Starting 2018 with a Side Project
Before I get into details, I just wanted to preface this by saying I have absolutely no idea what I’m getting myself into, which is every reason to start. To be even more honest, this is the first time I’m attempting to write and publish a blog post.
Where I’m at now
“Oh, I could do that.” If this doesn’t sound familiar to you, it’s also commonly phrased in a few other ways you may have heard — it ranges from sharing the initial concept, “Damn, I wish I thought of that”, to expressing regret in the most flattering way, “Yeah that’s nice, but I probably could’ve done it better”.
It’s a painful and suffering feeling to see something of value be created by someone else when you could do it sooo much better. Yeah man, it sucks. It’s the ultimate FOMO feeling.
Seriously though, I’m a designer with relative experience in product development, brand identity, front-end, digital marketing, and SEO. There’s no reason why I shouldn’t be able to do that, so what the hell?
I’ve had cool ideas.
I’ve had stories to tell.
I’ve kept up-to-date with trends.
I’ve signed up for all the latest stuff.
I’ve even just purchased some bitcoin.
So what’s up?
You can read every book there is on entrepreneurship and listen to every successful entrepreneur’s podcast. There’s one common theme that always resonates: You learn by trying and you succeed by doing — and in the process you absorb more information to help guide your next hypothesis which you continue to try, test, and learn some more. Trying things is a vicious cycle.
Some entrepreneurs refer to this phenomenon as “hustle”, others are more blunt and just say “shut up and just do it”. Some don’t even have a choice, because their monthly rent depends on it.
But we’re not there yet, right?
What I could’ve lost?
Let’s use my side project as an example because we love facts, so let’s
hear some, complete with FOMO Translations:
- I had a bunch of friends ask me if I could help them re-design their resume. Translation: I could’ve came up with that idea on my own.
- I paid $7 for a domain name on Name Cheap. Translation: I would’ve lost one very cheap lunch for maybe a half soup and sandwich combo.
- I’m paying $25 a month to use Selz to sell digital products. Translation: I would‘ve lost three half soup and sandwich combo’s and a diet coke every month.
- It took me 1 hour to look for static-site hosting services before I came across a free method called Surge.sh. Translation: I could’ve spent an hour in line trying to get inside of an NYC club on a Friday night, and still be charged a $20 cover fee at the entry.
- It took me about 2 hours to get all my third party tools and social media accounts set up. Translation: I would be two episodes behind on Stranger Things Season 2. Still would have no idea what’s up with that kid Will.
- I spent 60+ hours designing and creating the initial set of resume products for Easy Resume. Translation: I would’ve lost the opportunity to use the 60+ hours traveling back and forth to work 5 days a week/20 days a month, to think about cool ideas to work on.
- I almost purchased an expensive SSL certificate to make my site secure before I stumbled upon Cloud Flare (a free alternative). Translation: I could’ve gone to that new Italian restaurant dinner that just opened up rather than my usual take-out spot.
- I watched dozens of videos on Introduction to SEO, Digital Marketing Strategies, and Effective Content Writing. Translation: I would never know where the YouTube rabbit hole for “Rare Sea Creatures” would’ve lead to. I’m actually kind of pissed about this one, I could’ve discovered a whole new aquatic species that I haven’t heard of before.
- I spent 3 hours at night trying to figure out how to debug some code to open a modal window on a button click. Translation: I wasn’t going to sleep at 1am anyways.
What’s next for me?
It’s safe to say that doing something is better than doing nothing. Over the course of 2018, I’m going to learn. I’ll learn by trying, doing, failing, succeeding, teaching, listening, sharing, and reflecting.
I’m going to learn if people are interested in Easy Resume over LinkedIn.
I’m going to learn who these people are and what attracts them?
I’m going to learn how to write content that they’ll find useful.
I’m going to learn how to design products that will improve their experience.
I’m going to learn what SEO actually means. Not just adding meta tags.
I’m going to learn how to build consistent traffic for a site.
I’m going to learn what works and what doesn’t.
Worst case scenario, I’ll lose a few nights of sleep and I still won’t really ever know if Will Byers is actually a demogorgon or not.
If you’re interested in checking it out, visit https://easyresume.io/ or
follow me at Ed Moss (https://twitter.com/mosstache)
P.S. I followed this post up with something very counter-intuitive: Why Blockchain Might Kill My Side Project
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