14 ms·

Must ride mule to and from work location

254 points by eightturn 6y ago

yourapostasy 6y ago
I really like these descriptions of long-tail businesses that connect people with lower and lower economic friction, it fulfills the original wondrous promises of the Net that filled my head when I was first exposed to it.
raunometsa 6y ago
I love nice, humble internet businesses like this!
vageli 6y ago
> Now, sure, from the outset, I could have viewed this idea from a defeatist attitude, that being, “What? I’m gonna try to compete with Indeed, SimplyHired, Monster, and the like? They’re VC backed heavyweights… I have no chance.” It's _something_ to hear others battle with a similar set of demons as myself. How easy it is to get in one's own way. What do I have to lose? This guy's story reminded me of the person selling onions via the internet (vidaliaonions.com). [0] Turns out it's the same guy! [0]: https://onezero.medium.com/the-dot-com-don-meet-the-domain-prospector-turning-stray-urls-into-real-businesses-bf9b5747e5f3 https://onezero.medium.com/the-dot-com-don-meet-the-domain-p...
- swinnipeg 6y ago
  It should remind you, it is the same guy!
tbran 6y ago
Good stuff. This author builds businesses off kind of serendipitous domain name purchases. Find a domain, build something useful on it, grind for a while, you have a business. He also wrote: I Sell Onions on the Internet [0] - He buys the vidaliaonions.com domain and works with local onion farmers to sell them. Has been linked at least a couple times on HN. Want to build a side business? Just buy a great Domain Name [1] - I like this idea because it can give you a steady stream of ideas, puts some constraints on you, and you'll probably be a lot more committed if you plunk down a few hundred or thousand dollars for a domain! [0]: https://www.deepsouthventures.com/i-sell-onions-on-the-internet/ https://www.deepsouthventures.com/i-sell-onions-on-the-inter... [1]: https://www.deepsouthventures.com/build-a-side-business/ https://www.deepsouthventures.com/build-a-side-business/
- deleted 6y ago
  [deleted]
- elbigbad 6y ago
  I saw the onion article and ordered 5lbs of Vidalia onions from vidaliaonions.com on a lark because I had never had one. Never again, maybe I just don't have a taste for them, but loved the site and was very happy with the service and product in principle. :D
  - s0rce 6y ago
    I lived in eastern Washington state and liked the Walla Walla onions, maybe try one of those.
  - baldeagle 6y ago
    There are also Texas 1015s. I can eat those like an apple. :)
    - eightturn 6y ago
      1015s are great.. Walla wallas, and maui sweets as well.
reaperducer 6y ago
I love it when "rural" and "IT" come together. Reminds me of a job listing I came across when I was on the beach a few years ago. It was for the government of the state in which I lived at the time. It was listed in the IT area. Essentially, the responsibility was to test and maintain computers and their webcams in transmitter sheds at the top of the tallest, most remote mountain peaks in the state. They were part of some kind of state-wide radio network, presumably for forest rangers, firefighters, BLM, and similar types of agencies. I didn't apply because the job listing included requirements about the ability to handle strenuous hiking, previous experience camping for a week or more at altitude in winter, and various types of outdoorsy skills which I simply don't possess. All I could imagine was spending a week walking up a mountain with a couple of servers strapped to my back in deep snow. Not my scene. And sadly, because it was a gub'mint job, it couldn't pay extra for the hardships involved.
- Jtsummers 6y ago
  Government jobs can provide hazard pay. They just don't always. They should also provide compensation for having to work weekends and holidays or non-standard shifts. I'm not sure of how every state works, but at the federal level in the US federal employees are actually hourly workers, even working a standard desk job. There is a cap on the total compensation they can get in a year (see secret service members who maxed out their pay with OT taking Trump on trips in his first year), but if you hit that you're making pretty good money. Of the states I have worked in as a state employee or knew people who did, it has been mixed. Some hourly some salaried, some have both. White collar jobs (which IT would fall under) were often salaried so that may present issues in getting proper compensation for a job like you describe.
- mauvehaus 6y ago
  Which state? Asking for a friend ;-) In all seriousness, I'm assuming a western one. If the BLM is involved, it's probably not an eastern one. Honestly, that sounds like an awesome job.
- JoeAltmaier 6y ago
  There are (were) an amazing number of old, reliable, remote systems around that need attention. My first job was with a guy who used to program and maintain the 'computers' that ran the California canal locks and pumps. They were paper-tape operated mostly-mechanical systems installed when the canal was dug.
