As the title says is it worth the struggle to make more money?
Not as your primary job, but as second source of income.
Not as your primary job, but as second source of income.
Quote: (11-26-2017 12:46 PM)questor70 Wrote:Thank you for your replies, what would you recommend for someone to be his second source of income?
Programming is in demand but it's also highly competitive. I was lucky enough to be able to switch into programming during the first dot com boom when the talent pool was too small. These days it would be difficult to jump in without having a formal education in computer science. That being said, the programming technologies that you encounter most often don't really require comp-sci backgrounds. It's just that employers (like women) set the bar higher than necessary. If I could have done it again I would have probably gotten a comp-sci degree and not have to deal with a lifetime inferiority complex.
I think as time goes on there won't be too many white-collar jobs that aren't in some way tech-related. It's going to be the last profession threatened by automation.
Quote: (11-26-2017 10:01 AM)TheCroatian Wrote:
If you were equally good at sales as you were at programming, I'd choose sales every time.
As a secondary source of income you're going to have to 1) pair your programming with some kind of marketing funnel, which you won't at all have time to build (if you're starting your own business) or 2) compete with Indians/Chinese on Upwork for $10-15/hr.
The best freelance programming money comes from face to face relationships with clients you've met in person. But then again, that's basically sales and marketing. Once you have those contracts, just outsource the work on Upwork/Freelancer.
I'm a software developer and I kind of wish I hadn't gone down this route. The income distribution is very bimodal. You're either making $50k or $250k+ (you have popular git repositories/libraries and maybe speak at conferences). It's like being a musician.
I'm actually trying to figure out how to move out of this right now and into the family business full time, which would basically involve 100% sales, affiliate marketing and e-commerce for a physical product.
Quote: (11-26-2017 10:01 AM)TheCroatian Wrote:
If you were equally good at sales as you were at programming, I'd choose sales every time.
As a secondary source of income you're going to have to 1) pair your programming with some kind of marketing funnel, which you won't at all have time to build (if you're starting your own business) or 2) compete with Indians/Chinese on Upwork for $10-15/hr.
The best freelance programming money comes from face to face relationships with clients you've met in person. But then again, that's basically sales and marketing. Once you have those contracts, just outsource the work on Upwork/Freelancer.
I'm a software developer and I kind of wish I hadn't gone down this route. The income distribution is very bimodal. You're either making $50k or $250k+ (you have popular git repositories/libraries and maybe speak at conferences). It's like being a musician.
I'm actually trying to figure out how to move out of this right now and into the family business full time, which would basically involve 100% sales, affiliate marketing and e-commerce for a physical product.
Quote: (11-26-2017 01:37 PM)stefpdt Wrote:At some point, he changed his free nomadlist, a "digital nomad" forum, into a membership site with a heavy monthly price tag. No notification was given before the change. When I tried to log in again after a few weeks of absence, I could not access my profile and my old posts any more. It found this annoying.
I would focus on building popular web products like Pieter Levels is doing. He runs NomadList, Hoodmaps, and a few other popular products.
Quote: (11-30-2017 02:35 PM)Beirut Wrote:
What are the major programming languages one should focus on?
Quote: (11-30-2017 03:37 PM)gework Wrote:
I disagree with most of the above who suggest sales over programming. As mentioned you want to program for yourself. If you're freelancing you will be lucky to push beyond $30,000. If you are good you can easily push up to $60-80K for a job; up to $250K if you get into one of the big boys. It's a good career that I think will remain safe so long as you keep your skills relevant. But if you want to go location independent, be able to transcend the nation state and make more then you need to make your own site/app. The problem is doing so requires quite a lot of knowledge. You need to know multiple languages and technologies, you should have some economic grounding and ability to spot opportunites, some knowledge of psychology is useful, you need to know how to get traffic from search engines or other sources. This will take years to learn and you might not be any good at it. Get your IQ tested. If you don't have at least 110, then you won't be a good programmer.
Quote: (11-30-2017 03:37 PM)gework Wrote:
I managed to get all the skills and knowledge required to select a niche and set up a successful site. There was little cost, just huge 60-100 / hour work weeks with no breaks for years. I don't have any clients, I don't have to deal with any people, I barely speak to any of the companies I make money for, profits are large and about 95% of revenue, I don't have to deal with the government, I could take a break though I never have and am location independent. You can't do that with sales and brick and mortar.
I haven't read this, but this guy seems to be on the same track. Though with multiple sites instead of one.
Quote: (11-30-2017 07:24 PM)TheFinalEpic Wrote:
However, starting a software business, or implementing your skills into tangibly making the world better, that's where I'd direct my efforts.
Quote: (11-30-2017 10:39 PM)Suits Wrote:
Quote: (11-30-2017 07:24 PM)TheFinalEpic Wrote:
However, starting a software business, or implementing your skills into tangibly making the world better, that's where I'd direct my efforts.
Quote: (11-30-2017 11:46 PM)TheFinalEpic Wrote:
Quote: (11-30-2017 10:39 PM)Suits Wrote:
Quote: (11-30-2017 07:24 PM)TheFinalEpic Wrote:
However, starting a software business, or implementing your skills into tangibly making the world better, that's where I'd direct my efforts.
Please kill me should I ever end up in Silicon Valley.