(This is Part 3 of 3 in a series on building your side project. Click for Part 1 and Part 2)
A side project is more than just a line on a resume under “additional experience”.
It’s a way to:
- build your personal brand so that opportunities come to you
- connect with like-minded individuals to grow together
- solidify your own learning by reflecting and communicating to others
Not sold yet?
David Perell, known as “the writing guy” on Twitter, blew up from just that.
He writes in The Ultimate Guide to Writing Online, “Writing on the internet is a career fast-track. Each article is a sales pitch for your knowledge on that topic. It’s an always-on broadcast of who you are, and an open invitation for other people to create personal and career opportunities for you. It’s a Serendipity Vehicle that can grow automatically, independently of your efforts.”
Let’s unpack the paragraph above:
“Each article is a sales pitch for your knowledge on that topic” – creating content around your project provides another way for you to sell yourself, proving you know what you are doing.
“It’s an always-on broadcast” – content works all hours of the day across the world wide web. Anyone can find and engage with your content.
“It’s a Serendipity Vehicle” – these engagements with your content bring about connections and opportunities
Tell Your Side Project Story
Content creation is not just writing. It includes newsletters, vlogs, photos, and a plethora of other mediums.
Need ideas on what to create?
As Gary Varynerchuk states, “document, don’t create” – build publicly by sharing your progress, struggles, and learnings along the way.
How to Share Your Side Project Story
The key to sharing your side project story is to have an online platform.
And no, I’m not just talking about social media, but a homepage where people can find your content, engage with it, and connect with you.
This is to provide audiences with a full picture of your work, like an artist’s portfolio.
Here are some free platforms for building a site, from simple to complex:
- Linktree – build a simple page of links to your pages
- Carrd – build a landing page sharing who you are and what you are working on
- WordPress – build a site and blog via an easy-to-manage content management system
You can build a site with any of these tools in under an hour with no technical knowledge.
Add additional content on top of your project by bucketing your posts into different categories: think weekly reflections; simple how-to’s for each component of your project; a summary post of your whole experience.
You’ve come a long way with your project, but this last step of sharing is crucial.
With your project on a page for everybody to see, you’ll find the company of like-minded people and opportunities will come to you.
(This is Part 3 of 3 in a series on building your side project. Click for Part 1 and Part 2)
P.S. – If you LIKED this guide, you’ll LOVE the resources on side projects in my weekly newsletter:
Read: The Guide to Building Your Side Project (No Experience Required)