Ask HN: How to become a remote contractor? • Hacker News Board

Re: Ask HN: How to become a remote contractor?

#41

Post by osrec » Fri, May 11, 2018, 6:38 PM UTC

BrentOzar wrote: post #7

raleigh_user wrote: post #4

I did this building a small agency in the marketing and ad space. Happy to advise on specifics but in general here’s how we did it: Build up a portfolio of content (since we develop content) that shows we know what we’re doing. Go on speaking circuit for your niche and give lectures on your expertise. Take whatever comes your way for first few deals. Always get a solid statement of work & contract. Rinse and repeat.…

> Build up a portfolio of content (since we develop content) that shows we know what we’re doing. Go on speaking circuit for your niche and give lectures on your expertise. Cannot emphasize this enough. I started a database blog years ago, and built it up into a 5-person remote consulting firm. Inbound marketing is king: build up your brand and people will bring you exactly the projects you want, for life (rather tha…

Mind sharing a link to your blog (if it's still active)? Thanks :)

Re: Ask HN: How to become a remote contractor?

#42

Post by Ma8ee » Fri, May 11, 2018, 6:42 PM UTC

Kluny wrote: post #39

sph wrote: post #32

I've quit my day job in 2012, found a contract with a great client on Upwork (forget how it was called at the time). Initially a 6 months project, I've worked with them for 2 years. Got a few other contracts off that site, until one day I've asked one of my main clients to move out of that platform and work with me directly. Worked with them 2 years, until I got an offer in January to become a full time technical dir…

> 1. Increase your rates. Make them non-negotiable. There's people that are ready to pay for quality. If a client asks you to lower your rate, they probably aren't a good client in the first place. What if you're mediocre, though?

Then you belong in the cubicle. Stay there until you are good. (Which won’t happen automatically, you have to put in the work.)

Re: Ask HN: How to become a remote contractor?

#43

Post by OpenDrapery » Fri, May 11, 2018, 6:44 PM UTC

mancerayder wrote: post #20

boffinism wrote: post #10

It may make you feel dirty, but get on LinkedIn and connect with a bunch of recruiters. This is literally what they are there for. My LI feed and inbox are a constant stream of contracting opportunities in London, and a (small, admittedly) percentage of them are remote. (Of course, they're no use to me, as I'm very happy as a mostly-remote startup CTO, but these opportunities are out there.) Contracting tends to be s…

I do this, too. Unfortunately, recruiters suffer from two really big problems for a contractor: 1. They take a cut, a very big cut, of your hourly or daily rate. Thus, to the client, you seem very expensive, and to you, you seem cheaper than you should be. It becomes a new effort to maneuver a proper rate. 2. Recruiters suffer from the fact that they are salespeople, and salespeople often intuitively omit information…

I'm really surprised that so many employers use the middle man to find contractors. How do you tap into that market and skip the middle man? Seems like a win-win to me. (Except for the recruiter who's left out in the cold)

Re: Ask HN: How to become a remote contractor?

#44

Post by flarco » Fri, May 11, 2018, 6:46 PM UTC

philip1209 wrote: post #14

I'm a digital nomad who as in the same position. I couldn't find contract work for high-skill engineers. So, I started building a marketplace for it. Today that's Moonlight - we are still small, bootstrapped, and growing, but we have companies ranging from startups to a publicly-traded company hiring through the site. Hourly rates average a little over $100US. https://www.moonlightwork.com

Awesome. Can you share with us how it's going with getting more clients on your platform to hire contractors? I know competing with upwork and toptal must be a challenge.

Re: Ask HN: How to become a remote contractor?

#45

Post by dvdhnt » Fri, May 11, 2018, 6:48 PM UTC

Consider finding a reputable and talented agency to work for. I some people automatically reject working for an agency, but when your goal is to travel, it's nice to have someone else maintaining the infrastructure for you e.g. generating leads, signing clients, and taking the liability.

