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Ask HN: 6-figure freelancers of HN, what do you do?

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Re: Ask HN: 6-figure freelancers of HN, what do you do?

#21

Post by charsifood »

chi17 wrote: post #10

Not a freelancer. That's how I do it. I don't think you're asking the right question, though. 100k+ USD/yr in some parts of the country is a lot different than 100k+ USD/yr in other parts. The really smart ones have found jobs in metro areas that pay lots, but work remotely from areas with low cost of living expenses, and put all the extra away into college funds for their kids and Roth 401k's invested in high risk,…

I think the OP is specifically asking freelancers because 100k as a salary is not exactly rare, it's what I've paid some of my juniors.

100k+ as a freelancer is significantly more rare - requiring either very steady work, a niche skill-set, or great marketing skills.

Re: Ask HN: 6-figure freelancers of HN, what do you do?

#22

Post by King-Aaron »

charsifood wrote: post #21
chi17 wrote: post #10

Not a freelancer. That's how I do it. I don't think you're asking the right question, though. 100k+ USD/yr in some parts of the country is a lot different than 100k+ USD/yr in other parts. The really smart ones have found jobs in metro areas that pay lots, but work remotely from areas with low cost of living expenses, and put all the extra away into college funds for their kids and Roth 401k's invested in high risk,…

I think the OP is specifically asking freelancers because 100k as a salary is not exactly rare, it's what I've paid some of my juniors. 100k+ as a freelancer is significantly more rare - requiring either very steady work, a niche skill-set, or great marketing skills.

Do you mind me asking what industry you're in, where a junior can make $100k?

Re: Ask HN: 6-figure freelancers of HN, what do you do?

#23

Post by King-Aaron »

metaloha wrote: post #3

Front-end JS for the oil-and-gas industry. Custom, industry-specific customer-facing web applications. Interesting work, but the business logic required by some companies is freakin' terrifying :)

Yeah anything to do with HMI is often quite lucrative. You're not with Honeywell by chance are you?

Re: Ask HN: 6-figure freelancers of HN, what do you do?

#24

Post by charsifood »

King-Aaron wrote: post #22
charsifood wrote: post #21

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think the OP is specifically asking freelancers because 100k as a salary is not exactly rare, it's what I've paid some of my juniors. 100k+ as a freelancer is significantly more rare - requiring either very steady work, a niche skill-set, or great marketing skills.

Do you mind me asking what industry you're in, where a junior can make $100k?

Financial engineering - NYC.

Re: Ask HN: 6-figure freelancers of HN, what do you do?

#25

Post by GhostVII »

King-Aaron wrote: post #22
charsifood wrote: post #21

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think the OP is specifically asking freelancers because 100k as a salary is not exactly rare, it's what I've paid some of my juniors. 100k+ as a freelancer is significantly more rare - requiring either very steady work, a niche skill-set, or great marketing skills.

Do you mind me asking what industry you're in, where a junior can make $100k?

Software? An entry level developer position in the bay area can be a fair bit higher than $100k

Re: Ask HN: 6-figure freelancers of HN, what do you do?

#26

Post by King-Aaron »

charsifood wrote: post #24
King-Aaron wrote: post #22

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Do you mind me asking what industry you're in, where a junior can make $100k?

Financial engineering - NYC.

Jeez. I'm a senior front end developer in Western Australia, on 70k. Build Fintech systems... It would be interesting to compare the costs of living etc to see how salaries over there compares to here.

Re: Ask HN: 6-figure freelancers of HN, what do you do?

#27

Post by cm2012 »

jackgolding wrote: post #12
cm2012 wrote: post #6

Marketing consulting.

if you don't mind me asking - assuming all of that is services related: what % of that is strategy vs execution?

At this point it's half and half, but it's been trending towards strategy over time.

Re: Ask HN: 6-figure freelancers of HN, what do you do?

#28

Post by Andrenid »

King-Aaron wrote: post #26
charsifood wrote: post #24

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Financial engineering - NYC.

Jeez. I'm a senior front end developer in Western Australia, on 70k. Build Fintech systems... It would be interesting to compare the costs of living etc to see how salaries over there compares to here.

A front end developer in State Gov in Australia can easily be $90-110k, fwiw. Can confirm for east coast anyway.

Re: Ask HN: 6-figure freelancers of HN, what do you do?

#29

Post by troels »

Six figures is a pretty useless distinction these days. It's like how every homeowner is technically a millionaire. The term sticks though.

In any case, freelancer is a vague term. Working on smaller, ad-hoc tasks it is probably harder to make a big payday, but working longer contracts (also called a contractor) can pay very well.

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