wearehypothetical.xyz – eNom / Open SRS customer (Australia)
People say that if you pursue what you’re passionate about, then you won’t work a day in your life. But how do you turn your hobby or favorite past time into a lucrative business? For this #WebsiteWednesday we interviewed a .xyz adopter with one of the coolest jobs we’ve ever heard of. Learn how music photographer and videographer William Zhang made his dream a reality and created the website he needed to prove his skills: wearehypothetical.xyz.
wearehypothetical.xyz is the online portfolio of Sydney-based arts and entertainment photographer and videographer William Zhang. He’s traveled the world capturing photos and videos at music festivals like Lollapalooza, Electric Daisy Carnival Japan, and Falls Festival. His portfolio features some of music’s biggest names, including Flume, Odesza, and Anderson Paak.
I’ve always been fond of band tour videos, short films, ads, and music videos. During high school, I would go down the rabbit hole on Vimeo and Reddit watching the aforementioned content trying to dissect how stuff was shot. Being that engaged in something, you obviously want to give it a go yourself. Film school being out of the question, I made an assumption photography would be a good place to start and that shooting live music would be the lowest barrier of entry to achieving the first goal of making tour content. I also love a wide variety of music genres so it was a natural fit. I transitioned into video about 2 years ago and have a long journey ahead.
EDC Japan. It started pouring during Alison Wonderland’s set to the point where the water on stage was about a centimetre or two tall. She continued playing to an enthusiastic Japanese crowd in ponchos and, of course, I kept shooting with a towel over my camera. It was one of those moments where the show goes on and you gotta think fast but the content was definitely unique compared to other shows thanks to the heavy rain.
Around mid-late 2015. [The process was] quite easy thanks to the rise of content management platforms that anyone can use. The initial set up process was easy and getting the site live with content was intuitive thanks to the well thought out UX design.
‘xyz’ has futuristic and abstract connotations. They’re typically letters used in product models or in popular culture to denote that something (usually a machine) is advanced or is categorised to do a cool thing to its other counterparts. It also matched with my brand name ‘hypothetical’ which ties to the similar connotations around possibilities and ideas.
For starters, it’s my portfolio so it’s typically someone’s first impression of the stuff I make. Thankfully it’s left a good impression to most people I’ve sent it to, so that’s maximised the opportunities I get. In my other job within marketing analytics and automation, it’s a cool thing to show people when I tell them I’m a photographer/videographer and that I’m actually serious about it in the age of everyone having a camera.
I’m still well in my early days despite the cool opportunities I’ve received. For advice, reach out to as many people as you can and shoot as much as you can. The more you do stuff the better you get, obviously. To overcome the catch 22 of how to get gigs when you don’t have a portfolio, shoot anything that’s accessible (landscapes, portraits of your friends) to show you have a good eye and can use a camera.
Will has turned his music photography and videography dreams into a reality and he has the .xyz website to prove it. Having a top-notch website professionally showcases his talent and expertise and enables him to easily share his work with clients. Follow Will on Instagram with @Will.Hypothetical to stay up-to-date on the latest shows he captures, or contact him by email. Do you need a place to showcase your work and turn your hobby into a reality? You can head to Squarespace to register your .xyz domain name and build your website today!
Romoni.xyz – GoDaddy customer (Bangladesh)
Busy parents and professionals know how tough it can be to find time for beauty and self-care. Between booking multiple appointments, driving to the salon, and finding parking, a simple manicure and facial could eat up hours out of their day. One female CEO and co-founder is solving this problem for Bangladesh residents in this week’s #WebsiteWednesday with Romoni.xyz.
Romoni.xyz is an online platform that allows customers to search, compare, book and review at-home beauty services in Bangladesh. Without the overhead cost from a traditional salon or spa, beauty and wellness artists are able to enjoy higher wages, and customers can conveniently get their beauty services at home. Romoni.xyz ensures that all of their artists are skilled and experienced through their partner application process and continuous training workshops.
