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Ask HN: How do you find freelance work?

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Re: Ask HN: How do you find freelance work?

#111

Post by mattnewton »

goostavos wrote: post #36

> I'm a software engineer with a full-time job, but I have lots of spare time in my off hours. I'd like to monetize this time > I'm not looking for massive pay, just something to occupy my time and some side money. This opinion will change. I 100% guarantee it. A few years ago, I had the exact same reasoning for starting freelancing on the side. I even justified my desire for more paid work as "I'd be programming on…

I agree wholeheartedly, this almost exactly mirrors my experience. It put strain on my health and my relationship.

The solution, for a time, appeared to be charging enough money so that clients used me as a last resort; but even then I eventually found myself awash of money and having no time still, and quit trying to do two jobs.

You don’t get any more time, it’s precious. It’s also easy to lose track of time that isn’t billable (like client acquisition). Sell your spare time at a premium, or not at all.

Re: Ask HN: How do you find freelance work?

#112

Post by EpicEng »

wuliwong wrote: post #99
goostavos wrote: post #36

> I'm a software engineer with a full-time job, but I have lots of spare time in my off hours. I'd like to monetize this time > I'm not looking for massive pay, just something to occupy my time and some side money. This opinion will change. I 100% guarantee it. A few years ago, I had the exact same reasoning for starting freelancing on the side. I even justified my desire for more paid work as "I'd be programming on…

> I 100% guarantee it. Your one experience doesn't guarantee the next person's.

col·lo·qui·al·ism

noun a word or phrase that is not formal or literary, typically one used in ordinary or familiar conversation.

Re: Ask HN: How do you find freelance work?

#113

Post by bottled_poe »

goostavos wrote: post #36

> I'm a software engineer with a full-time job, but I have lots of spare time in my off hours. I'd like to monetize this time > I'm not looking for massive pay, just something to occupy my time and some side money. This opinion will change. I 100% guarantee it. A few years ago, I had the exact same reasoning for starting freelancing on the side. I even justified my desire for more paid work as "I'd be programming on…

I absolutely agree. The opportunity cost of each hour per week goes up, not down. If you are considering freelancing work on the side be sure to set the hourly rate above your regular wage. That’s just my opinion, as I prefer to spend my non-work hours focused on other aspects of my life.

Re: Ask HN: How do you find freelance work?

#114

Post by dboreham »

bbaumgar wrote: post #70
DoreenMichele wrote: post #62

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You've got this figured out. Hoping for some additional tips, though my work is a different field. I do freelance writing, like resume editing and copy for business websites. I have mostly worked when and as much as I wanted on projects I liked, but at low pay through a service where I can't build a portfolio because I am a ghost writer. I am trying to figure out how to move away from that. Any thoughts on how to lea…

Always more to learn, but I've been happy with the results so far. My rule when I was unhappy with my rates was simple: 1. Double my rates. 2. If the client mentions my rates, but still agrees, then I haven't increased them enough. Go back to step 1. 3. If the client says no because of my rates, I move on (this can be a good sign - if no one is turned away because your prices are too high, you don't have too high of…

This was literally Bill Gates' pricing strategy in the beginning of Micro Soft. Double the previous price for each new Basic licensee.

Re: Ask HN: How do you find freelance work?

#115

Post by dboreham »

tomduncalf wrote: post #47
goostavos wrote: post #36

> I'm a software engineer with a full-time job, but I have lots of spare time in my off hours. I'd like to monetize this time > I'm not looking for massive pay, just something to occupy my time and some side money. This opinion will change. I 100% guarantee it. A few years ago, I had the exact same reasoning for starting freelancing on the side. I even justified my desire for more paid work as "I'd be programming on…

You make a very good point here. I too have taken on freelance work that ended up consuming much more time than expected and I found it very draining. Even when you aren’t working on it, the knowledge that you have to work on it hangs over you. These days, if I’m working five days a week for a client, I will only take on small side projects (something that I could probably do in a few days full time work, but I will…

Bill per hour and charge more.

Re: Ask HN: How do you find freelance work?

