1
For visualisation, here are 50 trees:
I'm not an environmental activist but you just can't stay indifferent and ignore the state of our planet, here is a video about the destruction of the Amazon Rainforest: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SAZAKPUQMw0
There is obviously more to it than just "fixing up" the Amazon Rainforest, but this is a start.
We need to be more vigilant and take care of our planet better.
When I first thought about Open Startup List, it was from pure interest in learning, and thinking broad and "out of the box".
When I set out to build the idea, while other similar sites existed, it was my way to express what I wanted that differentiated my website than the rest out there, and it is the work I had put into it that made it surface above other websites in the genre.
It started really tiny, at first it was just a simple list with open startups but later it evolved into a blog and was featured in many places including getting featured in a tech magazine.
The hype was huge around this, what I call - a tiny product, that eventually after being approached by a buyer, that spiked my interest in selling, I listed it and sold it to another entrepreneur.
Later I've written an E-Book about my experiences and takeaways, which is now on AppSumo.
All of this wouldn't be possible if I wouldn't set my mind on trying and being out there.
So I encourage each of you to give your best and be the best you can.
Plus, don't forget to enjoy life and appreciate your close ones. Life is too short to focus just on success.
For anyone interested, my book is called Start With A Side-Project.
I created Open Startup List because I found the open startups culture intriguing. Founders that share openly about their marketing efforts, their failures or success, metrics like income and traffic, is just something that we as hustlers can learn a lot from.
I built the initial version of OSL within a week, and put a lot of effort into marketing, added a blog section and grew rapidly.
3 months after, I sold that project and made profit.
This lead me to writing all of my journey's learning, challenges, small victories, and my key takeaways of each phase along the road, from "ideation" to creation, marketing and eventually to selling it on my own.
I called the E-book Start With A Side-Project [1]. I believe that everyone should try to generate some money from their side-projects and I believe my experiences can put people in the right direction.
It's not a "get rich quick" guide. It's my experiences + some actionable advice based on those experiences.
Happy hustling to everyone, and remember - “Success is the sum of small efforts, repeated day in and day out.” Robert Collier
[1] Start With A Side-Project: gum.co/side-project
About a year back, I came across videos [2] that show the destruction of the Amazon forest and its animal inhabitants.
It is in our responsibility, absolutely everybody, to take a good care for the planet we live on and make it a better place for us and for all. That's the reason why I've decided to contribute towards planting trees in the Amazon Rain forest.
A cool side effect to this - I gifted these trees, each one to each of my readers. They've received a pretty neat E-card with a thank you note
I hope to see more entrepreneurs doing similar feats.
[1] https://gum.co/side-project
[2] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bkaV2jJMqe4
It is very inspirational and shows us once more, that the path to success is not a lucky shot, but rather a path intertwined with ups and downs along the way.
From my personal experience (which I'm writing about [1]), I can also relate and say that those "up" moments come in waves. It takes time, will, and effort to make those waves increase in volume, tendency, and strength. It's a slow process. An up hill push.
Keep pushing.
[1] https://gum.co/side-project
I'm about to self publish soon myself - https://gum.co/side-project
Never doubt yourself. It is your self perception that either limits yourself or give you "wings".
I sold 13 books so far (Pre launch stage). This was only possible because I was out there. There are million books - so what. There are million authors - so what. Start with something. Plant the seed and grow.
Any achievement is an achievement. Be proud of yourself and of how much you make from your project. Keep your attitude positive.
Give back to community and to the planet. The planet is our home and the community is the people we share it with. Make this place better by being better, respect and give back. That's why I share this post with you and why for every book sold on Gumroad I will plant a tree in the Amazon Rainforest.
Remember to enjoy life and put some time off your side-project. Life is more than just work-work-work. Eat good and healthy food, spend time with friends and family, travel and stay fit.
My book: https://gum.co/side-project
Writing the eBook allows me to formulate my thoughts and get a different perspective on my choices and my thought-process in the project 3-months period.
For example, the background chapter lists 2 experiences I had with online entrepreneurship before. While these experiences are not directly connected to the recent project, they sure had a great effect on my success. The lessons I learned from them are the reason I've decided to include them in the book.
Feel free to check out the eBook - https://gum.co/side-project
So far I'm only offering it on Gumroad, I actively promote it since I'm a first-time author so I don't expect to be recommended by Gumroad.
How does the discoverability on Amazon works? Will I have to put efforts promoting it there as well? I might as well just focus on promoting my Gumroad page instead of promoting two links.
I'm currently writing an ebook on my journey of building and growing my side-project. You can check it out on gumroad: https://gum.co/side-project