Cindy's Newsletter #14 - Summer is coming
It's the time for some spring cleaning!
With the snow melting, I’m feeling the pull of the summer scheduling coming up. Even when I was working full-time, my indoor projects were generally taking a backseat to the gardening, barbecuing and just plain spending time outside. Now that the summer is there, I’m looking to cut back a bit to work only on the most successful experiment, at least until I start hibernating again.
In the last few months, I did not hold myself back and started many small experiments such as :
Started this newsletter and wrote a few blogs posts.
Made a few printables on Etsy (gardening related, so they went in my seed shop)
Launched my sock shop on Etsy, and a WooCommerce store.
Had an incomplete go at launching a micro SaaS.
Took on a few extra freelancing contracts beside my main client with web and mobile.
Finished up some electronics project that were clogging up my desk and that will have their own blog posts.
The biggest fail was unfortunately the micro SaaS. I had a good look at what was going around about the Etsy API, and I’m not going to spend any more time to get approved. I googled around after getting shadow refused, and they don’t seem to be working very well with their developer community (yes, I should have done that at the beginning). It could be a nice competitive advantage if I’m able to go through the red tape, but I don’t have the time and energy to manage that risk right now.
Building a SaaS is still pretty high on my bucket list of things I’d like to do with this business, but I’m having a lot more fun selling a few pairs of socks at the moment so I’d like to lean into this and get more marketing experience. The last few weeks have really brought home is that the most worthwhile is to get better at various forms of marketing and advertisement before trying to sell too many things at once.
So, I’m going to double down on what works for now:
Freelancing: I enjoy working with client that appreciate my work and it’s my main income. I won’t really be looking for it during the summer, but you never know.
Selling socks: A tiny thing, but I enjoyed making my first socks for clients and would like to do more. It will also be a good way to learn more about marketing. I don’t expect a lot of sale action over the summer since it’s wool socks but I can start preparing.
If you do want socks, the turnaround is quick this time of year and they’re perfect in the summer too, I wore them all summer last year. 😘👌
Blogging: I enjoy doing small electronics projects and documenting it on my RobotsBench blog. It’s also been bringing in a bit of affiliate income, so this one has already been proven to make money. I’d like to see it bring in more so I can justify more projects!
This newsletter: I’ll keep writing this to share my updates, but you’ll probably hear more about gardening and food for a while.
So, are you looking to clean up a bit this spring too?
Projects updates
I’ve been mostly knocking out small administrative tasks I’ve been piling up, completing income taxes and the like. I’m hoping that my Trello board will be a lot more sparse by the end of the week so I can focus on my main project.
I did push an update to my only published app, a calculator for weaving projects. This one is totally free, it’s just a small portfolio piece in React Native since it’s very niche. I do get to use it for my own projects and seems like a few people enjoy it too, I get a support email once every few months. Here are the links, but if you weave and read this newsletter I want to hear from you!
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.cindypotvin.weavingcalculator
https://apps.apple.com/br/app/weaving-project-calculator/id1605647678?l=en
Feeling of the week
I’m probably going to add as many as I close, but it’s the thought that counts.
Ways I can help you
I’m a freelance web and mobile developer. I have a bit of availability for clients; don’t hesitate to reach out if you need some coding help on a small project!
Get your cozy, made-to-fit wool socks at my Etsy shop https://www.etsy.com/shop/manibassocks/.
For my Canadian friends, I have a nano business selling seeds from my garden at https://sentiersperdus.net/en. It’s still the perfect time to start those tomato plants! Sorry, due to various phytosanitary concerns, it’s hard to ship those outside Canada.
Don’t hesitate to reply to this email if you want to chat, or connect on Twitter.