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Comment by andy_adams | Hacker News Reader

Most freelance developers would do well to simply rethink how they describe themselves, focusing on specific business needs.

A couple of lame examples:

Instead of "I'm a React Developer", think "I build web-based software for the mining industry".

Instead of just "I build websites", think "I help nursing homes build websites that bring in new clients"

Though nothing has changed with the freelancer themselves, this has many benefits including:

* Helping the freelancer to realize who their ideal client is.

* Allows said clients to self-select into the freelancer's services - clients don't know they need a Shopify developer, but they sure know they need a website that can take customer orders and do fulfillment.

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How do you make that business mindset intuitive for people that are used to being technical workers?

I actually would not want to limit myself to one industry. Working at a digital agency has its short comings but one thing I enjoyed is the variety of clients we get.

For example, I have a mixed skill set of web development and graphics programming. That's allowed me to interview at companies from a variety of business problems that leverage the graphics skill set, such as CAD/CAM, indie video games, or space mission simulation.

I want to say "I solve these problems" without limiting myself to one industry but relying on my tech skill as the niche. Is that just as good?

Looks like a recommendation to use the plain language of problems solved instead of dropping tool names. Ironically, the opposite needed to get past HR at a big company.

Sure, it's possible to focus on a tech-specific niche (security consultants come to mind) - but if you do so, you should be sure you know _exactly_ who your potential clients are.

The trap I fell into: I specialized in WordPress performance. I was really good at solving complex performance problems. But...who is my client? Maybe eCommerce stores, but which of them have performance problems? Typically, when they did have performance problems they felt it was a temporary problem and didn't _really_ want to spend the budget to fix it.

So that's my warning: If you tout yourself as a tech-specific problem solver, you should have a clear picture of how you're going to find clients with that specific problem. I find this harder to do than the reverse process of picking a type of client and THEN identifying their problems.

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