I noticed several threads here about side hustles for developers. While they provide a broad overview of available opportunities, I'd like to focus on a specific one - browser extensions!
Browser extensions stand out as the perfect undertaking for beginner developers and indiepreneurs, offering a host of advantages that facilitate both learning and entrepreneurial pursuits.
Here are three reasons:
1. Well-Documented Google Chrome Platform and Easy Scalability
Google Chrome, one of the most widely used web browsers, has a robust and well-documented extension development platform. For beginners, this means a wide range of accessible resources and guides to navigate through the process of creating extensions. What's even more enticing is the ease of scalability – once you've mastered the creation for Chrome, extending your project to other browsers becomes a straightforward endeavor.
2. Basic JavaScript Knowledge Suffices
The beauty of browser extensions lies in their simplicity, particularly in terms of the required programming skills. If you have a grasp of JS concepts like functions, event listeners, and DOM manipulation, you possess the foundation needed to hop on extension development. This low entry barrier empowers beginners to apply their existing knowledge to product crafting. Also, it's worth mentioning that for deploying an extension, the only thing you need to do is zip your files. If you're unfamiliar (which is absolutely fine on the beginner level) with hosting, PaaS, containerization, this won't be an obstacle.
3. Chrome Web Store Listings: A Traffic Magnet without a Website
Unlike many other software projects, building a website is not a prerequisite. The Chrome Web Store acts as a ready-made platform where developers can showcase their extensions directly to potential users. By optimizing your listing, you can capture organic traffic and engage with users without the need to invest in a separate website.
If I have piqued your interest, take a look at my post about building extensions with ChatGPT - a ChatGPT prompts cheatsheet is attached!
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