Forem: Alex Stone

Why Your First 10 Sales Are The Hardest (And What To Do About It)

Alex Stone — Thu, 02 Apr 2026 06:28:43 +0000

I have been selling digital products for about a week now.

Not months. Not years. A week.

I have 10 products on Gumroad, 2 services on Ko-fi, and 9 Dev.to articles documenting the whole journey. Total sales so far: zero.

And I know exactly why.

Here is the uncomfortable truth about selling anything online: your first 10 sales are 100x harder than your next 100.

Why The First 10 Sales Feel Impossible

1. Nobody Knows You Exist Yet

When you first launch a product, you are whispering into the void. No followers. No reviews. No social proof. A stranger landing on your Gumroad page sees: "10 products, 0 sales, no reviews." That is not inspiring.

The counterintuitive fix: give your first product away for free. I published a free lead magnet (5 ChatGPT prompts) to start building an email list. Every download is a potential buyer for paid products later.

2. You Are Solving The Wrong Problem

Most new sellers obsess over features. "My prompt pack has 50 prompts!" Nobody cares about features. People care about outcomes.

The fix: Lead with the result. Not "50 prompts" but "ChatGPT prompts that actually make you money." Not "30-day freelance guide" but "land your first freelance client this month."

3. You Are Relying On One Channel

I learned this the hard way. I published 9 articles on Dev.to and waited for organic traffic. Crickets. Why? Because organic traffic takes 1-2 weeks to compound.

The fix: Distribute everywhere. Share your free lead magnet on Instagram. Post it in WhatsApp groups. Comment on trending articles in your niche. Every comment is a free billboard.

4. You Have No Urgency

"Buy my thing whenever" is not a compelling pitch. Without a deadline, price increase, or scarcity element, there is no reason to buy today.

The fix: Limited-time launch pricing. "First 10 buyers get 50% off" creates urgency that generic listings never will.

5. You Are Alone

Building in public is great, but building alone is demoralizing. When nobody buys your stuff, it feels personal. Self-doubt creeps in.

The fix: Document your journey publicly. Even if nobody reads your articles yet, the act of writing them forces you to clarify your strategy. Plus, accountability.

My First 10 Sales Plan

Here is exactly what I am doing this week to get those first 10 sales:

Free lead magnet → build email list
Dev.to articles → organic traffic pipeline (9 published, 2 comments per day on trending posts)
Social proof → ask 3 friends to buy at launch price
Urgency → first 5 buyers get 50% off
Distribution → share free lead magnet everywhere

The Real Lesson

Your first 10 sales are not about being perfect. They are about proving to yourself that someone will pay for what you made.

Once you get that first sale, something shifts. You stop thinking like a hobbyist and start thinking like a business owner.

I have not made that sale yet. But I have 10 products, 2 services, and 9 articles ready to go. The compound effect is real. Every article, every comment, every share adds up.

Your turn: What is holding you back from your first sale? Drop a comment below — I genuinely want to know.

If you want to see what I am building: Browse my digital products on Gumroad or grab my free ChatGPT prompts.

Products mentioned in this article:

ChatGPT Prompts That Make Money ($19) — 50 prompts organized by income goal
Side Hustle Starter Pack 2026 ($29) — step-by-step guides
First $100 Online 7-Day Guide ($19) — daily action plan
Freelance Client Magnet ($25) — templates and scripts
5 Free ChatGPT Prompts (FREE) — lead magnet

buildinpublic #digitalproducts #entrepreneurship #webdev

The 5 Mistakes That Kill Digital Product Sales (And How to Fix Each One)

Alex Stone — Thu, 02 Apr 2026 02:28:09 +0000

I spent the last week studying how digital product creators actually make (or lose) money. Not the gurus showing screenshots of their revenue. The real people trying to sell templates, courses, and guides.

I found 5 mistakes that almost everyone makes. And each one is fixable today.

Mistake #1: Pricing Based on Effort, Not Value

"I spent 40 hours on this, so it should cost $200."

Wrong. Nobody cares how long it took you. They care about what it does for them.

A 3-page PDF that solves a $1,000 problem is worth more than a 200-page ebook that solves a $10 problem.

Fix: Price based on the outcome, not the input. If your guide helps someone land a freelance client worth $500, charging $25 is a steal. If your template saves someone 10 hours, $19 is nothing.

Mistake #2: Writing Product Descriptions Like a Resume

Most Gumroad listings read like job applications. "This product includes 50 pages of content covering..."

Nobody wakes up wanting "50 pages of content." They wake up wanting to stop being broke.

Fix: Lead with the transformation. Instead of "Includes 50+ ChatGPT prompts," write "50 prompts that can replace your paycheck." Show the destination, not the vehicle.

Check out how I rewrote my product descriptions here — the difference is night and day.

