are you a freelancer or a remote employee or contractor working on a remote basis? if you’re any of this then this guide is for you.
Remote work is not for everyone
I have been working remotely for nearly about 4 years and 5 years as a full-time on-site Ruby on Rails Engineer. My remote journey is a mixture of good as well as worst things but it’s been a great learning curve after my full-time job. why? because remote working is not for everyone. it is not easy in the first place if you’re a starter.
I struggled a lot when I started working remotely even having 5 years of on-site experience just because while doing remote work, you need to put yourself in every aspect of the software development process from Searching clients to delivering results to them. not having those skills is a big minus point.
It’s not impossible either
I am not saying that working remotely is a very tough job to do but if you are confident enough to not give up(even when you lose your client/work) then it is a good thing. In remote culture there are tons of other developers who are maybe smarter than you, they have a good portfolio. so yes there is competition.
The client will prefer to hire more professional developers than you but if you can provide quality work as compared to what a pro can deliver with lower rates then you win.
yes, it’s all about delivering quality work on time rather than delivering results of the worst quality and which are costly. if you work for the money it will not stay longer with you.
Always sharpen your skills
Delivering quality results makes your client happy because you’re helping them grow business. you know, many clients you may have worked/working with are only dependent on the income generated from what you’re building for them. they don’t have multiple sources of incomes so they always want quality results.
keep sharpening your skills whenever you get a chance. do side projects, contribute to other’s projects, get ideas from platforms like IndieHackers, learn something new and try it, help others on slack, StackOverflow, etc.
Try not to lose your first client
Money comes second, the client comes first. why? because if you’re able to keep a good business relationship with them by delivering what they expect from you on time then business relationships with your client will increase automatically. also, if you work with clients even for a short period of time then be connected with them through social networks like FB, Linked, etc. and try to say Hi after a short period of time frequently. this will make your client trust you more and there are chances that they will refer you first when the next requirement comes.
I hope this guide will help you with your remote journey. I am a backend Ruby on Rails developer based in India with over 8 years of experience. my current contract has just ended and I am looking for new work on a remote basis.
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