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Ask HN: How did you get started as a freelancer?

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Re: Ask HN: How did you get started as a freelancer?

#31

Post by CyberFonic »

aidos wrote: post #28

If you're currently working at an agency, one trick is to see if they have any smallish clients that you could take with you when you leave. For an agency those customers can be more noisy than they're worth so they're pleased to see the back of them - but they can be valuable as a freelancer. It's worked out well for me in the past (and was a win all round).

I had a somewhat comparable experience working for an agency. The agency and their client I was working for had some sort of angry falling-out (never discovered what triggered that war of nasty words). The client liked my work so I got the agency to release both the client and myself for our respective contracts - got that it writing on their letterhead to be extra sure. Then continued working for the client - splitting the agency's markup between us, i.e. I got half the markup and the client saved their half of the markup. Ended up working for that client for over 2 years and still in touch with the project manager who was caught in that bind at the time.

Re: Ask HN: How did you get started as a freelancer?

#32

Post by ta4352 »

I was working at a mom and pop shop, and we used a saas web application for managing online shipping. For funzies I cobbled together some python that would poll a usb scale upon http request which would get called from a button on the web app injected by a greasemonkey script and fill out the lb and oz fields with the weight.

When I got it working I was so excited that I immediately opened up their live chat and asked support if it'd be something they were interested in. They were a small operation and it ended up being the businesses owner who was on the other side. After a few emails back and forth we agreed on $3500 (plus our shop would get to use their app for free) in exchange for windows and mac versions of the code.

Oh man, now was I really excited. $3.5k for a couple weekends of work, I've hit the big time!

Later they sold to stamps.com for $50 million. I've since learned to charge more and to better estimate my time.

Re: Ask HN: How did you get started as a freelancer?

#33

Post by BenFrantzDale »

On three occasions I’ve consulted for my previous employer (three different companies). Once while I was in grad school, once after I had left but the company still wanted some of my time, and once on a project for a company that had let me go when they moved operations but wanted to collaborate. From that, and through entrepreneurs I know, I’ve gotten several other jobs. I’ve been full-time nearly five years now (Formlabs: we are hiring: http://formlabs.com/jobs) but before that, consulting had become a pretty regular thing to do between full-time employment.

Re: Ask HN: How did you get started as a freelancer?

#34

Post by stefanfisk »

A friend of mine was interning as a creative at an ad agency, and they wanted a webpage done for waaay to little money. I was currently just living of my savings and had nothing better to do, so I did my best and took the project on. It was hell, but eventually my first webpage ever was done!

Now I’ve been freelancing for eight years, doing quite the variety of web and iOS projects. Never did I really need to find customers, friends always directed enough work towards me.

Re: Ask HN: How did you get started as a freelancer?

#35

Post by sufiyan »

Vekz wrote: post #30
djjk wrote: post #20

I'm doing freelance EE hardware design. About 5 years into my career I worked for a small consulting firm that did a lot of mechanical engineering and a little electrical. The owner could not find enough work for the mechanical guys and was tired of the ups and downs of consulting so he closed the business. I asked him if I could continue working directly for one of his old clients and he said sure. So that would giv…

how do I hire?

Are you looking for hardware engineers?

Re: Ask HN: How did you get started as a freelancer?

#36

Post by h1d »

Self taught programming while making a web service that I thought was ace while in university but never made any money after overstaying in university and finally quit and I had to get a job.

Joined some startup who was struggling to get their services right as they didn't have any proper programmer. I just kept fixing stuff left and right with my 10 years experience and it was apparent even from their clients who the guy was that kept fixing stuff.

I was planning to quit the place in a year (without planning anything ahead) but as I quit, everyone started asking me for work, even from the company I left.

Re: Ask HN: How did you get started as a freelancer?

#38

Post by whitefang »

I used to work at a startup and got fired. I always wanted to try freelancing but didn't have the courage to leave a well paying full-time job and take the risk. This gave me that opportunity.

My family wanted me to take another job but I asked for 3 months and if I couldn't earn equal to my last salary I would take up a job.

It was very hard in the beginning, I emailed people, posted on social forums but the response rate was very low(we all know that now) which was again emotionally challenging.

I had a good profile working with Ruby and JavaScript so some of my clients got interested. And I still work with them it has been almost a year.

@ageitgey said a very good thing about finding the good client, which stays longer and pay well.

I have also realised that in the freelance world the turnaround time is slightly high. What I mean by that is even after a client says yes, it takes almost 15 to 30 days before you really get started.

That's my story!

Re: Ask HN: How did you get started as a freelancer?

#39

Post by burn_cycle »

sharkweek wrote: post #10

Worked in a specific industry for a while, made some connections in that time. Left my full-time job and let my contacts know I'd be doing freelance/consulting work. Landed a few starter clients from this, then just asked for word of mouth referrals (by far the best leads for me). I'd also suggest having a landing page for your business/service, and maintaining a blog on this site where you write commentary on things…

This is really good advice. In addition:

1) Your network will be your main source of work. I've been freelancing for just over a year and every single job I've had has come as a result of relationships I made when I was in full-time employment.

2) In terms of billing do not be afraid to charge a lot more than you would expect to make if doing the same work as an employee. You'll get better at this.

3) It also helps if you can save a few months worth of money before hand. I've found that it helps psychologically when negotiating if you know you don't need to take a job. In practice you will (ideally) a fair amount of what you are offered, this can be because some jobs simply aren't worth taking and the opportunity cost of a mediocre pay-day.

4) Take time off when you can and always sleep well. You will switch between periods of no work and periods of too much work. Relax during the former so you are ready for the latter.

5) Know your stuff and work hard.

Re: Ask HN: How did you get started as a freelancer?

#40

Post by codegeek »

ageitgey wrote: post #8

I write a lot online about machine learning (especially for a broad audience). I don't do it intentionally as a marketing strategy, but people researching those topics naturally read what I write and some email to ask if I can help them with their projects. That leads to connections and sometimes to new projects. That's the best way to market other than just meeting people and networking. The real skill you have to d…

"he real skill you have to develop is who to say "no" to. One good customer can keep you busy for a year and pay really well. 500 bad customers with small projects and small budgets can require 500x the work and result in less overall money."

This. So important to ensure that you find the "right" clients that fit what you are offering.

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