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Ask HN: How can I get my hourly rate from $65 to $125 in the next 90 days?

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Ask HN: How can I get my hourly rate from $65 to $125 in the next 90 days?

#1

Post by ashamed2bepoor »

I was inspired by some of the comments on this post:

http://www.zacharyburt.com/2010/02/how-i-landed-a-50hr-side-gig-with-very-little-effort-how-it-relates-to-picking-up-chicks/

I feel like I'm not really maximizing my income potential as a freelancer. I've been programming for 5-6 years and I've been doing it fulltime for about 2.5 years. 100% of the work I do is PHP/MySQL and I've done it all, from MVC (CakePHP, CI, Symfony) to CMSs (Wordpress, WPMU, Drupal, Joomla) to Facebook apps. I generally charge $50 - 65 / hr, mostly because I've gotten almost no response for rates above $65 / hr. But from the sound of the comments on the post linked to above, I should be making quite a bit more? Or is my skill-set just not work more than $65?

So I'd love comments or suggestions for working out a plan to get my hourly rate above $125 in the next 90 days. Please don't post something like "just ask for it" because I just can't believe that it's that easy.

Here are ideas I have so far: a) Clean up my resume and portfolio, which are both out-of-date and a bit light on technical details b) Learn Python/Django/Pylon or Ruby/Rails (I've been dabbling for awhile) c) Build up a little more in savings so I can ride out a bit of time between work d) Find places to find great work (I mostly look on Craigslist right now)

If I make it, I'll write a blog post detailing it all :)

Re: Ask HN: How can I get my hourly rate from $65 to $125 in the next 90 days?

#2

Post by pedalpete »

Well, after reading that blog post earlier, I really wasn't getting anything out of it, so I understand why you would be asking the question.

I wouldn't focus so much on how you can get your hourly rate TO $125, but rather think of it as 'what can you offer to make your hourly rate worthy of $125.

Is anybody really looking for a PHP/MySQL programmer? No. They are looking to get a product/service/feature etc. built. What do you offer in that equation. I suspect that your experience with the language is only a portion of that.

It isn't always easy to figure out what soft skills you bring. Why do you program? What do you really like about it? Do you like creating beautiful code? If so, only so many clients will pay extra for that. Are you able to make systems run with incredible efficiency, so the client could save on server costs? That may be worth the extra $$ to them. Are you good at designing usability? If that is a missing piece, that may be valuable as well.

I've found 'what can I offer' is better than 'what can I get'.

Re: Ask HN: How can I get my hourly rate from $65 to $125 in the next 90 days?

#3

Post by richcollins »

Get good at charging for results rather than hours. You can get a higher hourly rate if you're good at it.

Find a niche with strong demand but without a lot of competition. New platforms are often good targets (Facebook, iPhone, Hadoop ... etc)

Move someplace where the billing rates are higher. You can almost always clear more in big cities, even after accounting for the higher cost of living.

Re: Ask HN: How can I get my hourly rate from $65 to $125 in the next 90 days?

#4

Post by francissson »

pedalpete wrote: post #2

Well, after reading that blog post earlier, I really wasn't getting anything out of it, so I understand why you would be asking the question. I wouldn't focus so much on how you can get your hourly rate TO $125, but rather think of it as 'what can you offer to make your hourly rate worthy of $125. Is anybody really looking for a PHP/MySQL programmer? No. They are looking to get a product/service/feature etc. built. W…

I agree with pedalpete's comments.

But would like to add a couple of points.

One, from my experience, sorting through and dealing with all of the spam on craigslist is more work than it is worth. Look else where.

Two, for your potential new client, it is really all about your portfolio. Do you have a good one?

Re: Ask HN: How can I get my hourly rate from $65 to $125 in the next 90 days?

#5

Post by gexla »

Some thoughts...

Project rates rather than hourly.

Get out of the freelancer mindset. You are a small business, not a roving employee.

Become a full service shop rather than an hourly component added by someone else. You create more value that way. Maybe even partner with a designer and grow your team as you go. Contract out parts of the project your team doesn't have expertise for.

Establish yourself as an authority as a developer by blogging and creating great open code (oh, you are the guy who built that?!) If I haven't heard of you, then you have a challenge on your hands!

Become a better salesman rather than becoming a better programmer. Though certainly keep growing as a programmer.

Move more into niche areas in which your skills are more scarce.