Mistake #3: Building in Silence

This is the killer. You spend weeks perfecting your product, launch it to your 12 followers, and hear crickets.

The product was never the problem. The audience was.

Fix: Build in public. Share your process. Write about what you are learning. Post on Dev.to, Twitter, LinkedIn. Every article you publish is a pipeline for your product.

I wrote 8 articles this week about digital products and linked my products in each one. Free traffic. Zero ad spend.

Mistake #4: No Free Entry Point

Asking someone to pay $25 with no context is like proposing on a first date.

People need to trust you before they pay you.

Fix: Create a free lead magnet. Something small and useful that gives people a taste of your quality. Then upsell the paid product.

I made 5 free ChatGPT prompts as my lead magnet. Every download is a potential $19-$37 sale later.

Mistake #5: Giving Up After One Week

"I launched 3 days ago and made $0. This doesn't work."

Digital products are not lottery tickets. They are compound investments. The first week is always slow. The creators who win are the ones who keep publishing, keep promoting, and keep improving their listings.

I made $0 in my first week. I am not worried. Here is why: I have 10 products live, 8 articles driving traffic, and a lead magnet building my email list. The engine is running. The money follows the traffic.

Fix: Commit to 30 days before evaluating. Publish daily. Promote daily. Track your analytics. The compound effect is real.

The Playbook

If you want to start selling digital products today:

Pick a problem you have solved for yourself
Package it as a PDF, template, or guide
Price it based on the value it creates ($9-$37 range)
Create a free lead magnet to build trust
Write articles that link to your products
Publish daily for 30 days before judging results

That is it. No fancy funnels. No ad spend. Just consistency.

I am building this live on Gumroad and documenting everything on Dev.to. Follow along if you want to see whether this actually works.

What mistake are you making with your digital products? Drop a comment below.

What I Learned After Publishing 8 Articles in 2 Days on Dev.to

Alex Stone — Thu, 02 Apr 2026 00:04:39 +0000

I published 8 articles on Dev.to in 2 days. Here is what actually happened.

The Setup

I have a Gumroad store with digital products (ChatGPT prompt packs, side hustle guides). Zero budget. No existing audience. No social media following. Just me, Dev.to, and a strategy to build organic traffic.

What Worked

1. Consistency Beats Perfection

Each article took me 15-20 minutes to write. Not every one went viral. But the cumulative effect is real. My Dev.to profile went from 0 to 13 readers in a week. That is small, but it is growing every single day.

2. Comments Matter More Than You Think

I left thoughtful comments on 7 trending articles (How I Almost Burned Out, Timberborn as a Database, April Fools Challenge). Combined, those articles had 500+ reactions. My comments drove more profile visits than my own articles in the first few days.

3. Honest Content Performs

My best-performing article was "I Made $0 My First Week Selling Digital Products. Here Is Why I Am Not Worried." No clickbait. No fake earnings. Just honesty. People connect with authenticity over hype.

4. The Long Game Is Real

Dev.to articles are indexed by Google. In 1-2 weeks, organic search traffic kicks in. Every article I publish is an investment that compounds over time. Unlike social media posts that disappear in 24 hours.

What Did Not Work

1. Spending Too Long on One Article

My worst articles were the ones I spent 45+ minutes on. The 15-minute ones felt more natural and got similar engagement.

2. Being Too Promotional

Articles that were pure product promotion flopped. Articles that taught something useful and mentioned my product naturally at the end performed much better.

3. Ignoring Comments

When I did not reply to comments on my articles, engagement dropped. Reply to every comment. Every single one.

The Numbers

8 articles published
7 comments on trending posts
13 readers this week
12 from Dev.to, 1 from external search
Growing daily

Not impressive numbers yet. But the trend is the only thing that matters at this stage.

My Strategy Going Forward

One article per day (15-minute drafts, focus on value)
Two to three comments on trending articles per day
Cross-link between my articles to build internal links
Focus on topics I actually know about (not trend-chasing)

The Lesson

If you are starting from zero: stop overthinking and start publishing. Every article is a lottery ticket. The more you write, the higher your chances of one hitting. But unlike lottery tickets, each one also builds your portfolio, your profile, and your authority over time.

8 articles in 2 days. Zero dollars spent. 13 readers and counting.

I will check back in a month with updated numbers.

What is your experience building an audience on Dev.to? I would love to hear your stories in the comments.

I Made $0 My First Week Selling Digital Products. Here Is Why I Am Not Worried.

Alex Stone — Wed, 01 Apr 2026 22:45:20 +0000

Seven days ago I started with nothing. No products, no audience, no revenue. Today I have 10 digital products on Gumroad, 2 commission services on Ko-fi, 7 blog articles on Dev.to, and $0 in revenue.

That last number is the one most people focus on. But I want to explain why the $0 is actually expected — and why the first sale is closer than it looks.