Armin Zaman Khan came up with the idea for Romoni.xyz in 2015 when she was working as a government consultant and recognized the disparity between a beauty and wellness artist and salon owner. According to her research, the beauty industry is the second-largest source of employment for women in Bangladesh, yet the artist will receive only about 30% of the revenue, while the salon owner keeps the remaining 70%. Armin saw an opportunity to fill this gap using technology, initially starting the direct-to-consumer beauty services platform through a Facebook page called Book My Look.
Together with her mobile app-skilled co-founders, Tarique Ibn Haider and Abidur Rahman Mallik, Amin upgraded the page into a full-fledged website and app in 2017. There are two sides to the app: Romoni Customer and Romoni Partner. Customers can book services through Romoni Customer, while professionals track their appointments and manage their online profile through the Romoni Partner. Women professionals who provide beauty services on Romoni.xyz can earn as much as three times as much as they normally would. To date, they have on-boarded over 200 women professionals, making it the biggest beauty and wellness destination in Bangladesh.
To book a service on Romoni.xyz, head to their home page or download the Android app on Google Play. From there you can choose from salon services (manicures, pedicures, facials, waxing), spa services (massages and scrubs), and hair and makeup. For brides and bridal parties, there are even special wedding hair and makeup packages, as well as mehendi (designs made from the henna plant). You can book services from almost anywhere in Bangladesh, and Dhaka and Chittagong residents may expect an artist to arrive at their home in as little as two hours.
If you’re in Bangladesh, head to Romoni.xyz or download the Android app to book your appointment. You can also learn more about Amin’s journey to creating Romoni.xyz on their YouTube channel and connect with them on LinkedIn.
Coaching.Monster – PorkBun customer (United Kingdom)
We’re celebrating one of the newest members of the XYZ Family during the month of Halloween: .Monster! It’s the perfect time of year to showcase your skills on a domain with some bite. The internet is already crawling with amazing .Monster sites since we launched the TLD in April, so this #Website Wednesday we are sharing one of our favorites: Coaching.Monster.
Coaching.Monster is a London-based professional coaching services company that aims to help business owners, executives, managers, and employees develop and hone their skills in order to help them succeed in business. By providing useful advice and information, Coaching.Monster can assist with the challenges that may be faced while building a successful company.
Coaching.Monster was recently founded by business coach Joanna Szczyglowska, who also acts as the managing director. Joanna specializes in project management and leadership development, having worked closely with many Chief Executive Officers and Founders as a professional manager for more than 10 years. She also received her Masters in Business Administration in 2017 from the Universite de Lyon in France, and then was accredited by the International Coaching Federation (ICF) for Transformation Coaching in February 2019.
Joanna launched Coaching.Monster shortly after receiving her ICF accreditation and expertly uses “Monster” throughout all of the company’s branding. Joanna and her team offer three services to their clients: Transformation Coaching, Training and Mentoring, and Consulting. For clients seeking focused exploration, the Monster Shift Package for Transformation Coaching can help to increase their self-awareness and foster entrepreneurial and leadership skills.
Aspiring start-up owners may benefit from the Monster Guide Package for Training and Mentoring, which focuses on developing the knowledge and competence that is needed to become a successful entrepreneur. Lastly, for those who actively manage a business, the Monster Suggest Package for Consulting can help to produce detailed professional advice that can save time, revenue, and resources.
A free Coaching Monster membership is available if you aren’t quite sure which package to choose from, which grants members access to their community of entrepreneurs and start-up companies. You can also head to the Coaching.Monster blog to learn more about the kind of advice they have to offer. Readers can learn how small and medium business can benefit from business coaching and the benefits of investing in staff training.
If you’re interested in using Coaching.Monster‘s career coaching services, you can use the contact form on their website. You can also follow them on LinkedIn and Twitter to stay up-to-date on all their business coaching news.
POAP.xyz – Gandi customer (Argentina)
We’re living in the golden age of cryptocurrency. Since the arrival of Bitcoin in 2009, countless altcoins and blockchain platforms have emerged on the scene and sparked a tech revolution. Blockchain technology like Ethereum, thanks to its core function of creating a verifiable public database for decentralized actions, can be used for many things beyond simply trading cryptocurrency. One such example is tracking attendance at events, like this week’s #WebsiteWednesday, POAP.xyz.
