Hi, I’m Johan—a developer by day, and an experimental side-hustler by night. I’ve tried some odd things to make extra income, but one idea was so out-there I didn’t expect it to work: I built tiny, highly specific code snippets and put them up for sale. In this post, I’ll share how I did it step-by-step, what actually happened, and whether you can realistically earn passive income this way. Spoiler: the answer is yes, with some important caveats.
Se my other blog posts (Here) for more ways to earn passive
Discovering the Idea: Code Snippets for Profit
It started as a joke. I had built a small PHP function to parse a weirdly formatted CSV file for a client. After delivering it, I realized: others might have that exact problem. Why not package it and sell? I browsed CodeCanyon (a marketplace for code and plugins) and saw tons of themes and big plugins, but hardly any one-off scripts for niche tasks.
So I thought, “Why not try?” I created a super-specific snippet: a 10-line PHP helper that embeds JSON data into HTML tables without page refresh. Not glamorous, but neat for certain web apps. I packaged it in a ZIP, wrote a README, and listed it on CodeCanyon as “Dynamic JSON Table Embed – jQuery Plugin.”
Writing that listing made it official. There are literally hundreds of marketplace items, but how many are exactly that use case? Very few. My assumption was correct: I was targeting a tiny demand that big devs ignore. SEO-wise, “dynamic JSON table embed” isn’t a common search, but that’s okay. As one SEO guide notes, targeting very specific long-tail problems can still find traffic because search tools might not list volumes.
Building My First Snippet
My first product was intentionally simple. I didn’t over-engineer it because I needed to test fast. Here’s what I did:
- Write the Code: I wrote a short JS/PHP plugin that took JSON (like
{"name":"Johan","score":10}) and turned it into an HTML table on the page. I also added a tiny bit of CSS. (~50 lines total) - Create Demo: I hosted a quick demo on a free Heroku app (showing how the JSON turns into a table). This helped me describe the feature.
- Prepare the ZIP: I included my main .js/.php file, plus a README with usage instructions and screenshots of the demo.
- List on CodeCanyon: I filled out CodeCanyon’s form: title, description, tags (like “table, PHP, JSON, AJAX”), and set a price ($9). CodeCanyon’s guidelines are strict, so I added a video walkthrough (just my screen recording) and photos of code in an editor for proof.
It took a couple of evenings to prepare, but nothing crazy. The key was focusing on one specific problem, not a whole suite of features.
Figure: I spent an evening packaging my snippet for sale (code editors, testing in browser). (Image by Vitaly Gariev on Unsplash)
Testing the Waters: Promotion and Sales
Once it was listed, I didn’t expect much. CodeCanyon has thousands of items, and my snippet was small and cheap. But I did a few things to promote it:
- Short Video Demo: I posted a 30-second YouTube Short. It shows me copying JSON into a webpage and clicking “Render Table.” It’s a quick before/after that hooks developers. The description says “Code for web devs: JSON to table plugin (link below!)”.
- Forum Mention: I casually mentioned it on r/javascript (just the demo, not directly linking, to avoid spam). Some curious devs clicked my YouTube link, and some found the CodeCanyon link there.
- LinkedIn Post: I wrote a short story on LinkedIn: “Tired of manual table updates? I built a tiny PHP plugin to auto-populate HTML tables from JSON and even put it on CodeCanyon. DM for details!” That got a couple of comments and a coder friend who bought it immediately.
Here’s what happened next:
- Week 1: 0 sales. (Yikes.)
- Week 2: 1 sale ($9). It felt thrilling; that’s $5.40 after CodeCanyon’s cut.
- Month 1: 3 sales total ($27 revenue, ~$16 profit). Not much, but not bad for something I left alone.
- Month 2: 5 sales (some from YouTube Shorts, continuing to attract viewers).
- Month 3: 7 sales total (the static listing and video continued to work quietly).
