How To Become A Highly Paid Freelance
Programmer
If you can program in any language that is in use today this is for you.
This is a guide to creating a part-time/full-time freelance career that makes you a
lot of money.
This is not an AD for some make money online scheme.
If I had to go back and start all over again, this is what I would do.
I hope you find this useful in creating a freelance career and make more money
for you.
Raja Sekharan
Former Freelance Programmer and Author of
OutTheWindow - Online Outsourcing Blog
I was referred to freelance programming by a friend. I was hesitant to trust
someone in some other part of the world to send me the money they promised for
my work and asked my friend “what if they ran away with my work”. I soon
realized most people online are good and something like that happens very rarely.
Without much ado, lets get started with starting a freelance programming career.
Why Become a Freelance Programmer
1. A freelance career can easily replace a white-collar job. In fact, if you are
efficient enough, you can make more money in a month than you would
with a job in 3-4 months.
2. Its much more satisfying to finish a freelance project than to finish a project
given at your company. Nothing can beat that.
3. You don't have to put up with office politics, a strict management etc. You
can work in your underwear if you want to. A freelance career allows you to
work from wherever and whenever you want. You just got to feel it.
Freelancing Myth
“Hard To Get A Job”
It is actually the other way around. You should have the discipline to be honest
with your clients that you are full of projects. You will reach a point where you are
rejecting 2 or 3 projects each day.
Sharpening your skills
Contribute to Open Source Projects
Read the code and contribute to open source projects written in the language of
your choice to get an idea of coding conventions and a general idea of how things
are done. It will help you to adopt a certain way of thinking while coding on the
projects you will be accepting in the future.
Use code libraries extensively
Find and learn to use libraries extensively. These will save you a lot of time. Since
you will be trading time for money, you want to get done as much as possible in
the minimum possible time. Libraries are great for that. These bad boys can make
a mamoth project to a few days work. Make sure to read the licenses that come
with libraries. Some libraries cannot be used in commercial products. Ask your
client if you are developing a commerical product for them.
How To Price Yourself
This depends on your living expenses, how much time you have on your hands in
a given day, and your skill level. Use this guide to pricing yourself:
http://freelanceswitch.com/money/nine-factors-to-consider-when-determining-
your-price/
Setting Up Shop
Since you are selling your skills online, it is a good idea to get a website. If you
can afford to invest $40, I highly recommend namcheap's basic web hosting pack.
If you are a web developer. Get a decently ferocious monster at midPhase or
namecheap. With regards to web hosting. I recommend namecheap over
midphase for their superior support and add-ons.
You don't even have to get a hosting account if you don't want to. Get an account
at Weebly. Get a domain name. They let you park your own domain name too.
They also come with premade templates, and WYSIWYG editor so you can have a
website running in hours. Having a web presence with your own domain name
makes you look professional.
C'mon can't you invest $9 in your career that's going to make you $5000-$10000
a month?
Before you go out and start hunting for clients. Show a few samples of your past
work on your website. If you program for the desktop show some screen shots
and link to your projects from your portfolio if they are hosted on software
directories.
Marketing Yourself & Getting Clients
Marketing
Aren't both the same? Not necessarily. Your friend may know that you are a
programmer but isn't going to hire you. But would definitely refer someone they
need a program to you. That's marketing.
Give Out Freebies
Create a cool tool and give it away for free on your site. It builds your brand and
shows you are skilled. Make sure you project your brand repeatedly on splash
screens/pages of the application you are giving away. Put a donation button on
the page you are them giving away.
Blog on the topic
If you think you are capable of writing a few lines a week add a blog to your
website and write on whatever it is that you do. It projects you as an authority.
Finding Clients
Network in forums where your clients would hang out
Are you a web developer? Get involved in a web master forum like digitalpoint
and sitepoint forums. People are always looking for programmers. Forums are by
far the best source of clients. This should be your primary target when looking for
clients.
Post at Reverse Bidding Website
The idea behind using these websites is to build contacts not to rely on them
solely for your income. Remember: You are sometimes underselling to get a
project. Do not bid lowest to win a project. Guys who undersell too much have a
high probability of not delivering.
