Working on side projects changed my life's trajectory.

Everyone can start one to create their own luck, just like I have with mine.

Here's why I think they're important: 1/ Side projects are an incredible learning vehicle

Most knowledge is internalized through experience. You'll probably learn a lot better through reading or watching something, then practicing it, than just being stuck in the theory stage.

They enable you to learn by doing.

The right shortcuts can save you hours.

But many people miss out on the fastest way to start new docs.

Here are the best .new tricks you never knew👇 There are shortcuts you can type into the URL bar to generate a new Google item:

doc.new - new doc
sheet.new - new sheet
deck.new - new slideshow
form.new - new form
cal.new - new cal invite

Good website copy makes you money.

How do you ensure that you've communicated well?

Use the value, clarity & credibility test: Check each statement for value, clarity and credibility as you go through the copy.

Increase the odds of people sharing your work by implementing easy "click to share" links.

Take the friction out of the process by creating pre-filled tweets for them.

How to do it for free: 1. Go to sharelinkgenerator.com

Type in the words you'd like your customers / readers to share in the text box

A wantrepreneur is someone who would like to start a business and thinks and talks about doing so, but never gets started.

Don't be a wantrepreneur. Be an entrepreneur.

Here are a few things that differentiate the two: An entrepreneur builds a specific audience to serve

A wantrepreneur shouts randomly, and assumes customers will find his/her product

Validate ideas before throwing insane amounts of resources into them.

If you're building a for-profit business or product that requires significant upfront investment, make sure you validate your idea.

How? 1. Pre-sales

Throw up a quick landing page and collect pre-payments for your idea.

If people are willing to put up cash for your product, it means that they truly value it. I always prefer pre-sales to waiting lists.

Ever purchase something even though you didn't need it? All of us have.

We're exposed daily to psychological tricks designed to make us spend more.

Uncovering 15 tricks in this thread 👇 Richard Thaler coined the term Nudge to refer to these tricks.

Nudges involve designing changes in the environment that will appeal to the psychology of a decision maker, in order to encourage desired behavior.

TLDR: Nudges make choosing simpler!

Tech stack for my 5-figure product

Giving you a breakdown to show that it's possible to build products without breaking the bank.

I spent very little building my product & it costs less than $40 to maintain the full stack per month! 1 - Product

Product: @NotionHQ
Icons: @flaticon / @icons_8
Feedback: @airtable
Screenshot: @CleanShot
Video to GIF: @ezgif_com
Link shortener: switchy

BrainPint magic 🎉

https://twitter.com/learnwithvidya/status/1346510086261260289

Anyone want to vouch for the magical effect of BrainPint?

Love that I have the chance to share cool gems with you every week. I have a voice and a platform and I choose to use it to lift others up (as I have been, by others)

I know a lot of people who follow me have started to build side projects.

Here are 5 quick tips for you to save money on your side projects. Building doesn't have to cost a ton 👇 1/ Domain

Don't use GoDaddy - poor service and overpriced.

Try @Namecheap instead. Affordably priced, awesome customer service (real agents that respond almost instantly) and include free WHOIS protection.

I prefer .com, .co or .io domains

Last week’s edition of BrainPint went out to 1,746 people.

Here are the top clicks:
- Brain Drops by @rumberg
- Polotno App (free Canva alternative)
- Answer Socrates (SEO/Research Tool)
- Create Proof Points by @wes_kao Interesting Reads

Create Proof Points by @wes_kao
Benefits of Laziness by @anthilemoon
12 Career Lessons
Social Strikes Back by @a16z

Over the past few months, I've curated the best tweets about newsletters from the best and brightest writers.

Today I'm sharing them with you in a thread. Why you should start a newsletter by @jspector

https://twitter.com/jspector/status/1269814156393435138?s=20

Last Thursday I did something really exciting.

My first Product Hunt launch for NewsletterOS.com!

Although I didn't place in Top #5 of the day, I was the #1 Most commented on product of the week.

Wanted to share what I've learned in this thread 👇 1/ Success Metrics

Everyone goes into a Product Hunt launch with different goals. You cannot go into it with a focus on upvotes which are just a vanity metric

If you have a product/ service, you should aim for conversions. + A goal of learning from the process!

October Twitter statistics

- 940K tweet impressions
- 940 tweets
- 38.1k profile visits
- 1,325 new followers

The metric I like the most is 1,499 mentions. Wow. September statistics in comparison.

- 400k tweet impressions
- 443 tweets
- 301 new followers
- 688 mentions

Launched Newsletter Operating System!

150+ hours of work went into this one.

Problem:
Managing a newsletter is time-consuming

Solution:
I've created a dashboard that helps save you hours in the curation, writing & growth process

More below 👇 Set out to build the best newsletter resource for individual writers.

Ended up with a plug and play dashboard that's packed with information, and most of all, super actionable.

My friend @thisiskp_ has landed his dream job at @beondeck by building in public.

I'm so thrilled for KP & lucky to count him as a friend.

He has inspired many builders & makers with his work.

Here's a thread on what I've learned from KP & a collection of his best threads 👇 1/ Before I dive in, let me first preface this with:

Beyond being profilic and generous with his sharing, @thisiskp_ is also a champion for the underdog.

He took a chance on me a few months ago when I had 30+ followers on Twitter and has been a large part of my growth.

Stumbled upon a fascinating site that I call
"What People Wish They Knew At Your Age"

Life advice, sorted by age
Everything is anonymous & crowd-sourced

Sharing a thread of interesting life advice from one of the most clicked upon links (ever!) in my newsletter 1/ Life Advice At Age 13

"Being popular isn't important, like at all. It's way better to have good friends who you can trust and have fun with. If you focus too much on popularity, you'll miss opportunities to make long-lasting friendships."

September is a wrap, and we're jumping into October.

I learned & grew a lot in September.

Some statistics:
• Newsletter: 321 → 625 (almost doubled)
• Twitter: 603 → 900
• Projects Launched: 1
• Things Learned: Countless

Here are some of my learnings from this month 👇 1/ Why am I even posting this?

I battle with impostor syndrome. Might not seem like it, but sometimes I grapple with the fact that I'm not an expert and not qualified enough to share my thoughts or learning.

This is a public record that goes into my jar of awesome.

Yesterday I sent out the 25th edition of BrainPint to 609 subscribers!

It's a mini milestone, so I wrote about the compounding power of consistency.

Thread on what it contains 👇 1/ Interesting Reads

- Continuous Improvement by @JamesClear
- How to Be Great? Just Be Good, Repeatably by @stephsmithio
- Ambitious People Accomplishing Things Fast by @patrickc
- Adjacent Skills by @anthilemoon
- Why TikTok is addictive by @GrowthDotDesign

Tools To Level Up Your Twitter Game

We all could use an assist on Twitter

I've done research and found the best tools for crafting tweets, getting analytics and scheduling tweets.

A thread 👇 1/ Tools To Help Create Visual Twitter Graphics

Design Tools:
- @canva (free)
- @crelloapp (free + paid)
- @figmadesign (free)

Icons:
- @flaticon
- tablericons.com
- freeillustrations.xyz
- @blushdesignapp

- OpenPeeps by @pablostanley for Notion-like Profile Pics

Dropped BrainPint, my weekly newsletter for the curious yesterday.

This week's title was Marketing Magic.

A thread on what's inside: 1/ Interesting Reads

- @Navalmanack by @EricJorgenson
- Build Personal Moats by @eriktorenberg
- Managing the App Subscription Fatigue by @thehulry
- When should I break out of my comfort zone? by @_rossgordon @_gridology