top 10 misconceptions of software freelancing

“ ”top 10 misconceptions

of software freelancing

john hann@unscriptable

Saturday, November 13, 2010

who wants to make $$$$$$$$?

who wants to make

$$$$$$$$?

go back and get your mba and follow the

advice of these books

that’s what i did*!

*except for the mba part

revenues > $100k/mo

Q3 Q4 Q1 Q2$11,000 $16,000

$30,000$47,000

$63,000$79,000

$103,000

$161,000

revenue profit

sales cramming the pipeline

Q3 Q4 Q1 Q20.5

project durationnew projects per month

it kinda sucked

the money was good, really good. :) but i wasn’t 100% happy.

i wanted to code!

but i wasn’t going to give up the money

luckily, the 2001-2003 recession hit

Q3 Q4 Q1 Q2

$23,000

-$4,000-$16,000 -$16,000

$127,000

$79,000

$54,000$37,000

revenue profit

it was a painful period of debt

repayment and layoffs

but in 2004, something magical

happened(besides paying off my business debts)

i became passionate* about javascript

*a.k.a. “obsessed”

i was also no longer a consultant, nor a

contractor

i was finally a software freelancer

but i had a lot of unlearning to do

8 years running a consulting firm did

not prepare me to be a freelancer

i had a few delusions… and got tons of bad advice

from others

bad advice is like herpes

top 10* misconceptions of

software freelancing*in no particular order

IMHO YMMV RTFM BBQ ROFL

“ ”the first order of business is to fill

your pipeline

what they preach

reality check:clients aren’t going to

wait for you

there is no pipeline

you’ve got to get out there and find clients(and stay out there)

“ ”recruiters are a cheap and easy alternative to

marketing myself

recruiter != careercoach

you must be in control.

plot your own career path

otherwise you’re just a career contractor*

*oxymoron. contracting can not be a career

“ ”it’s ok to start out at a low rate to get

a great client

$$ –> $$$ ?

how are you gonna justify this?

fluctuating rates strain the client

relationship

always start out high and let the client

negotiate a good deal

walk away if the client can’t agree to

yourminimum rate

“ ”you need to find a client that’ll hire

you full-time for 3+ years

it’s “free”-lancing!don’t chain yourself

to a client

skills stagnation + revenue stagnation–––––––––––––––––––

career death

“ ”i need to learn [popular skill*] cuz that’s where

the jobs are* asp.net, java, etc.

asp.net

node.js

jQuerydojo

asp.net

node.js

recruiters

collegegrads

unemployed

jQuery

clueless

indeed.com

java, asp.net – mature marketsSaturday, November 13, 2010

indeed.com

dojo, jQuery – expanding marketsSaturday, November 13, 2010

indeed.com

node.js – nascent market?Saturday, November 13, 2010

“ ”the more skills i put on my resumé,

the more marketable i'll be

Jane Duzitall

Core Skills:

XHTML, HTML5, CSS2.1, CSS3, JavaScript, jQuery, Dojo, Prototype, Scriptaculous, Sproutcore, Mootols, Mochikit, ASP, ASP.Net, VB, VB.Net, C#, C, C++, 80x86 Assembler, Ruby, Rails, JSP, Java, Spring, Sprong, SQL Server, MySQL, Oracle, Sybase, Firebird, Postgres, Berkeley, MongoDB, CouchDB

andy the one-manbandy kenny g

which one’s getting the high-paying gigs?

XSaturday, November 13, 2010

which one’s got clients calling him?

✓Saturday, November 13, 2010

experienced clients seek specialists

“ ”one-man bands do better during

recessions

which one’s still making a buck?

?andy the one-man

bandy kenny g

? ?andy the one-man

bandy kenny g

a) goes hungry

b) takes a long vacation

c) reduces her rate

d) lays low until the market recovers

e) none of the above

what’s a specialist do in a recession?

a) goes hungry

b) takes a long vacation

c) reduces her rate

d) lays low until the market recovers

e) none of the above

lives off her nest egg

taps her long list of happy clients

finds creative ways to provide value

networks and travels more than ever

contributes more heavily to oss and blogs

“ ”i need more experience to get the good clients

awesome clients seek passion

but where do they look?

the internetz, duh!

experiment, tinker,blog, contribute

create an online presence.demonstrate your passion.

github is your resumé

your blog is your marketing site

open source software projects need your

brainand awesome clients love oss

“ ”i should fire the bottom 20%* of my clients every

year*80/20 rule, a.k.a. the “Pareto Principle”

yes and no

define “bottom”

a) not interesting (not your passion)

b) high stress

c) no leverage (no references, not bloggable)

d) small $$$

e) all of the above

define “bottom”

a) not interesting (not your passion)

b) high stress

c) no leverage (no references, not bloggable)

d) small $$$

e) all of the above

pursue the most exciting, most bloggable gigs

no matter how smalllow stress is good, too

even better:eject the bottom 20% of your resumé every

yearcuz your resumé sucks, dude

everything on your resumé should sell

your value and your passion

ditch everything else

“ ”i'm gonna moonlight b/c full-time freelancing is

too risky

some things that are riskier than freelancing

relying on others for your paycheck

not managing your own career

1) find an expanding niche you can be passionate about2) experiment, tinker, blog, contribute3) get out there / get noticed (meetups, social networks, online communities)4) avoid the easy path (recruiters, job sites)5) watch for your next passion

jump in with both feet

or not…

1) find a simple, part-time gig

2) obsessively over-deliver

3) get a reference (put it online)

4) blog about what you did (think value)

5) repeat, aiming for a better gig / rate

6) quit your lame-ass job when you score an awesome gig / rate

“ ”i’m going to learn how to freelance

from a “top 10” list

bonus misconception

“ ”i’m going to learn how to freelance

from a “top 10” list

bonus misconception

go create your own strategy

questions?

vital tools

github.com

twitter.com

quora.com

stackoverflow.com

groups.google.com

lanyrd.com

meetup.com

indeed.com

linkedin.com

irc & mail lists

image credits

“we ate ur bills” – icanhascheezburger.com “donut herpes” – myfoodlooksfunny.com“ticket line” – u2albumreview.com“one man band” – flickr.com/photos/randychiu/“kenny g” – idiomag.com “dog tied up” – flickr.com/photos/clintjcl

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