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Welcome to a fresh edition of eBiz Insider, my free newsletter packed with tips, insights and opportunities to build your online business.
Today...
Built His App With ChatGPT Then Sold It
Get a Free No-Code Website
Weird Upwork Hacks From a $60,000+ Freelancer
$120K Per Year One-Man Webflow Business
$13.5K Per Month From Her Social-Powered Food Blogs
Maybe Don't Start Your Own Business
Fiverr Freelancer to $24K Website Projects
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Built His App With ChatGPT Then Sold It
Andrew Davison is an agency founder who helps companies automate tasks or processes with tools like Zapier š¤
We featured him in the newsletter a while backā¦
An interview with Andrew from last Novemberā¦
The website is Export My Base, a simple one-feature app that lets you export all your Airtable databases as CSV š¤
Andrew doesn't reveal how much it sold forā¦
While I canāt say the price, itās not life changing by any means. However, just being able to say I had an idea for an app, built it and I found someone willing to pay money for it is really fulfilling (especially as someone who dropped out of a computer science degree)
The app wasn't monetized yet, and judging by other projects listed on the marketplace Andrew used, I'd say his sale price was around $1000.
So not big money, but impressive nonetheless š
Especially since Andrew isn't much of a programmer and he didn't spend a lot of time on itā¦
Although I couldnāt code, I knew what code looked like, and I had an idea of how concepts like functions, loops, variables etc worked - in my head I could visualise what different pieces would be needed to make my app work.
Then it was a case of just describing that to ChatGPT and asking to show me codeā¦
It probably took 5-10 hours to get the first version working.
Andrew even let ChatGPT choose the coding language and tools for him, which was how he landed on Replit, a coding workspace right in your browser with nothing to install.
š„³ That worked out wellā¦
While I was working on the app, Replit launched its Ghostwriter feature which is basically ChatGPT in Replit, with the added bonus of full visibility of your codebase. It can suggest code, troubleshoot bugs and also answer general questions as youāre building.
Deciding to sellā¦
I thought about just letting it run, but decided on a whim to see if anyone would buy it. Scoring a āexitā, however small, seemed like it would be a good confidence boost and a sort of final chapter for my educationā¦
I reckon this is fast becoming the new norm for building apps: someone who doesn't really know how to code getting AI to do the heavy lifting šŖ
Andrew's advice for non-coders using ChatGPTā¦
Just get started.
Even if you donāt have any development background, just think about your app in terms of pieces of a puzzle (an input form, something happening to that data, an output etc), and ask ChatGPT - or Replitās Ghostwriter - how youād go about making that happen with code.
It wonāt work at first, and youāll get errors, but go ahead and feed those back into ChatGPT and itāll help you fix them. With persistence youāll eventually get something that works.
I liked Andrewās approach of building a one-feature app.
That keeps it pretty simple.
Could you try building a one-feature app with the help of ChatGPT and Replit? š¤
Both tools have sufficient free plans.
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Get a Free No-Code Website
Today's email is brought to you by Webflow.
That's one of the world's most popular no-code website builders, and they have a free plan so you can try it out indefinitely š
Ways to use Webflowā¦
Become a freelance web designer
Start a Webflow agency
Offer a productized service
Start your own blog or niche site
Start your own ecommerce store
Set up landing pages quick and easy
Start a local lead gen site
Get your portfolio online
Create a membership site
All without ever writing a line of code.
ā¹ļø full disclosure | sponsorship info
Weird Upwork Hacks From a $60,000+ Freelancer
š A recent video from Thomas Imā¦
Thomas has earned $60,000+ on Upwork (profile), and it looks like he only started 18 months ago š
He charges $20/hour or more for tasks likeā¦
Social media management
Content creation
Video editing
Graphic design
š To get started on Upwork, he advises doing "quick jobs"ā¦
Focus on one-and-done type of jobs.
Don't look for these long-term contractsā¦
If you're just starting out, your goal should be to build your profile and get those quick reviews and projects.
To find those kinds of gigs in your niche, filter with words likeā¦
Quick
Short
Easy
Another tip from Thomas: only apply to jobs that are fairly new.
Ideally only a couple of hours old at the most ā°
Perhaps his best tip: set up a Zapier automation that will notify you of new jobs that fit your criteria.
That might sound a bit tricky, but if Thomas was able to do it, you probably can tooā¦
Don't ask me what any of [this] means; I do not know. I just found a video on it and I use it, so I'm telling you guys about it now.
A final tip from Thomas: never send a generic cover letter š
One way to show you've actually read the job post ā which immediately makes you stand out ā is to ask clarifying questions about the job in your cover letter.
Or spell out exactly how you'd accomplish the task š§
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š $120K Per Year One-Man Webflow Business
From the archive, published Oct 2021ā¦
Youssef Sarhanās business is DesignDash.co.
Itās similar to the aforementioned DesignJoy, operating as an unlimited design subscription service where clients pay a monthly fee.
Youssef works solely with Webflow, a no-code platform for web design. He did a Q&A about the business a few months back, and estimated that he could 3-4X without hiring help.
Also notable from that Q&A is that Youssef landed his initial clients via Twitter, where heās built up an audience of 37k followers š
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