Sell a unique service and build a brand as opposed to taking in nearly ant type of job.

Sell! Sell! Sell!

Indirect ways to raise rates...

Hire cheaper developers to do work for you.

Move to an area with lower living costs.

Re: Ask HN: How can I get my hourly rate from $65 to $125 in the next 90 days?

#6

Post by patio11 »

Freelancing isn't quite my baliwick but since when is lack of knowledge a barrier to commentary on the Internet.

1) You need to focus on marketing/selling yourself to better clients. I don't know what your current strategy is, but hypothetically say you're primarily getting your work from Craigslist. You're generally going to get mostly cheapskates that way. If clients were coming to you because you were identifiably the best in the field and they felt We Are Willing To Pay For The Best, then they'd be offering rather substantially more.

2) Its fine to describe yourself as a PHP/MySQL programmer when you're with friends like us. Never talk like that in front of a client. You aren't a PHP/MySQL programmer -- that is just the tool you use to solve the problems that keep them from making stupid amounts of money. Code monkeys are cheap, people with strategic vision/soft skills/industry expertise/etc who also have the ability to knock together a DB when required are expensive.

3) In service of #1 and #2: get a blog if you don't have one already. Start solving the problems that people who have money have. They'll soon start coming to you with their problems and offering you money.

4) Some folks have already mentioned OSS contributions here, which is great if you want to brand yourself as The Man to do X. That could either be customizing your OSS for their needs, adding a few feature for it, or doing something related.

5) Find folks to mentor you. I learned more about freelance rate setting from five minutes talking with Thomas than I had in the previous five years of working at two companies which do consulting as their business model.

Re: Ask HN: How can I get my hourly rate from $65 to $125 in the next 90 days?

#7

Post by wushupork »

Related to what some of the people are saying here, focus on what problem the customer is having. No small business needs a "PHP developer to create an e-commerce system" - they need a solution. If you can show them that you can solve their problem and help them MAKE MONEY, it's a much easier sell.

It sounds very infomercial-ly but I think it's true.

Also if you sell yourself as a PHP/MySQL developer, clients might not know what that means or what you can do, so you'd be limiting your clientele who are knowledgeable enough to know that PHP developers can do X. What you should be doing is to say you can solve X, Y and Z problems, and that you've done that for A, B, C clients.

Re: Ask HN: How can I get my hourly rate from $65 to $125 in the next 90 days?

#8

Post by rwhitman »

I've been a freelance-only web developer for 10 years.

Honestly with only general web dev skills and mostly PHP you'll be hard pressed to get over $65/hr. I know Django and I still strike out at getting Django projects pitched at $65/hr. But I think it has mostly to do with the economy.

Once you want to cross a certain threshold you need to have more structure in place as a business (with project rates and lots of time spent coddling clients and doing documentation), some really specialized and in-demand skills or a long-running career with some impressive success behind you.

I've pulled in $100/hr+ in the past, but it was due to a complete package of project management, design and creative direction and oodles of documentation and meetings etc. Operating almost as a shop, not freelance

I don't know who all these folks are that claim they're getting $125/hr rates but I suspect they have more up their sleeve than just run of the mill web programming. You take what the market will give you or you lose projects its that simple.

Re: Ask HN: How can I get my hourly rate from $65 to $125 in the next 90 days?

#9

Post by ddemchuk »

Rather than increase your rate, maybe you can try and increase your bandwidth. Your rate will be able to go up as your portfolio grows and the size and quality of clients increases.

So keep taking on more and more projects, and bring in someone straight out of college to work for $15 an hour to take on the smaller ones with you. That's how I started at my current job, and my boss has taken our company from $1000 sites to $20,000 sites. The more work you do, the more experience you can leverage to raise your rates.

Re: Ask HN: How can I get my hourly rate from $65 to $125 in the next 90 days?

#10

Post by Zak »

Ditto on selling products/solutions rather than your ability to use certain tools.

For some clients though, it is about the tools. They need an X programmer to extend their app that's written in X. I think part of your problem is your chosen X; PHP is popular, and it's easy to find work, so everybody's doing it. The supply of programmers is rather large, so it's hard to get anyone to pay more. Sure - you're demonstrably better than the average contractor, which is why they're willing to pay you $65 instead of $45.

Learn some other tools. Find something with a higher barrier to entry, but still some demand. Try to be the guy who never says "that's not possible".

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