I generally like to keep things as simple as possible, but there are quite a few invaluable tools that I use in my day to day activities. In this article, I am going to quickly cover the key tools that I use to create content, sell digital products, and promote my work. Writing Writing is at the core of everything I do, and it is important to me that I can “ just write ” without having anything get in the way. I don ’ t want to worry about tedious formatting or complicated… continue reading.

One of the issues with relying on creating income from digital products like an eBook or a course is that there is typically a huge spike in income at the launch followed by a quick drop off: This is the sales graph from when I originally launched Building Mobile Apps with Ionic . This was the first product that I started to see significant success with. I chose this example because it follows a very typical launch pattern, with a big marketing push for the launch the… continue reading.

If you are creating content on the Internet and manage to build some kind of an audience, even a small one, you will almost assuredly have to deal with negativity from some of the people who consume your content. It is especially frustrating when you are being verbally attacked over free content – imagine going to somebody ’ s house for a free meal and then telling that person how bad their cooking is and that they should have cooked something else instead – but… continue reading.

When your email list is reasonably small you probably won ’ t be doing much except for sending out a weekly newsletter. However, as your list grows the advanced tools that certain email providers like ConvertKit offer start to become extremely valuable. In this article, I am going to talk specifically about how I use ConvertKit ’ s automations to engage with my email list more. The automations that I use create more value for my audience, and in turn, generates more sales… continue reading.

Passive income is one of those buzz words touted by many a make money online gurus. It is often portrayed as this dream scenario where you can make a lot of money whilst sipping cocktails on the beach. Despite the overhyped representation of what passive income actually entails, it is a way of working that has generated a lot of happiness (and money) for me … and the sipping cocktails on the beach imagery is not entirely inaccurate. When you work , you create value . For… continue reading.

Your email list is the lifeblood of your blogging business. Your email list will likely be the most valuable asset that you have. Whilst there are so many other volatile factors that determine the success of your website, your email list is the one thing that grows steadily over time and is at almost no risk of vanishing on you one day (make sure you have backups!). You don ’ t have to worry about losing that overnight to something like a Google algorithm update, or Facebook… continue reading.

In this article, I will be sharing my thoughts on self-publishing as a technical blogger. In my opinion, self-publishing is an extremely lucrative path to take which is often overlooked. Many people will aim for getting publishing deals with the likes of O ’ Reilly Media , Sitepoint , or Smashing Magazine . Over the time that I have been blogging and self-publishing books, I have been offered a few publishing deals (not with the companies I just mentioned) – none of… continue reading.

One common fear that holds people back from publishing content on the Internet is that they aren ’ t qualified to do so. The fear of writing something wrong can be paralysing. Who are you to write about a particular topic when you are far less knowledgeable than 1000 ’ s of other people out there? What if they call you out in the comments highlighting what a terrible coder you are? I think that this fear is enforced in tech communities specifically, where there exists a… continue reading.

Making money online is hard , especially for bloggers. A lot of people will start with the goal in mind of building up a lot of traffic. Once you have the traffic you can just monetise it with advertisements and make some money. This isn ’ t always entirely viable, and it is certainly not “ guaranteed ” in the sense that I am talking about it here. You need massive amounts of traffic to get a reasonable income from advertisements – especially if you are relying on… continue reading.

If you have not read my 2016 in review article, the reasons that I create these review posts are primarily the following: To evaluate my successes and failures throughout the year To see how well my year has stacked up against the goals that I set the previous year To help orient myself and set goals for the following year To provide value to anybody who might have something to gain from reading these posts Last year was the first time that I had done this. In last years… continue reading.

I ’ ve never made a year in review post before, but I find quite a lot of value in posts from others who do it, and it seems like a great way to evaluate my own progress and refocus for the next year. This year has been the most significant year of my life in many ways. I hope that I can say that about every year, but I think this one will always hold a special significance. It is the year that I quit my stable job, made the leap into working on my online business full-time… continue reading.