

Ask HN:i need Money and i need it fast - umen

Hello HN readers 
Sorry for my bad English it’s not my native language.
Well im in first time strange situation. im in big debt in the bank..  
I have family to feed and a mortgage to pay me and my wife are hard workers and we work all our life's still do .
So I ask straight to the point: 
Im software engineer with more then 12 years experience in the enterprise software bossiness I never did any thing on my own im sure I can use my development skills . 
im reading on the net that there is possibility to earn some money (not scam kind of thing  ... ) but real things which I have no idea what they are … 
Maybe creating niche little software and try to sell it ..  im confuse and in a big anxiety from the situation.
Can someone please give me direction direction? 
Thanks
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aymeric
If you live in a country considered cheaper than most western countries, you
could try to do some freelance work online. You could be better paid than in a
job in your country?

I don't think creating a new software is a viable solution when you are in
need of money.

~~~
umen
im not from east Europe or India or china if this is what you mean .. i looked
in all the freelance sites i can't bit the prices the people from these
country propose ..

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gspyrou
You could try freelancing as a extra income source ( <http://www.odesk.com/>
or <http://www.elance.com/>)

~~~
umen
see my reply , or maybe i wrong and people do have positive experience with
oDesk and such , i never used it only browsed the sites.

~~~
scottyallen
It's absolutely possible to make a decent living freelancing on job sites,
even if you live somewhere with a high cost of living. I put myself through
college (in Colorado) freelancing on Rent-a-Coder(now vWorker) and
Scriptlance, doing web development and system administration. I started at
$25/hr, and worked up to $75/hr by the time I called it quits (got a job at
Google).

The key to doing well on these sites is to spend the time to prove to
potential clients why you're worth paying a higher rate. The best way I found
to do this was to ask lots of questions about what people wanted, describe in
detail how I'd go about solving their problem, and do my best to show that I
really cared about building them what they needed, not just what they thought
they needed. I did all this before I would quote them a price.

It's also key to be choosy about what jobs you bid on - you'll need to spend
at least an hour per job you bid on, so you'll want to make sure to choose
ones that are going to be worth your time.

Lastly, view jobs that you get through these sites as interviews. I found that
once I'd done a project or two with people through the site, we usually were
able to work out an arrangement where they just paid me directly by the hour
for further work. The money I made outside of the sites with established
clients was by far the majority of the money I made.

~~~
umen
Thanks , This is very helpful tip

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mogston
You could also try 99designs (<http://www.99designs.com>).

If you can't design yourself, perhaps team up with someone that can.

Good luck.

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rubinelli
You can freelance locally. A thousand business cards and a laptop, and you're
in business. Getting customers is the hard part, so don't be shy and ask
around.

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minalecs
get a second job.. i know its hard.. but sometimes you have to suck it up, and
even mcdonalds, or some other part time job can help

~~~
umen
i must say this is option i consider , but im sure as we developers can use
our skills to generate more revenue then working in MacDonald ,but again i
don't disqualify any thing and im open minded

~~~
amk
Working in MacDonalds can be a good experience. You learn how to interact with
people. And maybe you could get a chance to improve your English skills there.

Remember, there is dignity in every form of work, and you can learn something
almost everywhere.