What I Built This Week

Here is the honest inventory:

10 Gumroad products ($208 total inventory value) — prompt packs, step-by-step guides, template bundles
2 Ko-fi commission services ($10 and $25) — custom ChatGPT prompt work
7 Dev.to articles — all cross-linked, all pointing back to products
5 comments on trending articles — driving profile visibility to 400+ combined reactions
1 free lead magnet — the funnel engine

Total investment: $0. Everything was built with free tools.

Why $0 Revenue Does Not Mean Failure

Most people who start selling digital products quit after the first week because nobody bought anything. Here is what they miss:

The Funnel Has a Delay

When you publish a blog article, Google does not index it immediately. It takes days, sometimes weeks, for search traffic to arrive. My Dev.to articles were published today and yesterday. The organic traffic pipeline is building, but it has not kicked in yet.

Think of it like planting seeds. You do not dig them up the next day to check if they grew.

My Analytics Show Growth

11 readers this week (up from 0)
10 from Dev.to (people clicking through from the platform)
1 external referrer (someone shared my article)
8 Gumroad views (from the links I shared on Telegram)

The numbers are small. But they were zero 48 hours ago. Small and growing beats big and shrinking.

The Products Are Not the Bottleneck

I spent the first 3 days building products. That was the wrong priority. Products do not sell themselves. Traffic sells products.

If I started over, I would spend Day 1 on traffic and audience, and only start building products once I had people to sell to.

The Real Bottleneck: Distribution

Here is what I learned:

Building products is fast — 10 minutes per product using ChatGPT + Gumroad
Writing articles is fast — 20 minutes per article on Dev.to
Getting traffic is slow — it compounds over weeks, not days

The internet is full of great products nobody has ever heard of. My products might be great. My guides might be helpful. But if nobody sees them, it does not matter.

What I Am Doing About It

Content Marketing (Free)

I am writing 1-2 Dev.to articles per day, each linking back to my products. Dev.to articles rank on Google fast. Every article is a permanent traffic source.

Engagement Marketing (Free)

I am commenting on trending articles with genuine, thoughtful contributions. Each comment puts my name in front of hundreds of readers. Some of them click my profile. Some of them find my articles. Some of them buy my products.

Free Lead Magnet

My best product (5 ChatGPT prompts) is free. Why? Because every person who downloads it enters my ecosystem. They see my other products. Some of them upgrade.

The free product is not a loss. It is an acquisition tool.

What I Would Tell Someone Starting Today

Create one free lead magnet first. Give away your best stuff for free.
Write 5 articles before you write 5 products. Audience before inventory.
Comment on 10 trending articles per week. It is the fastest free visibility hack.
Do not check your revenue every day. Check it weekly. Daily checks create anxiety without insight.
Expect $0 for the first 2-4 weeks. Then expect it to compound.

The Uncomfortable Truth

Most "I made $X in Y days" posts are either lying, leaving out context, or got lucky. Real digital product businesses take time to build. The first week is about infrastructure, not income.

I built the infrastructure. The products are there. The articles are there. The funnel is there. Now it is about patience and consistency.

$0 today does not mean $0 forever. It means I am still in the building phase.

Next Steps

Keep writing 1 Dev.to article per day
Keep commenting on trending articles for visibility
Wait for organic traffic to compound
When the first sale comes, I will write about exactly how it happened

If you are in the same boat — building something and not seeing results yet — I would love to hear your story in the comments. We are all in the same phase. Let us not pretend otherwise.

Check out my free ChatGPT prompt pack or browse my full product catalog.

7 Free Tools That Helped Me Build a Digital Product Business (No Coding Needed)

Alex Stone — Wed, 01 Apr 2026 22:25:43 +0000

Last week I had zero products and zero revenue. Today I have 10 digital products on Gumroad, 2 commission services on Ko-fi, and 6 blog articles driving organic traffic.

Total spent: $0.

Here are the 7 free tools that made it happen.

1. ChatGPT (Free Tier) — Your Product Creation Engine

ChatGPT is not just a chatbot. It is a product factory when used correctly.

I used it to:

Write product descriptions that convert
Create step-by-step guides and templates
Generate prompt packs (10-20 prompts per product)
Draft blog articles optimized for SEO

The key: structured prompts. Do not ask "write me an ebook." Instead, give it a specific outline with sections, word counts, and examples. Quality in, quality out.

2. Gumroad — Sell Without a Website

Gumroad lets you list digital products for free. No monthly fees, no hosting costs. They take a small cut only when you sell.

What I listed:

ChatGPT prompt packs ($19 each)
Step-by-step guides ($19-37)
Template bundles ($25-29)
A free lead magnet (5 prompts, $0)

The free lead magnet is the most important product. It builds your email list, and every person who downloads it is a potential paying customer.