thih9 6y ago
> At first, I seeded all the jobs myself What does this mean? I really hope this isn’t generating nonexistent job offers and accepting applications from real people. Perhaps this was copying offers from other boards, which would be relatively harmless.
- eightturn 6y ago
  author here.. when I started, I already had years of experience in the dude ranching industry, so I simply reached out to them for jobs to post. ie, I seeded, in other words, posted the jobs myself.
  - thih9 6y ago
    Thanks describing the details and congrats on a really cool project!
Zhenya 6y ago
I went to each of the listed sold domains. Working: --AppalachianTrail.com [SOLD] | --BearSpray.com [SOLD] Broken/parked: --CowboysAndIndians.com [SOLD] --WeBuyLand.com [SOLD] | --Ziplines.com [SOLD] | --LambChops.com [SOLD] Thought that was interesting.
- eightturn 6y ago
  author here. I wish I'd kept Ziplines.. I could build something neat on that. Needed cash at the time, so had to sell.
  - Zhenya 6y ago
    That one seems like a good one. Where can I go to zipline in my area...
  - nedwin 6y ago
    Do you think they bought it to develop and just never got around to it? Or as an investment, something to sell again in the future?
- mauvehaus 6y ago
  The content on AppalachianTrail.com is disappointingly shallow to put it mildly. The second most popular article on the site, about carrying a firearm on the AT, can be boiled down to "the laws are complicated, here's a lawyer joke and 2 links". Regardless of your stance on guns, an article making an honest attempt to address the question of carrying one might, just maybe, talk about the laws of each of the 14 states the trail passes through and address the question of the various federal jurisdictions the trail passes through as well. Maybe you'd also try to find some hikers who have tried to carry guns and interview them. The food and water articles are similarly shallow. You could write a chapter or more on each. The article on menstruation is just outright copied from another blog, with attribution, to be fair. And there's nothing about the current COVID-19 situation. Honestly, it's a lot of low-effort unmaintained content that doesn't add much, if anything, to what you can find with several minutes of googling. It's the kind of site that I assume is peppered with ads (or maybe affiliate links, I didn't look too hard) to make a couple of bucks. Anybody looking for actual information about the AT would be better served by any of the following: appalachiantrail.ORG <- The ATC whiteblaze.net <- AT hiker forum thetrek.co <- formerly appalachianTRIALS.com https://adventuresinstoving.blogspot.com/ https://adventuresinstoving.blogspot.com/ <- This is what actual niche content looks like.
walrus01 6y ago
I occasionally check random common nouns as domain names. Somewhat surprised that burrito.com hasn't been used by somebody to redirect to a third party food delivery service (Uber eats, doordash, skip the dishes etc) as a portal for finding Mexican food delivery near your location.
- WrtCdEvrydy 6y ago
  how? this is an amazing domain.
  - walrus01 6y ago
    My only guess is that somebody is sitting on it and trying to sell it for an unreasonably high asking price.
    - WrtCdEvrydy 6y ago
      That's the thing... just forward that site down to UberEats's site for 2 hours with an HTTP Header of "X-WANT-MORE-MONEY-CALL-ME: phone number" and you'll sell it
      - walrus01 6y ago
        Without any content or a portal on the site, I wonder what the traffic numbers really look like right now. How many persons are manually typing burrito.com into the browser address bar every day? I've no idea.
      - Thorrez 6y ago
        I don't think you can set headers on redirects.
        netsharc 6y ago
        I guess one could do a Javascript redirect and I think the browser would set a referrer. So you could redirect from burrito.domain to burrito.domain/call_us_at_xyz, and from that page redirect to ubereats, which will hopefully set a referrer. Or one could also redirect to ubereats.site/?message=Hello+Uber+Eats, which probably won't break their site, but someone will hopefully see..
jamestimmins 6y ago
OP seems unusually good at copywriting and HN-friendly headlines. That's a huge asset.
dfee 6y ago
looking at a domain now... but, it’s listed as for sale on Domainist - a site which (despite me registering, and it accepting the registration), never sent me the confirmation email needed to proceed with the offer. The thing I like about these small humble internet businesses is that they’re so close to people. Not that I’m complaining about working as an engineer on growth projects, but I often times think that each human connection / conversation is just as rewarding as the zillionth install.
oldsj 6y ago
He should really consider hosting the site on Rancheros

