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New Ways to Make Money Online

15 points by ojbyrne 17y ago

clistctrl 17y ago
I really like the idea of etsy. I have a lot of friends in the town where I grew up who have valuable skills, but due to the recession nearly none can find jobs. The local economy is crushed, but sites like etsy open up possibilities to people who didn't have the technical skills to reach a global community previously.
maxklein 17y ago
What I personally am learning is this: Closed marketplaces are good! I tried doing stuff for the internet - I had a BIG discovery problem. How do people find you? If you do stuff for a closed ecosystem like the app store, ebay, amazon, etsy, facebook - the discovery channel is already in place, all you need to do is optimize for it I think it is easier for an engineer to make money in a closed ecosystem where there are already a lot of customers than if you just go wild in an unlimited place like the internets. Think of it like a shoe store. They open their stores where other stores already are and where they know the customers are already there. Opening a startup with no clear idea where your customers are is like opening a shoe store in a residential part of town where you are the only shoe store for miles. You then have to start getting really creative with marketing, which is hard.
- wallflower 17y ago
  > Closed marketplaces are good! I tried doing stuff for the internet - I had a BIG discovery problem. Yes, I am starting to meet iPhone app developers who target specific niches. In other words, people are searching for something like their app. Their app is not found via email/blog/twitter PR primarily. And it helps that the title of their app has one or more of those keywords.
  - cschneid 17y ago
    I've recommended a friend to implement similar marketing strategies. He has a small mac app (on HN previously), and he's already getting the good blog/twitter market, but I'm guessing he's missing lots of speculative queries. The kind where the user has a problem, and asks google in general terms. I think it's a useful, and probably more sustainable (steady), marketing strategy in the long run.
mahmud 17y ago
Etsy, RentACoder, Mechanical Turk: there are plenty of opportunities to make up to $5/day online. Hint: you still make a boat-load more handing out your business card at the pub during happy hour and talking to people.

15 points by ojbyrne 17y ago

I really like the idea of etsy. I have a lot of friends in the town where I grew up who have valuable skills, but due to the recession nearly none can find jobs. The local economy is crushed, but sites like etsy open up possibilities to people who didn't have the technical skills to reach a global community previously.

maxklein 17y ago

What I personally am learning is this: Closed marketplaces are good! I tried doing stuff for the internet - I had a BIG discovery problem. How do people find you? If you do stuff for a closed ecosystem like the app store, ebay, amazon, etsy, facebook - the discovery channel is already in place, all you need to do is optimize for it I think it is easier for an engineer to make money in a closed ecosystem where there are already a lot of customers than if you just go wild in an unlimited place like the internets. Think of it like a shoe store. They open their stores where other stores already are and where they know the customers are already there. Opening a startup with no clear idea where your customers are is like opening a shoe store in a residential part of town where you are the only shoe store for miles. You then have to start getting really creative with marketing, which is hard.

wallflower 17y ago
> Closed marketplaces are good! I tried doing stuff for the internet - I had a BIG discovery problem. Yes, I am starting to meet iPhone app developers who target specific niches. In other words, people are searching for something like their app. Their app is not found via email/blog/twitter PR primarily. And it helps that the title of their app has one or more of those keywords.
- cschneid 17y ago
  I've recommended a friend to implement similar marketing strategies. He has a small mac app (on HN previously), and he's already getting the good blog/twitter market, but I'm guessing he's missing lots of speculative queries. The kind where the user has a problem, and asks google in general terms. I think it's a useful, and probably more sustainable (steady), marketing strategy in the long run.

mahmud 17y ago

Etsy, RentACoder, Mechanical Turk: there are plenty of opportunities to make up to $5/day online. Hint: you still make a boat-load more handing out your business card at the pub during happy hour and talking to people.