Ask HN: Which Freelancer Websites Do You Like? | Hacker News Reader

Ask HN: Which Freelancer Websites Do You Like?

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I want to set up a website for my services so I was searching for inspiration. I'd consider myself a full-stack developer, with focus on front-end development and usability engineering.

Sad story is, you only find stuff like LinkedIn, Toptal and Freelancer.com if you search for it.

On these freelancer hubs I always see the people listing keywords to the max, but they seem to be rather mixed.

Like "Software Engineering" and "JavaScript" and "Web Development", which doesn't make much sens to me, like web development is a form of software engineering etc. seems like a never ending story to list this stuff.

Also, is it good to make a feature page, like "Oh I know D3, lets put some D3 stuff on that page" etc.

Would be nice if you could link some freelancer websites you like.

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I freelanced for about 5 years, and honestly almost nobody EVER went to my website. It's a referral driven business; you shine through the projects you build for other people. If clients are satisfied with your work, they'll spread the news about you. I can't think of anyone I know who has ever gotten business from some random person who landed on their website. That's why many freelancer sites just contain contact-info and that's it.

I know.

I just wanted it to be kind of a better "business card".

I don't quite agree with you. I have personally contacted freelancers randomly whom I found online due to their blogs or specific writings on topics that I needed help with. It is true that this effort does not always pay off but I still think that creating your own online brand is always a good idea for a freelancer.

The thing is that if you just have a website with basic information, it is as good as not having one. You need to put some effort into it by sharing your knowledge online. This is tough for a lot of people as writing and teaching is a skill that not everyone has. But it does help if you do it with a specific focus.

I totally see what you're saying; and when I started freelancing I thought the same way. But the longer I played the game, the more I noticed an inverse correlation between the success of freelancers, and their perceived accessibility. It' much like hedge-fund managers, or attorneys, or personal trainers, any other bespoke service provider. The folks with very little information, who are hard to reach, and who will only take a meeting if you're referred by someone in their circle, those are the ones who (in my experience) are making the most money.

It's a bit like perceived scarcity. Building a flashy portfolio website really only says two things: "I have free time on my hands", and "My demand is so low I have to put effort into advertising". Sure, if you're just getting started, that might be the brand you wanna build. But as you gain momentum, having less of a public brand is often better for business than having more.

It's counter-intuitive, I know; and maybe my experience was colored by the freelancers I happened to know at the time. But it convinced me enough that I took down my website while I was freelancing full time, I only put it back up after I quit, (to use as a resume to get full time job.) Removing my online presence did wonders for my business, and that's why I recommend it.

Point is, how do you get word around in the first place?

Legwork. Find sites that you find you could make better. Make a demo, contact the owner. Do this a hundred times a week. Starting is hard, and you should be willing to do the legwork. Also reach out to folks at your old workplace.

As for portfolio, just go with linkedin and whatever you feel you would like to sign up for. These hubs are the first place people check. A personal site is nice for blog posts and such, but I wouldn't put more effort into it than a wordpress site with contact info and links to things you already made. Stuff you write, if you do at all. See weatherfactory biz for an example

Great article on this: http://alistapart.com/article/getting-clients

In my experience, the freelancers who do this almost entirely depend on recruiters and whatever job those have lined up at the moment. Having your own professional website conveys the message that you're an independent service provider instead of a commodity.

Perhaps this makes a difference if the freelancer is a designer. The first thing I do when looking at a designer is check out their personal site. To me it's kind of like hiring an interior designer -- I want to know what their own house looks like before I hire them to work on mine.

Yes, referrals are an important sales channel for freelancing.

However, meeting and talking to people, in other words just plain old sales work is vital, too. That's where a decent website helps a lot: You can refer people interested in your services to your website for further information, testimonials, previous projects etc.

In other words, potential customers probably won't find you via a Google search (unless you're a high-profile specialist or open source contributor in your area of expertise) but a decent business website will complement the rest of your sales efforts.

Not wanting to blow my own trumpet but I like to think my business website (see my profile) is pretty good. At least I got some positive feedback on it and it helped me secure a few deals already.

Testimonials are a great way of building trust in you and your ability to deliver. Talk about the benefit you bring to the table. Don't (just) list TLAs. Regularly writing about your area of expertise and publishing source code is great, too.

If you're an expert in something very visual like D3.js, a showcase is an interesting approach as well. Just don't turn your complete website into a showcase.

You seem to have the right idea :)

My problem with freelance work was mostly, that I started it when I wanted freedom, but don't lose any safety.

Like, freedom to work where I want and when I want, but the safety of a steady income.

Often this led me to getting permanent contracts with my customers, which started my freelance career, but when they thought now they need a inhouse person for what I do, they simply dropped me. Which was okay, but then I had to search for new customers after years of not doing customer acquisition.

Now I want to do this the right way, but don't know where to start.

The 'secret' - as in almost any business - is to get the word out:

Talk to a lot of people / businesses that might need your help and expertise. Go to conferences and relevant industry meet-ups.

Which ones depends on your niche and focus, your USP if you will. If you don't have a USP already: Find it. Generic Java / C# / JavaScript coders are ten a penny.

Finding either a business niche ("I solve problem X for industry Y"), offering services complementary to mere coding skills (e.g. teaching, coaching, business process analysis) or a very specific technological niche that's in high demand and low supply (beware though, that tends to change rather quickly) is key to differentiating yourself.

If you have personal contacts from businesses in your target market already you'd want to talk to those to see if you can help them with a current problem they're having. Other than that it's really all about continuous and consistent networking.

It can take some time to build a sustainable business so long-term contracts via recruiters might help to make up for occasional dry spells. The trick with these is to negotiate a workload of less than the usual 5 days a week (I'd go for 3 days at the most), so you can take up additional work at any time.

Sounds good.

I had the experience, when I talked to the right people, the word got around rather quick, but it's hard to find those "right people".

I'll look that I get this 2-3 days a week stuff fixed the next months and then I'll look further :)

Thanks for your advice.

There is lots of inspiration, inexpensive starting points here:

https://themeforest.net/search?utf8=%E2%9C%93&term=CV&referr...

Thank you. This only goes into the UX, but still nice.

I generally end up on upwork.com if I am looking for hire someone.

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