#116

Post by kentm »

goostavos wrote: post #36

> I'm a software engineer with a full-time job, but I have lots of spare time in my off hours. I'd like to monetize this time > I'm not looking for massive pay, just something to occupy my time and some side money. This opinion will change. I 100% guarantee it. A few years ago, I had the exact same reasoning for starting freelancing on the side. I even justified my desire for more paid work as "I'd be programming on…

I can relate to this. Luckily, my only side project was only a few weeks and not a year. After that experience, I realized that freelance programming was different than hobbyist programming, that I would prefer to have free time rather than a side gig, and if I wanted to do freelancing on the side again I would charge a premium (it was for a friend, so I converted my salary to an hourly rate and charged them that).

Re: Ask HN: How do you find freelance work?

#117

Post by frading »

philip1209 wrote: post #31
nbrempel wrote: post #14

https://moonlightwork.com

I'm the co-founder of Moonlight! I used to freelance full-time (and still do it part-time). I had trouble finding gigs that matched my skills and interests, e.g. optimization algorithms in Julia. Other sites were mainly web development, but it seemed tough to justify a high hourly rate while doing less specialized work. So, I started Moonlight, where we match you based on skills. People are hiring for things right no…

Your website peeked my interest as well. I just subscribed and am curious to see what kind of jobs you have available.

(I also messaged you guys about skipping the stripe process)

Re: Ask HN: How do you find freelance work?

#118

Post by mrhappyunhappy »

collyw wrote: post #59
taprun wrote: post #2

1. Identify a skill that you have, and other people want. The more succinctly you can describe it, the better. Programmer == bad. C# developer == better. 2. Identify where people who need that skill spend time (meetups, clubs, slack groups, podcasts, discussion websites, mailing lists, etc). 3. Spend time at these places, delivering value, and pitching your wares. If you can get on stage to present, even better. A st…

Programmer == bad. C# developer == better. I am a full time job person at present so I am by no means an expert but this seems wrong to me. Aren't the majority of people who do the hiring for freelancers non-technical? As such pushing a particular tech seems like a bad idea. (I am always pretty skeptical of people who rant about how a particular tech will solve the problem rather than how to actually solve the proble…

Nope. We often know exactly who we want to hire. The more specialized you are the better. Find a niche you really love working in say crypto for example and work to be known for that type of work. General = bad.

Also network with designers and agencies. I’m a ux designer and a ton of my work comes from agencies. You could even cold email them and introduce yourself politely. I know this sounds like bad advice but it really isn’t.

Re: Ask HN: How do you find freelance work?

#119

Post by mrhappyunhappy »

kjksf wrote: post #68
collyw wrote: post #59

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Programmer == bad. C# developer == better. I am a full time job person at present so I am by no means an expert but this seems wrong to me. Aren't the majority of people who do the hiring for freelancers non-technical? As such pushing a particular tech seems like a bad idea. (I am always pretty skeptical of people who rant about how a particular tech will solve the problem rather than how to actually solve the proble…

A client that doesn't know what he wants is a bad client. Those kinds of people often have unrealistic expectations like "I want a website like Facebook for $500". Don't work for such people. That leaves people who do know what they want. So let's look at it from their perspective. Let's say they need a Windows desktop app. Two people apply for the job. You say "I'm a great programmer, here's a website I wrote". The…

This times 1000.

Re: Ask HN: How do you find freelance work?

#120

Post by juliend2 »

Do:

1. Get out of the building. That means finding other people's problems.

2. Show up. After work, offer to take a coffee with the CEO, or an the exec of a company you know, just to talk about their problems and challenges they are facing, and if applicable, tell them you could help them with that. The simple fact of showing up often in a place will give the impression to people that you are available for some work.

3. Know your value in the market. Unless you know your value, you won't make a significant amount of money to justify the time you put in. Which leads me to point #4:

4. If you still don't find anything to do for profit, try offering your skills to a non-profit organization that would benefit a lot from your skills. For their website, or an internal app. These projects are sometimes fun to do and you can get some valuable experience in an interesting tech you like, in a project that you know will be useful and meaningful to others.

Don't:

1. ...say yes too often.

2. ...under-estimate the time it would take to finish up the project.

3. ...ignore your gut feeling when starting a relationship with people. Bad people don't look that bad on first impression.

Good luck!

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