Ask HN: 6-figure freelancers of HN, what do you do? - thr2178008
======
jv22222
@thr2178008 Hey there. I'll give you a proven roadmap to six figure
freelancing right now.

1) Pick a new up and coming language or framework. Something like elixir or
pheonix or something else that is really hot and just starting out.

2) Learn it. As you learn, write a series of really awesome tutorials and
articles on your blog about that stack.

3) Help people out on SO and other forums that talk about that tech. Point
folks to your posts if it looks like it might help. Add your blog to your
profile page.

4) Try to guest on some podcasts about this same technology, or maybe even
create your own podcast.

5) Keep doing steps 1-4 with constancy and over time your luck surface area
will grow and new opportunities will come your way.

When you start contracting in that tech you'll be able to charge much better
rates than your old rate because you will be a thought leader in that space.

Also, you will be able to capitalize on sites like airpair.com

Hope this helps!

~~~
romanovcode
> "really hot and just starting out/new up and coming language or framework"

As a consultant this strategy is very smart, very stupid for a company tho.

1) Consultant goes to company and sells his new hot tech stack that is just
released.

2) Company buys in and pays a lot of money.

3) Consultant now is locked himself a nice position because nobody wants to
deal with this technology and he is the only expert they can get.

~~~
meric
Startups might be willing to take this risk - if the new technology shortens
the time to launch, then all the better. If it finds itself locked in 5 years
down the line, who cares, it's 5 years later and they're a 100 million dollar
company.

~~~
romanovcode
> if the new technology shortens the time to launch

Not sure what technology you are referring to but it's definitely not elixir
or pheonix.

------
chi17
Not a freelancer. That's how I do it.

I don't think you're asking the right question, though. 100k+ USD/yr in some
parts of the country is a lot different than 100k+ USD/yr in other parts. The
really smart ones have found jobs in metro areas that pay lots, but work
remotely from areas with low cost of living expenses, and put all the extra
away into college funds for their kids and Roth 401k's invested in high risk,
low-load index funds, with a significant amount invested.

And most of all, they ask for it. Once they get it, they don't piss people
off, they do great work, and they get references.

~~~
charsifood
I think the OP is specifically asking freelancers because 100k as a salary is
not exactly rare, it's what I've paid some of my juniors.

100k+ as a freelancer is significantly more rare - requiring either very
steady work, a niche skill-set, or great marketing skills.

~~~
King-Aaron
Do you mind me asking what industry you're in, where a junior can make $100k?

~~~
GhostVII
Software? An entry level developer position in the bay area can be a fair bit
higher than $100k

~~~
mcv
Silicon Valley is fairly unique, and not remotely comparable to the rest of
the world. In most of Europe, a senior dev makes less than that. Freelancers
are a bit more likely to make more.

~~~
otakucode
Sure, but that's cost of living. $100k/yr is needed in Silicon Valley just to
cover your portion of rent for the above-garage apartment you share with 8
other people.

~~~
King-Aaron
That seems ludicrous to be honest (*though I do note the satire)

------
bruno2223
Back-End Dev here (Node).

I do integration between Brazillian mobile carriers and international Apps
(content providers in general) who wants to get into Brazilian market, usually
to bill users on their mobile plan instead of paypal or inApp Purchase. The
funnil gap is much lower when you Bill users in mobile plan.

Brazilian carrier has a tough and slow integration process and, without a
local IT support is almost impossible to connect with them.

As I have everything ready for all major carriers, it's easier/faster/cheaper
to hire me instead of build the integration by itself.

www.2brazil.rocks

~~~
diehell
Interesting! How can i start something like this for my own country?

~~~
imhoguy
First you need to get a job in some telco company and work on related
projects. That knowledge is not available on github or books. Actually it is
the same with other high-pay integration areas like finances, banking,
logistics etc. Once you gain some expertise and see a niche you start
freelancing.

~~~
bruno2223
Exactly!

------
mcv
What exactly counts to count as 6-figure? My hourly rate is €80. Working 32
hours per week, 45 weeks per year, my yearly revenue would just be 6 figures.
Of course after I deduct some costs and retirement savings, my taxable income
is in the high 5 figures.

