Ask HN: How much do you earn on average through software freelancing? • Hacker News Board

Re: Ask HN: How much do you earn on average through software freelancing?

#101

Post by mobiuscog » Tue, Nov 08, 2016, 9:25 AM UTC

tuckerwales wrote: post #20

I'm a 21 year-old who has recently gotten into contracting to supplement my primary income (a Software Engineering Apprentice for a Defence contractor). I earn £12 an hour for my contract work, which I'm quite happy with at the moment because 10 hours a week means I get an extra £500 per month (which is considerable at my age, it pays my rent and bills and some). I know it doesn't seem much, but I think I'm actually…

How do you get into something like that, whilst working elsewhere as a day job ? I'm curious how you'd start - I mean do you have an agent, or did you just start marketing yourself ?

Re: Ask HN: How much do you earn on average through software freelancing?

#102

Post by palerdot » Tue, Nov 08, 2016, 9:27 AM UTC

anguswithgusto wrote: post #93

snerbles wrote: post #31

Earlier quoted context omitted.

How did you get started?

I was running social media for a startup and learned that one of the bosses was paying a freelance copywriter $90/hr. I quit my job the next day.

Do you have any public sites where people can view your writings? I'm also considering venturing into technical writing as I like reading about technologies and their pros/cons. Not sure where to start though.

Re: Ask HN: How much do you earn on average through software freelancing?

#103

Post by bloomca » Tue, Nov 08, 2016, 11:09 AM UTC

Where do you get clients, if networking is not available for you? I mean, you are not based in the US, so you can't meet these people.

I used to work a bit in Upwork (I am doing complex SPA in React/Redux, though I can do it in other stacks as well), and charged 35–50$ (depend on a project).

Also, my question is, how you raise the bar? Like, I know I can double my rates and offer "solution" rather just code, but how you find such contracts (people tend to not trust you there), and how do you present yourself?

Re: Ask HN: How much do you earn on average through software freelancing?

#104

Post by theparanoid » Tue, Nov 08, 2016, 11:30 AM UTC

fightfortheuser wrote: post #37

keviv wrote: post #34

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Nice! I too work on CodeIngiter and Laravel along with Angular and React. I live in India and the local companies pay peanuts, which means no local projects. How do I find more clients and projects in the US?

The best thing is to do is to build out your network. Keep reaching out to the people in the USA. Make sure your english is impeccable, as that will help build your perceived level of trust. I suggest also getting out there more. Blogging works but you have to market your posts, and it's more long term. Teaching for notable learning platforms works, as well as helping to write public courses. Anyway, the key lesson i…

For the amount of effort blogging isn't a good payoff. My blog had 20k views per yr and yielded zero paying work.

Blog for personal fulfillment not monetary gain.

Re: Ask HN: How much do you earn on average through software freelancing?

#105

Post by daxfohl » Tue, Nov 08, 2016, 11:31 AM UTC

I quit my 120K job for a long-term $75/hr gig. Turns out I'm making way less than I used to. Taxes are way higher and take too long, no benefits or vacation, have to spend more time on non-billable work. Client is a startup that's now running into financial issues of its own, so a raise is unlikely. This is in Kalamazoo. I have young kids and so can't put in a ton of hours to make up the difference.

Haven't spent enough time marketing, or really just don't know how to go about it. Living in small-town midwest it seems hard to make contacts. Everyone I've talked to wants to offer like $5000 flat fee for a week of work they need done (and we all know "a week of work" always turns into a month). Nothing long-term and nothing very profitable, so I've turned everything down.

In all likelihood I'll be back on the job market soon.

Re: Ask HN: How much do you earn on average through software freelancing?

#106

Post by theparanoid » Tue, Nov 08, 2016, 11:48 AM UTC

cgil1210 wrote: post #35

What's the best way to start freelancing? A few years ago I used a few freelance sites such as upwork but the pay was fairly low and the work was just around building wordpress sites. Any recommendations? Specifically for backend or fullstack projects?

There's interesting projects on Upwork. You just have to know how to search for them, "Other - Software" is one.

Re: Ask HN: How much do you earn on average through software freelancing?

#107

Post by ohashi » Tue, Nov 08, 2016, 12:05 PM UTC

siscia wrote: post #52

My actual rate is 100 €/hr for developing work. I charge way less for skype calls, tests, discussions. I am deeply embedded inside the small company I consult for, it is extremely nice because people trust me, are not in my way and are just looking for results. Really happy, however since I don't only bring coding experience but also business acume I would definitely increase my rate to 150 €/hr . People come to me w…

I wonder why you charge less for other kinds of work? It's still your brain and time they are paying for.

Re: Ask HN: How much do you earn on average through software freelancing?

#108

Post by antouank » Tue, Nov 08, 2016, 12:45 PM UTC

fightfortheuser wrote: post #32

I used to charge $50 USD per hour, but I kept upping my rates. Soon I charged $100 per hour, and then $125 hour. The highest I ever got for programming/consulting was $150 USD per hour, but I don't charge that anymore. I've moved on to day rates. Now I bill around $800 per day, but I only work about 6 super-focused hours, and I use the Pomodoro method every day. My clients are happy because I get a lot of work done,…

Where do you get remote contract work from? Any website/agency that helps with finding clients?

Re: Ask HN: How much do you earn on average through software freelancing?

#109

Post by antouank » Tue, Nov 08, 2016, 12:45 PM UTC

fightfortheuser wrote: post #32

I used to charge $50 USD per hour, but I kept upping my rates. Soon I charged $100 per hour, and then $125 hour. The highest I ever got for programming/consulting was $150 USD per hour, but I don't charge that anymore. I've moved on to day rates. Now I bill around $800 per day, but I only work about 6 super-focused hours, and I use the Pomodoro method every day. My clients are happy because I get a lot of work done,…

Where do you get remote contract work from? Any website/agency that helps with finding clients?

Re: Ask HN: How much do you earn on average through software freelancing?

#110

Post by tuckerwales » Tue, Nov 08, 2016, 1:11 PM UTC

fightfortheuser wrote: post #67

karmajunkie wrote: post #53

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I sympathize with that, but what you should also consider is that by greatly undercharging the market rate, you're actually depressing wages for other in your peer group.

and you'll just keep getting more low-end work. The next client you get, double your rate, don't even bat an eye when you quote it, and you'll be surprised when people say yes.

Thanks for the advice guys.