Share content related to independent development and product monetization, published every Friday (collection: ezindie.com)
Table of contents
1、mrrartpro：用文本画图表2、talebook：一个简单的在线版个人书库。3、GoFullPage: 一个网页截图浏览器扩展插件4、Movie-web: 一个小的Web应用，方便观看电影和节目5、一个自学开发者创建一个月收入12.5万美元的软件公司
1. mrrartpro: draw charts with text
This is a very creative product. Beautiful text (ASCII) charts can be created for sharing on Twitter, Linkedin and other social media platforms as well as a terminal or text editor.
The generation method is also very simple
1. Fill in the data
2. Configuration parameters
3. Select a template
mrrartpro official website [1]
2. Talebook: a simple online personal library.
This is an open source project, a simple and easy-to-use personal library management system.
A simple personal library management system based on Caliber that supports online reading. The main features are:
Beautiful interface: Because Caliber’s own web page was too ugly and difficult to use, a new interface was independently written based on Vue to support PC access and mobile browsing;
Support multi-user: In order to make it more convenient for netizens to use, the multi-user function has been developed to support the login of social networking sites such as Douban (obsolete), QQ, Weibo, Github;
Support online reading: With the help of Readium.js library, online reading of e-books on web pages is supported;
Supports batch scanning and importing books;
Supports email push: can be easily pushed to Kindle;
Supports OPDS: You can use APPs such as KyBooks to read books conveniently;
Supports one-click installation, initial configuration of the web version, and easy startup of the website;
When optimizing the file storage path in the large library, it can be classified by letters, or the file names can be kept in Chinese;
Supports quick update of book information: supports searching and importing basic book information from Baidu Encyclopedia and Douban;
Supports private mode: you need to enter an access code to enter the website, making it easier for small circles to share the website;
talebook open source project address [2]
3. GoFullPage: A web page screenshot browser extension
This is a browser extension with only one function, which is to take a screenshot of the entire web page, and then download png, jpg, and pdf to the local.
In the Chrome App Store, there are 7 million users. There are more than 70,000 user reviews and a rating of 4.9!
GoFullPage official website [3]
4. Movie-web: A small web application for watching movies and shows
Movie-web is an open source Web App that can easily watch movies. It can be viewed at movie-web.app. This project is designed to be simple and easy to use. Keeping functionality minimal, it aims for minimalism. You can also do your own hosting.
characteristic:
Automatically save progress, optionally sync to an account.
Save shows or movies to keep track of what you want to watch.
Simple interface
Monthly traffic can reach 6 million
movie-web open source code address [4]
5. A self-taught developer builds a software company that earns $125,000 a month
Hi everyone! I'm Alex Nordlinger, founder of Materialize, a software development studio specializing in custom mobile and web applications. We are a software development team service that provides deep technical product design, development strategy and expertise.
We primarily focus on working with clients in web and mobile application development services by providing a unique set of skills to build products efficiently and cost-effectively.
I started my career as a self-taught software engineer. As an engineer, people come to me all the time to help with their projects and make them my side projects. One day I realized I could take on more side projects if I started hiring team members, and Materialize was born. Materialize has grown to a team of 18 people and our revenue is $125,000 per month.
How did you come up with this idea?
I have always been passionate about computers and have been fascinated by them since I was a child. When I was 10 years old, my parents bought me a book about building websites with pure HTML, and that's when it all started. I spent a lot of time teaching myself programming concepts and features. Until you have enough skills to work in the company.
I started hiring other engineers to help customers develop products. The experiment went well, so I decided to take a bold plunge and devote myself to working for a company and serving my customers wholeheartedly. The "aha" moment came when I realized people would pay me for my expertise, and I enjoy building a business as much as I enjoy software development.
When I went into Materialize full-time, I had about $20,000 in my account and a small personal buffer as a buffer, which I told myself I was going to use to sustain my business. I have always been very conservative with my finances and luckily I have never had to dip into my savings to support myself because the business has always grown.
Take us through the manufacturing process of the first product
When I first started Materialize, I set my rates very low and only offered web and mobile application engineering services. I was able to win business at a lower price than my competitors and give my clients confidence that their products would be built by domain experts based on my past experience and software engineering knowledge. I charged a flat fee for all projects and started researching which platforms and services would be helpful in building a business and managing projects.
I rely heavily on reading blogs, listening to podcasts, outreach, and googling. Just like I learned to program using mostly free resources, I learned how to manage multiple projects, hire employees, manage a team, track time, invoice, manage finances, and more. It's been incredibly satisfying and rewarding, and I've found that building a business is just as much fun as building a product. Now, instead of working on one product at a time, I can work on multiple products with clients from different backgrounds and learn about all new industries along the way.
