How Upwork Can Serve As An Inspiration For Product Development

Florian Wüest — Tue, 10 Sep 2024 12:37:50 +0000

Are you a great developer, but are you struggling to know what to build?

You know you have the technical proficiency to build something great.
You want to own a product on your own (and cough all its profits).

But... you don't know where to start?

I'd suggest you considering Upwork.

It's where I've found my product idea for my recent side project. Let me explain how.

Here's how it works:

You sign up for an Upwork account.
You start taking on new projects.
You discover some patterns on projects that you could easily automate.
You sell that automation outside of Upwork (NOT to Upwork clients).

The fourth point is important. Upwork has a fast trigger finger to ban accounts.

One strike? You're done and out. So you absolutely want to follow Upwork's Terms of Services.

Here's why it works

Sounds simple, right?

Upwork is an ecosystem of super hot leads that want to buy solutions to their problems now.

As a developer, we often make the mistake of building cool shit, that in the end...

... drum roll...

... nobody wants.

So Upwork helps you validate ideas quickly by finding out what people already pay for.

Here's how this looks like in practice:

I signed up for Upwork at the end of 2023 out of necessity. My run-rate for my startup was running dry, so I needed extra income.

A thing that I'm good at, outside of coding, is marketing. So I started offering marketing services on Upwork.

After some time, I've realized that a decent number of companies and individuals are looking for help creating Wikipedia articles.

These were noteworthy companies and individuals that deserve a Wikipedia entry.
But because no one has written one yet, they're looking for people who do.

Writing Wikipedia articles differs from writing blog posts (my regular gigs on Upwork), so I gave it a shot for a company anyway.

And... it worked!

So - could I automate it?

How the side project was born

Here's what I did to create the side project:

Use OpenAI's API
Use my Frontend and Backend skills with Next.js
Get OAuth working
Use my designer hat
Launch it on ProductHunt

And voilà - I got the first few sales!

PS: The side project is currently at about $300/mo - so not very large. If you are remotely interested, you can check it out here. Wikipedia Article AI

How My First Coding Project Gets 2,179 Visitors Every Month

Florian Wüest — Tue, 27 Aug 2024 13:55:46 +0000

I'm a late starter at coding. I have never written a single line of code until the end of 2022.

I started coding because I was bored. And because I felt I've got ripped off by a previous developer I worked with at a startup I've founded.

"This can't be THAT hard. In 30 days I should know how to code and prove him wrong." - I thought to myself.

Oh boy, was I wrong.

Learning Coding: The Reality Check

30 days in and I couldn't write a cohesive function. My naming was off. I didn't even know what 'npm' is.

Github? Sounds like an online forum... right? Wrong.

After 30 days of watching random Youtube videos, a more professional strategy needed to be brought in: Codecademy.

Codecademy

I started with Python. Then did some "Deep Learning Models" (AI, whoa) - and then did the Github stuff.

If it shows like I had no clue what I was doing, it's because I had no clue what I was doing.

The strategy was not working.

Seeking Mentorship

"Hi, Abrar, can we do weekly calls?" - I reached out to a great programmer that I've worked with.

"Sure thing, Florian" - he replied.

I've met with Abrar for 6 months, every single week. I've also did Codecademy in my 'free time'.

As you can see, it looks more structured after the first three trials:

Abrar also emphasized the importance of project-based learning.

My First Project

"If you really want to get good at programming, you have to build your own projects." - Abrar mentioned on a call.

So... a to-do list it is? Yep, a to-do list it is.

A few days of slaving away on the to-do list and I couldn't motivate myself to push further.

"This s*cks. If I use that much energy on something, it needs to have some sort of meaning."

I thought about a project I could build that would add value to people. So I went on Reddit forums about niches I feel interested in, and then I decided to build...

... drum roll ...

... an interactive language world map.

Language World Map

Yep, the first project I've ever coded was an interactive language world map.

Abrar was a big fan right from the beginning: "Man, that sounds great!"

So I started slaving away more, on something that was worth the struggle (to me).

About 3 months later (10x more than a to-do list app would have taken me), it got done:

I've launched the language world map on the 14th of July 2023 to HackerNews, expecting applause:

But like most other good projects on Hackernews, I got verbally lynched:

But instead of seeing the negative comments as 'landmines', I tried to see them as feedback.

I improved the project step-by-step - and responded to (almost) all of the comments.

When I checked my analytics for the project a few days later, I was positively surprised: It's growing!

The Aftermath

Like most coders, I've lost interest in the project after I've overcome the initial challenge.

In April 2024, after almost forgetting the project, I've checked the analytics again, and saw that 2,000 visitors are visiting it! Yay!

And also, Nay!

Why? Because if the project keeps growing (beyond 50,000 visitors), I'll get charged by Mapbox (the provider I use for the Map).

So I tried looking for ways to monetize it to keep the site online.

I've signed up for affiliate programs for language sites: Didn't work.
I've signed up for affiliate programs for flights: Didn't work.
I've signed up for affiliate programs for hotels: Didn't work.

I even tried to sell it: Didn't work.

Then re-applied for the language affiliate program and I've received another beautiful rejection email:

And that's when it hit me!

I could use it as a free tool for a bilingual job site! So, I started a new project:

BilingualJobs.io

The past LanguageWorldMap was written using basic JS, HTML and CSS. No framework, and no fundament for a 'real' website.

I still have the old code:

A 'real' website needed to be here. After consulting with Abrar, I decided to go for a Next.Js project, along with React, Tailwind and all the other good stuff.

Oh boy, that was difficult.

About 3 months later, the new Language World Map was online, now as a subdirectory for BilingualJobs.io:

The code now looks a bit more fancy (almost 2 years into coding):

And the free tool alone generates about 2,179 visitors every month for the page:

You can check it out here if you're remotely interested: https://bilingualjobs.io/language-world-map

Conclusion

Learning coding was one of the hardest things I've ever did.

It is intellectually challenging and frustrating at times, and for the first six months of coding, I had no clue what I could ever use this skill for.

About 2 years later, I feel immense gratitude for pushing myself to learn to code. I don't want to sound cheesy, but it really does expand your mind to new possibilities.

I'm incredibly proud of my project, and I can encourage everyone to learn how to code.

DEV Community: Florian Wüest