

Ask HN: How can I make $50k per year working full-time from my laptop? - molsongolden

I'm heading into a transition period and I'd like to try and get into a digital nomad work situation.<p>- I can't program but I can code html/css and manipulate php (working with wordpress themes, etc...)<p>- My entire work background is in accounting/finance<p>- I have about four months left at my current job but I can get started on a project working nights and weekends.<p>Any ideas? Any suggestions for remote work web apps or tools?
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gexla
A rule of thumb I see often is that as a freelancer you would need to divide
your target for the year by 1000 and that would be your target hourly rate.
So, you would need to look at charging $50 / hour for freelance work to hit
50K per year.

From my experience, that's about right for freelancing and that's about where
you should be charging if you are decent with Wordpress. I know of other
developers who charge at least $50 / hour and don't know a lot of PHP or even
JS. All these developers do all day is configure WP sites.

That said, charge what you think you can charge. The difference between $50 /
hour and $80 / hour might simply be what you ask for.

Realistically, the size of your digital Rolodex and your ability to sell is
what's going to allow you to hit your target rate. Start networking like crazy
and saving as much as possible right now. Hit Twitter, LinkedIn, Wordpress
forums and any other networking channels you can find to see the conversations
and hook up the jobs. As a digital nomad you would be at somewhat of a
disadvantage because you wouldn't be able to establish yourself in one
location. That's not to say that you need to work with local clients, but it
only helps if you can do it.

You could also hit sites like Odesk and Elance but you have a lot of
competition there with Wordpress. You will need something which will allow you
to stand out. The more niche and the more you can stand out the better. If you
can stand out, then good potential client won't even look at the competition
offering to work at $15 / hour.

So, aside from networking, you need to do whatever you can to try to establish
yourself as an authority. Create a site, write articles and contribute to the
community. Work to make a voice which other WP developers will take seriously.
Continue to learn WP and read as much as you can to find out what people are
doing to push the envelope with it.

You could branch out into other areas aside from WP, but you should start with
your strengths. You could focus on HTML / CSS but combining that with
Wordpress will give you a more niche target.

Try to save up at least six months living expenses before you hit the
freelance circuit.

Hold off on travel until you have had a chance to get solidly into the flow of
bringing in work. Also, freelancing while on the road is difficult. You might
benefit from moving somewhere with cheap living expenses though.

~~~
molsongolden
Do you think wordpress/web developing would be the best route to go?

I've been torn between going that way or trying to establish a cloud
accounting/bookkeeping practice and supplementing with wp/dev work.

~~~
gexla
You mentioned PHP and WP so I assumed that's what you were headed. You also
mentioned "accounting/bookkeeping" but that's too vague. I couldn't give you
anything concrete on that.

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spIrr
I am working at a Big4 company and thinking about having a side income,
eventually full time. I am able to code tweak some php/rails/html/css.

Have you ever thought about starting out with niche sites for your/our
industry? Please leave your email somewhere, i think we should talk; i have
some thoughts floating around (niche websites for CPAs/ACCA members). Let me
know if you're interested.

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gamechangr
Learn Ruby on Rails (bias) or Python

It will take you 2-10 months, but there are plenty of opportunities once
you've made it.

I'm learning Ruby on Rails and I've done the research....plenty of
opportunity.

~~~
molsongolden
Would you start with Ruby or with Python?

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geogra4
I wonder if you could do software testing / documentation remotely? Admittedly
I know nothing of how one could find work doing that.

