More Opportunities After Quitting Traditional Work: A Summary of Recent Money-Making Paths I've Discovered

After stepping away from traditional jobs, I realized there are so many other ways to make a living, and my perspective has broadened. In the past, I never paid attention to ways of earning money outside of employment—perhaps even looked down on them. Now, whenever I see something, my first thoughts are:

• How does this make money?
• What are the entry barriers?
• How big is the market?
• If done well, can this generate significant income?

Changing my mindset has opened up new horizons full of possibilities.

1 Breaking Out of the Programmer Mindset

The only limits are those we impose on ourselves. Stepping out of the programmer mindset reveals a more beautiful world and broader paths forward. Yet, having too many options can be overwhelming—how do I choose the right one?

Selecting a direction can be challenging. It’s crucial to pick one that can generate positive feedback quickly or one that requires perseverance but will eventually yield positive feedback (provided I have the resources to sustain it until maturity). Sometimes, it’s necessary to pursue multiple paths, using quick-return options to fund long-term projects that require time and investment.

For example, Chi Jianqiang’s Mowen Xidong project generates income through platforms like Knowledge Planet and paid columns, which supports the development of Mowen Notes. Over time, Mowen Notes has also become commercialized with memberships and premium content, achieving self-sustainability.

2 Evaluating Project Suitability

I must evaluate which projects are suitable for me by considering my resources (knowledge, skills, capital), interests, experiences, and age. It’s essential to distinguish between options where benefits outweigh drawbacks and those where drawbacks prevail.

I’m not skilled at or interested in cryptocurrency investments or high-frequency stock trading, but I’m curious to understand how they work. I’m more of a long-term investor—if I find a company promising, I hold its stock for years without obsessing over short-term price fluctuations.

3 Current Areas of Focus

Here are some directions I’m currently exploring:

• Independent Development
• Web3
• Investment → Speculation
• Leveraging Existing Skills
• Blogging and Content Creation
• Passive Income (e.g., digital assets: books, articles, videos, music; investments that make money work for you)

This year, I started synchronizing my blog with my WeChat official account. Since August, I’ve received some positive feedback, thanks to recommendation algorithms (or possibly manual curation). I hope to build influence, which could benefit me later. Attending conferences and exchanging ideas with people from different backgrounds and professions is also vital.

4 Opportunities I’ve Encountered

1. Selling Resources: Such as pirated tutorials, templates, and software, marketed via platforms like Xianyu, personal websites, or Xiaohongshu.
2. Various Xianyu Businesses: Reselling, ghostwriting, memberships, and coupon sales. Browsing Xianyu reveals a variety of opportunities,, such as making money by relying on information asymmetry, providing various services, etc.
3. E-Commerce: Livestreaming, leveraging personal networks, soft ads, and storefront promotions.
4. Affiliate Marketing: Essentially a form of e-commerce, acting as a middleman for cloud service providers, domains, servers, marketplaces, etc.
5. Cloud Storage Income: Sharing resources to attract downloads, often as a promotional tactic by cloud providers (e.g., Quark).
6. WeChat Mini Programs: Monetized through ads, such as those sharing software resources or riding the AI wave with make money tutorials.
7. Tool Websites: Generating revenue through ads. For instance, the remeins Tools site reportedly has 450k monthly views.
8. YouTube Content Creation: Whether through curated or original content, finding a niche and generating ad revenue is viable. YouTube allows creators to focus on quality without worrying about monetization strategies.
9. Text and Video Media: Monetizing through sponsored content, platform ads, product promotions, or paid knowledge sharing.
10. Personal Interests and Skills: For example, turning a love for outdoor hiking into guided tours.
11. Tech Outsourcing or Consulting.
12. Low-Cost Replication: Developing software, writing books, or novels.
13. Capital-Based Ventures: Investments or speculation.
14. Independent Development Projects.

5 Outlook

Only through experimentation can we discover paths that truly suit us. By accumulating experience and iterating on our efforts, we can find new directions and establish a sustainable business model, paving the way for a brighter future.