

Tools of the Trade: What Tools I Use for iOS Consulting - brandontreb
http://brandontreb.com/tools-of-the-trade-what-tools-i-use-for-ios-consulting/

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kvnn
As a web app contractor / sometimes consultant, I'll also recommend framework-
specific job boards ([1] & [2] for example).

[1] <http://www.djangohire.com/a/jbb/find-jobs> [2] <http://djangogigs.com/>

I'll second Freshbooks. Awesome for invoicing, receiving invoices and now
importing expenses from your cards & accounts. It pretty much handles
everything you need for collections, receivables and taxes.

I'll second LinkedIn as well. Keeping a network of people you've worked with
and paying for the business account allows you to find (your network * 3) of
potential sources to introduce yourself to. Ihaven't tried the jobs feature -
will do now that you've recommended it.

Recruiters work too. They are expensive to your bottom line but mitigate risk.
They typically have 6 month waiting periods after you've finished a contract
before you can work with the client directly - and I recommend you wait
patiently then let the client know you are now independent.

I'll finish with this: know who you are targeting. LinkedIn has an industry
and location search - your acquisition strategy should too.

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diemer
Cashboard (<http://cashboardapp.com>) is also a fantastic invoicing tool, and
their free plan gives you some different options from what Freshbooks gives
you.

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rbreve
He doesn't mention one if the most important things, time tracking, I use
harvestapp there is also toggl, both are great to keep a log of the time you
spend on a project, with reports and invoicing.

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brandontreb
Ahh, perhaps that wasn't obvious. I do all of my time tracking inside of
Freshbooks. That way there is no discrepancy when I bill the clients.

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cgrainger
Really useful. Not sure how I've missed CocoaPods or Freshbooks but I'm off to
check them out. Thanks

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weeber
Linkedin seems to be very interesting! Other feedbacks about linkedin?

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ScottWhigham
I don't understand why you would make posts like this, OP. I really don't.

Your target market for this post: people who are either iOS consultants or
want to become iOS consultants

Your competition in the workplace: people who are either iOS consultants or
want to become iOS consultants

Telling people where you find jobs and how you find jobs is just mind-boggling
to me. The number one way to lower your ROI for said gigs is to increase your
competition.

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brandontreb
Hey Scott,

I totally understand your perspective. However, this is Hacker News. It's all
about the community and helping other hackers out. To be honest, there is such
a huge sea of work out there, I would be happy if others would take some of it
on.

I have to reject a few contracts a week due to the volume that seems to be
coming in. Also, you might not have guessed it, but posts like this help bring
me more work than anything else.

I would definitely worry about what you are saying if mobile development was a
race to the bottom and only about getting the cheapest price. Then I would be
screwed. However, if you hone your skills and are at the top of your game, you
should never have issues competing for contracts.

Cheers!

~~~
ScottWhigham
_To be honest, there is such a huge sea of work out there, I would be happy if
others would take some of it on... However, if you hone your skills and are at
the top of your game, you should never have issues competing for contracts._

Life is long, Brandon. What's "hot" today might not be so hot tomorrow.
Teaching an army of followers to do things the same way you do is just a race
to the bottom (of the hourly/project rate variety certainly). The more you
train, the faster you will find it harder to find work. The faster you train
them, the sooner it is that someone else's rates will be played against yours
in a bidding war. It's not rocket science we're talking about here; there is
no debate about whether this will or won't happen. I think market economics
are such that, if you/others cause the bottom end to drop (in price due to
more competition), that the top end will drop correspondingly.

I always chuckle a bit about this and think, "Is this the sort of thing Sun
Tzu advocated in The Art of War?" I can imagine a five-star general posting
his "Here's our strategy in detail" on a public forum haha.

Jacques Matthiej has my favorite post on this topic:
[http://jacquesmattheij.com/So+you+are+making+good+money+now+...](http://jacquesmattheij.com/So+you+are+making+good+money+now+STFU)

Here's a tip: if you ever want to get downvoted, post that link. All the
copycats at HN hate it when someone posts it. They want everyone telling them
what/how to "be successful" rather than them having to actually work at it.

