<div dir="ltr"><br><div class="gmail_quote">---------- Forwarded message ----------<br>From: <b class="gmail_sendername">Shlomi Fish</b> <span dir="ltr"><<a href="mailto:shlomif@shlomifish.org">shlomif@shlomifish.org</a>></span><br>Date: Sun, Sep 21, 2014 at 11:49 AM<br>Subject: Fw: Question about how to make a living from open source<br>To: <a href="mailto:shlomif@gmail.com">shlomif@gmail.com</a><br><br><br><br>
<br>
Begin forwarded message:<br>
<br>
Date: Sun, 21 Sep 2014 11:48:01 +0300<br>
From: Shlomi Fish <<a href="mailto:shlomif@shlomifish.org">shlomif@shlomifish.org</a>><br>
Cc: "<a href="mailto:linux-il@cs.huji.ac.il">linux-il@cs.huji.ac.il</a>" <<a href="mailto:linux-il@cs.huji.ac.il">linux-il@cs.huji.ac.il</a>><br>
Subject: Re: Question about how to make a living from open source<br>
<br>
<br>
Hi Tzahi,<br>
<br>
On Thu, 18 Sep 2014 14:15:40 +0300<br>
tzahi ml <<a href="mailto:tzahi.ml@gmail.com">tzahi.ml@gmail.com</a>> wrote:<br>
<br>
> Hi All,<br>
> I am in need of assistance.<br>
><br>
> I am currently working as a freelancer coding stuff in a company.<br>
> However, although I am making good living, this does not scale much (and<br>
> promotion is out of the question :) ).<br>
><br>
> Anyway, I am looking for ways to scale.<br>
><br>
<br>
I've written about some business models for web-based publishing here:<br>
<br>
<a href="https://plus.google.com/+ShlomiFish/posts/MRLntf3xu5Y" target="_blank">https://plus.google.com/+ShlomiFish/posts/MRLntf3xu5Y</a><br>
<br>
Some of them have correspondence to open source. See:<br>
<br>
<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<br>
Alternative profitable business models for Web-based commerce.<br>
<br>
This is a list of 5 business models for web-based commerce that do not require<br>
depending on advertising:<br>
<br>
<br>
1. Collect donations or ask for money for public appearances in advance - see<br>
<a href="https://plus.google.com/+ShlomiFish/posts/GUpTuA6641x" target="_blank">https://plus.google.com/+ShlomiFish/posts/GUpTuA6641x</a> .<br>
<br>
2. The Flickr model - charge people for a premium model.<br>
<br>
3. The Bandcamp/Humble-Bundle model - pay what you want (people can be very<br>
generous).<br>
<br>
4. The cloud model - pay for hosting or a MMORPG account<br>
(World-of-Warcraft/etc.) or whatever.<br>
<br>
5. Pay to liberate - collect money to make a CC-by-nc-sa work CC-by/etc.<br>
<br>
6. Sell merchandise - <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oNZove4OTtI" target="_blank">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oNZove4OTtI</a> .<br>
<br>
7. One can also set up non-intrusive ads like those provided by<br>
<a href="http://projectwonderful.com/" target="_blank">http://projectwonderful.com/</a> , but I doubt they'll be profitable.<br>
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>><br>
<br>
Another suggestion I can give you is to work a lot on publicity, social<br>
networking, etc. - both in real life and in Internet-based social media venues.<br>
<br>
See:<br>
<br>
<a href="http://www.reddit.com/r/Objectivism/comments/2c1fue/the_importance_of_human_networking/" target="_blank">http://www.reddit.com/r/Objectivism/comments/2c1fue/the_importance_of_human_networking/</a><br>
<br>
A chauffeur with whom I stroke a conversation at a McDonalds restaurant close to<br>
Heathrow airport in London told me he now gets most of his customers from<br>
social media outlets such as Facebook or Twitter. The newfound possibilities<br>
from real-life and electronic social networking are very much reflected in<br>
stories here:<br>
<br>
* <a href="http://www.shlomifish.org/humour/Buffy/A-Few-Good-Slayers/" target="_blank">http://www.shlomifish.org/humour/Buffy/A-Few-Good-Slayers/</a><br>
<br>
There are plenty of online communities for various topics on the Internet.<br>
Find some of them that you are interested in and contribute to them. There are<br>
Reddit subreddits, wikis (Wikipedia, Wikia wikis, etc.), IRC channels on<br>
Freenode/etc., Facebook groups and pages, Twitter feeds, mailing lists, etc.<br>
and you should be able to contribute to some of them.<br>
<br>
The greatest threat for any business is obscurity.<br>
<br>
You may also wish to invest some money in buying ads, commercials,<br>
promotions or whatever - nothing wrong with that and this money may be well<br>
worth it in publicity.<br>
<br>
Finally note the Carpe Diem / "He who saved one man has essentially saved the<br>
world entire principle" - don't try to maximise your audience immediately.<br>
Invest time in each and every friend and recipient:<br>
<br>
* <a href="http://www.shlomifish.org/humour.html#carpe_diem" target="_blank">http://www.shlomifish.org/humour.html#carpe_diem</a><br>
<br>
Finally, I should note that your English does not sound idiomatic (although I<br>
admit I heard much worse). You should work on improving it. See my advice for<br>
how to do that here:<br>
<br>
* <a href="https://groups.yahoo.com/neo/groups/hackers-il/conversations/messages/5143" target="_blank">https://groups.yahoo.com/neo/groups/hackers-il/conversations/messages/5143</a><br>
<br>
Regards,<br>
<br>
Shlomi Fish<br>
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