Network with other programmers
Aren't they the competition? Not really. There are just way too many people
looking for skilled programmers. Network with programmers on forums, and open
source project forums etc. Other programmers would send projects your way if
they are full. At least work out such a understanding.
Freelance Programmer Mistakes To Absolutely Avoid Like Your Mother In
Law. Ignoring these may need to freelancing nightmares. Be Warned.
1. Don't accept projects if you don't have time to do them – you are doing a
bad thing to someone by wasting their time and money. Don't accept them
even if you feel the slightest sensation of aversion towards doing the
project.
2. Don't accept projects you have no idea how to do. Like in another language
– you will be learning with someone else's money
3. Charging Too High/Low – With charging high, people would have a higher
expectation of your work, which hopefully you can meet. When charging
low, you aren't going to take the work that seriously. If not that, you will just
work yourself to death.
4. Don't accept too many projects – you may think you want to pull an all-
nighters and finish the projects. But you will be working yourself to death.
It's just self-defeating. Your productivity will fall, you will introduce new bugs
while removing old ones, and keep running in circles. Not to mention the
effects it will have on your health and social life.
5. Don't be cold, but don't be too warm either – Don't be a stone cold agency.
Don't charge just to put your hand on the mouse. If a client needs
something that needs just a few minutes of work don't charge for it. Make
suggestions to improve the app whenever possible. Suggest possibilities
whenever appropriate. Sell your expertise not just your hands and brain. At
the same time, if you are too warm and go “hey man, sup?” on your clients.
It will look unprofessional. Also, too many freebies and they will take you for
granted and expect you to do certain things for free.
6. Don't get outdated –Keep up with the trends. Follow blogs, get involved in
forums, and see what's new. Learn some new platforms of development. For
example – PHP programmers are plenty but using php to develop for the
Wordpress CMS – there's a hungry market to serve.
7. Don't rely on just one client – That one client can drop you like a rock any
time and can pretty much control when you sleep and wake up.
Very Important! - Optimize The Way You Work
Make sure you put some effort into optimizing your work. Improve your coding
style. Create your own libraries. Invest in the proper tools however expensive they
may be.
Tips To Advance Your Career And Make More Money
1. Go through and follow www.freelanceswitch.com
Read their archives. Read as much as you can. That's the best site on
freelancing there is. I wish it existed just a couple of years ago when I was
starting out.
2. Work to increase income – If at some point you need to hire programmers
yourself to work under you, do it. The highly paid hairstylists do.
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3. Invest in tools to help you - As it stands today – Feb 11 2008 - There are so
many free tools to use that simply cost mind numbing about of money just a
few years ago. Use them wisely. Do not be afraid of investing in your
business. Just make sure you are getting a return out of every investment
you make, be it time, money, productivity, or convenience. Get yourself a
comfy chair, two wide screen monitors, air conditioning, ipod, etc.
4. Invest in professional tools – Domain names, business cards, a good web
design.
5. MOST IMPORTANT: Learn some basic project management. This stuff will
help you advance your freelance career in a big way.
6. Become a consultant at various sites - Sell your expertise on various
websites such as www.subhub.com, www.wengo.com, on skype instant
messenger's business directory and other knowledge sharing websites.
7. There are ways to make using your programming skills by working once and
getting paid for years on end. Do you notice that some projects have the
same or similar specifications? Create a generic version of that application
and make it your product and market it.
Resources That Run Your Business And Save You $1000s of dollars and a lot of
time:
1. oDesk – Locate freelance clients and manage projects in one place
http://www.odesk.com/w/
2. Paypal - Payment Processor – Get a personal account not a business one.
http://www.paypal.com
3. Toggl - Track The Hours You Work
http://www.toggl.com/
4. Freshbooks – Another time tracking and billing service
http://www.freshbooks.com/
About Raja Sekharan
I'm a student at Vellore Institute of Technology in Vellore,India. I am doing by final
year in Bachelor of Technology in Computer Science. I've been a freelance
programmer for over 3 years. Have been doing it since 2004 in freshman year in
college. I recently quit freelancing to start an online coaching business.
I recently started a blog on small business online outsourcing at:
http://www.maverickinc.org/outthewindow/
