
How do you find freelance coding projects? - artfed1
Hey, so I came up with this question recently. What do you do to find a side project for coding?
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BjoernKW
Please see this previous comment of mine and the resources it refers to:
[https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=15910781](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=15910781)

The gist is: If you want your business to be independent, sustainable and
profitable in the long run building a network to draw upon is essential.

Don't put all your eggs in one basket by exclusively relying on recruiters or
- worse - sites like Upwork.

Have a professional online presence, i.e. website, that's controlled by you.
It probably won't immediately help you with getting projects through organic
search traffic but if executed well a professional website can help convince
potential clients that you're the right person for the job.

~~~
artfed1
Thanks for the advice, not sure that I want to run it more like a business,
maybe find one-two clients on side 'cause I have a day job and I'm good with
it.

~~~
BjoernKW
Freelancing always is a business. It doesn't matter if it's run on the side.

While you can outsource aspects such as marketing and sales you should be
aware that in that case not only will you be leaving a lot of money on the
table (because someone else higher up the value chain will capture that value
for you) but you'll be dependent on third parties other than your clients,
which means that your freelancing income can dry up at any time.

------
davidscolgan
I've done freelance web development for a number of years now. In general, the
best jobs have all come from inbound leads instead of outbound leads. Upwork
and cold emailing and door to dooring can work but require a lot of effort and
I don't find the clients to be as high quality as when they come to me.

I much prefer when clients come to me. For this to happen, you have to
increase your "luck surface area" \- the more you demonstrate competence and
value in public, the more chances that clients will find you and reach out.

1\. Participating in online communities like Hacker News. I once said in a
comment "oh hey, I was a digital nomad for a couple of years and did part time
Django work." To which someone replied, "Are you still doing part time Django
work? I need someone." They have been my best customer for the past year.
Also, make sure your HN profile has your freelancing information in it.

Post every month in the who's hiring freelancers thread. I've gotten a few
gigs there.

See if your city has a city-wide slack channel. Chicago where I am has a very
large one and hanging out there has exposed me to a number of opportunities.

2\. Be helpful. Someone from my college once asked me how to freelance, so I
took them out for coffee and spent three hours discussing the ins and outs.
Three months later he emailed me saying "I decided not to but do you want this
client I found?" That client ended up paying me around $12,000 in the end.
People like reciprocating help.

If I see someone asking a question about freelancing, I usually try to give a
good answer. Some people use Twitter and post little tips. Some people give
talks at local meetups.

3\. Bring up often that you freelance as it makes sense. Don't be obnoxious,
but let people know what you do. Nobody can ask you to freelance for them if
they don't know that you freelance. My longest and best client ever knew that
he needed a developer, and went back to my university and asked "do you know
any freelancers?" I was the only one the professors knew who had said they
were going to freelance, so they referred me.

4\. Work in public. I have a mailing list where I write about how to
freelance. I recently got an email from a reader saying "hey, we like your
emails. Want to work for us?" One of my current best clients.

One of my colleagues has found good work from an open source Django library he
maintains. His client of over 7 years was using that library and reached out
because of the link to my colleague's website in the Readme.

I once got a client from sitting in a coworking space. A guy I had talked to
and told about my freelancing said, "hey I'm getting a full time job, want my
client?" Client for 3 years.

5\. Keep in touch with everyone. This is a little more labor intensive, but
super powerful. Using a spreadsheet or a CRM, regularly send emails to people
you've met. Try as much as possible to provide value when you do, whether just
asking how they are, giving encouragement, showing them useful articles, or
making them aware of opportunities you think they'd benefit from. Don't try to
sell, just build relationships. If at some point you need work and don't have
anyone, you'll have a large network of people who remember you and will be
sympathetic.

\---

So, is the answer to be a digital nomad, take college grads out for coffee,
have an email list, tell your college department you freelance, go to a
coworking space, and maintain an open source library?

Well, no. If you had asked me to tell you two years ago how I would get all of
my current clients I would have never been able to predict the exact methods.
But as I said, a high "luck surface area" is what makes this work. Doing some
combination of the above can make you a pretty "lucky" person.

All of my current clients came to me, and they are all wonderful to work with,
pay well, I never have to chase down invoices, and selling to them is way
easier because they are already sold on hiring me from what they've seen me do
before contacting me.

~~~
artfed1
Thanks for such a detailed answer covering your experience and approach. It
makes me rethink the whole thing.

Also, how can I find out more about your mailing list?

~~~
davidscolgan
Glad it was helpful! My stuff's in my profile. Also happy to chat over email
if you have any other questions. Cheers!

------
introing111
Hi there! There is a complicated question. I have been using several ways to
find a job.

1)Facebook Groups. It's a little bit tough but I had some success there.
Groups like Startups Jobs, Jobs in San Francisco, Remote Jobs in Startups etc.

2) Freelance Marketplaces. Upwork (upwork.com), Freelancer (freelancer.com),
and Periodix ([https://periodix.net/](https://periodix.net/)). It's a new
service but helps me a lot already. I found this service in Reddit and didn't
expect great results. But I found something reasonable for myself and be hired
fast.

3) Linkedin. Recruiters write me every day.

4) Local Websites. I check every day local job boards to find a local project.
Because it seems faster to be hired.

~~~
artfed1
Yes, recruiters write me on LinkedIn also but usually hunting me to the full-
time positions.

Facebook groups - good idea, thanks I'll check them but I'm afraid it will
take a lot of time to define those groups and to find a good job there. What
is your experience there?

Thanks for Periodix, looks like something interesting - I've already signed up
and it shows pretty good jobs matches for me. Will see if will land a job
there soon.

~~~
introing111
I mentioned in Linkedin Tagline that I'm open only for Freelancing Positions
or Part-Time Remotely. So, I suggest you do it too.

On Facebook Groups, you faced competition and sometimes clients don't reply to
you because Messanger doesn't show you mails not from your friends. They are
hidden. So, I don't like it much.

~~~
artfed1
I like the idea about the LinkedIn Tagline, thanks!

------
justdebb
Do you mean where to find freelance jobs/projects or ideas for side projects
to code yourself (e.g. [https://www.codementor.io/npostolovski/40-side-
project-ideas...](https://www.codementor.io/npostolovski/40-side-project-
ideas-for-software-engineers-g8xckyxef))?

~~~
artfed1
Actually, I meant where to find freelance jobs. But thanks for the link.

------
bitxbitxbitcoin
Not a side project coder but from the anecdata I've read in HN posts and
comments, people seem to find their successful side projects from automating
some thing from their daily lives - be it something related to their industry
or just universal aspects of daily life like commute or cooking.

~~~
artfed1
Thanks, will take a look at this

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verdverm
Toptal, like upwork, but way better. Curated on both sides

~~~
artfed1
Is it hard to get approved on Toptal?

~~~
verdverm
Not sure, it probably depends on the specialty you apply for and the
interviewers.

I did DevOps and it took more than a month to go through the process. There is
a need for that specialty more than others, so that likely had some impact.

------
IAmNeo
[https://www.bountysource.com](https://www.bountysource.com) is another one

------
ssijak
I work on Toptal [https://www.toptal.com/#connect-unmatched-coders-
now](https://www.toptal.com/#connect-unmatched-coders-now)

They filter both the clients and freelancers so you get quality on both sides.
My experience is very positive for now.

