting Websites
12. Chatbots
13. Security Flaws and Bugs Hunting
Introduction
Did you know that in tech, there are many ways to earn money other than just the traditional 9-5 job? Even more so, Web Development is a vast field that is ever-growing, hence, there are numerous opportunities for generating income. Well, who doesn't like more money?ππ
There are many methods, but let's discuss 13 Income Ideas ;)
Disclaimer β οΈ
Even though I specified this thread for "Web Developers", most of these methods can be used to earn money for other types of developers too!
1) Selling Templates
Check out marketplaces where developers and designers can buy and sell various digital products! You can sell WordPress, Shopify and WooCommerce themes, HTML templates or even graphic elements too. You can use this method even if you only know HTML and CSS as the templates can be made from anything!
Here are some platforms where you can buy and sell templates:
π· TemplateMonster
π· Theme Forest
π· Templamatic
π· FlashDen
π· Mojo Marketplace
π· Creative Market
π· Codester
π· DesignHill
π· FreePik
π· 99Designs
2) Technical Writing
Are you that person in the group who always shares their notes with friends the night before exams? Then you can easily write away!
Choose a topic that you are good at and explain it simply. There are many platforms that pay technical writers! The starting pay for most platforms that I know about is at least 100USD for 1 article. I'd recommend that you guys research them yourself, see which platform suits you, and send an application to write for them. If they like your idea, they'll approve and hire you!
But for paid articles, generally, the person who hires you gives you a topicπ Sometimes, the paid article is about their product or how their product works, etc. They don't always demand a sample. Some see the articles you have already written on your blog or published somewhere else and hire you based on that. The next question is, "Who hires a technical writer?" Well, any site that has content (articles) on it, hires a technical writer. If I make a list, it will be too long. Also, you can be hired as a writer on freelance platforms too!
Now, If you are a beginner, you might be thinking, "what do I write about?π€". It can be literally anything!!! For example, if you learned how to set up Python today, write about it! You found some amazing resources, write about them! You learned a JavaScript topic, e.g callbacks, write about it! Especially, if you have a personal blog, write whatever you want, and have AdSense on it!
P.S: Honestly speaking, you won't ever regret technical writing. I won't start on it or else my rant will be too long. I'll write on this topic in detail in another article soon :)
3) Become a Youtuber
You can create video tutorials or talk about interesting topics. You'll start getting paid after you have a certain no of views, as defined by YouTube. It will depend on your consistency and how much hard work you are willing to put in. At the start, you won't get any attention at all, but don't give up. This is a long-term method but it's worth it!
4) Use Social Media
Is social media all about wasting time or getting some entertainment? No! You can use platforms like Twitter, Instagram, etc to showcase your knowledge and skills.
It's a great way to reach a maximum number of people. If people like your work, they can contact you to work for them!
Also, if you are into technical writing and have a blog, you can maximize your reach by sharing your articles on social media. Everything depends on how you utilize these platforms.
The next point discussed will also tell you about how you can utilize social media further for your benefit!
5) Affiliate Marketing
Currently, this is quite a popular method for marketing! Companies can hire someone with a certain following to share about their products.
π Examples:
Company A hires a blogger to write about their product in an article (see point#2 π)
Company B hires a YouTuber to make a video about their product (See point # 3)
Company C hires a social media user with a certain following to tweet a review about their product (See point # 4)
The content can be a review, how to use the product, detail of any feature, etc.
6) Create a Saas Product
A Saas is an internet software accessible to everyone. Even Netflix is a Saas service where you can buy a membership to see videosπ It doesn't have to be anything big, it can be simple too as long as it solves a problem!
However, some web devs do not realize that building a Saas can truly provide a stable source of monthly recurring passive income. But always remember that support and ongoing updates are essential. Make sure your pricing is just. If you want to make your earnings passively, outsource the support and maintenance to third parties!
7) Freelance Platforms
You can work on your schedule by getting clients from freelance platforms. Just work whenever you want from wherever you want!
Here are 17 Freelance Websites to Find Work in 2022π₯
π· Fiverr
π· Upwork
π· Toptal
π· Freelancer. com
π· Behance
π· ServiceScape
π· DesignHill
π· TaskRabbit
π· Guru
π· LinkedIn
π· Flexjobs
π· PeoplePerHour
π· SimplyHired
π· Dribbble
π· AngelList
π· YunoJuno
π· DesignCrowd
8) Selling ebooks
Are you an expert on some topic? Write about it! Make sure the content is explained properly and has enough value that people would buy it!
For example, if you are good at CSS Flexbox, write about it! What you can do to make things interesting is to add examples, how to learn the topic easily, how to practice it, what projects you can build to implement your learnings etc. Pack in as much value as you can!
For starters, keep the price low. As you move on to creating more products, you can increase their price!
9) Creating and Selling WordPress/Shopify plugins
With the right plugins and marketing strategies, you could make a good amount from subscription-based WordPress or Shopify plugins!
To define what plugin to make, what you can do is see feedback from users, note down their problems, and make sure that your plugin solves them. This way, users will be willing to pay too since it's benefitting them!
10) Offering Maintenance
Already working with some clients? Offer maintenance services! E.g, with all the new screen types coming out, clients do need their website to be accessible, right? You can make sure that everything is working fine and fix bugs!
11) Renting Websites
Do I sound crazy? Yes. But is it a good plan? Also yes.
Honestly speaking, when I was searching for income ideas and found out about this one, I was so surprised!!!
Rather than selling websites, just rent them for a fee! For example, you made a real estate website and you know some real estate agency. You can reach out and offer them your website for a monthly rental fee. You can also charge for support, updates and bug fixes as well :)
12) Chatbots
You can create and sell chatbots!
Bots are pretty useful to perform customer service tasks like greeting visitors, collecting user information, answering FAQβs and assisting companies to increase their productivity and enhance customer relationships. With the right ideas to serve the right industry, you can earn a decent amount by creating and selling bots as a web developer.
P.S: If you are a Machine Learning/Artificial Intelligence enthusiast, making complex chatbots would be easier for you and you can earn way more selling those!
13) Security Flaws and Bugs Hunting
In this modern age, Cybercrime is a very serious threat to businesses. You can find security flaws and threats on behalf of online-based companies for a fee. As a white-hat hacker, you can help companies defend against the bad guys. You'll have to test the companyβs security infrastructures or offer data protection services. Also, if you see any sort of bug in the website/web app etc, you can report it and get paid. You might even get noticed and hired by some company if you keep on being noticed! But this can demand a lot of time though.
Conclusion
It is not possible for everyone to be good at everything and I don't expect it. Explore all these in much more detail. Check what suits you the most and try that out. No rush, just move at your own pace :)
All the best to y'all!
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Top comments (2)
Thanks Ayesha for sharing the info π
Glad that you found it useful!