That's what I did, I took a job with a great _local_ agency who is actually remote first. It has allowed me to spend more time with my family and plan actual world travel.

Re: Ask HN: How to become a remote contractor?

#46

Post by johnvanommen » Fri, May 11, 2018, 7:06 PM UTC

miesman wrote: post #36

I 55 and have worked remote many times during my career (including currently). The best way I've found is to work onsite initially and dazzle them. Then when the contract is up tell them you are willing to continue remote.

Interesting!

I'd always negotiated remote work upfront, but doing it this way is clever.

Re: Ask HN: How to become a remote contractor?

#47

Post by joshvm » Fri, May 11, 2018, 7:11 PM UTC

Kluny wrote: post #39

sph wrote: post #32

I've quit my day job in 2012, found a contract with a great client on Upwork (forget how it was called at the time). Initially a 6 months project, I've worked with them for 2 years. Got a few other contracts off that site, until one day I've asked one of my main clients to move out of that platform and work with me directly. Worked with them 2 years, until I got an offer in January to become a full time technical dir…

> 1. Increase your rates. Make them non-negotiable. There's people that are ready to pay for quality. If a client asks you to lower your rate, they probably aren't a good client in the first place. What if you're mediocre, though?

You should still aim for charging quite a bit higher than what you think is reasonable. There are an awful lot of bad developers, so even mediocre is probably fine. I've had consulting gigs where I've charged $200 an hour to answer a survey as a domain expert, and I learned later that I probably undercharged. People will pay, don't worry about that.

If you land a job that you feel got a bit close for comfort, lower your rates and re-calibrate. But assess why before selling yourself cheap - was it really beyond your skill? Did you just need more time? Don't forget that if you charge more, you can better devote your time to those projects. If you charge less you have to spread yourself more thinly to remain solvent.

Re: Ask HN: How to become a remote contractor?

#48

Post by johnvanommen » Fri, May 11, 2018, 7:12 PM UTC

esaym wrote: post #17

> so I can travel the world while working remotely. I thought the same thing. Perhaps it is because I work for someone else instead of for myself, but since I've been full time remote for the last 2 years, I've had 0 free time for anything. I rarely leave the house. Pretty much everything I need comes from online purchases or grocery delivery as I don't even have time to do that.

This x 1000

Before I worked remotely, I thought that working remotely would allow me time to exercise and eat better. I had dreams of going on a daily bicycle ride, instead of being stuck in my car.

The reality is that working remotely just allows me to put in insane amounts of hours. About once or twice a week I'll start my workday at three in the morning due to insomnia, and just work 12-16 hours straight.

I think this is particularly prevalent when the entire team is working remotely, because ALL of us are wrapped up in this crazy schedule.

Re: Ask HN: How to become a remote contractor?

#49

Post by throw_this_one » Fri, May 11, 2018, 7:15 PM UTC

3131s wrote: post #18

cheez wrote: post #3

Surprisingly, you have to do a lot of meatspace visits.

And if you're half way around the world and can't meet in person, people are really hesitant to work with you. I started out remotely with neither a compsci degree nor any prior experience at a tech company, and I definitely advise against being in that situation. The only good outcome was that it spurred me to generalize more so that I could build and deploy something for a client from start to finish on my own.

Nice. How did you get the job? Did you build a complete application from front to back on your own? Or was it through a connection?

Re: Ask HN: How to become a remote contractor?

#50

Post by dangero » Fri, May 11, 2018, 7:18 PM UTC

sph wrote: post #32

I've quit my day job in 2012, found a contract with a great client on Upwork (forget how it was called at the time). Initially a 6 months project, I've worked with them for 2 years. Got a few other contracts off that site, until one day I've asked one of my main clients to move out of that platform and work with me directly. Worked with them 2 years, until I got an offer in January to become a full time technical dir…

Isn’t it against your contract with upwork to move off the platform with a client?