I'm not doing anything special, other than having 15 years of experience and
not being terribly bad at my job. I do notice that to get more than this, I
need to make a bit more of a name for myself. Just being a good programmer is
probably not enough; it seems I need to bring something special and specific
to the table to justify a higher rate.

~~~
imhoguy
Really nice schedule. I think the thread is about scores. Once debt free I
would prefer to get more private time than trashing my life for 6 figures in
somebody's sweat shop projects - the more than I can eat.

------
harel
Two options that I can think of:

1\. Experience: After a while doing what you're doing, you are an experienced
developer/freelancer. You hit the ground running, you mentor, you contribute
enough to justify your high day rate.

2\. Go into Finance. Specifically banks. They hire contractors all the time.
The work is terrible, the challenge is mostly dealing with the restrictions of
the systems around you and the bureaucracy that envelopes everything there,
but to counter that they pay well above market rates. In fact they pay silly
rates. I did that for a little while and decided my soul is worth more.

The contract market is a funny one. Can be hard to find gigs one month, and
have too many to choose from the next. But in general, going above 6 digits
contracting is not that hard. Keep in mind that you have to manage your own
taxes, so a good accountant is key.

------
metaloha
Front-end JS for the oil-and-gas industry. Custom, industry-specific customer-
facing web applications. Interesting work, but the business logic required by
some companies is freakin' terrifying :)

~~~
TomMarius
How did you get into this kind of work?

~~~
metaloha
Front-end JS? Need, mainly. Most of the UI/UX people I worked with have not
maintained their skills, and I was getting tired of knowing more and doing
better work than them in their own field. As it happens, there's a much better
market for that work than for the back-end and architectural work I've been
doing the past couple of decades.

Oil-and-gas? Luck - I live in a city with a lot of head offices. Eventually
almost everyone works for one of them :) It was just my turn. But it looks
like a long-term gig, which is great.

~~~
TomMarius
Yeah, meant oil and gas. It seems pretty difficult to get in direct contact
with such client to me.

~~~
metaloha
Friend of a friend situation - a guy I worked with at another company had a
friend who we game with once in a while (board games and miniatures games),
and she works for this company. She let me know they had an opportunity and I
made the cut :)

------
amorphous
The obvious answer is to specialise. The problem is how?

There seem to be two options:

1\. Become an expert in a rare, rising tech stack (see elixir/phoenix)

2\. Specialise in a market vertical

On hn and as a dev Option 1) is very appealing. And just a matter of time and
keep doing it.

Many (smart) folks, however, tell you that 2) is the better bet long term and
financially. Which makes sense because you shift from providing technical
solutions to delivering business results. But it is much harder to get into
(which long term turns into an advantage because you build barriers)

I would love to go route 2) but never actually went anywhere. But I didn't do
1) either because I'm stuck between those two. It's quite frustrating
actually.

Is anyone else in a similar situation?

------
j0rd
I made a deal with an e-commerce site to take 10% of revenue added, after
marketing expenses from new channels I create.

Added 300k+ of revenue a month.

~~~
soneca
Congrats! I think you are the perfect person to give some feedback on a
product I want to validate and build. If you have the time, please let me know
what you think of this.

The product is a personalized Facebook app created for the ecommerce that aims
to increase the number of emails collected for the ecommerce's newsletter and
increase traffic from these newsletters by sending Facebook notifications to
the users that signed up to the app.

Basically I create a Facebook App and provide the sign-up link to the
ecommerce. The ecommerce adds the link next to the "Sign up to our newsletter"
CTA they usually have on their website giving the user two options to provide
their email: the regular input field and the link to do it via Facebook (this
is not a Facebook Login btw). If the client click the link, they are directed
to Facebook's authorization page, one more click I have the access to their
email and the ability to send them notification (only if the user is accessing
Facebook on the web, as FB do not send app notifications to native mobile
apps).

I then send the user's email to the ecommerce and send FB notifications
everytime they send a newsletter (linking to the web version of the
newsletter).

So, what dod you think?

------
hilti
1) Do networking and listen. It's not about how great you are in your wildest
dreams.

2) Deliver a little bit more than expected. That'll help to get you some
recommendations.

