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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?

#81

Post by gk1 »

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…

> A client that doesn't know what he wants is a bad client.

I disagree completely. A prospect who doesn't know what they want is an opportunity for the freelancer to provide more value by finding a solution for them.

You're conflating "unrealistic expectations" with "I know I have a problem but I don't know what the solution is." The former is something to avoid. The latter should make cash-register sounds in your head because it's an opportunity to provide more value and charge accordingly.

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

#82

Post by WalterGR »

brandontreb wrote: post #30

"I don't have a ton of networking skills" Work on this. I have built my consultancy over the past 6 years and it started with me doing freelance and now we do over $1m/year in revenue. I attribute the majority of success to networking. Here are some of the things I did early on (and still continue to some extent). 1. Local meetups. Great place to show off, hear about leads, etc... 2. Find influencers / networkers in…

I have built my consultancy over the past 6 years and it started with me doing freelance and now we do over $1m/year in revenue.

How many employees does your consultancy have including yourself?

Find influencers / networkers in your area and buy them coffee. Ask tons of questions and end with "Who else do you think I should be talking to?"

I feel like something is missing here. The sales part, I imagine. Otherwise how does simply asking people questions translate to business?

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

#83

Post by ClassyJacket »

dahart wrote: post #66
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…

> And I took it at 40% of my normal day-job rate ... That was two years of nights and weekends that did not belong to me. I wonder if the workload was high in part because you gave such an insanely good deal? It took me a while to get my contracting rate up to where it was high enough to support me, and to feel comfortable asking for what seemed like large numbers. But the quality of work has actually improved the mo…

" 4-6 billable hours are about the most you can consistently get out of a 10 hour work day"

Could you expand on this at all? Why so few billable hours? I can understand why it's not 10/10 (administrating your own work, keeping records, billing clients) but just 40% of your time? What kind of things are taking up the other 4 - 6 hours that can't be billed?

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

#84

Post by dmihal »

amingilani wrote: post #20

Toptal[1] If you're a really good engineer (like I strongly believed I was) and don't have the network to find gigs (I live in Pakistan) freelance market places are great ideas on paper but never work out... Until I joined Toptal. They screened me to ensure I was a good developer (high quality supply of developers) and then worked with me to find a client that would be a good fit. Since not everyone can get into the…

Been working for/with Toptal for over a year and really liking it. I first started working freelancing through Upwork and hated it, the clients were bad & rates low (plus Upwork takes 20%).

I really like that Toptal takes care of screening for quality clients and dealing with payments. Plus they try to provide some soft benefits like personal & professional development.

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

#85

Post by bugBunny »

parallel_item wrote: post #48

Folks hate on Upwork.com but I have used it to secure and build good long-term relationships. Once the relationships grew we could take it offline to a more formal relationship. Because I started my career as an accountant, I have been able to start 2 of these relationships as an accountant and move over to data analysis. A good note to include is I do this part-time while working full-time and don't think I could si…

Thats illegal, you had signed contract with upwork.

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

#86

Post by spinlock »

brandontreb wrote: post #30

"I don't have a ton of networking skills" Work on this. I have built my consultancy over the past 6 years and it started with me doing freelance and now we do over $1m/year in revenue. I attribute the majority of success to networking. Here are some of the things I did early on (and still continue to some extent). 1. Local meetups. Great place to show off, hear about leads, etc... 2. Find influencers / networkers in…

This is great. I've just launched a product consultancy and I really need to start presenting at meetups about the technology we're using. It just seems like such a perfect way to get work that aligns with what you want to be doing in the first place.

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

#87

Post by brandontreb »

WalterGR wrote: post #82
brandontreb wrote: post #30

"I don't have a ton of networking skills" Work on this. I have built my consultancy over the past 6 years and it started with me doing freelance and now we do over $1m/year in revenue. I attribute the majority of success to networking. Here are some of the things I did early on (and still continue to some extent). 1. Local meetups. Great place to show off, hear about leads, etc... 2. Find influencers / networkers in…

I have built my consultancy over the past 6 years and it started with me doing freelance and now we do over $1m/year in revenue. How many employees does your consultancy have including yourself? Find influencers / networkers in your area and buy them coffee. Ask tons of questions and end with "Who else do you think I should be talking to?" I feel like something is missing here. The sales part, I imagine. Otherwise ho…

We have a mix of employees / contractors but usually hover around 9-10.

As far as asking questions, it’s about the long game. I aim to build relationships with people and establish myself/my team as an authority on software dev.

Almost none of my meetings are “sales” meetings, in fact we never do advertising at all. All leads come from people who eventually want work or refer their colleagues. Some meetings pan out and others don’t.

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

#88

Post by tlarkworthy »

ClassyJacket wrote: post #83
dahart wrote: post #66

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> And I took it at 40% of my normal day-job rate ... That was two years of nights and weekends that did not belong to me. I wonder if the workload was high in part because you gave such an insanely good deal? It took me a while to get my contracting rate up to where it was high enough to support me, and to feel comfortable asking for what seemed like large numbers. But the quality of work has actually improved the mo…

" 4-6 billable hours are about the most you can consistently get out of a 10 hour work day" Could you expand on this at all? Why so few billable hours? I can understand why it's not 10/10 (administrating your own work, keeping records, billing clients) but just 40% of your time? What kind of things are taking up the other 4 - 6 hours that can't be billed?

marketing & learning.

Plus who can work a 10 hour day consistently?

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

#90

Post by mgleason_3 »

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…

So with you brother!

Had a "friend" call me the other day and say: "My old tech-guy retired and won't help me anymore. I hired a new company and they're charging me $150/hr for troubleshooting, which they're slow at and my secretary ended up fixing the last problem. So I don't want to use them. I really need a new Quickbooks server and computers. Can you do this for me - I'll pay you!"

I tell him I'm not the right person, but he's having none of it. "Come-on, I'm in a spot. I'll pay you!"

I hang up and I'm stewing. But, I can't really put my finger on why I'm so pissed off.

So, I'm sorting through this idea and keep having these "WAIT" moments - short for "What Am I Thinking" (probably should be WTFAIT, but..)

My sorting goes like this: - I could do this - I could help him out. I know Windows, I've heard of Quickbooks. I've set up my own network. - WAIT-I work on a MBP and only touch windows intermittently. - I don't know QuickBooks. Maybe I can look up what I need on the internet (go off and search...find a few issues like the version he has doesn't work on Windows 10) - WAIT-I don't deal with this stuff day-to-day - I'm going to run into unforeseen issues. But, I can mitigate that by researching it ahead of time. But it's risky - I could miss something. - It's not fair for him to have to pay me for all those hours researching stuff I don't know. - WAIT-I'm going to do this on my own time? - But he's in a spot. And I could make a few bucks on the side when he needs additional stuff going forward. - WAIT-I could end up having to fix any issues that come up for a long time. Like months, years. - It's hard to find good tech support, right?

...and on...

- WAIT-There's plenty of tech support out there. He's gotta know hundreds. Why is he calling me?

Finally...I realize that my "friend" is like many small businesses - cheap. He's hoping I'll treat it like a hobby, charge him a low hourly rate, and eat all the hours I spend getting up to speed. Sorta like doing charity work - but not for a charity.

- Then I called him back and said: "I'm not the right person to do this. It's not that I'm being modest. It's that even though I know there are some pitfalls, I don't know what all the pitfalls are. Which could mean spending a ton of time, making mistakes and who knows what else. So, if you want to do this on your own, I'm willing to help. But it would be just as a friend and I couldn't possibly charge you for it."

I haven't heard back form him...

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