Series Overview
I often receive a lot of questions from my coworkers and peers on the subject of freelancing. Many times they have a perception of “freelance work” as being some untouchable practice that warrants arcane knowledge in order to tap into its mystic power. Additionally, many want to try their hand at the craft, but don’t feel like they have the bandwidth to put in a day of work at their full-time job and then go home and do side-work. If you find yourself feeling this way, know that I have found myself in that position but have managed to successfully turn my side jobs into a regular source of income (with minimal effort relative to the lucrative pay).
My hope with this series is to help you learn how to make money doing side work while still having time to do all the other things you love. Being a software engineer, this series is going to have a lot of examples related to web and app development. If you are in a different field that has freelancing opportunities, however, the majority of the material should still be applicable to you; this is especially true when it comes to pricing yourself, tracking your work, and finding clients to do business with.
Topics Covered
In this series, I will answer questions including the following:
- How do you find clients to work with?
- What is an LLC and do I need one?
- How much do you charge, and how do you price yourself?
- How much time does it take to make freelancing worth it?
- Once I get my client-base started, how do I manage multiple projects at a time?
The sections in this series will be as follows:
- Overview/Before You Start
- Finding Clients
- What to do once you find a client
- Pricing Yourself
- Getting legally ready
- Doing the work and getting paid
Disclaimer: Everything I say in here is my opinion and techniques that I have found successful. I recommend you look at the things that have worked for me and figure out how to best adapt them for your own situation.
Before You Start
tldr:
Before you start looking for work, or say yes/no to a project, create a list of professionals you know would be willing to help you out if you get in over your head. This will give you the confidence you need to stretch yourself and grow your business.
One of my biggest apprehensions that I encounter before I even think of taking on new work is wondering what happens if I get in over my head. For one of my first projects, a client asked me to make a service that involved several technologies I’d never even heard of. I really wanted to say no, but the project seemed interesting to work on and the client made it apparent that they were willing to pay very well for the job. I took the plunge and accepted the job. As it turned out, the project was surprisingly well within my skill-range. The client turned out to be one of my most consistent/highest paying clients and the app is now used by him and several others in his same industry. One of the biggest things that helped me finally get the confidence to take on the job was Creating a Short-List.
A Short-List is simply a list of people that I have put together that I know I could ask to assist me in a given project should I find myself in too deep of water. Before I add someone to the list, I first like to ask them if they could potentially help me out with a project if I get in over my head (and I make sure they know that they will get an appropriate cut of the profits as well). Over the past few years, I have added about a dozen people on my list. I’ve tried to include a range of personalities, work-ethics, and skill sets. I have a couple iOS/Android devs, a few senior engineers with heavy C++ backgrounds, and several designers. Getting a nice spread of personalities and skill sets helps me have the confidence that I could find someone to help me with just about any kind of job if I should find myself needing it.
Interestingly enough, for all the jobs I’ve taken on, I have never actually contacted anyone from my list for help. There have been a few times that I came close, but I’ve found that almost every job has turned out to not be as bad as I anticipated it would be. The presence of my short-list has served as more of a backbone than a crutch for me, it gives me the confidence to go out of my comfort zone and to do work that I wouldn’t otherwise take on. This, in turn, has led to my client base growing over time since I’ve been able to say yes to more jobs than I thought I could initially handle.
** Summary: Before you start looking for work, or say yes/no to a project, create a list of professionals you know would be willing to help you out if you get in over your head. This will give you the confidence you need to stretch yourself and grow your business. **
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