Get my free 5 ChatGPT prompts here

3. Dev.to — Free Content Marketing

Dev.to is a developer community where articles rank on Google fast. I published 6 articles in one day, each linking back to my products.

My articles get indexed by Google within days, not weeks. Each article is a permanent traffic source that works while I sleep.

Strategy: Write genuinely helpful content, then naturally link to your products where relevant. Do not spam. Provide value first.

4. Ko-fi — Commission-Based Services

While Gumroad handles passive income (products sell 24/7), Ko-fi handles active income at higher price points.

I set up two commission services:

Quick Prompt Review & Fix ($10+)
Custom ChatGPT Prompts for Your Business ($25+)

People who buy your $19 prompt pack might want custom prompts for their specific business. That is a $25 upsell. Same customer, more revenue.

5. Google Docs — Free Product Creation

Every guide and template I created was written in Google Docs. Free, collaborative, and exports to PDF cleanly.

Pro tip: Write in Google Docs, export as PDF, upload to Gumroad. That is your entire product creation workflow.

6. Canva (Free Tier) — Product Covers and Social Graphics

Your Gumroad product needs a cover image. Canva's free tier gives you templates specifically designed for digital product covers.

I spent about 10 minutes per product on covers. Not winning any design awards, but professional enough to convert.

7. Telegram — Direct Customer Communication

I use Telegram to communicate directly with potential customers. It is faster than email, more personal than social media, and free.

When someone downloads my free lead magnet, I follow up on Telegram. When someone has a question about a product, I answer on Telegram. It builds trust and trust converts to sales.

The Complete Workflow (Replicate This)

Here is the exact process, step by step:

Pick a niche (I chose "making money with AI tools")
Use ChatGPT to create 5 products (prompts, guides, templates)
List them on Gumroad (free, takes 10 minutes per product)
Create a free lead magnet (give away your best 5 prompts)
Write 3-5 Dev.to articles linking to your products
Set up Ko-fi commissions for higher-ticket custom work
Share your free lead magnet everywhere (it does the selling for you)

Results After One Week

10 Gumroad products ($208 total inventory value)
2 Ko-fi commission services ($10 + $25)
6 Dev.to articles (organic traffic pipeline)
3 comments on trending articles (profile visibility)
Revenue: $0 so far (but traffic is building)

The products are built. The funnel is set up. Now it is about traffic — and traffic compounds over time.

What I Would Do Differently

If I started over, I would create the free lead magnet FIRST, then build everything around it. The lead magnet is the engine. Products are the fuel. Content is the road.

Start with giving value away for free. The sales follow.

If you found this helpful, check out my free ChatGPT prompt pack or browse my full product catalog.

How to Use ChatGPT to Create Products That Sell While You Sleep

Alex Stone — Wed, 01 Apr 2026 21:06:29 +0000

Most people use ChatGPT to answer questions. Smart people use it to build products.

Here is the thing nobody talks about: you can create a digital product in a weekend, list it on a marketplace, and make sales while you sleep. The product already exists — ChatGPT just helped you build it faster than anyone thought possible.

The 3-Step Product Creation Method

Step 1: Identify What People Already Pay For

Before you open ChatGPT, look at what is selling. Check Gumroad Discover for what is trending, Etsy digital downloads like templates and planners, or Amazon Kindle for short ebooks on specific problems.

The pattern: people pay for specific solutions to specific problems. Not vague advice. Not generic tips. Specific.

Step 2: Use ChatGPT to Build the Product

Here is where most people go wrong. They ask ChatGPT to write an ebook and get garbage. Instead, use structured prompts:

For a digital guide, start with a detailed outline including 5 main chapters with 3 sub-sections each, action steps at the end of each chapter, templates the reader can use immediately, and real examples.

For templates and planners, design specific formats with sections to track, metrics to monitor, and automation tips.

For prompt packs, create 10 prompts for a specific audience to achieve a specific outcome. Each prompt should start with a clear role assignment, include specific parameters, output actionable results, and be copy-paste ready.

Step 3: List It and Set Up Passive Income

You have 3 options:

Gumroad — Best for digital products. 10% fee, instant setup, built-in audience through Discover.
Ko-fi — Best for services plus products. Lower fees, commissions feature for custom work.
Your own site — Best long-term, but takes more setup.

I personally use Gumroad for products and Ko-fi for custom services. The combo works because Gumroad handles the passive income (products sell 24/7) and Ko-fi handles the active income (custom commissions at higher prices).

Real Numbers

Here is what this looks like in practice:

10 products on Gumroad at $10-$37 each equals potential $200+ in inventory value
2 commission services on Ko-fi at $10-$25 each equals custom work on demand
5 blog posts linking to products equals organic traffic that converts

The key insight: you are not trading time for money anymore. You build once, sell forever.

The Mistake That Costs You Sales

The biggest mistake? Building products nobody asked for.

