There is almost no day that passes by that my colleagues and I won’t discuss the rate at which dollar is racing past Naira. Some say they are still waiting for the time that it will be N1, 000 to $1 while others say they are still optimistic about the dream of N1 to $1. This is not a joke; almost everyone I know now is either an economist or a student of Economics. The cost of a bag of ‘pure water’ has even increased. The other day I boarded a cab home, the driver was so furious at President Buhari that he (the driver) drove me into a long standing traffic jam while he could have saved the day by facing the express headlong. He complained that I was his second customer that very day and the time was already 9pm. “Nobody wants to use cab service again, the economy is bad”, resonating his words. I practically had to take up the role of Economics lecturer by explaining why things are now expensive to the poor driver in a layman’s English. As an elderly person, he asked, “…so what is the solution?” seriously I didn’t know what to say, I studied Mathematics not Economics (#ThinkingAloud #LookingAway).

So, if you are here to read about ways to strengthen the Naira, I am sorry to disappoint you. I am sure the Ministry of Finance and The Government of Central Bank are already thinking about that. This piece is based on how Nigerian programmers can make good use of these hard times, don’t worry, President Buhari would still fulfill his promise of making $1 to N1. That would probably happen one day. If you stumbled on this article and you are a programmer residing in Nigeria, you can thank me later. I have carefully condensed enough information here to make your year a fulfilled one; here are the details you won’t easily get in one place. It is time to make your money in foreign currencies, change it and “hammer” once and for all. I present to you 7 ways to make it big in this hard times.

NB: This article is for the hardworking programmers, it doesn’t matter if you are a rookie or a professional.

Digital Market Places (Theme, plugins, third party addon)
Way back in Unilag, when I was busy scouting for clients to create a website for, Biyi (a co-student and a friend) was busy writing his first custom plugins to be placed on FlashDens. Thank God, FlashDen eventually approved his plugins and dollars started rolling in for him. There are lots of Digital market places out there that accept quality stuffs from Nigerian programmers. Also, from experience, I believe that there is always a market for any stupid thing you do. Oh are you still asking why? ThemeForest accepts Nigerians too…but…the standard is damn high.

If you are up to the task, signup for an account today, do their test and drop your first badass plugin, theme or whatsoever like a boss then let the “Dolapo” start rolling in. All you need to have is a domiciliary bank account to receive your money, if you don’t have one, please I can give you my own (hehehehe). However, don’t forget that you can put up same plugin in other stores.

One of my greatest inspirations of all time was when Kriesi sold $1,000,000 in 2011. You might want to read the story here http://marketblog.envato.com/milestones/kriesi-first-to-1000000-on-the-marketplaces/. Oh you want to know more? He got to $2,000,000 sales in 2013 (http://themeforest.net/forums/thread/kriesi-has-reached-2-million/90337) … if you have one quarter of it in this economy…you won’t have to sing “pick up” by Adekunle Gold again because Baba God must have already picked your call.

E-commerce Plugins
E-commerce my E-commerce! I started my blog by dropping payment plugins for free and I did this for over a year before I got a call from someone in the US. The guy called to thank me for my brave work and to beg me to also make money from my plugins as they make money from it over there. I promptly said NO because I wanted developers to learn from my code and as for me, “I don’t need the money” #lookingAway. The guy further persuaded me to have it on foreign stores if I insisted not to list it on local ones. This struck a chord in me and I picked it up from there.

I went on Prestashop Developers’ store, created my plugin, went through their rigorous process and got over 10 of my plugins published. The interest grew and I added some others to other stores and because of not having my plugins scattered everywhere, I created my own store. Hmm, you want to ask how my store is doing? I won’t say more than “we are doing great”.

I felt as if I was the happiest man in Africa when I sold my first plugin on PrestaShop; it went for Euro 191. Please do the math. Yes I agree, the process is rigorous but bro, no one gets award for sleeping.

Writing e-commerce plugins for different systems is one of the lucrative businesses in development and as much as you master your art, you can always cash out big. E-commerce is large and has so many areas that you can work on, think about it and join this train.

Mobile Apps
If you are a mobile app developer and you are not cashing out yet in this economy please hold your “Eleda”(head) and pray this prayer point with me. You need to pray it like someone who got his finger jammed by the car door. “Every power from my father’s house that has used shandi (N20) to collect Dollar from me, catch fire in the name of Jesus!”. Yes you need to pray it because people are already making it big and you are there sleeping on a tattered mat or bare floor.

