Notes from Chris

Episode 1459

John MacAdam is a self-described “nerd at heart.” That’s why he’s been making websites for more than a decade, initially just for fun.

Back then, he was simply curious. He wanted to develop his development skills, so he began to make websites for himself, his friends, family members and local churches—all for free. At that point, he says that money was not a motivating factor for him.

Instead, every new project helped him learn something new, and that was valuable. Soon, he began to expand further than just building websites. He started to create his first products, which were simple web applications.

John spent much of his free time working on these projects, never earning a dime from them. But again, he was learning … and he identified two very important things he was learning. One was the portfolio of technical skills that still help him to this day. The other was the notion of what John calls “putting in the work.”

By 2015, John was making about $5,000 a year from his hustle. Then, someone reached out to him for a potential project, and his world changed. A tech recruiter emailed him, hoping to recruit him for a project.

John agreed to work with the tech recruiter and successfully helped the company deliver a mobile app for their client. The company was happy with his work and work ethic and has kept him on as a subcontractor ever since then.

This was great for John, both financially and emotionally. His profits increased substantially, and now he earns about $40,000 a year just from his side hustle. By working with the larger team, he’s been able to work with more prestigious clients and being able to impact more people. Not only that but working with the larger business has helped polish his skills even further.

At this point, John has no idea what is next for him. Right now, he enjoys both his side hustle and his full-time job as a transportation engineer. Oh, and the extra $40,000 a year on the side isn’t bad, either!

 

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  MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE:

• Learn more about John's at his website, MacAdam.blog.

SEE ALSO:

• 40,000 People Use This Web Developer's Side Hustle Every Day: How a San Francisco commuter became part of the original iPhone launch with a hustle that now helps more than 40,000 people every day.
• Pay Off Student Loans With Your Spare Change: After barely making a dent in student loans after years of repayments, two brothers brainstorm solutions for an app that rounds up spare change.
• Marriage Inspires Theatre Captioning App & Service: After marrying a woman who was born deaf, an actor and musician starts a side hustle captioning theater performances.

Inspiration is good; inspiration combined with action is better. Now get back to work!

Yours in the revolution,

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