Do you have any hobbies? Are there any stores in your area that cater to your hobby? I'm trying to get back into RC-car racing and if I needed a 20-hour/wk job I might look at one of my local hobby shops.
Agree with those who said lawn care. It's hard to build a long-term business because it is competitive but if you're just trying to make $1-2K/month, you can do it. Being a helper/laborer for a tradesperson also sounds like it might fit your desire to not sit in front of a computer all of the time. Good luck!
great suggestion ... I'll forward him that PDF when he's done with finals and if he works his way through that and wants to learn more, I'll invite him to spend a few weeks at my shop. Thanks Daniel.
yeah, that might be a bit aggressive with the number of technologies. He can probably get lost in HTML/css/javascript for a couple of months. I'd just like to give him an opportunity to build something he currently uses so he doesn't waste a bunch of time figuring out what to build. I'll have to dig into python and see if any of my guys around here know it. I don't and I'd like to keep him working in something that we use so we can help him out. Thanks for the comment.
This is something all publishers grapple with so I'm not going to fault Andrew for exploring ways he can make money for his time investment which is substantial. I think the pricing is a bit high ... I'd be more likely to pay $100/year for a subscription but I'm not sure if there's enough value in these interviews to warrant more. There might be but I'll have to think about it.
I also think it's going to prevent new users from discovering the value of the site and returning/becoming fans. Yes, you can watch one or two recent videos for free (currently doesn't work?), but I think people become fans when they can dig into the archive and watch some other interviews. I became a fan after discovering a link to a video somewhere and then spending a few hours digging through the archive. I'm not sure people who are just discovering Mixergy will get out the wallet on the strength of one or two videos, so they'll be less likely to dig deep and find the value of site. I wouldn't have done that, and probably wouldn't have returned except for the occasional link that shows up in a stream somewhere.
It's a tight rope to walk. There are a ton of monetization options he can explore and I don't blame him from trying. Just hope he doesn't put off his audience/guests or lose his momentum while trying to find the right path forward because this is probably the hardest one to sell.
I can't tell you how many startups I've run across who are deperately looking for programmers who know [insert cutting edge/obscure technology here].
Because they can't find anyone they like, they are stuck making bad/deperate hires or with the prospect of rebuilding the codebase. The list of technologies that are tough to hire for vary by market. In my midwest market, Rails still falls in that group and I know a ton of companies that can't find the talent they need. Do your best to stick with the technology stack that has the largest candidate pool in your market.
Agree with those who said lawn care. It's hard to build a long-term business because it is competitive but if you're just trying to make $1-2K/month, you can do it. Being a helper/laborer for a tradesperson also sounds like it might fit your desire to not sit in front of a computer all of the time. Good luck!