Sign in
Log inSign up

8 Ways To Make Money As a Developer

Vitto's photo
Vitto
·Aug 21, 2021·

4 min read

Every day I'm receiving tons of messages asking:

'Which is the best way to make money as a developer?' There are a lot!

You can for example start freelancing, or sell a course on Udemy, join a mentorship program, and much more!

Simply put, development is a gold mine.

Overview

In this post, we're going to explore my favorite ways to earn money as a web developer while creating a sustainable and successful business: • Freelancing • Mentoring • Creating a course • Building an audience • Creating a product • Starting a blog • Creating a YouTube Channel

A Constantly Updated Posted

This is a constantly updated post, there are a lot of subtopics going on here that I've decided to split into multiple posts for clarity.

Be sure to check this post out periodically to see new guides being linked

  • => Related guide is beign written

Note

Be aware that those are no shortcuts to success, you will need: Consistency, Commitment, Focus, and Time.

So get ready to get your hands dirty, and start your online business!

Become a Freelancer

If you are a web developer or an aspiring one and already master the fundamentals, this is a great way to kickstart your career.

Freelancing gives you the right amount of freedom to get an initial revenue while having the time to develop your own projects and skills.

As said, you should start freelancing at least with a fundamental knowledge of HTML, CSS, and Javascript, be sure to know enough to build at least 3 different projects.

Nope, tutorials based projects do not count.

If you know the basics and are able to develop your own stuff, you can start your freelancing journey.

How to?

  • Be sure to truly master the fundamentals
  • Develop at least 3 different projects*
  • Build a portfolio, a cool one
  • Optimize your social profiles*
  • Start mailing potential customers*

What if you are tired of developing stuff that's not yours? Maybe it's time to share the things you have learned with those who are just starting out and become a mentor.

Mentoring

If you are an experienced programmer and have some knowledge to share: It's time to jump into the wonderful world of mentorship.

1-on-1 sessions, of variable time length, paid based on your availabilities.

Now, how do you start?

How to start mentoring?

  • Create a profile on Fiverr, use social media, or join a mentorship program
  • Find your first mentees & leverage the power of word of mouth.

Sounds easy? It isn't there is a lot of stuff to think about: How do you promote yourself to get your first mentee?

How do I promote myself as a Mentor?

I may sound repetitive but social media are a gold mine. You meet amazing people, learn a lot and get an awful lot of job opportunities.

Choosing your niche, your tech, consistently posting about it, while offering to consult and mentoring services, is a great way to get your first mentees and leverage word of mouth.

You may also want to use websites such as Fiverr or Upwork, but in my honest opinion, that's not worth your time.

How do I price my mentorship?

It took me some time to find a method that suited my needs:

  • Choose the number of hours you want to mentor each week.
  • Price $25 - $50/hr.
  • If you see yourself fully booked multiple times, raise the price by $25. Repeat until you will find a balance of hours and revenue

By mentoring, you'll also create great and long-lasting connections.

If you see yourself constantly answering the same questions, why not creating a course that solves all of your problems?

Create a course

Do you think you have some knowledge worth sharing, that you would pay for? Great! Let's create a course!

There are tons of platforms where you can host your course, without all the hassles of setting up something from scratch:

  • Udemy
  • Skillshare
  • Gumroad

Are the most used ones.

You don't need to create a 52hrs long course, you just

Creating

1