Wanna quit your job and become upwork freelancer? Do not do that
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Wanna quit your job and become upwork freelancer? Do not do that
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Re: Wanna quit your job and become upwork freelancer? Do not do that
#2The trick is to avoid looking for work on platforms like oDesk (now Upwork) where the world is underbidding you. It’s a positioning and deal flow issue. Ideally you want clients to refer you on to other clients. And maybe you should call yourself a contractor, agency, solo developer—something like that—instead of a “freelancer.”
So it’s possible to do well if you quit your job and work as a freelancer, but you need to spend time handling the business side of things: marketing (e.g. social media presence, open source contributions, writing articles, attending events) and sales (getting referrals, closing leads, etc.)
Re: Wanna quit your job and become upwork freelancer? Do not do that
#3Is there much of a difference between freelancing and software contracting? I've met a handful people who are part of a company (read: agency) of 1-5 and making really good money ($60/hr+). But they're also in the Bay Area.
Re: Wanna quit your job and become upwork freelancer? Do not do that
#4So people should not become freelancers, based on your single bad experience, make sense. I was expecting some data backing up your statement or at least proper story.
tl;dr - This guy is freelancer and few days ago he was contacted by stupid client who thought he will work almost for free.
Re: Wanna quit your job and become upwork freelancer? Do not do that
#5Is there much of a difference between freelancing and software contracting? I've met a handful people who are part of a company (read: agency) of 1-5 and making really good money ($60/hr+). But they're also in the Bay Area.
$60/hr is not particularly good money in the Bay Area.
Re: Wanna quit your job and become upwork freelancer? Do not do that
#6So people should not become freelancers, based on your single bad experience, make sense. I was expecting some data backing up your statement or at least proper story. tl;dr - This guy is freelancer and few days ago he was contacted by stupid client who thought he will work almost for free.
I was just telling about my experience working on odesk (read biggest freelance website). This is not first case of stupid client and I'm not first day there.
What kind of backup? Link to my profile? Ok will update post now.
Re: Wanna quit your job and become upwork freelancer? Do not do that
#7This is all wrong.
Click-bait title. Some thoughts by a discouraged person in a globalised world and a general conclusion that doesn't make any sense if you read the article.
Maybe the OP shouldn't look for projects in oDesk-type websites. I don't do that and I'm really happy working as a freelancer.
For anyone wondering how to find freelance projects. You should go and look for local clients, networking, contact companies that look for developers and try to persuade them that they can count on you too, etc.
It's a really, really, really big sea of possibilities nowadays for developers.
Re: Wanna quit your job and become upwork freelancer? Do not do that
#8What was that "Indian/Fillipino guy/girl" part about. Do you thing we don't code? Or is incompetence a function of race in your mind? :(
Re: Wanna quit your job and become upwork freelancer? Do not do that
#9This is all wrong. Click-bait title. Some thoughts by a discouraged person in a globalised world and a general conclusion that doesn't make any sense if you read the article. Maybe the OP shouldn't look for projects in oDesk-type websites. I don't do that and I'm really happy working as a freelancer. For anyone wondering how to find freelance projects. You should go and look for local clients, networking, contact com…
>Maybe the OP shouldn't look for projects in oDesk-type websites.
Yeah, definitely not. Bottom feeders all the way.
Re: Wanna quit your job and become upwork freelancer? Do not do that
#10Freelancing in IT is kind of a fantastic global phenomenon really. It allows foreigners like this guy to work "in" another country without being blocked by the artificial market distortion of immigration restrictions. Perhaps there are plenty of freelancers willing to make a web scraper for $15. In that case, this guy's got to find what advantages he has over them so he can compete. Just because American employees get paid more doesn't mean everybody else doing the same type of work also deserves to be paid more if the market decides not to. American employees have a special value of being on site in person which is a service Russians and Filipinos can't provide.