Develop an app, it doesn’t need to make any sense, drop it in the mobile app stores, iOS, Andriod, Amazon, Window and start making your money in dollar. Just have a business model around it that keeps people using it. I can’t remember the number of pre-school mobile applications I have downloaded for my toddler…provided it would make him laugh and learn; dropping such few dollars would definitely worth it. Like play, like play…omo na dollar I dey pay with o.

Think about that app that would help women cook, think about a funny app that interprets dream, what of an app that can update users with what and what is trending on social platforms…there are always so many opportunities for apps; so, so many. Please start one today, have a limited edition for free then collect money for the full version. You might like to read this http://www.businessinsider.com/kardashian-jenner-apps-on-pace-to-make-32-million-this-year-2015-9 and http://www.investopedia.com/slide-show/million-dollar-apps/

Go Freelancing
Have you heard of freelancer.com, fiverr.com and elance.com? O’Boy, where hath thou when boys are hitting the 6 figure mark. If you are not an app person or you can’t even think of what to create on any digital market place, you might love to register on the sites mentioned above so as to have people contact you for their developmental needs. Yes, you are right…you quote in dollars. This is a market that Indians, Pakistans and developers around the world have created multi-million companies on.

You don’t need to resume to any office; eat your kola nut at home, play “Ludo” and work remotely. I must say this again; the race is for the strong. You need good reviews to stay. It is always the survival of the fittest but as Nigerians no dey carry last, you will survive. Do little research on what others don’t offer or what they are not doing enough, then start swimming in the pool of dollar.

I have spent few dollars on Freelancer and Fiverr and I have never for once regretted it. Everyone in the world is waiting to jump at your service. Please start something today.

Sell that project
As a Software developer, I understand that everything I mentioned above may not be related to what you do or what you can do. Now, I am here for you. Do you have a project or application you have completed and would want to sell? Yes you can sell it in dollars. Visit this site https://www.sideprojectors.com/project/home and thank me later. Drop those fantastic projects and have someone buy it from you.

Let me wet your appetite, as shown in the image above, someone wants to sell his project for $8,500. Please bring out your calculator and let’s do the maths…N300+ multiplied by 8,500. Ehhh na Banana Island straight.

Start a training class
If you are a good teacher and you know that you know you can “teach”; you don’t have to be afraid that your reward is in heaven again. Just get on udemy.com, pluralsight.com and so many more to have your reward on earth. Don’t forget, the goal is to stop singing “This Year” by Jaywon, you have to make it happen this year.

Prepare your course content and drop it right there.

Looking at how much I spend on Udemy courses on routine basis, I am sure you can make a lot of money by just teaching people what you know. I was amazed to find some courses having more than 1,000 members. Bro, what are you waiting for? Are you still reading or putting your thoughts together? Dollar must not turn N150 again before you make a move o.

Write and Sell a Book
Writing, publishing and selling books have been made so easy by https://leanpub.com. I can assure you that I have bought few books on the platform. You too can sell that fantastic book that you have written on the aspect of technology that you care so much about. “Bros, na dollar we dey talk about o”. Write a beautiful book and sell it easily. Share that knowledge!

You can write a book that addresses a concept you think people find difficult or a new paradigm you want to project. I have done my bit of it by introducing you to the right platform. But don’t try to upload someone’s book o…that is plagiarism and at that point you are definitely on your own (OYO).

The new world rewards the well deserving people. It is for the people who are ready to commit their time and energy on what they believe in. I have either used one of the services highlighted above or received payment from some of them. It is amazing to know how this knowledge abounds and no one seems to know about it. I have decided to break the ice with the hope that this little effort from me would make the next self sustained Software developer. It does not mean that I make money from all these sources but it means that I will start working on making money from all of them as well as you. I talk to myself the same way I give you a head start here.

However, the most important part of making money as a Software developer is your support system. Reviews can make and mar your business. Try to package yourself to be the best and keep hammering.

I would appreciate if you could also share other international platforms that accept Nigerians and provide services that Nigerian Sofware developers can make money from. You can never predict the next “Olajumoke” that you would inspire out there.