Make Money as a Beginner Developer
by Felix Kinaro About 2 min reading time
1. Create Website Templates
You can use WordPress or your favorite static site generators like Eleventy or Hugo. Some places to get started:
Static site templates:
Netlify has a collection of free templates you can learn JAMstack architecture from. They have good documentation and setup guides to kickstart your journey.
Netlify and Vercel were the first major serverless platforms. You may also want to explore Cloudflare Pages for your static sites and blogs.
You can host your static site projects on:
These platforms make it easy to decouple the content from the presentation. You can easily switch hosting providers or site generators. You also retain total ownership of the content as it never leaves your Github/Gitlab repository
2. Start Technical Writing
Help beginners understand technology. The goal is to impart knowledge to others in the simplest way possible. You can get started on these sites as soon as now:
Take the feedback and implement it. The only way to get better is to be consistent and patient.
3. Sell Specialized Guides
Take specific topics that you found challenging and do a deep dive on them. You will help yourself grasp the topic better and educate another person too.
There are many payment options depending on where you reside:
- Paypal, via Gumroad for international sales
- M-Pesa, for sales in East Africa
- Crypto for anyone regardless of the location
The goal is to let someone else handle the payments for you (Except for crypto anyway. You should have your keys). Your focus should remain on creating content.
4. Offer 1-1 Paid Mentorship Sessions
Teaching another person reinforces what you learn. Research shows that doing so enables your brain to create neurological pathways faster. One-on-one sessions will allow you to build confidence as an expert in a niche before you venture into offering large group sessions.
There are benefits for the mentor and the mentee:
- An accountability partner
- New ideas
- A fresh perspective on what you know
5. Participate in Contests
Contests are a great way to gauge your progress in learning new technology. It allows you to get better at problem-solving in a conducive, fun environment without much pressure.
Additionally, you make new connections and develop long-term friendships with people who have similar goals. This goes a long way in building your credibility for when the market starts noticing your work.
Lastly, there is always the potential for financial rewards for participating in contests. Hackernoon is one popular platform where this is done regularly.