How I Made Money from Blogging with IndieBoosting

The Issue

Hello readers of 2coffee.dev, I am caught in an endless loop of work, wanting to do everything but time doesn’t allow. I think over time I am falling into a state of distraction, surely I need to find a way out. How about you? Are you doing well? Do you still visit 2coffee.dev more frequently? The reason I ask is that since the beginning of the year, the traffic seems to have stagnated, making me question whether you are okay?

Speaking of the early days of blogging, what I expected from it was not to have readers but simply to make a personal project to learn. But ironically, the more I wrote, the more engrossed I became, and before I knew it, I was "addicted" to writing. Gradually, the time and effort invested in building and writing the blog increased. A day without writing, my mind cannot bear it.

Many people work out of passion, but they still need food and drink. Or at least those cups of coffee in exchange for hours of hard work. I remember before I spent money to rent a server to run this website, and by the time the blog had a certain amount of traffic, it was also when I thought about attaching ads from Adsense. The reading volume at that time was still low, so I never thought I could earn money, if anything, attaching ads was just out of curiosity to see if one could earn money from blogging? And if so, how much money could be earned?...

I thought it would go smoothly, but I had to go through 77 steps before the application was approved. Excitedly, I immediately started attaching the code to the website to display ads. Where should I place it? How many ads should I attach? Will users complain after it’s attached? If I attach too many, will users leave? A lot of questions popped up in my head for this significant event.

But life is not rosy. Adsense is only suitable for websites with a large to very large amount of traffic, with most of the traffic coming from abroad. Or for websites that attract user interaction and page views. Because if you don't meet those criteria, you won’t earn much commission at all. I initially thought that earning just $5 a month would be enough to pay for the server was more than enough. That was a naive thought because in the entire year of placing ads, the commission earned was a mere... $10. After that, I continued to attach Adsense ads until the time I rebuilt the blog and changed to a new environment, new code, so I temporarily paused for a while.

In the middle of last year, while I was in the process of completing the note-taking application OpenNotas, I learned about Mr. Duy and his group Build In Public VN on Facebook. This is a gathering place for those who create personal products with the hope of finding ways to earn money from them. If you share the same interests, join the community because everyone here is very active in sharing knowledge and ready to help each other on the challenging "independent" journey.

At the end of last year, Mr. Duy launched a product called IndieBoosting that operates similarly to Adsense. If you are an Indie, have a website, and have traffic, you should try using IndieBoosting. At one point, the commission rate of IndieBoosting was 20 times that of Adsense.

But is it that easy?

IndieBoosting

IndieBoosting is a SaaS platform that connects successful independent creators (indie boosters) with new indie founders. Indie boosters can introduce other products on their homepage, earn passive income, and support the indie community. In short, IndieBoosting is a bridge between indies in two roles: the supporter and the one in need of support.

For example, if you are an Indie, you have a certain standing and a website. You can support other Indies with their new products by attaching the code on your website for IndieBoosting to distribute them to your users. This increases the visibility of other Indies’ products, and in return, you earn commissions from the number of views and clicks.

If you're still confused, you can see the display frames of Indie products from IndieBoosting that I have attached to my website.

In general, you can earn money by renting space to display products on your website for IndieBoosting. Or vice versa, paying IndieBoosting to register a space for displaying products. Your products are distributed through many channels of other indies. It’s a twofold benefit, isn’t it?

How to Register

IndieBoosting has two concepts: Products and Channels.

Products are where you want to promote your products. Conversely, Channels are where you submit applications to rent display spots. Products are where you need to pay to use, while Channels are where you earn money.

Registering Channel

The registration process is very simple. Summarized in the following 4 steps.

Step 1: Register an account at IndieBoosting, you can click on this referral link of mine to register. I will receive $5 if the registrant purchases any package on this site.

Step 2: In the left MENU, click on Channels > Manage and select Add Channel to add a new channel. Fill in all the information and click Create.

Step 3: Get the code and attach it to your website.

Step 4: Wait until your channel is approved, and you’re done.

Registering Products

Similarly to Channels, registering Products is also very simple.

Step 1: Register an account at IndieBoosting, you can click on this referral link of mine to register. I will receive $5 if the registrant purchases any package on this site.

Step 2: In the left MENU, click on Products > Manage and select Add Product to add a new product. Fill in all the information and click Create.

Step 3: Products have many payment options to promote the product. By default, in "Pay As You Go" mode, just top up your account and the product will be automatically promoted. Or more professionally, purchase advanced Boost packages like Boost Pulse, Boost Signal... with a commitment to the number of views to users.

Step 4: Wait until your product is approved, and you’re done.

The Results

In the early days, IndieBoosting had a very high commission rate. However, after some updates, IndieBoosting is aiming for a balance between Channels and Products, so the algorithm is still in the process of being perfected. Because the money you earn from Channels is due to the number of people registering Products paying. IndieBoosting is a bridge between the two sides, so it must ensure the benefits for both.

Below are the results after 4 months of being a bridge on IndieBoosting. Although it’s not much, it’s definitely enough to "outdo" Adsense. Oh, and one more thing, withdrawals can only be made to Paypal, with a minimum withdrawal amount of $10 and a fee of about 3% for the withdrawal transaction.