3) Don't follow every new tech stack, framework whatsoever hype.

Choose your toolchain where you are feeling comfortable with.

4) Raise your hourly rate. There's nothing wrong with it, if you're doing a
great job based on past projects.

5) Say "No" to nasty, time consuming and time wasting clients.

6) Build your own brand to be proud of.

------
richardknop
Does contracting count as freelancing? Serious question. Or do you mean
freelances as only in gigster/upwork sense?

As a contractor I am technically working via my one man company but mostly
work in a company office alongside other employees, so not sure if you count
that as freelancing.

~~~
csomar
Are you in the US? I think you should be an employee instead.

~~~
richardknop
I'm in UK. You should be an employee if you work in a single company for 2+
years. Contractors often only work in 6-12 month contracts so you are not
definitely an employee if you only come to work on a project for 6 months and
then go work somewhere else.

------
Thoguth
1\. Get a degree in computer science.

2\. Work in corporate development for large, medium, and small companies,
startups, etc. for 20 years.

3\. Keep skills sharp, keep investing in new opportunities.

4\. Learn project management.

5\. Dress up (in a suit, etc.)

6\. Find people who want work done.

7\. Figure out what they want to be done, how long it will take to do it, and
how much is reasonable to charge for that.

8\. Ship it.

8\. Send invoices.

9\. Cash very large checks.

Technology lets people who are very good with tools, make amazing things all
by ourselves in the same time or less than a team of people who are average
with tools in a cube farm.

I guess a simpler version of this would be:

1\. Get very good at tools.

2\. Get people who believe you can deliver.

3\. Deliver.

4\. Invoice.

If you do it right, you'll be time- and price-competitive with much larger,
slower, and more-expensive entities, and nobody will care because you're still
delivering. It's a time of great opportunity.

------
__d
C/C++/Java/Python for capital markets, customers mostly in NYC.

~~~
cuchoi
Any tips on how to get into programming for financial institutions/capital
markets?

------
Nilef
110K at 21 yrs old in the UK contracting, hoping to reach 150k by this time
next year - I help big companies figure out how to embrace new technologies

~~~
RikNieu
> I help big companies figure out how to embrace new technologies

What do you mean?

~~~
Nilef
I guess I'm being deliberately evasive to protect my own interests, but I help
them go digital, use ML/AI, use APIs, Blockchain etc

------
troels
Six figures is a pretty useless distinction these days. It's like how every
homeowner is technically a millionaire. The term sticks though.

In any case, freelancer is a vague term. Working on smaller, ad-hoc tasks it
is probably harder to make a big payday, but working longer contracts (also
called a contractor) can pay very well.

~~~
zulln
Every homeowner is far from a millionaire in the US.

~~~
troels
Yeah, a bit hyperbole. The point though, is that being a millionaire isn't as
impressive as it used to be 50 years ago, but we still use the term to signify
someone incredibly wealthy.

------
akulbe
Long-term automation projects.

Chef development for one customer. Ansible for the others.

~~~
wilhempujar
Interesting. Is one of your customers looking for more DevOps help? I have a
teammate looking for an opportunity.

------
uptown
Application developer at a hedge fund. Mostly front-end design/dev work on a
web-based platform used to run all aspects of their business.

------
ponyous
Not making 6 figures, but I could if I took fewer holidays. London based,
doing full stack javascript - mostly focus on the front end.

~~~
Garvey
What sort of level would you say you were at with regards to your js
knowledge, and how long have you been working with it?

I'm still pretty green and living up north, but looking to the future, I could
see me having to move to get a decent salary, just wondering how feasible it
may be.

~~~
ponyous
I was hired as a senior contractor. I work with JS for about 5 years, 3 years
as primary language. All of it professionally.

I think it's totally feasible. I moved here when I was 19 with the salary
between 30-40k. 3 years later, I am doing something I always wanted for a
great amount of money. I think without these two rules I wouldn't make it: \-
Invest in knowledge \- Don't put your age on CV

But London is all about trying imo.

------
softwarefounder
Well first off, use the term "consultant", and you'll see a 50% increase in
revenue.

