
Ask HN: How to become a freelancer? - rukshn
I know that there are many freelancers out there in HN.<p>I&#x27;m a total noob when it comes to freelancing and how and where to get started.<p>I&#x27;m doing a pretty good 9-5 job but intrested in staring a 5-9 freelancing.<p>Any ideas on how to to get started?<p>Thanks
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borplk
What are your skills?

Freelancing is generally quite hard if you are not in cheap countries.

If you are in Pakistan you can enjoy an income multiple times higher than what
you could earn locally with basic HTML/CSS/JS/PHP work. A modest $30 an hour
goes a looong way in those locations.

If you are in London ... it's a different story.

In expensive countries it can work if you have skills that are _not_ low
barrier and flooded like Wordpress work, or location-dependent work like
photography and shooting video.

Or if you are senior and have a large existing network and reputation and so
on.

Otherwise it turns into a bit of a never ending losing battle.

~~~
hullsean
im in new york. been freelancing for 23 years. demand has never been greater.

differentiate. brand yourself. and learn to tell your story aka “sell”
yourself.

how can you help? what problem can you solve?

as long as there are consulting services companies there will forever be work.

keep learning!

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staticgarden
1\. Create a few open source products/apps: This will teach you a lot about
your gaps.

2\. Start a blog and have a post per week on a consistent schedule: This will
get you some visibility.

3\. Bid on jobs on Upwork and other freelancing websites with a low rate: This
will get you your first experience with freelancing. Having an initial lower
rate will make you more favorable for a job. Also, this is the hardest. You
may have to do a 100 bids before you get your first offer. Also, keep tuning
your bids, the wording and the content of your messages matter. Think about
the person reading your bid and why they would select you over the 100 other
bidders.

4\. After a few gigs, increase your rate to a proper doable rate.

Also, look out for people asking for resources on twitter, slack channels etc,
those tend to have a higher probability of converting. You should look at
online communities where people who are working on your stack loiter.

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bsaul
been a freelance for 7 years now. here are a few tips :

first, get yourself a skill that's "hot" in the industry . Looking how hard
people in your company have it trying to recruit for some job might give you a
clue.

try to do week end missions by helping friends out or people you know ( try to
have people pay for it, even if it's symbolic, to get the feel of what it's
like to have customer yourself) that'll help you grow your network.

save some cash (enough to live for 6 months), because you may need it when you
begin.

never be in bad term with previous employer. it may become your client one
day.

spread the word that you're considering becoming a freelance. people may come
back at you with their projects and this way you'll start with something to do
immediately.

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drizzle87
Here's how I got started with zero connections: I started writing on a few web
dev blogs on using different frameworks, tools etc. Not all of them were
popular, but a few became "evergreen" posts and they brought quite a few
inbound queries/questions which eventually turned into small consulting gigs,
which eventually grew in size and volume.

------
jahbrewski
Learn how to sell your services.

As a technician, this is going to be completely different than what you are
used to. Sales is a fuzzy, messy, asymmetric process that requires a great
deal more EQ than IQ to get right. Focus on establishing relationships and the
clients will follow.

------
BjoernKW
Please see my previous comments on this matter and the additional links
provided in those comments:
[https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=15910781](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=15910781)

------
doreet777
article the software won't let me submit:Science and feet: I am doing to tell
all you medical people,the most neglected part of the body,by the AMA and
doctors,is the foot.Podiatrists are phonies for the most part,and often do not
fix serious feet problems.Often some one with medical problems of the foot
have to go to orthopedists to get any help.The most common problems of plantar
faciitis and other problems that seriously can discontinue walking,and cause
great pain,are ignored by many podiatrists. Strangely, often sports medicine
doctors know the most about foot problems because they treat
runners.Considering that few medical people really treat serious problems of
the foot,patients with painful and injured feet cannot find any real
help,until the foot injuries are so bad the person cannot walk,or is in too
great pain to walk.By that time, the problems have gotten so advanced, often
it will take years to get any relief.Shoe companies,until athletic shoes came
out,made a whole generation of women limp,hurt,and have serious feet problems
because of women's shoes.--high heels,pumps,flats,and tight shoes(sharp
toes)and stiletto boots caused a whole range of feet deformities.High heels
alone caused back trouble,Achilles tendon problems,and injuries to all the
bones and tendons,muscles,and other tissue in the feet,including heel and
ankle problems.Yet so few orthopedists specialize in problems of the feet,
that there are a tiny percentage of them available--often requiring a lot of
money, or the very best insurance.Try and find a orthopedist specializing in
feet--during my life time,I was only aware of one doctor--and he refused to
accept my insurance because it was not good enough.This situation is very
common.Older people often acquire such bad feet,even serious foot arthritis,
that they can no longer walk normally.--And very good doctors refuse their
Medicare. Norses and waiters often get bad feet inflamatuon, but can't quit
their jobgs.Today the only treatment is 30 or 40 years old:"Put ice on it,and
also soak them in hot water with Epsom salts."The over used treatment "Put ice
on it, and put it up"has not advanced in so many years, there is nothing
else.Some times the patient insists on paying for injections of a material
that fills up the very fleshless old feet,but it is expensive and keeps
wearing off.Insurance won't pay for it.For a while the person with very bony
feet has some cushioning.Most people can not afford the thousands of dollars
over and over.The extreme absence of any advance discoveries in the science of
medicine for the foot, is inexcusable,but there is a good reason; there is no
money in treating feet.Sports medicine is booming, there's plenty of money in
sports.

~~~
doreet777
(I am a member but the submit links won't take any article or comment:I am
stuck posting it here, sorry.)

