Do you remember how you made your first internet dollar?
In a time when everyone is sharing their 6-figure MRRs from their businesses, it’s sometimes worth taking a look back at how we started (and maybe even finding joy in the little things). :-)
Do you still remember the moment you received your first online payment?
➤ What did you do? (type of business)
➤ How much was it?
➤ How did you achieve it?
I received my first online payment when I was ~22.
Created a WordPress website with an exercise program (yoga and fitness), and that's when I received my first 7 euros. :D I remember how excited I was (about that ridiculous amount of internet magic money). The second user was the most valuable because she was a tester by occupation and gave me a ton of feedback for improvement.
Replies
Ah, the good old days :) I still remember the thrill of that first “you’ve been paid” notification. I was around 20, freelancing on Upwork back when it wasn’t even called Upwork yet, Elance days! My first gig? Helping a small US-based startup set up their Mailchimp email flows and optimize a few landing pages. Got paid $25. It felt like I had unlocked a cheat code to the internet.
That tiny payment gave me more confidence than any internship ever did. It wasn’t just about the money it was proof that I could create value for someone I’d never met, in a different part of the world. And that changed everything for me. 🙌🏽
minimalist phone: creating folders
@hamza_afzal_butt Wait, Upwork used to have a different name? :D How is it possible I missed that :D
And the best thing about the internet money way that we proved to our relatives that an online job is a real job. :D
I built a niche cycling browser game in my early twenties, during university.
Super specific, super addicting, people were playing 2 hours a day. I charged €1/month for the premium version.
Not exactly a masterclass in monetization...
Eventually I handed the game over to the community – it’s still alive today. The most addicted players still riding I checked.
minimalist phone: creating folders
@christian_dubray What is the name/website of the project? :D
@busmark_w_nika
It's a little cringe...cycling4freaks But in my defense, I did it with Flash back then, and it looked a bit better. Community rewrote it in angular. If I had the time and it wasn't so niche, I'd love to make it cloud- and mobile-first ready...ah, those were the days ;)
minimalist phone: creating folders
@christian_dubray It is super cool that the project has been running since 2018(?) and is still alive! :)
@busmark_w_nika 2007 or something like that...as I said: it's addictive :)
I won't count my job money. When I quit my first startup, I took 2 weeks off. Out of nowhere, this guy wanted me to build them this language app. The young man was a medical student but he was earning on the side teaching English online. He wanted me to build an app for him. We first tried hiring some freelancer to do it since I didn't want to get distracted, this was beneficial in a way as this gave me insights to what the top rated people were saying and charging. Their estimate of time was certainly close to mine. I then decided to build this for him myself and delay my own idea which I hadn't even started. Since it was my first client, I charged him about a months work (job salary).
I'd wake at 5 am, start early and be done by mid day. The rest of the day was off. I'd show him the progress every week. It went really well. Got my first $500. It was less than what I was worth but you have to start somewhere and I considered building that freelance profile. When I posted that project completion on Linkedin, I got my remote job.
I would say to people and remind myself, always take time out to learn what needs to be learned and then begin executing. It's much faster in the long run. Performance goals can only be set when you are competent
minimalist phone: creating folders
@mubashirullahd And what about that project? Is it still alive?
@busmark_w_nika my last startup project is still alive. I'm not really sure about the freelance project. One month of work is not enough time to be that invested in it. My client praised me for my clean code and that's good enough for me.
minimalist phone: creating folders
@mubashirullahd which is your last one?
@busmark_w_nika they named the releasd product Chowpos.
Social Media Automation Tool for a business owner that lives in my area.