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Ask HN: How do you find freelance/contract gigs?

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Re: Ask HN: How do you find freelance/contract gigs?

#81

Post by brickcap »

jqm wrote: post #7

Don't contract as a contractor to businesses that are programming themselves. Build things for businesses that will be the end user. Most of these types of businesses have less of a notion of how to go about getting tools that will help their business in the first place and it can be a hard sell unless they have an immediate need. Sometimes you have to really learn about the specifics of how the business functions an…

I agree with what you say and in the long run one should be looking to work directly for end user but a balance should be maintained b/w the two. It is easier to convince the software businesses of your usefulness while convincing the end user will take much more effort.

One other benifit of working for the end user is that in many cases you end up being paid for maintaining (for example being a server admin for a web app) the application you wrote for them. This can be a nice source of recurring income.

Re: Ask HN: How do you find freelance/contract gigs?

#82

Post by swissRF »

tejay wrote: post #42
cweagans wrote: post #41

Gun.io is pretty good, IMO. I'd stay away from odesk and elance.

Much love :)

I tried atleast 10 times via Gun.io but was unable to find any work through it. I might not be a suitable for the job but I never received any update on my submission. I also tried sending emails to Gun.io team but got no response from them

Re: Ask HN: How do you find freelance/contract gigs?

#83

Post by sheraz »

I'm late to the game here, but I'll chime in. There is a general consensus here that networking is the fastest path to that first dollar, and I agree.

The freelance marketplace is a big reason I created 3cosystem[1] - the biggest and most comprehensive tech and startup event calendar.

See if your metro area is listed. There are certainly a number of events popping up around you. Show up early and talk to the organizers. They might mention you in their pre-game presentations.

[1] - http://www.3cosystem.com

Re: Ask HN: How do you find freelance/contract gigs?

#84

Post by keithwarren »

sushidev wrote: post #74
keithwarren wrote: post #17

I have been on my own for 15 years. I bill around 150/hr give or take 20% depending on the situation. Most of the work is Microsoft stack web related but mobile apps and api building has been steadily increasing for a several years now to the point that probably 20% of my 2014 revenue was in that space. 50-60% of my revenue is sub-contracting. I have a few firms that often take on projects that they are not suited fo…

Keith, 150$/hr sounds great. I wonder where these rates are common? I've started on oDesk and doing pretty good in oDesk's standards I think, but it's still only third of your rate.

It took me several years, when I was part time (my first two years) I think I was billing about 40. When I jumped to full time I went to 75 and over a year or two slid it up to 85. I got a call about 10 years ago for a weekend gig doing some perf tuning on a web app and they offered me 150/hr, asked if that was sufficient (It was a large company, they were used to big firm rates). I just about died trying to contain my glee and not be to emphatic with the yes I gave them.

From that point I started negotiations out around 125 or more depending on the client. The whole thing gave me confidence that people would pay more for my skills. Funny, I probably only made 4K that weekend all told, but in a sense I made hundreds of thousands because it taught me to charge more. Only a couple times since then has someone dismissed the idea of hiring me because of rates.

Honest truth: I have been in this range for too long, I worried back when the economy tanked in 2008 that I would have to cut rates but it never really happened. Time to start raising them so new engagements I am now quoting a higher rate.

Re: Ask HN: How do you find freelance/contract gigs?

#85

Post by msellout »

jordsmi wrote: post #61
keithwarren wrote: post #17

I have been on my own for 15 years. I bill around 150/hr give or take 20% depending on the situation. Most of the work is Microsoft stack web related but mobile apps and api building has been steadily increasing for a several years now to the point that probably 20% of my 2014 revenue was in that space. 50-60% of my revenue is sub-contracting. I have a few firms that often take on projects that they are not suited fo…

How exactly do you 'network' at these events. Do you just introduce yourself and sort of talk, have a business card that you give, or how's it go? Just wondering from someone who's never been to any type of event, so I've never had to really do any networking

Instead of "networking" just try to make friends. It's basically the same thing.

Re: Ask HN: How do you find freelance/contract gigs?

#86

Post by tejay »

swissRF wrote: post #82
tejay wrote: post #42

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Much love :)

I tried atleast 10 times via Gun.io but was unable to find any work through it. I might not be a suitable for the job but I never received any update on my submission. I also tried sending emails to Gun.io team but got no response from them

really really sorry about that - can you email me at teja@gun.io when you get a chance?

Re: Ask HN: How do you find freelance/contract gigs?

#87

Post by gargarplex »

scarecrowbob wrote: post #65
gargarplex wrote: post #26

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Adult content site. PHP5.2 and JavaScript. Un-shelving code from 2012. There are a few test classes. Remote work is acceptable. Work is ongoing. Work involves building features, bug fixing and interaction with vendor APIs. Work requires familiarity with Apache.

Among other things, I have experience maintaining and improving "older" PHP; contact me at john.reeve.medai@gmail.com if you're looking for a developer.

Delivery to the following recipient failed permanently:

     john.reeve.medai@gmail.com
Technical details of permanent failure: The email account that you tried to reach does not exist. Please try double-checking the recipient's email address for typos or unnecessary spaces. Learn more at http://support.google.com/mail/bin/answer.py?answer=6596

Re: Ask HN: How do you find freelance/contract gigs?

#88

Post by gargarplex »

anty wrote: post #48
gargarplex wrote: post #26

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Adult content site. PHP5.2 and JavaScript. Un-shelving code from 2012. There are a few test classes. Remote work is acceptable. Work is ongoing. Work involves building features, bug fixing and interaction with vendor APIs. Work requires familiarity with Apache.

If you are still searching, them I'm the guy for you! Can you contact me with some more details at hn(at)anty(dot)at please? Thanks, Andreas

Still searching. Sent an email. Thanks

Re: Ask HN: How do you find freelance/contract gigs?

#89

Post by robwilliams88 »

shubhamjain wrote: post #72
robwilliams88 wrote: post #71

I run workshop (a service mentioned already: http://letsworkshop.com that delivers freelance consulting opportunities) I've seen this question come up a lot and its part of the reason I started workshop. For me emailing companies who specifically said they were looking was great because I was able to control it directly. Since starting workshop I've helped hundred of freelancers make a lot of money, but some continue…

I have mailed atleast a dozen people with visible PHP errors on their website and a convincing reason that I am capable of helping them out but never got a response. Is there anything else you suggest that might work?

The PHP errors may not be enough on their own to convince them that there's a problem worth fixing.

You need to tie those errors to business problems/benefits. A client may not know / care what a php error does to their site unless they know that it's losing them money, conversions, visitors, etc.

Re: Ask HN: How do you find freelance/contract gigs?

#90

Post by sushidev »

keithwarren wrote: post #84
sushidev wrote: post #74

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Keith, 150$/hr sounds great. I wonder where these rates are common? I've started on oDesk and doing pretty good in oDesk's standards I think, but it's still only third of your rate.

It took me several years, when I was part time (my first two years) I think I was billing about 40. When I jumped to full time I went to 75 and over a year or two slid it up to 85. I got a call about 10 years ago for a weekend gig doing some perf tuning on a web app and they offered me 150/hr, asked if that was sufficient (It was a large company, they were used to big firm rates). I just about died trying to contain…

Thanks for answering. Sounds like you are working solo. Have you ever considered building a company? I guess that you had, now I wonder why you didn't go that route? I'm aware of the obvious things, like being a family man and running a company is a trade off. But still I'm interested to hear your considerations.
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