254 points by eightturn 6y ago

I really like these descriptions of long-tail businesses that connect people with lower and lower economic friction, it fulfills the original wondrous promises of the Net that filled my head when I was first exposed to it.

raunometsa 6y ago

I love nice, humble internet businesses like this!

vageli 6y ago

> Now, sure, from the outset, I could have viewed this idea from a defeatist attitude, that being, “What? I’m gonna try to compete with Indeed, SimplyHired, Monster, and the like? They’re VC backed heavyweights… I have no chance.” It's _something_ to hear others battle with a similar set of demons as myself. How easy it is to get in one's own way. What do I have to lose? This guy's story reminded me of the person selling onions via the internet (vidaliaonions.com). [0] Turns out it's the same guy! [0]: https://onezero.medium.com/the-dot-com-don-meet-the-domain-prospector-turning-stray-urls-into-real-businesses-bf9b5747e5f3 https://onezero.medium.com/the-dot-com-don-meet-the-domain-p...

swinnipeg 6y ago
It should remind you, it is the same guy!

tbran 6y ago

Good stuff. This author builds businesses off kind of serendipitous domain name purchases. Find a domain, build something useful on it, grind for a while, you have a business. He also wrote: I Sell Onions on the Internet [0] - He buys the vidaliaonions.com domain and works with local onion farmers to sell them. Has been linked at least a couple times on HN. Want to build a side business? Just buy a great Domain Name [1] - I like this idea because it can give you a steady stream of ideas, puts some constraints on you, and you'll probably be a lot more committed if you plunk down a few hundred or thousand dollars for a domain! [0]: https://www.deepsouthventures.com/i-sell-onions-on-the-internet/ https://www.deepsouthventures.com/i-sell-onions-on-the-inter... [1]: https://www.deepsouthventures.com/build-a-side-business/ https://www.deepsouthventures.com/build-a-side-business/

deleted 6y ago
[deleted]
elbigbad 6y ago
I saw the onion article and ordered 5lbs of Vidalia onions from vidaliaonions.com on a lark because I had never had one. Never again, maybe I just don't have a taste for them, but loved the site and was very happy with the service and product in principle. :D
- s0rce 6y ago
  I lived in eastern Washington state and liked the Walla Walla onions, maybe try one of those.
- baldeagle 6y ago
  There are also Texas 1015s. I can eat those like an apple. :)
  - eightturn 6y ago
    1015s are great.. Walla wallas, and maui sweets as well.

reaperducer 6y ago

I love it when "rural" and "IT" come together. Reminds me of a job listing I came across when I was on the beach a few years ago. It was for the government of the state in which I lived at the time. It was listed in the IT area. Essentially, the responsibility was to test and maintain computers and their webcams in transmitter sheds at the top of the tallest, most remote mountain peaks in the state. They were part of some kind of state-wide radio network, presumably for forest rangers, firefighters, BLM, and similar types of agencies. I didn't apply because the job listing included requirements about the ability to handle strenuous hiking, previous experience camping for a week or more at altitude in winter, and various types of outdoorsy skills which I simply don't possess. All I could imagine was spending a week walking up a mountain with a couple of servers strapped to my back in deep snow. Not my scene. And sadly, because it was a gub'mint job, it couldn't pay extra for the hardships involved.

Jtsummers 6y ago
Government jobs can provide hazard pay. They just don't always. They should also provide compensation for having to work weekends and holidays or non-standard shifts. I'm not sure of how every state works, but at the federal level in the US federal employees are actually hourly workers, even working a standard desk job. There is a cap on the total compensation they can get in a year (see secret service members who maxed out their pay with OT taking Trump on trips in his first year), but if you hit that you're making pretty good money. Of the states I have worked in as a state employee or knew people who did, it has been mixed. Some hourly some salaried, some have both. White collar jobs (which IT would fall under) were often salaried so that may present issues in getting proper compensation for a job like you describe.
mauvehaus 6y ago
Which state? Asking for a friend ;-) In all seriousness, I'm assuming a western one. If the BLM is involved, it's probably not an eastern one. Honestly, that sounds like an awesome job.
JoeAltmaier 6y ago
There are (were) an amazing number of old, reliable, remote systems around that need attention. My first job was with a guy who used to program and maintain the 'computers' that ran the California canal locks and pumps. They were paper-tape operated mostly-mechanical systems installed when the canal was dug.

thih9 6y ago

> At first, I seeded all the jobs myself What does this mean? I really hope this isn’t generating nonexistent job offers and accepting applications from real people. Perhaps this was copying offers from other boards, which would be relatively harmless.

eightturn 6y ago
author here.. when I started, I already had years of experience in the dude ranching industry, so I simply reached out to them for jobs to post. ie, I seeded, in other words, posted the jobs myself.
- thih9 6y ago
  Thanks describing the details and congrats on a really cool project!