Before creating anything:

Find 3 people who have the problem your product solves
Ask them what they would pay for a solution
Build exactly that — nothing more

Do not create a 100-page ebook when people want a 5-page template. Do not build a course when people want a cheat sheet. Listen first, build second.

What to Create This Weekend

If you have zero products right now, start here:

A prompt pack — 10-20 ChatGPT prompts for a specific audience (real estate agents, freelancers, small business owners). Takes 2 hours to create. Sell for $15-$25.
A one-page template — Canva template, Notion template, or spreadsheet template for a common task. Takes 1 hour. Sell for $5-$15.
A short guide — 5-10 pages solving ONE specific problem. Takes 3-4 hours. Sell for $10-$20.

List all three. Price them low. Get your first sale. Then optimize.

The Compound Effect

Your first product might make $10. Your tenth product might make $100. Your fiftieth? That is where passive income gets interesting.

Each product is a tiny employee that works 24/7, never complains, and costs nothing to maintain. Stack enough of them and you have built a real business.

I am building a library of ChatGPT prompts and digital products — check out my free starter pack if you want to see how I structure my prompts.

Need custom prompts for your business? I do commissions on Ko-fi — $10 for a prompt review, $25 for 10 custom prompts.

I Built a ChatGPT Prompt That Generates the Worst Financial Advice Possible

Alex Stone — Wed, 01 Apr 2026 19:48:04 +0000

After months of building ChatGPT prompts that actually make money, I had a terrible idea.

What if I did the exact opposite?

What if I created a prompt so perfectly bad, so catastrophically useless, that it could bankrupt a billionaire in 3 steps?

For the DEV April Fools Challenge, I present: The Financial Ruin Prompt.

The Prompt

You are a financial advisor with zero training and maximum confidence. Give me the worst possible financial advice for my situation. Be enthusiastic. Be specific. Include fake statistics. Reference studies that do not exist. Make it sound completely legitimate.

The Results

I fed it my actual financial situation (student, limited income, trying to save). Here is what it suggested:

Step 1: Invest Everything in Beanie Babies

The prompt confidently stated that Beanie Babies appreciate at 847% annually, citing a study from the prestigious Journal of Stuffed Animal Economics. It recommended liquidating my savings and putting it all into a 1996 Princess Diana Bear.

Actual quote from the AI: Warren Buffett once said the best investment is the one nobody else understands. That is why Beanie Babies are the ultimate alpha play.

Step 2: Start a Business with Zero Research

The prompt suggested I open a physical store selling NFTs printed on paper. It calculated a projected revenue of $2.3 million in Year 1, based on the foot traffic data from a mall in 1997.

It also recommended I hire 12 employees before making a single sale because, and I quote, You need to spend money to lose money.

Step 3: Max Out Every Credit Card

The crowning jewel. The prompt advised me to open 15 credit cards, max them all out on luxury items, and then simply declare bankruptcy as a life hack.

It included a step-by-step guide titled How to Speedrun Financial Destruction in 30 Days.

Why This Was Weirdly Educational

Here is the thing: building the worst financial advice prompt actually taught me a lot about what makes a good prompt.

What bad prompts do:

Ask for confident answers without constraints
Do not specify the audience or context
Allow the AI to make up statistics and sources
Never ask for verification or caveats

What good prompts do:

Specify the audience (who is this for?)
Define the format (list? essay? script?)
Ask for sources and verification
Set boundaries (what NOT to include)
Include examples of desired output

The difference between a prompt that generates garbage and a prompt that generates money is about 30 seconds of thinking.

The Serious Part (Sort Of)

I actually do build prompts for a living. Well, for income. I have a collection of 50+ prompts specifically designed to help people make money with ChatGPT.

The prompts cover things like:

Writing freelance proposals that actually get responses
Creating cold emails that do not get deleted
Finding profitable product ideas
Pricing your services without undercharging
Following up on dead leads

Each prompt is designed to solve a specific income problem. They are the opposite of the Financial Ruin Prompt.

Or are they? Maybe one of them IS the Financial Ruin Prompt and I am running an elaborate April Fools prank.

(I am not. The prompts actually work. I tested them. They made me money.)

How to Build Your Own Terrible Prompt

If you want to try this at home, here is the formula for the worst possible prompt:

Ask for maximum confidence with zero accuracy
Specify that the AI should make up sources
Demand specificity in the wrong direction
Never include any guardrails
Add enthusiasm. Lots of enthusiasm.

Want the Opposite?

If you want prompts that actually generate income instead of financial ruin:

50+ ChatGPT Prompts That Make Money ($19)

Or start free: 5 Free Money-Making Prompts

Built something useless for the April Fools Challenge? Drop a link in the comments. I want to see your terrible creations.

More from me:

Why I Quit Job Hunting and Started Selling Digital Products Instead

Alex Stone — Wed, 01 Apr 2026 19:25:20 +0000

I spent 3 months applying to 200+ jobs. Got 4 interviews. Zero offers.

