Ask HN: Looking for freelance work, where to begin?

[notastartup]

So far I've applied to some jobs on gun.io and link to my careers.stackoverflow CV.

I would like some niche areas I should explore.

One of the problem is that although I have some github repositories showcasing some code, I haven't done any client work before apart from what my employer gave me. I am basically starting with a empty slate. How can I convince someone when I don't have other client's recommendations or portfolio?

If I was to build a portfolio, how many and how long should they take? Ideally I would like to start making money as soon as possible utilizing my experience.

[tagabek]

I'm going to repost my comment here from a previous thread.

I am an iOS Freelance Developer, and this path is what got me my first client.

It seems like you are very aware of what you are capable of. It's great to be realistic, but also realize that you are now in the professional market like everyone else. Like the other posts say here, NETWORK.

Go to local meetups and present yourself as a real professional. Create business cards (BONUS: Make yours stand out from the rest). You will receive many business cards by going to these meetups. You can probably gauge what would make yours flashier.

Here's an example of my business card that has been one of the most effective marketing strategies I've ever used: http://i.imgur.com/4LeH2vf.png

Update your LinkedIn, Twitter, HackerNews, Blog, etc immediately with solid and presentable information. If you're unsure of how to do this professionally, check out other professionals' pages and emulate success.

Now, BUILD THAT PORTFOLIO. Even one side project is generally enough to show someone that you can do the work. Do you want to show off your skills, but you're not sure what to build? Take a popular site and build a small client for it. This is one of the most exciting experiences you will ever go through. We hear about people building businesses all of the time, and it seems amazing. There is so much more passion - in my experience - when you are building yourself.

Congratulations on taking this huge step! Please feel free to contact me if you have any basic questions about the whole freelancing process. I'm happy to help in any way! (Email in profile)

[734497]

I'm going down this route right now and it's definitely tough. Meetup are usually very impersonal and most people arent very willing to help out strangers.

[notastartup]

great answer, I've sent you an email just now.

[glenscott1]

I just wanted to highlight a couple of things that might help you:

* Your portfolio can include personal "pet" projects as well as client work. So build something that you enjoy working on, and limit yourself to, say, 3 days. Link to it, get the code up on GitHub.

* Recommendations from your previous employers can still be beneficial to you. Having a testimonial from someone is going to increase the confidence of anyone looking to work with you.

* Go to local networking events. This is a great way to put yourself out there and start talking to people about what you do.

* Related to the above -- practice your elevator pitch. Instead of technology specific stuff -- "I am a Ruby programmer" yawn try being more specific about what you do "I build mobile applications for small businesses" -- this is more likely to pique somebody's interest when you are at a networking event.

* Keep scouring jobs boards. It takes time, but there are a lot of decent jobs out there. If you want to save a bit of time, sign up to lead generation service -- there are a few out there. (I run one at https://freelancedevleads.com if you are interested).

* Enjoy it! Going freelance is an amazing thing, so remember to take a step back every now and again and appreciate what's going on!

Good luck with everything, and please do give me a shout if you need any help (e-mail in my profile).

[leknarf]

Consider applying for an in-house job with a digital media agency or a dev shop. You'll get paid a normal salary while building up a portfolio of client work. If you work with a small team, you'll also get a chance to learn what sort of clients are looking for outsourced development work, which is obviously helpful when striking out on your own.

You haven't told us much about your experience level, so I can't comment on whether you're qualified to land desirable freelance projects yet. I can tell you that most of the freelancers we have on Lambda (http://getlambda.com) have at least 5 years experience and have either done some client work before or are currently launching a startup. I don't think we have anyone with an empty slate.

Right now, it's much easier for developers to get in-house positions. Almost everyone I speak with is looking to expand their in-house team and they need some convincing to try working with a freelancer instead. Freelancers can make a lot more than salaried developers, but they also tend to be more experienced.

[notastartup]

I signed up on lambda...but don't really see it helping me. I don't have client's work per say but have worked as a software developer for a few years and have done projects on github.

[robwilliams88]

This question gets asked all the time, but there's no one source for freelance work. There's tons. Weworkremotely, authentic jobs, craigslist, stackoverflow, are good places to start... those can get time consuming because there's literally thousands of listings to go through constantly.

I created a service for freelancers called Workshop; http://letsworkshop.com, which is basically me going through these and qualifying them for you and only sending you the most awesome leads. Check it out!

[girasquid]

You might try signing up on https://www.odesk.com/ - you'll probably want to stick to small projects to build up your reputation at first, but once you have a few under your belt you should be able to raise your rates and start bidding on larger projects as well.

There isn't really a set number for how many or how long they should take as far as I know.

[paulhauggis]

I tried Odesk a couple of different times. My problem was either: developers from countries like Bangladesh charging $2/hour, employers posting messages like "$100 for this entire project..no negociating!!!"

The problem is that not only do you have to compete against bottom-of-the-barrel pricing, the type of person posting a contract in the first place knows this and doesn't want to spend a reasonable amount of money on a project. I actually got a couple of contracts that I had to end early, because of this.

Stick with Craigslist (I found nearly all of my contracts here) or a site like guru.com.

[notastartup]

I'm trying to avoid that site and elance, largely because I find that it's extremely hard to compete with someone willing to work for less than $4 an hour and work with someone who just doesn't seem to understand that what they expect is not only unfeasible given their tiny fixed budget but that they themselves do not know what they want so they ask for everything for nothing.

An example I found (wasn't hard as it's filled with postings like this) is someone asking for a full fledged screen recording application (he has previously asked for a Java Swing GUI) to be delivered in 4 days for a budget of $25 dollars, he lives in the United Kingdom, and feels that someone residing in an ex-British colony should be able to feast on the earnings for years to come. What is even more ridiculous is the specification document is one sentence long. I doubt that this person would even take the time to write a paragraph of recommendation if someone unfortunately took that job.

https://www.odesk.com/o/jobs/job/_~01f423d25fa7e5a13d/

[krapp]

Don't expect work to come quickly on sites like odesk or elance - every job you apply for is going to be inundated, and standing out in the crowd is difficult. Of course it depends on what language and type of work you're looking for. You could go through dozens of applications without even getting a reply, or you could catch one immediately. I think the former is more likely than the later, since people looking for contractors on those sites are primarily interested in how much work they can get for as cheap as possible, so a lot (not all) are going to start at the lowest bidder.

I've gotten work by hanging out on coding forums and posting solutions - if you're good at javascript and have a high tolerance for pain there always seems to be a need for patching up Business Catalyst sites, for instance. I'd suggest a linkedin account but a lot of people here despise that site (and for good reason - if you already know your time is worth decent money it's a waste) but if you can get in touch with other programmers local to you or make connections then that might lead you to some work, also hang out in groups and call attention to yourself.

Also, consider making your github account part of your portfolio. Even going so far as to create projects to showcase the sort of work you want to be hired for.

[davidsmith8900]

- Elance.com, Freelance.com, Freelancer.com, GetaCoder.com, Guru.com, oDesk.com, PeoplePerHour.com & Project4Hire.com.

[notastartup]

again, what is the difference between these sites? They all reflect the same cycle of poor scoping and fixed budget that makes it impossible for those that refuse to work for a few dollars an hour for someone who is trying to pay as little as possible because they think software is a petty grunt work anyone can just pick up and do?