When a Side Project Should Become a Lead Magnet
From a Local Binary to Something Others Could Use
In the previous episode, I tested TypeLock’s core idea: could a Windows app stop me from typing when it was time to take a break?
About 15 minutes into the build, it could block the keyboard even after I switched to another app. By the 30-minute mark, I had added an Esc release and a 30-second safety timer. I had also packaged it as a working Windows binary.
That proved I could build the core interaction I planned. TypeLock still existed only on my laptop, though. I needed to turn it into something other people could use and find a way to share it.
I started with the executable icon, using the IP as Logo agent skill to create it.
The name TypeLock naturally leans toward security or typo prevention. I wanted the icon to point to the app’s actual purpose: stopping someone who keeps working when their hands need a break.
A lock icon would have reinforced the wrong idea. I chose a turtle instead.
A turtle suggests slowing down and stopping, while its shell carries a sense of protection. Turning the shell into a keycap connected the character to the product. It felt like a gentle protector that could still be firm when it was time to stop, without making TypeLock look like a medical app or employee monitoring software.
I applied the finished icon to the Windows executable. The locking behavior and safety controls had not changed, but the turtle changed how I saw the result. In a Windows folder, TypeLock looked less like a collection of source files and build artifacts. It looked like something I could hand to another person.
Once TypeLock had a recognizable identity, I had to decide where to release it and what I wanted it to do.
What Did I Want TypeLock to Do?
Selling TypeLock seemed like the obvious next step once it looked like a product. Before opening a storefront, I needed to decide what result I expected from it.
If the goal was direct revenue, TypeLock needed a more serious product plan. I would have to decide how a keyboard lock could stand apart from similar tools. Ideas such as collectible characters or additional rewards could give people a reason to return, but they would also expand the work far beyond the original locking feature.
A paid product would also need a steady source of attention. Publishing a product page once would not keep bringing people to it.
Open source was another option. It would let others use the tool, adapt it or contribute to it. But releasing the source and walking away would create little connection between TypeLock and NicheJuice.
The choice was no longer simply whether to publish the app. TypeLock could become its own business, an open project or an asset that supported the business I was already building.
I started by looking more closely at what the paid option required.
What Selling TypeLock Would Require
A paid Windows app needs more than a working binary. People have to feel comfortable downloading and running it. The developer also has to manage what happens after the first release.
Code signing was the first practical issue I found. Without a digital signature, Windows may present an app as coming from an unverified publisher. That might be acceptable during a personal experiment, but it creates friction when someone has paid for the software.
The code-signing options I found ranged from roughly $150 to $600 and required annual renewal. That cost could make sense for an established desktop product. It felt heavy for TypeLock at its current stage.
Selling the app would create ongoing release work too. I would need a way to distribute updates and keep version information accurate. A licensing system would add an activation flow to maintain. Product assets inside the app would need the same attention.
Differentiation would expand the scope again. A character collection system would require visual assets and progression rules. I would also have to check whether those additions improved the forced-break experience or merely made the product larger.
Then there was distribution. A storefront provides a place to buy the product, but it does not create sustained traffic by itself.
NicheJuice had not yet reached stable monetization or user acquisition. Treating TypeLock as a separate commercial product would have divided my attention between two businesses before the main one was stable.
That made direct revenue a poor fit for what I needed from TypeLock now.
I Chose a Lead Magnet Over a Standalone Product
I decided to place TypeLock between the two paths I had first considered. It would remain a packaged product, but its job would be to introduce people to NicheJuice rather than generate its own revenue.
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A working side project can take several roles depending on what its creator needs from it.
TypeLock took the lead-magnet path because operating another standalone product would have competed with NicheJuice’s current priorities.
A lead magnet gives someone a useful resource or tool in exchange for contact information. TypeLock could be free while still creating a clear path back to the brand that produced it.
Someone could encounter the problem through NicheJuice content, try the actual tool and then remain connected to NicheJuice. TypeLock would connect the content to a product experience instead of becoming another business I had to grow separately.
This approach also let me postpone the full operating system that a paid desktop app would require. I did not need to add licensing or build a larger feature roadmap before TypeLock could become useful to the business.
Once I had chosen that role, I needed a delivery platform.
My first thought was to make Substack the main distribution channel for TypeLock. I was already considering it as a newsletter channel for NicheJuice, and its content-first format seemed to fit the brand.
Substack was not well suited to directly hosting a downloadable lead magnet, though. Lemon Squeezy allowed me to list that kind of product, so I chose it for the TypeLock page and file delivery.
I kept Substack focused on the newsletter and future content distribution. I created a dedicated NicheJuice publication and improved the related footer links for that purpose.
I Made the Product Image in Canva and Tested the Delivery
TypeLock needed a thumbnail before I could complete its Lemon Squeezy listing. At the time I checked, the platform required a 1600×1200 image under 10MB.
I used Canva to combine the turtle icon with simple typography. I was not trying to build a full campaign. The image only needed to make TypeLock recognizable on the product page.
After publishing the listing, I tested the delivery with my own email address. I entered my information on the product page, received the email and followed it to the actual product.
The full path worked as intended. Someone could discover TypeLock through content, reach the listing and receive the tool.
That test was the last check I needed before treating TypeLock as publicly available. I updated its project status on my GitHub profile to Live.
TypeLock was no longer an app that worked only on my laptop. It was a NicheJuice lead magnet that someone else could receive.
Decide the Role Before the Price
With TypeLock, the first decision after completion was not its price. It was the role the project should play.
A side project can be technically complete before it is ready to become an independent business. Selling it means accepting the work that follows the build. That work has to strengthen the creator’s current priorities rather than pull attention away from them.
For TypeLock, the trade-off came down to three practical questions:
- Do I want to keep growing TypeLock as a separate product?
- Am I ready to support and maintain it after people start using it?
- Could offering it for free create a clearer connection to NicheJuice?
The answers pointed to a lead magnet. I did not want to split my attention between two products. Offering TypeLock for free lets NicheJuice readers move beyond reading about the problem and try a solution themselves.
In that role, TypeLock supports NicheJuice without becoming another business to operate.
Not every side project needs to become its own business. Sometimes the better next step is to give it a useful role inside the business you are already building.
Originally published at https://nichejuice.com/blog/series/niche-or-miss/when-a-side-project-should-become-a-lead-magnet?utm_source=medium&utm_medium=syndication&utm_campaign=content_distribution on October 5, 2026.
