Side Project Marketing: No-Code Tools, Buy vs Build, Side Projects as a Service

“The best marketing is when you don’t know it’s marketing.” — Mikael Cho

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❓ What You’ll Learn

• How to build side projects with no-code?
• How to lower market risk?
• How to design for virality?
• How to build your personal brand?
• How can agencies and freelancers use side projects?
• How to boost your domain authority?
• What is “Side Projects as a Service“?
  
  

💎 Why It Matters

Companies are working harder and paying more for attention.

🔍 Problem

Paid marketing channels are expensive and competitive.

💡 Solution

Side Project Marketing helps you build brand awareness and generate leads.

This includes quizzes, calculators, games, guides, templates, directories, checklists, apps and more.

🏁 Players

Side Project Marketing Examples

• SiteCheck • Website security tool by Sucuri
• Internet Speed Test • Internet speed checker by HighSpeedInternet
• Ad Spend Calculator • Data-driven ads budget planner by HubSpot
• Pablo • Social media image creation tool by Buffer
• Custom Playing Cards • Custom playing cards by Cartamundi
• Zappy • Screen capture tool for remote teams by Zapier
• Open Startups • Companies with open revenue metrics by Baremetrics
• SaaS Pages • Best landing pages with a focus on copywriting and design by Versoly
• Marketing Examples • Landing page, email and ad marketing examples by SwipeWell
  
  

🔮 Predictions

• No-code and low-code tools will make it easier to build side projects. These tools make development 10X faster. Marketers are becoming citizen developers and building projects themselves.
  • Omniconvert (formerly Marketizator) built quizzes with Typeform.
  • Crypto Tax Software by CoinTaxList is a software directory built with Softr.
  • NoCodeList by Drew Thomas was built in Bildr and Airtable. Later migrated to Bubble with Zapier and Sendinblue integrations.

• More agencies, freelancers and practitioners will use side projects to sell their services. Establishing authority and landing new clients.
  • Neal Agarwal built Neal.Fun with 24 fun and creative tools.
  • Pixel True made UI Kits, Mockup Generator and Design Cost Calculator.
  • Conversion Sciences launched the Conversion Rate Optimization course.
  • WeLoveNoCode made NoCode List that features 2000+ no-code tools and platforms.
  • Ali Mese made Freebie Supply that brought many freelance clients and 2,000,000+ web views.
  • Z1 made How Much to Make an App that shows how much it will cost to make an iOS or Android app.
  • Jay Clouse launched the Creative Elements podcast that led to new projects and opportunities.
  • Universum published Employer Branding NOW about the brand image of the most attractive employers.
  • Stefan Palios launched the Remotely Inclined newsletter that generated public speaking opportunities, podcast and blog interviews.
  • Jessica Hische made Should I Work for Free and Daily Drop Cap that brought new clients and let her stand out in the design community.
  • Flow Ninja published Webflow Resources & Templates and Webflow Checklist to help the Webflow community improve website design and workflow.

• More companies will build side project directories. One-stop shops covering multiple needs.
  • Business Tools by Shopify help you sell and grow your retail business.
  • Developer Utilities by Retool help you with common front-end and back-end tasks.
  • Tools for Developers by Embarcadero is a list of professional app development tools.
  • Toptal Utilities by Toptal is a list of tools for developers, designers, finance experts, project and product managers.
  • Veed Editing Tools by Veed help you cut, trim, crop, transcribe videos, add subtitles, progress bars and more.
  • Marketing Automation Tools by ActiveCampaign is a list of marketing templates, generators, checklists and more.
  • SEO Tools by Moz is a list of tools for link building and analysis, keyword research, webpage performance, local listing audits and more.
  • Free Tools by HubSpot help you grade your website, build your buyer persona, create email signatures, generate blog post ideas and more.
    
    

☁️ Opportunities

• Buy instead of build. Most side projects are small, simple and relatively cheap. See Tiny Acquisitions and SideProjectors marketplaces.
  • Globster is a glob pattern tester. Listed for $3,000. Digital Ocean has this tool.
  • Devtools is a database of 250+ tools for developers. Listed for $1,000 – $1,500.
  • Awesome Info Products is a directory of info products. Listed for $1,000 – $2,500.
  • Nimble Editor is a visual code editor that lets you design web components. Listed for $200 – $500.
  • DTC Arena is a database of direct-to-consumer brands and their contacts. Listed for $1,500 – $2,500.
  • What’s In My Fridge is a web app that shows food recipes based on what’s in your fridge. Listed for $100.
  • No-Signup Tools is a curated collection of web tools that don’t require registration. Listed for $500 – $1,000.

• Host tools on your own domain. These can generate backlinks. Which improves your domain authority. Leading to higher ranking pages and more visitors.
  • SISTRIX hosts SEO Tools on sistrix.com.
  • HubSpot hosts Meeting Scheduler on hubspot.com.
  • Mailchimp hosts Marketing Glossary on mailchimp.com.
  • NerdWallet hosts Financial Calculators on nerdwallet.com.
  • Looka hosts logo colors, ideas, styles and wiki on looka.com.
  • Agorapulse hosts Facebook Page Barometer on agorapulse.com.
  • Freshworks hosts Customer Service Maturity Quiz on freshworks.com.