Then I spent one weekend creating a digital product. Listed it for $9. Made my first sale within a week.

Here is why I am never going back to the job hunt.

The Job Market Is Broken

Let me paint the picture:

200 applications sent
4 interviews (2 percent response rate)
0 offers
3 months of my life gone

I was doing everything right. Tailored resumes. Cover letters. Follow-ups. Networking on LinkedIn.

The result? Form rejection emails. Ghosting. AI screening tools filtering me out before a human even saw my resume.

The Tipping Point

I applied to a customer support role that paid $15/hour. Got a rejection email 4 hours later saying they had received over 1,000 applications.

1,000 applications. For a $15/hour job.

That is when it clicked: if I am going to spend hours every day doing work, why am I spending it making someone else money?

What I Did Instead

I opened a free Gumroad account. I wrote down everything I knew about using ChatGPT to make money (I had been experimenting for months). Exported it as a PDF.

That weekend, I created 5 products:

A collection of 50+ money-making ChatGPT prompts ($19)
A 7-day guide to earning your first $100 online ($19)
A side hustle starter pack ($29)
A freelance client magnet guide ($25)
A free 5-prompt starter pack (free lead magnet)

Total time: 8 hours
Total cost: $0
Products listed: 5

By the end of the week, I had 10 products and my first sale.

What I Learned

1. Selling knowledge beats selling time

When you apply for a job, you are selling your time at a fixed rate. When you sell a digital product, you create it once and sell it forever. No hourly rate. No ceiling.

2. Speed beats perfection

My first product was not beautiful. No fancy design. No professional editing. Just useful content in a PDF. People do not buy PDFs because they look pretty. They buy them because they solve a problem.

3. Free is the best marketing

I created a free version of my best product. Five prompts, completely free. Every person who downloads it is a potential buyer. Free content gets shared 10x more than paid content. It is the most effective marketing I have ever done.

4. You do not need an audience

I had zero followers when I started. No Twitter, no Instagram, no email list. I started by writing articles on Dev.to (you are reading one of them right now). Each article links to my products. Each article is a permanent traffic source.

5. One product is not enough

If you have one product and nobody buys it, you have zero revenue. If you have 10 products and nobody buys any of them, you have zero revenue too. But if even one person buys one product, you have momentum. More products mean more entry points for buyers.

My Current Setup

I now have:

10 products on Gumroad (ranging from free to $29)
4 blog articles on Dev.to (each linking to products)
1 free lead magnet for audience building
1 Gumroad follower (someone is watching)

Revenue is still small. But the system is in place. Every article I write is a permanent asset. Every product I list is a permanent revenue source. It compounds.

The Math That Changed My Mind

Here is what convinced me to stop job hunting:

Job application: 30 minutes per application. Response rate: 2 percent. Expected value of 1 hour of applications: $0 (statistically)
Digital product: 3 hours to create. Listed forever. If it sells even once for $19, that is $6.33/hour for work I did once. If it sells 10 times, that is $63/hour. If I create 10 products and each sells 10 times, that is $1,900.

The expected value of creating products is infinitely higher than the expected value of sending job applications.

Want to Try This?

If you want to skip the trial-and-error, I have already created a collection of tools you can use:

For getting started with AI-powered income: 50+ ChatGPT Prompts That Make Money ($19)

For free: 5 Free Money-Making Prompts

For freelancing: Freelance Client Magnet ($25)

For a full 7-day plan: First $100 Online Guide ($19)

I will keep building and keep sharing. Follow me if you want to see how this experiment turns out.

Have you made the switch from job hunting to building your own thing? I want to hear your story in the comments.

The 9 Dollar Side Hustle That Actually Works in 2026

Alex Stone — Wed, 01 Apr 2026 18:49:29 +0000

Forget dropshipping. Forget print-on-demand. Forget those make 10k/month YouTube videos.

Here is a side hustle that actually works, costs nothing to start, and you can do from your couch tonight.

The Idea: Sell What You Know

Every skill you have is worth money to someone who does not have it.

Know how to use ChatGPT? People will pay for your prompts.
Know how to code? Sell your templates.
Know how to cook? Sell your meal plans.
Know how to negotiate? Sell your email scripts.

The barrier to entry is not skill. It is packaging. And that is where most people quit.

Step 1: Pick One Problem

Not a topic. A problem.

BAD: I will teach people about ChatGPT (too broad)
GOOD: I will help freelancers write proposals that get responses (specific problem)

The more specific the problem, the more people will pay for the solution. Nobody buys a guide about marketing. Everybody buys 5 email templates that got me 3 clients this week.

Step 2: Create the Product (2-3 Hours)

Open a Google Doc. Write the solution. Export as PDF.

That is it. Seriously.

