Also, I hate to be "that guy", but spelling and grammar are both important if you're going to be selling $x0000 projects (and you should be). In this post alone, I noticed "wandering" and "tide to a platform". It's important. Always write as if a client is going to read it, because it's very possible that they will.
Ask HN: As a young developer, how can I launch a successful freelancing career?
21–30 of 43 posts
Re: Ask HN: As a young developer, how can I launch a successful freelancing career?
#22Lean how to sell. When I was in college I got frustrated at not having software dev opportunities and only opportunities working at the mall (I went to college right after the dot com bubble). This curse ended up becoming a blessing because I learned how to empathize with what people wanted and what they were trying to accomplish.
A lot of freelancing is just being able to sell yourself. When you find a lead you have to convince them (aka sell to them) that you won't run away with their money and are trustworthy enough to finish what they asked. Each week/day/month you have to do a smaller version of this sale to convince them to continue to stick with you and pay you. Even at the end of the project you have to convince them (aka sell to them) that they should provide positive reviews for you.
Aside from selling you've got to be sure you deliver on time and perform the work asked. You'd be surprised how much of freelancing is more about soft skills (listening, empathy, communicating, saying no, etc) than technical skills.
If have any more questions don't hesitate to reach out to me at ryan at challengeacceptedhq.com
I write a newsletter on freelancing but have taken a couple months break to wrap up my book: The 7 Recurring Revenue Recipes for Freelancers.
Re: Ask HN: As a young developer, how can I launch a successful freelancing career?
#23Lean how to sell. When I was in college I got frustrated at not having software dev opportunities and only opportunities working at the mall (I went to college right after the dot com bubble). This curse ended up becoming a blessing because I learned how to empathize with what people wanted and what they were trying to accomplish. A lot of freelancing is just being able to sell yourself. When you find a lead you have…
Here's the source regarding being able to make money on elance: http://copyhackers.com/2014/12/how-to-earn-on-elance/
Re: Ask HN: As a young developer, how can I launch a successful freelancing career?
#24In short, marketing. It's a trust thing, so it's easier to start local, in person - when remote, they're usually looking for people with a track record.
Re: Ask HN: As a young developer, how can I launch a successful freelancing career?
#25Also, I hate to be "that guy", but spelling and grammar are both important if you're going to be selling $x0000 projects (and you should be). In this post alone, I noticed "wandering" and "tide to a platform". It's important. Always write as if a client is going to read it, because it's very possible that they will.
This is correct.
Just to add to this — most freelance work comes through client recommendations and word-of-mouth referrals. This translates to building a reputation, which in turn requires you take your outlook and presentation very seriously.
I'm not saying you're doing this, but in general — replying "lulz, this projet is dope" to a client will not help a freelancers case.
Re: Ask HN: As a young developer, how can I launch a successful freelancing career?
#26Team up with an agency or group of other freelancers. Then you can specialize and do what you do best(coding or design, for example). That way a higher percentage of your hours will be billed, you'll have less stress, work will be better, client will be happier and pay more, and you'll never leave a client on a limb if something comes up because there will be a team to pick up the slack. Source: did freelancing part…
This.
Especially if said agency can feed you work so you don't have to do any of the hustling/selling. It's a huge peace of mind and you get to stay 95% billable.
Re: Ask HN: As a young developer, how can I launch a successful freelancing career?
#27Also, I hate to be "that guy", but spelling and grammar are both important if you're going to be selling $x0000 projects (and you should be). In this post alone, I noticed "wandering" and "tide to a platform". It's important. Always write as if a client is going to read it, because it's very possible that they will.
Another one: "it's low prices" -> "its low prices".
its -> possessive form of "it"
it's -> "it is"
OP seems not to be a native speaker of English but is doing well despite that.
Re: Ask HN: As a young developer, how can I launch a successful freelancing career?
#28I once took six months off to freelance early in my career, and failed spectacularly. Four years later, I took six months off and tried the same, and was able to replicate my full-time salary without too much difficulty. YMMV, my by experience is having a few years of solid, full-time employment experience (along with good portfolio, network, and all the other things a freelance career requires) will pay dividends in…
This is pretty much what I was going to say. I think that the best way to be a good consultant is to first be a good creator of value and to be confident in the value you create. I didn't quite flame out doing consulting (I was doing fairly low-level stuff while in college), but knew I wasn't going to be able to eat off of it, so I went to work. I'm 27 now and, in all likelihood, I'm going to go consult again whenever my current gig peters out. Difference is that now I've stepped on many of the rakes and learned my lessons--and gotten much, much, much better than I was when I was 22. Five years isn't a long time, but it's long enough to learn a few things and be able to both create more value and explain how I create value to prospective clients.
Re: Ask HN: As a young developer, how can I launch a successful freelancing career?
#29I once took six months off to freelance early in my career, and failed spectacularly. Four years later, I took six months off and tried the same, and was able to replicate my full-time salary without too much difficulty. YMMV, my by experience is having a few years of solid, full-time employment experience (along with good portfolio, network, and all the other things a freelance career requires) will pay dividends in…
> along with ... network I'm curious. Are you talking networking with other developers, or within a niche (e.g. with potential clients)?
Depending on what you do, other developers may be clients. As I note in my sibling comment to yours, I'm not currently doing consulting, but I get a lot of free lunches bought for me so people can pick my brain about clustering, scaling, Docker, Chef, etc.
Re: Ask HN: As a young developer, how can I launch a successful freelancing career?
#30why do you want to be a freelancer? Especially when you're a young dev with lots of energy and passion.
Freelancing teaches business skills that transfer into building a business, which is what every startup wants to grow up and become. Learning to create value that people want and will pay for, is also a very transferable skill.