• Offer side projects as a service. Help companies leverage this marketing channel by building on-demand side projects.
  • Upthrust can build an MVP for your app or micro-service.
  • Side Product Led Growth builds tools, apps and microservices.
  • Growthcurve builds tools for one-to-one target marketing campaigns.
  • Growth Rocks builds calculators, widgets, educational micro-sites and more.
  • Saxifrage offers on-demand engineering as marketing services. See Hiring Freeze Database for HR Startup.
  • EpicStudio helps you get initial traction and sales with 19 marketing strategies. Including engineering as marketing.

• Use no-code and low-code tools to build side projects. Build useful tools and attract customers faster.
  • Nocoloco by Xperian is a list of no-code templates made with Softr. 
  • VenturePact built an app cost calculator with Outgrow that brought 11,592 qualified leads.
  • PR Database by WeLoveNoCode is a list of 4,000+ startup journalists made with Airtable.
  • Startup 101 is a list of bite-sized startup lessons made with Formaloo by Farokh Shahabi and Noosh.
  • Notion Web Designer Hub by Flux Academy is a system for managing your freelance projects made with Notion.
  • Checklist Design by George Hatzis is a list of best Ui and UX practices made with Webflow. It was featured on many design forums and blogs and shared across hundreds of thousands of designers worldwide.
    
    

🏔️ Risks

• Market Risk • Don’t waste your resources building tools nobody needs. Look for evidence of need. Clone and improve tools that people already use.
• Opportunity Cost • Your time, money and energy are limited resources. Working on side projects when there are more promising options is unwise.
• Short-Termism • Side Project Marketing is a long-term investment. It can be wise to choose another marketing strategy if you are looking for immediate results.
  
  

🔑 Key Lessons

• Buying side projects helps avoid market risk. Gfycat bought GIF Brewery with 110,000+ downloads. Stefan Quartemont bought NoCodeList by Drew Thomas. Loops bought Workspaces with 8,000+ readers.
• Side projects don’t have to be unique or complex. Rishabh Dev gathered 100+ side-project ideas. Most of them can be cloned and built quickly with no-code tools. Pat Walls got 35,000 views and 200 sign-ups to Pigeon in 24 hours with How to Say No that he built over the weekend.
• Side projects generate buzz, press coverage and backlinks. Game of Hackswent viral on Hacker News, bringing thousands of new users. The HubSpot Culture Code has 6,000,000+ views and 5,300+ upvotes. BuzzFeed’s sponsored quizzes have a 96% completion rate.
  
  

🔥 Hot Takes

• Blogs, podcasts and newsletters can be side projects. This is owned media. You don’t compete with others for bandwidth. REWORK by 37signals has ~54% of direct visitors. Similarweb says that these are likely to be amongst some of the website’s most loyal and engaged users.
• Side projects are a great way to build your personal brand. Max Stoiber created react-boilerplate and styled-components. These are used by Bloomberg, Reddit, Atlassian, Coinbase, Patreon and hundreds of other companies. He uses these credentials to promote his code audit services.
• Sports jerseys and clothing with brand labels are non-programmatic paid side projects. Customers pay to promote these.
  
  

😠 Haters

“I’m busy working on the main product. Side projects will waste my time.”
A great marketing strategy at the wrong time is the wrong move. Side project marketing is a longer-term investment.

“These are free tools. I like getting paid for my work.”
We covered examples where side projects brought new leads, users and sales.

“Free tools will displace my paid product.”
Others may be able to clone your features and offer them for free. You might as well cannibalize yourself if you can be cannibalized. Find markets with moats to avoid this dilemma.

“You told me to ask for an email. Then you told me not to.”
We shared successful examples with each of those recommendations. Both strategies can work.

🔗 Links

1. Who Builds Growth Tools? • The tweet behind this report.
2. A Solid Basic Framework for a Successful Side Project • A framework for building and launching side projects.
3. How Side Projects Saved Our Startup • Mikael Cho shares how side-project marketing helped grow Crew that had 3 months of cash runway left.
   
   

📁 Related Reports

• Growth Tools • The first version of the report
• Growth Hacking • Side project marketing is part of growth marketing
• Digital Products • Checklists, ebooks, guides, templates and other tools are digital products
• No-Code • No-code makes it easier to build side projects quicker
• Curation as a Service • Curated directories, templates and guides are popular side projects
  
  

🙏 Thanks

Thanks to Nico Cerdeira, Yarty Kim, Katt Risen, Tom Arbuthnot, Maciej Cupial, Stewart Townsend and Soma Mandal. We had a great time jamming on this report.

✏️ Emin researched and wrote this report. Dru researched and edited this report.

📈 What else?

Trends PRO #0095 — Side Project Marketing has more insights.

What you’ll get:

• 32 Side Project Marketing Examples (256% More)
• 11 Predictions (267% More)
• 16 Opportunities (300% More)
• 6 Risks (100% More)
• 8 Key Lessons (167% More)
• 7 Hot Takes (134% More)12 Links (300% More)

With Trends Pro you’ll learn:

• (📈 Pro) How to generate thousands of leads?
• (📈 Pro) What are 100+ places to launch your side project?
• (📈 Pro) How to build one-feature side projects?
• (📈 Pro) How to build a no-code directory?
• (📈 Pro) What are community–generated side projects?
• (📈 Pro) How to capture high-intent leads?
• (📈 Pro) How to deepen your moat?
• (📈 Pro) How to make side projects fun and engaging?
• And much more…

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