Ask HN: What kind of events software freelancers should attend?

4 points·31reasons··6 comments

I have started working as a software freelancers. What sort of events do you recommend I should goto to get quality clients ? I've been going to startup events but people there seems to be more interested in either hiring fulltime or looking for a technical cofounder.

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Think about industry conferences for large, non-software fields, particularly those underserved by technology (ie, anything targeting agriculture, manufacturing, or women). Try to find businesses with large revenues that have problems that can be solved by software, so you can frame projects in terms of dollars saved/generated and work with people who will care more about project outcome than about extracting as much from you as possible.

I don't go to events. I just create a lot of content marketing aimed at given industries and sit back as the leads pile on. It's easy, and I'm lazy.

Could you please elaborate on that ?

You simply pick a market and start writing about how you would solve their problems. You may also start doing small open source projects that help them, too. The focus is to get them to know you. This takes less time, effort ,and money. You use LinkedIn to connect with people in that industry, and web forums.

This is some of the most intelligent advice I have ever seen here on HN. Let the businesses come to you instead of hunting down each job/gig.

Thanks. It works so well that I turned it into a system and I sell it to other freelancers. Most of them have no clue on how to market and this solves their biggest problem: getting a steady flow of clients. Plus I only charge $99 for it. Cheap.

Edit: The system is designed for USA based freelancers/consultants.

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