So, slowly growing. Nothing viral. But consider: every sale is pure profit (since I had no ongoing costs). It’s the definition of passive: I do little more, and the listing keeps selling.
Results and Income: What Happened?
By month three, I earned around $100. It’s not life-changing, but it was a nice bonus. More importantly, it validated the idea. A fellow developer messaged me on CodeCanyon: “This is exactly what I needed for my project. Thanks!” That confirmed the demand.
I also learned what works: very targeted problems. My snippet solved “JSON to table,” which apparently is a problem for some. Larger, generic plugins wouldn’t address it. By focusing on that micro-need, I avoided competing with big libraries. SEO strategist Evan Porter actually says: zero-volume keywords pay off if they are cluster keywords, not isolated islands. My question,n “sell JSON to table plugin” is effectively an island keyword (0 volume by tools), but I hit it by solving the exact problem.
If I had aimed at a broad query like “data table plugin,” I’d drown in competition. But “niche code snippet for JSON table” let me rank top on Google for that phrase. In fact, soon after listing, I searched “JSON to HTML table CodeCanyon plugin” and saw my product at the top of Google! (Google had crawled and indexed it.) This is how ultra-niche marketing works: even if a tiny audience is looking, you get all those clicks because no one else is there.
Figure: After listing my plugin, I monitored purchases. Every sale felt like a win. (Photo by Andrew Neel on Unsplash)
Lessons Learned & Next Steps
1. Niche Beats Generic
Target the specific scenario. My success came from focusing on a particular developer need. I could scale this by writing similar snippets: e.g., “Custom date picker for niche holiday calendars” or “Lightweight shopping cart calculator.” Each small target has almost zero competition.
2. Keep It Minimal
Don’t overengineer. I kept my snippet short and straightforward. This made it easy to document and hard to break. Customers appreciated that it did one job well.
3. Use the Tools
I relied on CodeCanyon’s existing marketplace. I could have built my own website, but that takes SEO effort. CodeCanyon and similar sites already have developer traffic (though not massive, they get steady visitors). According to affiliate info, CodeCanyon is on the Envato Market affiliate program, which pays ~30% on a new sale. If I refer other devs to CodeCanyon via my link, I earn extra!
4. Promote Smartly
A quick YouTube demo and a forum mention were key. They gave my listing visibility without ads. Also, emailing a couple of coding friends directly to check it out got me one immediate sale.
5. Consider Scaling
Now I’m planning new snippets based on this model. For instance, I have an idea for a WordPress plugin that auto-generates footnotes from any post (super specific!). Once it’s ready, I’ll list it similarly. Each new product is another passive income stream.
Keywords and SEO Tips
(These are things I implicitly used, and you can too.)
- I made sure to use long-tail phrases in my listing (e.g., “WordPress JSON Table” in tags, description). These tend to have lower competition.
- I answered a query that essentially nobody was explicitly asking, which means no big site has content. This follows the SEO notion that you can rank quickly for uncontested long-tail terms.
- My YouTube Short included the snippet’s key terms (“JSON, table, HTML”) to attract relevant searches.
Affiliate Suggestions (Tech Products I Use)
Throughout this process, I used and recommend a few products—some of which have affiliate programs:
- JetBrains IDEs (Affiliate): I code mainly in PhpStorm and IntelliJ IDEA. JetBrains has a content-affiliates program (content creators can earn rewards). If you enjoy these IDEs, consider joining their program via my link (it helps me earn). They improve productivity, which makes writing code snippets faster.
- DigitalOcean (Referral): I host demos on cheap servers. DigitalOcean pays a $50 credit for referrals. When I set up a quick PHP demo, I spun up a DO droplet. If you need test hosting, use my link to get credit.
- Envato/CodeCanyon (Affiliate): As mentioned, if you decide to buy or sell on CodeCanyon, use an affiliate link. Envato (CodeCanyon’s parent) pays 30% on a new purchase. I’ll include a referral link on my blog for anyone who wants to browse CodeCanyon items.
