fightfortheuser

If you have questions about how to pick a freelance specialty please let me know. Hopefully, this list will give you some ideas if you are stuck.

If anyone has any questions about this please let me know!

Currently I charge $1,000 per day doing PHP development and building secure websites for the financial markets (using Jekyll). And I freelance fulltime. So if you have questions please let me know!

SEEKING WORK I'm the unholy union between marketing and development. I'm able to create marketing sales funnels due to a strong interest in marketing, and by having a strong tech foundation.

And my specialty is revamping websites so they increase sales.

Not only that, I'm skilled in setting up marketing automation which can help warm up leads so they are ready for the sale. Think of that. Using email marketing to help teach clients, build trust, and to get them ready to buy from you.

So let's talk. And let's start with a simple email to see if we are a good fit. So please email me at: mountainfreshmedia@gmail.com.

Location: Utah Valley, Utah. Remote Work: Sure! Let's do this. Website: http://mountainfreshmedia.com

Agreed.

and you'll just keep getting more low-end work. The next client you get, double your rate, don't even bat an eye when you quote it, and you'll be surprised when people say yes.

So what did you end up niching in? Also, how did you bill for your services?

I suggest you invest in yourself, and learn how to find clients. There's plenty of free info on doubleyourfreelancing.com, and I'd start diving into the blog articles there.

And if you want to invest in yourself, I wrote a course that you could take and it has a whole module on finding more clients. Don't feel pressured to spend any money, but I think it's pretty solid, and you can check it out here: http://freelance-college.teachable.com/p/freelance-college-w...

At the very least I have some lessons that you can preview in full for free (just scroll to the bottom).

This tool is awesome. All the other surveys I find seem to hit the low end, but if this data is true, then the rates I've been quoting are spot on.

Thanks for posting this.

Well done. Daily billing is loads better than hourly billing. I think I made an extra $10,000 in a year, just because I billed by the day.

And you are right. A day rate starts to shift the focus on the outcomes of the project, and less on how much it costs.

Sure, see my note to the user @keviv

I suggest you increase you triple your rates. Clients want good solutions to their problems, and a low rate suggests that you do poor quality work.

And if you are good, (which it sounds like you are), the only reason why you can't charge more is in your head. So charge more. Stop acting like some first-year freelancer and start charging what you are worth.

The best thing is to do is to build out your network. Keep reaching out to the people in the USA. Make sure your english is impeccable, as that will help build your perceived level of trust.

I suggest also getting out there more. Blogging works but you have to market your posts, and it's more long term. Teaching for notable learning platforms works, as well as helping to write public courses.

Anyway, the key lesson is to get out there and meet people. Then as you talk about what you do, and if you are good, you'll find work.

I used to charge $50 USD per hour, but I kept upping my rates. Soon I charged $100 per hour, and then $125 hour. The highest I ever got for programming/consulting was $150 USD per hour, but I don't charge that anymore. I've moved on to day rates.

Now I bill around $800 per day, but I only work about 6 super-focused hours, and I use the Pomodoro method every day. My clients are happy because I get a lot of work done, and I'm happy because I have to work less.

This is just doing general PHP dev work (Codeigniter and Laravel frameworks), and if I specialized, and if I focused on the ecommerce or finance industry I could probably make more. Most my clients are in the Rocky Mountain West, and so far I have more work than I can finish.

So if you want to increase your earning potential you should:

  1. Specialize and master a niche.
  2. Network like your business depends on it. 
  3. Give free seminars and teach everywhere you go. 
  4. Label yourself as a consultant.
  5. Don't be just a programmer. Work with businesses and fix their problems. 
  6. Know your worth, and don't be afraid to charge what you're worth. 
  7. Anchor your costs against how much value you'll make your clients.
  8. Keep raising your rates until you can't get any work. 
  9. Work half as much as you used to. 
  10. And finally, spend time on things that matter like family, learning, and having fun.

Or you can keep competing against bottom-barrel programmers on upwork, and spend the rest of your life working for peanuts. Totally up to you.

Thanks. I'll check it out next time I'm at the library.

see reply here: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=12205611

But now that I've run some more calculations it seems like I'll hit ~$85,000 USD gross this year.

And really, you gave great advice.

thanks for the heads up!

One company had a site that was down. I called them up, said I knew how to fix it (there was some extra characters after the php closing tag), and so I fixed it, and they had me do more work. Another client called me when I was looking for a job and had my resume on a job board. Another client was through networking. Another client was through a fellow freelancer who was overworked.

To get clients there are two main paths: 1. Hang out where clients hang out (networking events, business luncheons, etc), and talk to them about their problems. 2. Talk with other techies and see if they have work they can't or don't want to do.

Good point. It often comes down to labeling. For instance, if you call yourself a freelancer your clients might think "cheap, disposable, commodity", but if you call yourself a consultant and can show that you deliver, then you can charge a premium price.

I've got a fellow freelancer who charges $125 to build Wordpress websites, and he doesn't even make the design. But is good with layouts, and knows how to price by value.

But I'm not working 40 hours a week. At least not billable hours. Usually, freelancers can clock in 25-30 billable hours max, because the rest of the time is spent on admin, sales, outreach, learning, etc...

The biggest thing is finding clients, but I think that is an easier task once I figure out my positioning.

I make $80,000 gross, not net. And I think you are right about the positioning issue. If I can figure out some sort of business niche, it doesn't matter half as much as what tools I use. Maybe I'm looking at this as "I can do woodwork, so what brand of tool should I use?" where I should be looking at this like "I can do woodwork. Should I make cabinets, fine furniture, or custom handcrafted toys?"

So thanks trcollinson and BjoernKW. I think that once I figure out how to position myself, the rates will naturally increase (I'm not shy of asking for $150 per hour if I know I'm worth it).

In short, it's time to Niche!

This article was excellent and is still freelancing after 10 years.

http://jenamiller.com/notes-from-a-hired-pen/10-years-of-fre...

And there are lots of posts out there. There are actually more posts about freelance writing, than about freelance programming. Whenever I look for articles about freelancing it seems that writers have the top spots in the Google.

In sum, it's a great field. The need for more content is increasing, and if you are good and make a name for yourself you'll make it.

I suggest that you make a goal to write X words a day. Also, writing a book will increase your Authority, and help you get more work.

Keep on writing.

And that's why I never go to forbes anymore. It's a bad user experience. Now they can add greedy and not secure to the list.

You and me both!

This is common to many of us and until you really decide on what you want out of life, you'll keep on doing the same old thing, and hoping for different results. In some places they call that insanity. And almost all of us do it.

Yet here's some practical steps to get you to do what you want (apart from the awesome list jwdunne posted).

-Built a bucket list, and use those as the loadstar for your life. If your goals don't help you reach your bucket list items then those are usually bad goals.

-Use scheduling to choose ahead of time. Think of a schedule like a budget for your time. You get to decide beforehand what you are going to do, which helps you do it.

-Edit your /etc/hosts file and block out youtube, facebook, reddit, etc... for a whole month. This will help you break your social media addiction.

-read up on the Pomodoro technique and do it. Honestly it's amazing.

-Move your body more. You aren't designed to sit/stand for hours doing the same thing in the same pose.

-Walk/exercise every day. This will help you stay at your computer when you need to stay.

-Decide that you are stronger than your weakness. Man is buffeted when he thinks himself the creature of outside conditions. You have the power to change your life.

-And if you keep messing up, take time to figure out what is going wrong. Try something new, and sooner or later you'll find a way that works for you.