------
nXqd
Clojure(script) | AI (mainly python and R) development for trading companies
and startups.

~~~
itsN1X
any general-theory getting started tips/links?

------
brd
At first I was an SAP Development lead (ABAP programming language primarily)

Later managing IT Operations

------
chi17
Seems like everyone's interpreting 6-figures in whatever currency they use, so
here are the exchange rates, using USD for conversion since that's easier:

100000 Argentine Pesos = 5755 USD, 100000 USD = 1737740 Argentine Pesos

100000 Australian Dollars = 79514 USD, 100000 USD = 125764 Australian Dollars

100000 Bahraini Dinars = 265156 USD, 100000 USD = 37714 Bahraini Dinars

100000 Botswana Pulas = 9833 USD, 100000 USD = 1016942 Botswana Pulas

100000 Brazilian Reals = 31543 USD, 100000 USD = 317028 Brazilian Reals

100000 British Pounds = 129272 USD, 100000 USD = 77356 British Pounds

100000 Bruneian Dollars = 73743 USD, 100000 USD = 135607 Bruneian Dollars

100000 Bulgarian Levs = 61190 USD, 100000 USD = 163425 Bulgarian Levs

100000 Canadian Dollars = 79790 USD, 100000 USD = 125329 Canadian Dollars

100000 Chilean Pesos = 160 USD, 100000 USD = 62578223 Chilean Pesos

100000 Chinese Yuan Renminbis = 15171 USD, 100000 USD = 659165 Chinese Yuan
Renminbis

100000 Colombian Pesos = 34 USD, 100000 USD = 293255132 Colombian Pesos

100000 Croatian Kunas = 16111 USD, 100000 USD = 620679 Croatian Kunas

100000 Czech Korunas = 4589 USD, 100000 USD = 2178982 Czech Korunas

100000 Danish Krones = 16055 USD, 100000 USD = 622874 Danish Krones

100000 Emirati Dirhams = 27223 USD, 100000 USD = 367343 Emirati Dirhams

100000 Euros = 119434 USD, 100000 USD = 83728 Euros

100000 Hong Kong Dollars = 12778 USD, 100000 USD = 782620 Hong Kong Dollars

100000 Hungarian Forints = 391 USD, 100000 USD = 25581990 Hungarian Forints

100000 Icelandic Kronas = 951 USD, 100000 USD = 10518565 Icelandic Kronas

100000 Indian Rupees = 1565 USD, 100000 USD = 6391818 Indian Rupees

100000 Indonesian Rupiahs = 8 USD, 100000 USD = 1333333333 Indonesian Rupiahs

100000 Iranian Rials = 3 USD, 100000 USD = 3333333333 Iranian Rials

100000 Israeli Shekels = 27978 USD, 100000 USD = 357426 Israeli Shekels

100000 Japanese Yens = 911 USD, 100000 USD = 10982976 Japanese Yens

100000 Kazakhstani Tenges = 298 USD, 100000 USD = 33534541 Kazakhstani Tenges

100000 Kuwaiti Dinars = 331580 USD, 100000 USD = 30159 Kuwaiti Dinars

100000 Libyan Dinars = 73952 USD, 100000 USD = 135224 Libyan Dinars

100000 Malaysian Ringgits = 23420 USD, 100000 USD = 426989 Malaysian Ringgits

100000 Mauritian Rupees = 3052 USD, 100000 USD = 3276862 Mauritian Rupees

100000 Mexican Pesos = 5594 USD, 100000 USD = 1787694 Mexican Pesos

100000 Nepalese Rupees = 979 USD, 100000 USD = 10219724 Nepalese Rupees

100000 New Zealand Dollars = 72430 USD, 100000 USD = 138064 New Zealand
Dollars

100000 Norwegian Krones = 12879 USD, 100000 USD = 776482 Norwegian Krones

100000 Omani Rials = 259715 USD, 100000 USD = 38504 Omani Rials

100000 Pakistani Rupees = 949 USD, 100000 USD = 10535188 Pakistani Rupees

100000 Philippine Pesos = 1953 USD, 100000 USD = 5120066 Philippine Pesos

100000 Polish Zlotys = 28017 USD, 100000 USD = 356926 Polish Zlotys

100000 Qatari Riyals = 27240 USD, 100000 USD = 367105 Qatari Riyals

100000 Romanian New Leus = 25990 USD, 100000 USD = 384766 Romanian New Leus

100000 Russian Rubles = 1704 USD, 100000 USD = 5867167 Russian Rubles

100000 Saudi Arabian Riyals = 26661 USD, 100000 USD = 375074 Saudi Arabian
Riyals

100000 Singapore Dollars = 73743 USD, 100000 USD = 135607 Singapore Dollars

100000 South African Rands = 7672 USD, 100000 USD = 1303373 South African
Rands

100000 South Korean Wons = 89 USD, 100000 USD = 112359551 South Korean Wons

100000 Sri Lankan Rupees = 654 USD, 100000 USD = 15288182 Sri Lankan Rupees

100000 Swedish Kronas = 12567 USD, 100000 USD = 795748 Swedish Kronas

100000 Swiss Francs = 104577 USD, 100000 USD = 95624 Swiss Francs

100000 Taiwan New Dollars = 3320 USD, 100000 USD = 3011957 Taiwan New Dollars

100000 Thai Bahts = 3011 USD, 100000 USD = 3321156 Thai Bahts

100000 Trinidadian Dollars = 14876 USD, 100000 USD = 672215 Trinidadian
Dollars

100000 Turkish Liras = 29016 USD, 100000 USD = 344640 Turkish Liras

100000 Venezuelan Bolivars = 9915 USD, 100000 USD = 1008583 Venezuelan
Bolivars