I quickly discovered that my process for building products for my clients needed to improve. I started leveraging more and more platforms and services to help me do my job better and develop standard operating procedures for my work. I read enough and learned enough from other business owners through blogs and podcasts to know that establishing a foundation of process is the key to building a scalable and successful business.
If you plan to build a scalable business, I cannot stress enough how important it is to establish processes. My intention has always been to build a business that could operate without me.
Describe the process of starting a business
Like most program developers, I do side projects just to supplement my income. At the time I was making $180,000 a year plus benefits, and I was managing a full-time team of other developers, and it would have been difficult for me to leave if I didn't create something that was generating as much or more revenue.
I had a friend come to me with a project for her company and she needed my help, I decided to say yes and hired an engineer to do the work for me. I contacted a friend who worked in recruitment and he connected me with a staffing company that could provide me with the skills I needed. The engineer's work turned out well and my friend was happy, the idea that the idea could be successful was validated. I decided to pick a business name and register an LLC in California.
I started trying to use Upwork to find qualified freelancers and engineers and decided to try creating my profile to try and win business. It turns out. Upwork has been one of my main sources of clients, and while it's difficult to scale a business solely relying on Upwork clients, I've been able to leverage it to build a referral network and a good reputation.
I experienced many setbacks and surprises while learning how to properly manage projects and hire the right people. Nothing can replace experience, and I had to go through some learning experiences to learn how to best hire people and what kind of clients to work with best. At this point, I feel confident in how I operate and how I find qualified engineers and support staff. When I first started, I often worried about how I would hire the right people I could trust. It just takes time for me to execute and I don't think there's any other way to do it better.
I’ve learned that reaching out to other business owners and having others help you build processes is key to growing your business. As an entrepreneur there will be a lot of ups and downs, persevere through the trials and tribulations. Persistence is key, and being financially conservative gave me the confidence to grow.
What attracts and retains customers?
I will continue to improve and standardize our services. In the beginning, I never said no to anything and would accept any type of job that was asked of me. I thought Materialize might be an agency that offered a variety of ancillary services, including marketing and SEO, but I quickly realized it was better to focus on what I do best: building mobile and web apps.
When I first started Materialize, I was amazed at how easily I was able to build products for multiple clients at the same time, and I figured if someone knew what I was doing, they could easily figure out my approach and replicate it. But what I’ve learned over the past few years is that I have such deep knowledge and experience in managing teams and building digital products that not just anyone can do that. The reason I do this well is because I've been doing it for so long and I've learned from my mistakes over the years.
In order to build our customer base, I hired a lot of people to help with my branding. Have redesigned our website several times, refined our words, and captured reviews as soon as we successfully delivered a project. Thoroughly documenting and standardizing our systems and processes has allowed me to grow and scale without much training.
My advice to new entrepreneurs is to write everything down and document as much as possible. Use a screen recording service, write documentation, and continually improve the way you work to make things leaner and easier to train new employees. This is the key to rapid expansion and can quickly get you promoted to CEO. If you start to see success, double down on your efforts and don't be afraid to invest in your career and yourself early on.
Any advice for other entrepreneurs who want to start a business or are just starting out?
If you have a great idea that you want to work on yourself, don't be afraid to take the risk and go for it.
I knew early on that I wanted to start my own software development company, but over the years I never worked up the courage.
The important thing is to invest in what you are already successful with and double down on it.
It's good to be conservative and save money, but you have to be careful not to stunt growth by being too conservative. A question I often ask myself is: Is what you are doing now something the CEO of a $50 million company would do? If the answer is no, then I adjust my approach to fit a very successful company. How the CEO uses his/her time and business processes.
Finding the right employees and hiring them well can make or break your business.
Interviewing and hiring was a long and difficult process, but finding the right people I could trust helped me sleep well at night and eliminated a ton of stress. Finding the right recruiting channels and trusting your resources are important first steps in running a successful business.
Reading, researching and learning from others have also been key to my success in running a business.
I learned very well by teaching myself, and I loved doing it. Learn how to track time, invoice, balance the books, hire, fire, market, write proposals, make sales, manage a team, manage schedules, and set up an LLC and more. Be cautious but take the risk and I guarantee the results will be worth it.
“You want to work for yourself, don’t be afraid to take risks and do it.”
mrrartpro official website: https://mrrartpro.com/
talebook open source project address: https://github.com/talebook/talebook
GoFullPage official website: https://gofullpage.com/
movie-web open source code address: https://github.com/movie-web/movie-web
(Issue 118): How to build a website portfolio that generates $1 million in profit?
(Issue 117): Made $2.1 million selling Notion templates
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