top 10 misconceptions of software freelancing
TRANSCRIPT
“ ”top 10 misconceptions
of software freelancing
john hann@unscriptable
Saturday, November 13, 2010
who wants to make $$$$$$$$?
Saturday, November 13, 2010
who wants to make
$$$$$$$$?
Saturday, November 13, 2010
go back and get your mba and follow the
advice of these books
Saturday, November 13, 2010
Saturday, November 13, 2010
that’s what i did*!
*except for the mba part
Saturday, November 13, 2010
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
Saturday, November 13, 2010
sales cramming the pipeline
Q3 Q4 Q1 Q20.5
1 1.2
333.5
5
6
project durationnew projects per month
Saturday, November 13, 2010
it kinda sucked
the money was good, really good. :) but i wasn’t 100% happy.
i wanted to code!
Saturday, November 13, 2010
but i wasn’t going to give up the money
:(
Saturday, November 13, 2010
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
Saturday, November 13, 2010
it was a painful period of debt
repayment and layoffs
Saturday, November 13, 2010
Saturday, November 13, 2010
but in 2004, something magical
happened(besides paying off my business debts)
Saturday, November 13, 2010
i became passionate* about javascript
*a.k.a. “obsessed”
Saturday, November 13, 2010
i was also no longer a consultant, nor a
contractor
Saturday, November 13, 2010
i was finally a software freelancer
Saturday, November 13, 2010
but i had a lot of unlearning to do
Saturday, November 13, 2010
8 years running a consulting firm did
not prepare me to be a freelancer
Saturday, November 13, 2010
i had a few delusions… and got tons of bad advice
from others
Saturday, November 13, 2010
bad advice is like herpes
Saturday, November 13, 2010
top 10* misconceptions of
software freelancing*in no particular order
IMHO YMMV RTFM BBQ ROFL
Saturday, November 13, 2010
“ ”the first order of business is to fill
your pipeline
Saturday, November 13, 2010
what they preach
Saturday, November 13, 2010
reality check:clients aren’t going to
wait for you
Saturday, November 13, 2010
there is no pipeline
Saturday, November 13, 2010
you’ve got to get out there and find clients(and stay out there)
Saturday, November 13, 2010
“ ”recruiters are a cheap and easy alternative to
marketing myself
Saturday, November 13, 2010
recruiter != careercoach
Saturday, November 13, 2010
you must be in control.
plot your own career path
Saturday, November 13, 2010
otherwise you’re just a career contractor*
*oxymoron. contracting can not be a career
Saturday, November 13, 2010
“ ”it’s ok to start out at a low rate to get
a great client
Saturday, November 13, 2010
$$ –> $$$ ?
how are you gonna justify this?
Saturday, November 13, 2010
fluctuating rates strain the client
relationship
Saturday, November 13, 2010
always start out high and let the client
negotiate a good deal
Saturday, November 13, 2010
walk away if the client can’t agree to
yourminimum rate
Saturday, November 13, 2010
“ ”you need to find a client that’ll hire
you full-time for 3+ years
Saturday, November 13, 2010
Saturday, November 13, 2010
it’s “free”-lancing!don’t chain yourself
to a client
Saturday, November 13, 2010
skills stagnation + revenue stagnation–––––––––––––––––––
career death
Saturday, November 13, 2010
“ ”i need to learn [popular skill*] cuz that’s where
the jobs are* asp.net, java, etc.
Saturday, November 13, 2010
java
asp.net
node.js
jQuerydojo
Saturday, November 13, 2010
java
asp.net
node.js
recruiters
collegegrads
unemployed
jQuery
clueless
dojo
Saturday, November 13, 2010
indeed.com
java, asp.net – mature marketsSaturday, November 13, 2010
indeed.com
dojo, jQuery – expanding marketsSaturday, November 13, 2010
“ ”the more skills i put on my resumé,
the more marketable i'll be
Saturday, November 13, 2010
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
Saturday, November 13, 2010
andy the one-manbandy kenny g
which one’s getting the high-paying gigs?
Saturday, November 13, 2010
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?
andy the one-manbandy kenny g
Saturday, November 13, 2010
which one’s got clients calling him?
andy the one-manbandy kenny g
✓Saturday, November 13, 2010
experienced clients seek specialists
Saturday, November 13, 2010
“ ”one-man bands do better during
recessions
Saturday, November 13, 2010
which one’s still making a buck?
andy the one-manbandy kenny g
Saturday, November 13, 2010
which one’s still making a buck?
?andy the one-man
bandy kenny g
Saturday, November 13, 2010
which one’s still making a buck?
? ?andy the one-man
bandy kenny g
Saturday, November 13, 2010
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?
Saturday, November 13, 2010
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?
Saturday, November 13, 2010
what’s a specialist do in a recession?
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
Saturday, November 13, 2010
“ ”i need more experience to get the good clients
Saturday, November 13, 2010
awesome clients seek passion
Saturday, November 13, 2010
awesome clients seek passion
Saturday, November 13, 2010
but where do they look?
the internetz, duh!
Saturday, November 13, 2010
experiment, tinker,blog, contribute
create an online presence.demonstrate your passion.
Saturday, November 13, 2010
github is your resumé
your blog is your marketing site
Saturday, November 13, 2010
open source software projects need your
brainand awesome clients love oss
Saturday, November 13, 2010
“ ”i should fire the bottom 20%* of my clients every
year*80/20 rule, a.k.a. the “Pareto Principle”
Saturday, November 13, 2010
yes and no
Saturday, November 13, 2010
define “bottom”
Saturday, November 13, 2010
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
Saturday, November 13, 2010
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
Saturday, November 13, 2010
pursue the most exciting, most bloggable gigs
no matter how smalllow stress is good, too
Saturday, November 13, 2010
even better:eject the bottom 20% of your resumé every
yearcuz your resumé sucks, dude
Saturday, November 13, 2010
everything on your resumé should sell
your value and your passion
ditch everything else
Saturday, November 13, 2010
“ ”i'm gonna moonlight b/c full-time freelancing is
too risky
Saturday, November 13, 2010
some things that are riskier than freelancing
relying on others for your paycheck
not managing your own career
Saturday, November 13, 2010
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
Saturday, November 13, 2010
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
Saturday, November 13, 2010
“ ”i’m going to learn how to freelance
from a “top 10” list
bonus misconception
Saturday, November 13, 2010
“ ”i’m going to learn how to freelance
from a “top 10” list
bonus misconception
Saturday, November 13, 2010
go create your own strategy
Saturday, November 13, 2010
questions?
Saturday, November 13, 2010
vital tools
github.com
twitter.com
quora.com
stackoverflow.com
groups.google.com
lanyrd.com
meetup.com
indeed.com
linkedin.com
irc & mail lists
Saturday, November 13, 2010
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
Saturday, November 13, 2010