
Ask HN: Freelancers outside US and EU. How do you find quality clients? - maouida
I&#x27;m from Tunisia and I have been a freelance developer for about 6 years now. I get clients mainly from Upwork (oDesk). My hourly rate went like this:<p>2010-2013 $16&#x2F;hr<p>2013-2015 $20&#x2F;hr - $24&#x2F;hr (with some occasional $30&#x2F;hr jobs).<p>My ideal hourly rate is between $30&#x2F;hr to $40. But I have been struggling for more than a year to find clients with that rate without success. I have more than 5500 hours worked on Upwork and 100% job success rate and earned the Top Web Developers badge, so I&#x27;m not sure where the problem is. I also have good English communication.<p>I thought it may be because of the drop in quality of jobs posted on Upwork in the last couple of years so I tried other ways including AngleList, Monthly HN Freelancer posts but still no luck.<p>Now it seems obvious to me that the best tech jobs prefers that the developer lives in US even if the job is remote. Am I right? Any guidance or help is appreciated.<p>Thanks
======
nambante
what's the language you do programming in?

~~~
maouida
Microsoft Stack and I do front-end development too.

~~~
nambante
I figure the reason is because you've been charging too cheap prices for a
long time, or rather always, and it's reflected in your job history.

If you've always charged $20, why would anyone pay you more now?

Some freelancers get paid $50-80/hour only, but you probably are going to be
stuck with your current rate.