~~~
richardknop
That's also not too accurate as living expenses and taxation differ radically
across those countries. Some of those countries you might pay 35-40% tax from
your 100k salary, some of them 12% or less.

~~~
chi17
There are also benefits from living in certain locations that don't factor
into living expenses but just affect quality of life.

[https://www.usnews.com/news/best-countries/quality-of-
life-f...](https://www.usnews.com/news/best-countries/quality-of-life-full-
list)

~~~
richardknop
Yes and there are a lot of other factors like healthcare, education (if you
have kids) etc. For a healthy young single person a country with very low
taxes such as Singapore might be the best choice. For somebody older who is
married with kids Germany would be better (taxes are high but you get a lot of
value back for the money you to in like cheap/free education).

~~~
imhoguy
Also timezone difference may be the factor depending of what level of presence
and availability is negotiated.

------
LiteskinKanye
Everyone makes six figures before tax. You should clarify after tax ;)

~~~
llccbb
Ha! No.

------
kgc
I build algorithms, apps, websites, and APIs for startups.

------
llamle
I do web development and mobile development for startups.

------
decentralised
Ethereum DApp development

~~~
pknerd
I wanna learn it!

~~~
decentralised
Ok, so for learning the tech, I would recommend the following guides and
articles:

Wallet & Web3 Browser: \-
[https://parity.io/parity.html](https://parity.io/parity.html)

\- [http://metamask.io/](http://metamask.io/)

Solidity: \-
[https://learnxinyminutes.com/docs/solidity/](https://learnxinyminutes.com/docs/solidity/)

\- [http://solidity.readthedocs.io/](http://solidity.readthedocs.io/)

\- [https://blog.ethereum.org/2016/07/12/build-server-less-
appli...](https://blog.ethereum.org/2016/07/12/build-server-less-applications-
mist/)

Interacting with Ethereum: \-
[https://geth.ethereum.org/downloads/](https://geth.ethereum.org/downloads/)

\- [http://truffleframework.com](http://truffleframework.com)

Tutorials and whatnot: \- [https://souptacular.gitbooks.io/ethereum-tutorials-
and-tips-...](https://souptacular.gitbooks.io/ethereum-tutorials-and-tips-by-
hudson/content/giant_ethereum_resource_list.html)

StackExchange:
[https://ethereum.stackexchange.com/](https://ethereum.stackexchange.com/)

------
cm2012
Marketing consulting.

~~~
jackgolding
if you don't mind me asking - assuming all of that is services related: what %
of that is strategy vs execution?

~~~
cm2012
At this point it's half and half, but it's been trending towards strategy over
time.

------
anon_dev_123456
Work on Upwork, Rails+Javascript+Elixir. Fullstack.

