71–80 of 350 posts
Learn to write well. You can make 1k-1.5k/month starting next month if you can author good blog posts for businesses. Writing content, like coding, is something where the time investment cannot be "hacked." For a 1200 word blog post someone has to sit at the computer and actually write the 1200 words. That takes time. In many cases there is no content writer on staff and someone has to do the work. I'd say 90% of the…
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OP didn't say "work for free", they said "work for peanuts". I agree that freelancer sites have some problematic aspects, but I don't think there is anything wrong with the idea that you need to start small and build a reputation/profile. This applies to any bootstrapped business, not just when working via freelancer sites.
I would argue work for peanuts and work for free are not significantly distinct on many freelance sites. Unless you're suggesting that there's a meaningful difference in doing 40 hours of work for 5 bucks and working for free?
https://www.fossjobs.net/ https://github.com/fossjobs/fossjobs/wiki/resources
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This is bad advice for someone who has only been coding for 3 years (according to OP). People who can make $500k/year through connections they make contributing to open source projects could most likely just apply to a FAANG company directly. It is way more common to see brilliant developers make $0 from open source projects.
Not true. One of the people I'm referring to was under 25 when he landed a $500k USD remote job at a FAANG company. I'd share more, but too many people would figure out who it is. He didn't get that offer by applying directly. The point is not that OP is going to make $500k a year. The point is to be smart about the language and project that you pick and to be reliable, professional, and open to learning quickly and…
Feels like your example is very specific and would not generalize to the average programmer.
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Top notch comment.
Also, it's a very risky path to take. If you made an error in your assumptions about your open source investment, tech stack choice, etc, then you won't see any good return, but you burned through your savings.
I chose Rails 14 years ago and have been riding that train ever since.
If I were choosing a new space and starting out, I’d contribute to Kubernetes. Lots of need in that space and I’m sure you could demand top dollar once you have a few merged PRs under your belt.
Don't bother with domestic freelancing. Chances are you will be worked to death and struggle to even get paid. Software engineers are rarely taken seriously in developing economies. Focus on overseas freelancing. Start small and gradually increase your rate. You probably won't get big projects or a nice pay rate in the beginning. It's fine, in the long term things will work out. You will build a reputation over time.…
- Don't write off working for domestic SMB's just because their sales are in a downturn. At least 50% of my earnings over the past decade was building software & analytics tools for companies that were in outright financial distress. The pain of the downturn will prompt people to change their organization and process in ways they never imagined. As a developer, you can make an excellent living as an enabler of that change.
(In fact, I get a premium due to my experience in this space)
- Overseas freelancing is a meat market on the provider side; that being said, most of your competition sucks. (speaking as someone who spends five figures a year on offshore talent). Lots of exaggerated resumes, lousy rush jobs, and general lack of professional service. There is a high risk you're going to have to fix the work later. This is particularly true for clients with an established business and something to lose if the project goes sour. Avoid "aspiring CEO's" and other cheap d-bags lurking on the platform. Raise your prices and you'll be surprised to find decent clients who are willing to pay for value.
Rate also isn't everything. Consider % of time billable and % of time chasing clients or payment. One big advantage to places like Upwork (if you can land the right clients) is you don't need to screw around with the even larger pile of BS involved in working with small businesses directly. (Like um, tire-kickers and people that slow pay invoices)
- I wouldn't write as an overseas freelancer. I would consider publishing and affiliate marketing. Your content and code is just as good as that published by a high cost country and you have a cost advantage. It's not all junk either - take a look at SAAS affiliate marketing... it's a fairly natural place to go if you've got real world IT experience and doesn't involve mortgaging your soul to push someone's fake pills or dating scam... https://highestpayinggigs.com/affiliate-marketing/saas/
This thread is great, every suggestion has a reply that says "This is terrible advice." Might I suggest people stop giving advice if they haven't actually done it themselves? Just spewing what you think should work, or what you think you've seen people do could be super harmful to this person's career. Let's hear some first hand stories of what worked, not second/third/imaginary hard stories of what people think shou…
Survivorship bias and “after the fact rationalization“ are both way too common in those discussions.
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Top notch comment.
Agree, but OTOH, this advice is pretty well disseminated at this point. It can be hard to find an opening to contribute in a decent OSS project that one can keep up with, especially as a beginner, with many others clamoring to do the same.
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Also, it's a very risky path to take. If you made an error in your assumptions about your open source investment, tech stack choice, etc, then you won't see any good return, but you burned through your savings.
Contribute to something that has gotten big, quickly. I chose Rails 14 years ago and have been riding that train ever since. If I were choosing a new space and starting out, I’d contribute to Kubernetes. Lots of need in that space and I’m sure you could demand top dollar once you have a few merged PRs under your belt.