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

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

#91

Post by fgpwd »

I am willing to work for 10$ an hour for full stack development (React/redux and go or firebase, SQL, sometimes node), or Cordova app development, or programming embedded devices (C or proprietary languages).

But no clients so far except for some friends who have promised to pay in the future if their startup gets successful or gets funded :)

I have tried the usual freelance sites but no one really bids on me. The reason is that I am from India and don't have much to show in terms of projects/experience - my previous company had a very strict non disclosure policy, and haven't worked on anything open source yet, don't have a blog, etc.

I am not very serious though and more focussed on a project/"startup" of my own but still looking for pocket money of 20-40$ a day to sustain myself without having to do a job. I am trying at fiverr now. Somehow I just haven't cracked the money nut yet.

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

#92

Post by anguswithgusto »

ss108 wrote: post #81
anguswithgusto wrote: post #26

$100/hr, albeit writing about/for software, not writing the software itself. Copywriting is a super great gig.

WAT How did you swing that/who do you write for? I have written an article for Sitepoint and have a couple in-progress pitches with them and someone else, but I am not really motivated about it because the per hour rate, after all the back-and-forth and work, ends up being like 20 bucks or less.

Took a lot of effort to build up the portfolio. I basically tried to avoid content mills and focused my effort on clients I knew I could write a reliably successful piece for (between 2k - 50k hits).

As you allude to though, the back-and-forth does dilute the rate quite a bit. But it's still fun as hell.

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

#93

Post by anguswithgusto »

snerbles wrote: post #31
anguswithgusto wrote: post #26

$100/hr, albeit writing about/for software, not writing the software itself. Copywriting is a super great gig.

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.

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

#94

Post by fgpwd »

mgkimsal wrote: post #89
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?

never met you - this is not bashing you - but I will tell you what not to do. * do not call or email me weekly for years on end telling me how great your programming is. i don't care - i have too much on my plate already. * do not join slack channels and pm each person individually telling them you want to start work on their php project. these two things have turned me off of almost all developers who are not in my…

I once met a guy in a Starbucks in New Delhi. He asked me about my job. Me: "I am a software developer." Him: "Oh no! You are not one of those Indian guys who keep on sending Skype messages to everybody asking for projects and selling services? Are you?"

LOL. I agree, a lot of people engage in spamming others like that in India. A lot of people do just this (sending unwanted messages to "leads" on Skype , email, slack, whatever) as their day job to make a living.

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

#95

Post by godd2 »

tixocloud wrote: post #84
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,…

Curious - how did you get things started?

If there are any programming/tech meetups in your area, go to them! Ask around for any work that needs to be done. Draft a quick talk on something you've worked on recently, and give it. Networking is a very powerful tool.

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

#96

Post by Whitestrake »

fgpwd wrote: post #91

I am willing to work for 10$ an hour for full stack development (React/redux and go or firebase, SQL, sometimes node), or Cordova app development, or programming embedded devices (C or proprietary languages). But no clients so far except for some friends who have promised to pay in the future if their startup gets successful or gets funded :) I have tried the usual freelance sites but no one really bids on me. The re…

This may sound weird, but have you tried asking for more money instead of less?

When I started out here in Australia I asked for very little, comparatively, and got an equivalent amount of work. It wasn't until I asked for more than I thought I was worth that people actually started hiring me.

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

#97

Post by keviv »

mgkimsal wrote: post #89
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?

never met you - this is not bashing you - but I will tell you what not to do. * do not call or email me weekly for years on end telling me how great your programming is. i don't care - i have too much on my plate already. * do not join slack channels and pm each person individually telling them you want to start work on their php project. these two things have turned me off of almost all developers who are not in my…

I totally understand your feelings. I too have hired local freelancers in the past and I still get emails from them now and then. I always mark them as spam, but they tend to change their email addresses every time :(

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

#98

Post by [deleted] »

Whitestrake wrote: post #96
fgpwd wrote: post #91

I am willing to work for 10$ an hour for full stack development (React/redux and go or firebase, SQL, sometimes node), or Cordova app development, or programming embedded devices (C or proprietary languages). But no clients so far except for some friends who have promised to pay in the future if their startup gets successful or gets funded :) I have tried the usual freelance sites but no one really bids on me. The re…

This may sound weird, but have you tried asking for more money instead of less? When I started out here in Australia I asked for very little, comparatively, and got an equivalent amount of work. It wasn't until I asked for more than I thought I was worth that people actually started hiring me.

[deleted]

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

#99

Post by fgpwd »

Whitestrake wrote: post #96
fgpwd wrote: post #91

I am willing to work for 10$ an hour for full stack development (React/redux and go or firebase, SQL, sometimes node), or Cordova app development, or programming embedded devices (C or proprietary languages). But no clients so far except for some friends who have promised to pay in the future if their startup gets successful or gets funded :) I have tried the usual freelance sites but no one really bids on me. The re…

This may sound weird, but have you tried asking for more money instead of less? When I started out here in Australia I asked for very little, comparatively, and got an equivalent amount of work. It wasn't until I asked for more than I thought I was worth that people actually started hiring me.

I guess you are right, I should try quoting higher prices and see what happens :)

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

#100

Post by patio11 »

uniclaude wrote: post #72

Before reading patio11: 75usd/hr After reading patio11: 200 Then again, I don't only do software consulting, I ship (or fix, or optimize) solutions on time to help my clients make way more than I cost them.

Thanks, that made my day.
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