When Do I Know I'm Good Enough To Start Freelancing Web Development?
LoungeMedia
Junior Member
- Apr 25, 2020
- 142
- 40
start your freelancing journey, and you will learn and earn together.
greydingo
Junior Member
- Dec 31, 2014
- 152
- 73
My tips that come from firsthand experience as a freelancer:
- You'll never feel ready. But you do need to be at a level to where you are confident that you can learn on the job as you go.
- If you know you'll have to learn something as you go in order to complete the project, I wouldn't mention this to the client, unless you already have a good relationship with them and a proven track record. There's no reason to tell them this.
- When you give them a timeline of when the project will be complete, give yourself some wiggle room. It can be tempting to tell them you'll have the job done as soon as possible. And it may barely be realistic. But the reality is, most things take longer than you think they will. You will inevitably run into things that you didn't plan for.
- It's much better to tell them something will take 2 weeks, and finish it in 1.
- A portfolio is important. But not to the extent that some people make it out to be. You don't need to have a million projects done, but you do need to have done something relevant to the job description. When I message people about a job, I send them usually only a single example of something similar to what they want made, and I tell them let me know if you want to discuss your project further.
This is the BEST way to get hired on the spot. Find a job posting where someone wants something similar to something you've made in the past. Show it to them. And they won't care about anything else.
They already know that you can do the job.
- When first starting out, you probably won't be charging a huge amount per hour. As you gain experience, up your price. Even to existing clients. Let them know that you really like working with them
but you are raising your rates, and you will understand if they want to hire someone else. No hard feelings. 90% chance they'll keep you. Don't let them think you need them. They need to think they need you. And they do.
- Don't let people take advantage of you. Some people will try to suck you dry, and take you for all you're worth. These are bad clients. Find new ones and ditch those that give you trouble.
- Set boundaries. This goes in with the above point. Once you've got the job offer almost in the bag, It's best to be up front about how you expect your relationship to work. If you don't want to work on the weekends, tell them that you don't work on the weekends. As long as there is an understanding up front, there won't be a problem in the future.
I'm sure I have some more tips, but those are the ones I can think of off the top of my head.
- You'll never feel ready. But you do need to be at a level to where you are confident that you can learn on the job as you go.
- If you know you'll have to learn something as you go in order to complete the project, I wouldn't mention this to the client, unless you already have a good relationship with them and a proven track record. There's no reason to tell them this.
- When you give them a timeline of when the project will be complete, give yourself some wiggle room. It can be tempting to tell them you'll have the job done as soon as possible. And it may barely be realistic. But the reality is, most things take longer than you think they will. You will inevitably run into things that you didn't plan for.
- It's much better to tell them something will take 2 weeks, and finish it in 1.
- A portfolio is important. But not to the extent that some people make it out to be. You don't need to have a million projects done, but you do need to have done something relevant to the job description. When I message people about a job, I send them usually only a single example of something similar to what they want made, and I tell them let me know if you want to discuss your project further.
This is the BEST way to get hired on the spot. Find a job posting where someone wants something similar to something you've made in the past. Show it to them. And they won't care about anything else.
They already know that you can do the job.
- When first starting out, you probably won't be charging a huge amount per hour. As you gain experience, up your price. Even to existing clients. Let them know that you really like working with them
but you are raising your rates, and you will understand if they want to hire someone else. No hard feelings. 90% chance they'll keep you. Don't let them think you need them. They need to think they need you. And they do.
- Don't let people take advantage of you. Some people will try to suck you dry, and take you for all you're worth. These are bad clients. Find new ones and ditch those that give you trouble.
- Set boundaries. This goes in with the above point. Once you've got the job offer almost in the bag, It's best to be up front about how you expect your relationship to work. If you don't want to work on the weekends, tell them that you don't work on the weekends. As long as there is an understanding up front, there won't be a problem in the future.
I'm sure I have some more tips, but those are the ones I can think of off the top of my head.
Infinity Arts
Junior Member
- Mar 25, 2020
- 100
- 26
You may start from doing a couple review products. From there you'll know where you stand.
newbiebewbie
Junior Member
- Aug 22, 2017
- 112
- 38
I am doing freelancing programming for a while(aprox 6+ months) too (on other platforms), for a very long time i felt 'i wasn't good enough'.. this was untill i felt confident in my skills. But from the request i've received so far there was nothing i couldn't do.
It does help to build a portofolio, to try several stuff regarding it's about network, safety, performance or whatever. Also make sure to be transparant and ask through when you get a potential customer. To understand what the user wants, for which reasons and which common issues/bugs that possibly can come with by missing out certain details on customers request (unless it's intended).
But i must say i regret i didn't started to do it 2-3 years earlier. However in the end it's a another possible income source or chances to take buffers occasionally, or build your own product
.
It does help to build a portofolio, to try several stuff regarding it's about network, safety, performance or whatever. Also make sure to be transparant and ask through when you get a potential customer. To understand what the user wants, for which reasons and which common issues/bugs that possibly can come with by missing out certain details on customers request (unless it's intended).
But i must say i regret i didn't started to do it 2-3 years earlier. However in the end it's a another possible income source or chances to take buffers occasionally, or build your own product
.
DetectiveKenta
Junior Member
- Nov 13, 2018
- 155
- 200
You are never fully ready. Other's have said that you need a portfolio, but the truth is that you don't. What you need is to learn to sell yourself.
I don't own a portfolio and my Github account has no activity. Right now, I have 3 clients. I charge them $65 / hr, $40/ hr, and last one $35 / hr. Sometimes I hire devs on Upwork and then charge my clients double or triple and keep the difference for myself.
Many technical people are so bothered by their portfolio and lack of education on paper they don't realize that many people who will hire you don't understand the nuances of a nice pull request, code review, modularity, etc...
My main source of clients Craigslist. Why? Because competition is fairly low there because freelancers don't trust Craigslist, don't believe it, and most importantly there are a lot of off-shore dev spam on there. If you can speak English fluently, you'll strike gold.
In the last couple of years alone, I pulled over $200,000 on Craigslist. This includes salary, side-hustles, etc...
You have to invest into building relationship with people. Technical stuff is the easy part.
I don't own a portfolio and my Github account has no activity. Right now, I have 3 clients. I charge them $65 / hr, $40/ hr, and last one $35 / hr. Sometimes I hire devs on Upwork and then charge my clients double or triple and keep the difference for myself.
Many technical people are so bothered by their portfolio and lack of education on paper they don't realize that many people who will hire you don't understand the nuances of a nice pull request, code review, modularity, etc...
My main source of clients Craigslist. Why? Because competition is fairly low there because freelancers don't trust Craigslist, don't believe it, and most importantly there are a lot of off-shore dev spam on there. If you can speak English fluently, you'll strike gold.
In the last couple of years alone, I pulled over $200,000 on Craigslist. This includes salary, side-hustles, etc...
You have to invest into building relationship with people. Technical stuff is the easy part.
shelly Shelly
Registered Member
- Apr 21, 2020
- 86
- 43
Start working on your portfolio today. Keep working on it until it becomes a kickass portfolio. You can learn further while working on your developments and clients developments.
Elie101
Junior Member
- May 15, 2019
- 148
- 69
After all this advice, have you started freelancing yet OP?
Yes, but not in programming
I'm doing content writing currently and have decided to build a project and put it online first that way if freelancing doesn't work I can apply for full-time jobs, currently working on the project.
greydingo
Junior Member
- Dec 31, 2014
- 152
- 73
Yes, but not in programming
Hey that's awesome. Glad to hear it!