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Comment by lionhearted | Hacker News Reader

Have you read this? -

http://unixwiz.net/techtips/be-consultant.html

It's about consulting, but it applies to freelancing as well. Good discussion of rates and what people really want in terms of service and deliverables when they hire you. Very good article, there's been discussion here on HN about it too if you go to searchyc.com.

Other things to think about: Elance, Odesk, Rentacoder, or other sites that let you make some cash would be smart to look into, and look at OSS for an option to do some interesting work with smart people.

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Thanks, reading it now.

Many of these sites have certain restrictions which make it difficult or impossible for me in particular to work through them and get paid, otherwise I'd use them.

> Many of these sites have certain restrictions which make it difficult or impossible

Dude, you're getting nowhere in life if you just listen when somebody says "no" - get a virtual post office box with a USA address, register for a non-resident Tax ID number, get Paypal, and you're in business. Yeah, it really is that simple.

Good luck, and banish "I can't" from your vocabulary. The right question is "How can I?"

I disagree that doing something illegal or violating the TOS is the smart way to go. This post is bold and proves that he does have the can-do spirit you're recommending.

I'm not sure if what you're saying applies to everyone? Where I live it's not possible to get an international credit card, which means I can't get paypal to work.

Do you have more information about the virtual POB? Any help/suggestions about how to get paid in a foreign country from the USA is appreciated.

> Where I live it's not possible to get an international credit card

Here we go again with the, "I can't" stuff - banish it! Really! "How can I?" Can you get someone to buy you a prepaid card when they're traveling, or when you're traveling? Do you a have friend you can hit up for a favor who lives abroad? If the answer to all of those is no, keeping asking "How can I?" Someone's done it before.

> Do you have more information about the virtual POB?

http://lmgtfy.com/?q=virtual+post+office+box

Kidding aside, I used Earth Class Mail and they were good enough at what they do. I got it so I could get mail when I was international for long periods of time, but then it turned out I was able to get my mail volume pretty low regardless so I canceled. But it's a solid service.

> "get Paypal"

Do you realize that PayPal is not available in many countries, especially for receiving funds, and cashing them out?

There are, of course, workarounds...

Try this one too, it looks promising: http://www.noagenciesplease.com/

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