[smhanov]

I have three side projects that together became my "full-time" job. I'm able to spend a lot of time with my kids since I can work fewer hours. I'm tired all the time due to a 4 month old baby, so I'm not doing a lot of things I should.

My method is simple and has only four steps. 1. Write something cool and put it online for free. 2. Wait 4 to 5 years. 3. Gather all the emails asking if they can license it or pay you to adapt it. 4. Then slap on a price/marketing page emphasizing what everybody asked for.

http://websequencediagrams.com is my SAAS business. When I was working on 3GPP at RIM we had to spend hours in Visio moving boxes around, and pasting the results into word documents. It was a challenging layout problem. By 2007 I made a python script that did sequence diagrams automatically and put it online. I began to get emails from companies saying they wanted to license it, so I obliged. After I left RIM, I converted it into a freemium product. I have about 400 users paying $9 to $15/month.

http://zwibbler.com gets about 70 visits a day. It's a javascript drawing library with full-service from me. Again, it started as a free HTML demo, and I began to get emails requesting me to adapt it for pay. Instead, I created the front page that offers a complete solution for $1500. By answering emails and talking on the phone, I can get 3 or 4 clients a month without even trying. I figure out what they want and reposition the buttons to do it.

My favourite is http://rhymebrain.com because I don't have to do anything. Google just transfers $1-2K into my account every month for Adsense.

[raverbashing]

Rhymebrain looks cool

Just a small note: I tried http://rhymebrain.com/en/What_rhymes_with_peace.html

And it gives things like: recognise, harmonise

I know it's tough, so don't worry too much, but if it can be fixed the better :)

[extc]

Strangely, this is a 404: http://rhymebrain.com/en/

[yitchelle]

Thanks for sharing. Just wondering where the adsense ads are for rhymebrain.com, I was not able to see it when I visited it. btw, great idea!

[celticninja]

how does rhymebrain generate income? i dont have adblock and i am not seeing any ads when i view the site, not even after a number of searches.

[smhanov]

Right now they only appear for people that arrive from a search engine directly to a word page. http://rhymebrain.com/en/What_rhymes_with_purple.html

My theory was that those people are looking to buy something. Also I hated ads. But I'm going to enable them universally soon, if only to stop the constant emails from ad companies.