There's certainly no need to panic. The article doesn't address that apart from mindless hysteria there are some very real issues with GDPR. It doesn't have to of course because as the title suggests it's more about dispelling panic than about giving concrete advice.
However, many real-life problems seemingly haven't even been considered by legislative bodies. In GDPR support forums questions like these have been routinely asked in recent months and there isn't always a clear, dependable answer:
- How will I be able to operate my small company website in the future in a legally compliant manner? Some companies even consider shutting down their websites completely and - of all things - only using a Facebook page in the future. Hence, ironically we might very will see GDPR actually benefitting companies like Facebook at the detriment of small companies that consequently won't have complete ownership of their content anymore.
- How exactly does a privacy policy have to be worded so I don't get sued on day 1?
- In which way will I still be able to store address data for contacting my existing customers?
- Will I still be able to use anti-spam and security plugins for my website? These tools might store users' IP addresses, which in some jurisdictions are considered personal data.
- Can I still load resources like Google Fonts from CDNs or do I now have to host those myself?
It most definitely helps with being seen as a professional and as a business rather than an anonymous set of TLAs. I refer potential clients to the testimonials on my website and to blog posts relevant to the clients' problems.
The testimonials establish trust that I can deliver on my promise and indeed have done so for other clients in the past.
The blog posts give potential clients an idea of my expertise and perhaps can already help them with a problem they're having (like choosing a testing approach for their software, for example). Probably the most important aspect I learned about sales conversations is that those shouldn't be actually about selling but about trying to understand where the client is coming from, what his or her problems are and about trying to provide possible solutions right from the very start. The resources I provide on my website help me a lot with this.
In terms of getting new leads it's not like my website gets a whole lot of organic traffic from search engines. That does happen from time to time but by itself it wouldn't be enough for having a sustainable business.
What routinely happens though is that potential clients google my name and find my website as the first search result. Again, this helps with establishing a professional relationship and informing the client about what I can bring to the table.
I write regular blog posts (one per week at least) on subjects relevant or related to my business and post excerpts and teasers on social media and business networks like LinkedIn and XING. This helps a lot with getting new leads from my extended network (again, networking is key).
I'd suggest becoming an industry or business subject-matter expert instead, for example you could specialise in
- solving problems with software in the healthcare industry
- digitising procurement processes
- designing and running large-scale systems
From a business perspective I'd advise against becoming a technical expert. Not only is very specific technical expertise like knowing a certain framework particularly well quite short-lived but you'd also be further away from where the more important decisions are made and the most money is spent.
Businesses (those that don't sell software themselves, that is) don't care about frameworks and programming languages they care about the problems you can solve for them. I think it was Patrick MacKenzie who advocated taking end-to-end responsibility for solutions you provide to customers instead of merely creating a bunch of computer code for them.
I don't know the situation in Mexico at all so please take my humble opinion with a pinch of salt. About 3 years ago I was asked a similar question so I wrote a blog post about it:
I think most of that still applies - no matter if you're in Mexico or the EU (as in my case).
From my additional 3 years of experience since then I can't emphasise enough that networking is absolutely key!
Talk to a lot of potential customers and peers (fellow developers, particularly those who already run their own consulting business). Go to meetups and industry events. Follow up with potential clients on a regular basis.
You might want to work with recruiters as well if you have to but having direct client connections in my opinion is the only long term way to run a sustainable consulting business.
I'd advise against using freelancing sites for the reasons you mentioned. It's usually a race to the bottom in terms of pricing because you're literally competing with the whole world.
However, many real-life problems seemingly haven't even been considered by legislative bodies. In GDPR support forums questions like these have been routinely asked in recent months and there isn't always a clear, dependable answer:
- How will I be able to operate my small company website in the future in a legally compliant manner? Some companies even consider shutting down their websites completely and - of all things - only using a Facebook page in the future. Hence, ironically we might very will see GDPR actually benefitting companies like Facebook at the detriment of small companies that consequently won't have complete ownership of their content anymore.
- How exactly does a privacy policy have to be worded so I don't get sued on day 1?
- In which way will I still be able to store address data for contacting my existing customers?
- Will I still be able to use anti-spam and security plugins for my website? These tools might store users' IP addresses, which in some jurisdictions are considered personal data.
- Can I still load resources like Google Fonts from CDNs or do I now have to host those myself?