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Ask HN: How do you find freelance work?
91–100 of 206 posts
Re: Ask HN: How do you find freelance work?
#92Earlier quoted context omitted.
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 he…
I believe his main point is that a client that doesn't know what he wants also doesn't know how much to spend, and sure doesn't want to over-spend.
If you find someone that doesn't know what they want but is throwing cash around, sure, be the expert that leads them to digital nirvana.
Generally though, if they don't know what they want, they don't realize how hard it is and so will be in for some serious shell-shock when you tell them the price tag. At which point you're either lowering your rate to still do the work or you've wasted a lot of time talking to them (which they generally don't expect to pay for unless your forte isn't writing code but "being the expert that tells you what you want").
Re: Ask HN: How do you find freelance work?
#93https://moonlightwork.com
I'm the co-founder of Moonlight! I used to freelance full-time (and still do it part-time). I had trouble finding gigs that matched my skills and interests, e.g. optimization algorithms in Julia. Other sites were mainly web development, but it seemed tough to justify a high hourly rate while doing less specialized work. So, I started Moonlight, where we match you based on skills. People are hiring for things right no…
I started the process of signing up, but stopped when you wanted me to sign up for a stripe account. I would prefer to look around more, see what kinds of things jobs are posted before I go though the hassle.
Maybe you're the best thing since sliced bread, maybe not (there are a lot who aren't) and I would like a better opportunity to see what you offer.
I'm also confused about what exactly you offer. Are you more like an online recruiter, or more like upwork, or a job board?
How do you make your money? Do you charge people to post positions, or do you tack something onto the hourly rate, or?
I don't want to sign up for something unless I know what I'm getting into and out of it.
Re: Ask HN: How do you find freelance work?
#94Earlier 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?
commute. lunch. bathroom.
that will probably take 60-120 minutes of your day.
driving to clients for meetings. may be billable, may not be.
driving to potential clients for meetings, and having those meetings - not billable.
dealing with incoming calls and emails.
actually trying to market yourself - blogging, or some other content work, or applying for conference speaking, or planning presentations for local groups (tech groups, business meetups, etc).
debugging crap that doesn't work.
dealing with taxes/payroll/accounting/recordkeeping/insurance.
needing time away to deal with life emergencies or other events.
6 billable - as in, solid productive - *consistently - as in, weeks or months at a time - is generally very hard to pull off for most people. You can certainly be 'on the clock' for more, but just as in about any mental job, you'll have ebbs and flows, and some of that time won't be terribly productive.
Re: Ask HN: How do you find freelance work?
#95I Work alone and make sure I do awesome work for a reasonable fee. Working alone keeps costs low. Awesome work keeps referrals high. Reasonable fee keeps repeat business coming in.
Re: Ask HN: How do you find freelance work?
#96> 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…
I did something similar, though not for cheap :)
it does have the downsides you talk about, I did choose something which I was interested in exploring more. But it did begin to feel "painful" and was happy to finish it.
Now I just do my own side projects.
Re: Ask HN: How do you find freelance work?
#97Earlier quoted context omitted.
" 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?
A person on his way to Burnout Paradise.
Re: Ask HN: How do you find freelance work?
#98Earlier quoted context omitted.
I'm the co-founder of Moonlight! I used to freelance full-time (and still do it part-time). I had trouble finding gigs that matched my skills and interests, e.g. optimization algorithms in Julia. Other sites were mainly web development, but it seemed tough to justify a high hourly rate while doing less specialized work. So, I started Moonlight, where we match you based on skills. People are hiring for things right no…
I started the process of signing up, but stopped when you wanted me to sign up for a stripe account. I would prefer to look around more, see what kinds of things jobs are posted before I go though the hassle. Maybe you're the best thing since sliced bread, maybe not (there are a lot who aren't) and I would like a better opportunity to see what you offer. I'm also confused about what exactly you offer. Are you more li…
> I started the process of signing up, but stopped when you wanted me to sign up for a stripe account. I would prefer to look around more, see what kinds of things jobs are posted before I go though the hassle.
Valid feedback. We have been concentrating on improving the client signup experience for the past couple weeks, and it has made a huge difference. We will focus product efforts on improving the contractor signup experience soon.
> I'm also confused about what exactly you offer. Are you more like an online recruiter, or more like upwork, or a job board? > How do you make your money? Do you charge people to post positions, or do you tack something onto the hourly rate, or?
It's more like upwork. Clients can post jobs, or directly hire you through your profile. Moonlight has some product management capabilities, and we manage weekly invoices. We add a 15% processing fee on payments. You get your full hourly rate.
> I don't want to sign up for something unless I know what I'm getting into and out of it.
Email me and I can setup a video call to show you the product!
Re: Ask HN: How do you find freelance work?
#99> 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…
> I 100% guarantee it.
Your one experience doesn't guarantee the next person's.
Re: Ask HN: How do you find freelance work?
#100> 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…
As a general rule, I never do business with friends and family. If a friend asks for technical help, and I am able, I'd do it for free without commitment, but no way I'm sacrificing relationships for a job.
This is excellent advice.
Similarly, I don't ask friends in other professions to work for me -- I ask for their advice on who to hire. If they suggest someone to do the work, good, I know they'll recommend people they respect. And if they say "Oh, it'll take ten minutes -- let me show you" then I take them out to dinner. Either way our friendship continues.