Zhenya 6y ago

I went to each of the listed sold domains. Working: --AppalachianTrail.com [SOLD] | --BearSpray.com [SOLD] Broken/parked: --CowboysAndIndians.com [SOLD] --WeBuyLand.com [SOLD] | --Ziplines.com [SOLD] | --LambChops.com [SOLD] Thought that was interesting.

eightturn 6y ago
author here. I wish I'd kept Ziplines.. I could build something neat on that. Needed cash at the time, so had to sell.
- Zhenya 6y ago
  That one seems like a good one. Where can I go to zipline in my area...
- nedwin 6y ago
  Do you think they bought it to develop and just never got around to it? Or as an investment, something to sell again in the future?
mauvehaus 6y ago
The content on AppalachianTrail.com is disappointingly shallow to put it mildly. The second most popular article on the site, about carrying a firearm on the AT, can be boiled down to "the laws are complicated, here's a lawyer joke and 2 links". Regardless of your stance on guns, an article making an honest attempt to address the question of carrying one might, just maybe, talk about the laws of each of the 14 states the trail passes through and address the question of the various federal jurisdictions the trail passes through as well. Maybe you'd also try to find some hikers who have tried to carry guns and interview them. The food and water articles are similarly shallow. You could write a chapter or more on each. The article on menstruation is just outright copied from another blog, with attribution, to be fair. And there's nothing about the current COVID-19 situation. Honestly, it's a lot of low-effort unmaintained content that doesn't add much, if anything, to what you can find with several minutes of googling. It's the kind of site that I assume is peppered with ads (or maybe affiliate links, I didn't look too hard) to make a couple of bucks. Anybody looking for actual information about the AT would be better served by any of the following: appalachiantrail.ORG <- The ATC whiteblaze.net <- AT hiker forum thetrek.co <- formerly appalachianTRIALS.com https://adventuresinstoving.blogspot.com/ https://adventuresinstoving.blogspot.com/ <- This is what actual niche content looks like.

walrus01 6y ago

I occasionally check random common nouns as domain names. Somewhat surprised that burrito.com hasn't been used by somebody to redirect to a third party food delivery service (Uber eats, doordash, skip the dishes etc) as a portal for finding Mexican food delivery near your location.

WrtCdEvrydy 6y ago
how? this is an amazing domain.
- walrus01 6y ago
  My only guess is that somebody is sitting on it and trying to sell it for an unreasonably high asking price.
  - WrtCdEvrydy 6y ago
    That's the thing... just forward that site down to UberEats's site for 2 hours with an HTTP Header of "X-WANT-MORE-MONEY-CALL-ME: phone number" and you'll sell it
    - walrus01 6y ago
      Without any content or a portal on the site, I wonder what the traffic numbers really look like right now. How many persons are manually typing burrito.com into the browser address bar every day? I've no idea.
    - Thorrez 6y ago
      I don't think you can set headers on redirects.
      - netsharc 6y ago
        I guess one could do a Javascript redirect and I think the browser would set a referrer. So you could redirect from burrito.domain to burrito.domain/call_us_at_xyz, and from that page redirect to ubereats, which will hopefully set a referrer. Or one could also redirect to ubereats.site/?message=Hello+Uber+Eats, which probably won't break their site, but someone will hopefully see..

jamestimmins 6y ago

OP seems unusually good at copywriting and HN-friendly headlines. That's a huge asset.

dfee 6y ago

looking at a domain now... but, it’s listed as for sale on Domainist - a site which (despite me registering, and it accepting the registration), never sent me the confirmation email needed to proceed with the offer. The thing I like about these small humble internet businesses is that they’re so close to people. Not that I’m complaining about working as an engineer on growth projects, but I often times think that each human connection / conversation is just as rewarding as the zillionth install.

oldsj 6y ago

He should really consider hosting the site on Rancheros