POAP.xyz gets its name from an acronym, proof of attendance protocol. In simpler terms, POAP is a system event organizers can utilize to track attendance by giving crypto-badges to attendees when they show up. These badges can be collected in person or remotely, and come in the form of non-redeemable tokens that are easily viewable in your Ether wallet.
POAP.xyz is what is known as a decentralized app, or DApp. These kinds of apps work using the decentralized nature of blockchain technology. Their purposes range from simplifying transactions (think cryptocurrency) to cybersecurity and even includes online games. In this case, POAP.xyz allows event organizers to assign badges to attendees and track their attendance at specific parts of the overall event. Best of all, it’s completely free to use and can be downloaded from the App Store or Google Play.
Blockchain enthusiasts have already welcomed POAP.xyz’s platform with open arms. A quick look at POAP.xyz‘s Twitter feed shows plenty of excited event attendees collecting badges with the POAP.xyz system at developer conventions, Ethereum conventions, and hackathons. POAP.xyz is more than just a platform, they are cultivating a community for their users on the platforms their users frequent most, like Reddit, GitHub, and Telegram. Thanks to their memorable domain name, POAP.xyz has been able to secure a name in these communities that exactly matches their domain. That kind of easy name recognition, which doubles as a clear call-to-action for their website, gives POAP.xyz a leg up as they seek to expand their service to new events.
Blockchain platforms like Ethereum are redrawing the landscape of everyday tech services, and POAP.xyz is a great example of how this technology can make industries more efficient. Don’t miss out on being a part of the blockchain revolution yourself. Simplify the process by learning how to use your .xyz domain as a custom Ether wallet identifier!
Be.xyz – Nhan Hoa customer (Vietnam)
Ridesharing technology has most likely revolutionized the way we get around more than any other transportation development in the last few decades. Countless rideshare platforms have popped up worldwide trying to grab their slice of the market, so standing out above the rideshare competition takes an exceptional business model and a strong dedication to providing great service. Those are qualities you’ll find plenty of when you meet this week’s #WebsiteWednesday, Be.xyz.
Be.xyz is one of the most popular rideshare platforms in Vietnam and helps transport thousands of residential and business customers every day. In fact, the Be.xyz iOS app is the #2 most popular download in the Navigation category and has been downloaded over 12,000 times in the Google Play store.
Be.xyz‘s service works both in the traditional rideshare format, where a driver picks up the customer and takes them from point A to point B, as well as a car rental service that offers 4 and 7 seat cars or motorbikes for rent. That’s not all though, as Be.xyz also offers delivery services, allowing customers to get groceries, meals, and anything else they’d like to buy delivered to wherever they are.
As we said, Be.xyz isn’t just like any rideshare company, and their attitude toward their drivers is where they stand out. The company offers a bonus rewards program for drivers which allows them to earn bonus pay for miles driven and trips completed. This system ensures the drivers that Be.xyz depends on to carry out their renowned high-quality service are happy and being compensated fairly. The program benefits riders as well, as they can be assured that their driver is making a fair wage for their work. Be.xyz also manages a blog that is updated regularly with special boosted bonus program rewards so drivers in cities around Vietnam can earn even more. Be.xyz has also set up an insurance program for their drivers, called BeCare, which provides health insurance and auto insurance to their drivers and is funded via deductions from the company’s overall revenue.
It’s easy to see how they’ve come to dominate Vietnam’s rideshare market and surpass impressive milestones like completing 25 million trips when you learn more about Be.xyz‘s stellar team. BE GROUP Joint Stock Company, the brains and financing behind Be.xyz, have set their sites on beyond being the most popular rideshare app in Vietnam and want to take on their biggest competitors around the world. They’ve even recently sponsored the Vietnamese national football team, another sign that Be.xyz‘s brand has serious power.
There are many factors to creating a globally successful business, but at the core of everything are your employees. Be.xyz goes above and beyond when it comes to their drivers, and they’ve been able to achieve their ambitions by building a rewarding culture for all their workers. Connect with Be.xyz on Facebook or experience their culture for yourself via their YouTube channel. If you’re in Vietnam, be sure to download the Be.xyz app on Google Play or in the App Store.