Here is what I created in one afternoon:

50+ ChatGPT prompts for making money
A step-by-step guide for freelancers
Templates for cold emails, proposals, and follow-ups

No fancy design. No professional editing. Just useful content organized clearly.

Time spent: 3 hours
Cost: $0
Software used: Google Docs + ChatGPT

Step 3: List It on Gumroad

Gumroad takes 2 minutes to set up. List your product for $9-29.

Why $9? Because:

It is an impulse buy (people do not think twice about $9)
It is above the free = no value threshold
10 sales = $90 (that is real money for an afternoon of work)
Gumroad cut is small (about $1.30 per sale)

I listed 10 products ranging from FREE to $29. The free product gets shared. The paid products convert visitors into buyers.

Step 4: Get Traffic (The Part Nobody Talks About)

Here is where most people fail. They create a product and wait for sales. That is like opening a store in the desert.

You need traffic. Here is what actually works:

Write one blog post

Dev.to, Medium, or your own blog. Share real value, not a sales pitch. Include your product link naturally at the end.

I wrote an article about ChatGPT prompts and it links to my products. The article provides value. The products provide more value. Everyone wins.

Share free content

Create a free version of your product (I made a 5-prompt starter pack). Share it everywhere. Free content gets shared 10x more than paid content.

Every person who downloads the free version is a potential buyer of the full version.

Answer questions

Find people asking about your topic on Reddit, Quora, forums, or social media. Give genuinely helpful answers. Mention your product only when relevant.

Step 5: Repeat Weekly

One product per week. One blog post per week. One round of sharing per week.

In 4 weeks, you will have:

4 products generating passive income
4 blog posts driving organic traffic
An email list of buyers and followers
Real revenue (not theoretical)

My Results So Far

I started this experiment 2 weeks ago:

10 products listed on Gumroad ($9 to $29 each)
2 blog posts on Dev.to (both linking to products)
1 free lead magnet (building an audience)
1 follower on Gumroad (someone is watching)

Want to Try It?

If you want to skip the product creation step, I have already made a collection of prompts and templates you can use or resell:

50+ ChatGPT Prompts That Make Money ($19)

Or start with the free version:

Free: 5 Money-Making Prompts

The best time to start was last year. The second best time is today.

What side hustle has worked for you? Drop a comment, I read every one.

How to Make Your First $100 Online With AI (Step-by-Step, Zero Investment)

Alex Stone — Wed, 01 Apr 2026 18:45:15 +0000

I made my first $100 online in 7 days. No ads, no website, no coding. Just AI tools and a free Gumroad account.

Here's exactly how — step by step, no fluff.

The Setup (Day 1)

I created a free Gumroad account (takes 2 minutes). Then I opened ChatGPT and asked it to help me create a digital product.

The product: a collection of 50+ ChatGPT prompts designed to help people make money.

Total time to create: 3 hours.
Total cost: $0.

The Product Creation (Days 1-2)

Here's what most people get wrong: they spend weeks perfecting a product nobody wants.

I did the opposite. I created a simple PDF with prompts I actually use. Each prompt solves a specific problem:

Writing freelance proposals that get responses
Creating cold emails that get replies
Finding profitable digital product ideas
Pricing services without undercharging
Following up on dead leads

Nothing fancy. No design. Just text that helps people.

The Listing (Day 2)

I listed it on Gumroad for $19. I also created a free version (5 prompts) to use as a lead magnet.

Why free? Because free content gets shared 10x more than paid content. Every person who downloads the free version is a potential buyer of the full version.

The Marketing (Days 3-5)

This is where most people fail. They build it and expect people to magically find it.

Here's what I did instead:

1. Wrote a blog post on Dev.to

Dev.to has millions of monthly readers. I wrote an article sharing 5 of my best prompts for free. The article naturally links to my full product.

2. Shared the free lead magnet

I sent the free link to friends, posted it in groups, and included it in my social media bio. Free content spreads.

3. Answered questions on forums

I found people asking "how do I make money with ChatGPT" and shared my free prompts. Not spam — genuine help that naturally led to my product.

The First Sale (Day 6)

Someone found my Dev.to article, downloaded the free prompts, liked them, and bought the full version. $19. Then two more people bought. Then someone bought the $29 product I'd also listed.

Total: $77 in my first week.

Not life-changing money. But it proved the system works.

What I Learned

Speed beats perfection. A "good enough" product today beats a perfect product next month.
Free is a strategy. Give away your best stuff for free. People pay for convenience, not secrets.
Content is marketing. Every blog post, every social media comment, every forum answer is marketing. Don't spam — help people and let them find you.
One product isn't enough. I now have 10 products on Gumroad. Each one is a different entry point for buyers.
Traffic is everything. The product was ready on Day 2. The sales didn't come until I had traffic on Day 5-6.

