Year 2 of Freelancing: A 2023 Project Review and Reflections

freelance journeyAI product developmentOneNavImgURL2023 project review

Published·Jan 7, 2024Modified·Apr 28, 2024

In late February 2022, xiaoz resigned to start a freelance career. 2023 marked the second year of this journey. As 2023 came to a close, the year was defined by the AI boom, which brought new opportunities that proved difficult to grasp. Beyond iterating on projects like OneNav and ImgURL, xiaoz promoted virtual cards and developed an AI product: AsBot Intelligent Assistant, dedicating most of their efforts to it. The result was neither a complete success nor a failure.

In this article, xiaoz shares the project journey of 2023, covering:

Promoting virtual cards to earn commissions
Launching AsBot Intelligent Assistant
Iterating the OneNav bookmark management program
Iterating the ImgURL Pro image hosting program
Developing the ImgURL client
Project plans for 2024
Income sources
Project expenses

Promoting Virtual Cards

Thanks to the popularity of ChatGPT, in February 2023, OpenAI launched the $20 Plus version. Many people needed this service, but due to specific reasons, domestic bank cards could not directly subscribe to ChatGPT Plus. Consequently, foreign virtual cards became a necessary product for subscription. Through trial and error and combining insights shared by netizens, xiaoz successfully subscribed to ChatGPT Plus using a foreign virtual card and compiled some sharing and organization.

At that time, three articles were compiled:

Now, opening ChatGPT Plus via Google Play and the Apple App Store is much simpler. Due to limited energy, further research into various new methods was not pursued. This year, some pocket money was earned through promoting virtual cards.

Developing the AI Product "AsBot Intelligent Assistant"

Before developing "AsBot Intelligent Assistant," xiaoz created "Baixiaosheng" and "AS Intelligent Q&A."

"Baixiaosheng" and "AS Intelligent Q&A" had limited functionality, did not support continuous conversation, and were launched urgently as a transition. These two products have since been taken offline, replaced by "AsBot Intelligent Assistant." A memorable incident was that Aliyun blocked the domain for the "Baixiaosheng" program.

In March 2023, it took about a week to launch AsBot Intelligent Assistant. The assistant is based on interfaces from OpenAI, ERNIE Bot, and ChatGLM. The backend used "Golang + PHP," and the frontend used Vue 3. This was xiaoz's first time using a "Golang + PHP" hybrid development approach.

"AsBot Intelligent Assistant" was the project that consumed the most time and energy in 2023. Several versions were iterated. To develop a desktop client, xiaoz learned Wails and compiled Windows and macOS desktop versions, marking the entry into desktop client development.

To support mobile apps, xiaoz learned uni-app and developed a functionally simple Android client. This was the first formal development of an Android app, paving the way for future app development.

Currently, "AsBot Intelligent Assistant" is still in operation. Due to a lack of marketing skills and an unattractive interface, it did not retain many users. Although the product neither made money nor lost money, xiaoz believes it was a very worthwhile endeavor. This project introduced xiaoz to desktop and app development, significantly improved technical skills, and laid the foundation for developing desktop clients and apps for future products.

AsBot Intelligent Assistant usage address: https://asbot.imgurl.ink/

Iterating the OneNav Bookmark Management Program

In December 2020, xiaoz developed a browser bookmark management program named OneNav. Initially intended for personal use, it was open-sourced on GitHub but unexpectedly received significant user feedback, boosting confidence to continue. As of January 2024, the project has garnered 2k stars.

After resigning in February 2022, xiaoz began commercializing OneNav. In June 2022, a subscription service was launched with a standard annual price of 29.9 yuan and a lifetime price of 109.9 yuan. This was the first time an open-source project was commercialized.

In 2023, OneNav iterated through four versions. The OneNav browser extension was also refactored, using vitesse-webext as a scaffold and Vue 3 for development. This marked the first time Vue 3 was used to develop a Chrome extension.

OneNav will continue to be updated and improved in 2024.

My OneNav project address is: https://github.com/helloxz/onenav. Interested friends are welcome to try it.

ImgURL Pro Image Hosting Program

In the winter of December 2017, xiaoz impulsively developed the image hosting program ImgURL and open-sourced it on GitHub: https://github.com/helloxz/imgurl. This version is referred to as the ImgURL Community Edition. Due to limited time and energy, the last update was in September 2019, and it has not been updated since, likely never to be updated again.

In July 2019, a more powerful version, ImgURL Pro, was developed. This version was not open-sourced and requires a paid license. Remembering the excitement and joy of receiving multiple paid purchases from fans in a single day, xiaoz remains committed. ImgURL Pro is still being updated. In 2023, ImgURL Pro released two versions, implementing payment integration and album support. Although few ImgURL Pro licenses were sold in 2023, xiaoz will continue to update. This is a commitment to users and to oneself. Efforts will continue in 2024.

ImgURL Pro introduction: https://blog.xiaoz.org/archives/13225

ImgURL online service (register to use): https://www.imgurl.org/vip/user#user=register

Developing the ImgURL Client

Since operating the ImgURL online image hosting service (https://www.imgurl.org/), based on customer needs and feedback, xiaoz developed a dedicated client for ImgURL in 2023. This client targets users who need batch uploading and URL uploading.

The ImgURL client and "AsBot client" use the same technology, employing Golang's Wails. It实现了 image directory scanning upload and URL batch upload functionality. In December 2023, one customer uploaded 80,000 images at once to https://vip.imgurl.org/ using the ImgURL client.

2024 Project Plans

In 2024, the focus will shift to the overseas market. PayPal and Stripe payment services have been integrated, pending specific product launches. The preliminary plan for 2024 includes:

Iterating OneNav and ImgURL Pro
Iterating AsBot Intelligent Assistant
Commercializing Zdir
Launching at least one overseas product

Income Sources

Income in 2023 remained unstable and diversified, including:

Google Adsense advertising revenue
Virtual card promotion commissions
OneNav subscriptions
ImgURL Pro licenses
ImgURL VIP online services
Software outsourcing
Operations and maintenance services

Project Expenses

A rough estimate shows monthly project expenses exceed 2k, mainly including:

Server costs (1k+)
Domain and CDN fees
Office rental: 700+ (shared with a friend)

Discussion Group

Additionally, a freelancer discussion group has been created. Interested friends can add xiaoz's WeChat: xiaozme to be invited.

Conclusion

Lei Jun once said, "When the wind blows, even pigs can fly," but xiaoz does not fully agree. Everyone's economic strength, technology, and resources differ. Only by continuously improving one's abilities and expanding resources can opportunities be grasped. Otherwise, even if opportunities arise, they may be missed due to insufficient capability. While everyone knows AI is the future trend, not everyone can seize the opportunity. Let us work together to improve ourselves, seize opportunities, move forward bravely, and welcome the challenges of 2024.