Re:Ask HN: My side project is ramen-profitable. What do I do...
by WA on Tuesday May 03, 2016 @05:30PM
(#11624393)
Here's what I'd do:
- I'd stay in the German market, because adding additional providers and keeping up with their terms, API etc. sounds pretty annoying.
- Make it more accessible through small design improvements
- Try to find new audiences who'd benefit from this tool. Say right now, it's gamers. But what about bitcoin miners maybe? Or small businesses that need a calculator like that? The next step is to find where those audiences are and tap into these traffic sources.
- Show your tool to "influencers" (meaning: people with a small audience of 100 or more). Maybe gamers on Twitch, in hardware forums, games magazine forums, in Steam guides (or write a Steam guide)
- Maybe write more blog posts. Could even be semi-automatically. Say: Picks of the month under 100€ / under 500€ etc. Try to distribute your blog posts (see points above)
- Keep a sane mindset. Enjoy the fruits of your labor, but only do the stuff that you enjoy doing. No point in wasting time with integration some US service, if you hate that idea.
- Use it to position yourself in a specific way. Maybe it's good for your resume (creator of the popular tool pc-kombo.de + proof of popularity -> shows you know how to execute and "finish" side projects and think about customer outcomes).
- I'd stay in the German market, because adding additional providers and keeping up with their terms, API etc. sounds pretty annoying.
- Make it more accessible through small design improvements
- Try to find new audiences who'd benefit from this tool. Say right now, it's gamers. But what about bitcoin miners maybe? Or small businesses that need a calculator like that? The next step is to find where those audiences are and tap into these traffic sources.
- Show your tool to "influencers" (meaning: people with a small audience of 100 or more). Maybe gamers on Twitch, in hardware forums, games magazine forums, in Steam guides (or write a Steam guide)
- Maybe write more blog posts. Could even be semi-automatically. Say: Picks of the month under 100€ / under 500€ etc. Try to distribute your blog posts (see points above)
- Keep a sane mindset. Enjoy the fruits of your labor, but only do the stuff that you enjoy doing. No point in wasting time with integration some US service, if you hate that idea.
- Use it to position yourself in a specific way. Maybe it's good for your resume (creator of the popular tool pc-kombo.de + proof of popularity -> shows you know how to execute and "finish" side projects and think about customer outcomes).