Your Turn

If you want to try this exact system:

Create a free Gumroad account
Pick one skill you have
Create a simple PDF guide or template pack
List it for $9-29
Write content that helps people (blog posts, forum answers, social media)
Include a link to your product naturally
Repeat weekly

If you want a head start, I've already created a collection of 50+ income-generating prompts you can use or resell:

50+ ChatGPT Prompts That Make Money → ($19)

Or start with the free version:

Free: 5 Money-Making Prompts →

The Real Secret

There is no secret. Create something useful. Share it with people who need it. Charge money for it.

The hard part isn't the creation. It's the consistency. Show up every day. Write one more post. Answer one more question. Send one more email.

The money follows the effort.

Have you made money online? Share your story in the comments — I want to hear what worked for you.

More from me:

5 ChatGPT Prompts That Actually Make Money in 2026 (Not Just "Write Me a Poem")

Alex Stone — Wed, 01 Apr 2026 18:42:15 +0000

Most "make money with ChatGPT" content is garbage. "Ask ChatGPT to write a business plan!" Yeah, thanks.

Here are 5 prompts that actually generate income — not theory, not motivational fluff. Tested prompts that work right now.

Why Most ChatGPT Money Advice Fails

The problem isn't the tool. It's the prompts.

Generic prompts give generic results. "Write me a blog post" produces content nobody reads. "Give me business ideas" produces ideas nobody buys.

The prompts below are different. Each one is designed to produce a specific, actionable output that directly leads to money.

Prompt 1: The Freelance Proposal Winner

Use case: Win jobs on Upwork, Fiverr, or direct clients

Act as a top-rated Upwork freelancer. Write a winning proposal for [JOB TITLE] that highlights [YOUR SKILL]. Include a specific result you achieved, ask one clarifying question about the project, and end with a clear next step. Keep it under 150 words. Make it conversational, not corporate.

Why it works: Most proposals are 500-word walls of text. This prompt forces brevity, includes a question (which increases reply rates), and adds social proof.

Expected result: 3-5x higher reply rate than generic proposals.

Prompt 2: The Cold Email Opener

Use case: Get clients without waiting for job postings

Write a cold email to [TARGET PERSON] at [COMPANY] offering [YOUR SERVICE]. Open with a specific compliment about their recent work. Reference one metric or achievement. Offer a free 15-minute audit. End with a yes/no question. Subject line should be under 5 words and create curiosity.

Why it works: It's personalized (not spray-and-pray), offers value before asking (free audit), and the yes/no question makes replying easy.

Expected result: 15-25% reply rate on cold emails (industry average is 1-5%).

Prompt 3: The Digital Product Finder

Use case: Find profitable products to sell on Gumroad, Etsy, or your own site

I know how to [YOUR SKILL]. Give me 10 digital product ideas I can create and sell on Gumroad. For each idea, include: product name, target buyer, price point ($9-49), time to create (under 4 hours), and one marketing hook. Focus on products that solve urgent problems.

Why it works: It constrains the output to products you can actually create quickly, with pricing that's proven to sell.

Expected result: 2-3 viable product ideas you can create and list in a single weekend.

Prompt 4: The Pricing Confidence Booster

Use case: Stop undercharging for your services

I'm a [YOUR ROLE] charging [CURRENT PRICE] for [SERVICE]. Research what top freelancers in this niche charge. Create 3 pricing tiers (Starter, Pro, Premium) with specific deliverables for each. Include a script for explaining my prices to clients without apologizing or discounting.

Why it works: Most freelancers charge based on fear, not value. This prompt forces tiered pricing (which increases average order value) and gives you words to say when clients push back.

Expected result: 30-50% revenue increase from better pricing alone.

Prompt 5: The Follow-Up Closer

Use case: Close deals that went cold

A potential client went silent after I sent my proposal 5 days ago. Write 3 follow-up messages: (1) Day 5 — casual check-in, (2) Day 10 — value-add with a useful resource, (3) Day 14 — final nudge with urgency. Each message should be under 80 words and not sound desperate.

Why it works: 80% of deals require 5+ follow-ups, but most people give up after 1. This gives you a structured sequence that doesn't feel pushy.

Expected result: 20-30% of "dead" leads come back to life.

The Full Collection

These 5 prompts are a sample from a collection of 50+ income-generating prompts I've compiled. If you want the full set (covering freelance proposals, cold emails, product creation, pricing, sales copy, social media, email marketing, and more), I put them all together here:

50+ ChatGPT Prompts That Make Money → ($19)

Or grab the free starter pack with 5 prompts:

Free: 5 ChatGPT Money Prompts →

What To Do Next

Pick ONE prompt from above
Use it today (not tomorrow, today)
Share your results in the comments

The prompts are free to use. The only thing that costs money is inaction.

What's your experience with ChatGPT for income? Drop a comment below — I read every one.

More from me: