My First 3 Months as a Freelance Web Developer
My first 3 months as a freelancer is going pretty well.
I’ve lost my sleep schedule I end going to bed at 2/3 every night and get up at 12 which to some sounds like the best time but really it isn’t.
A lot of the clients I work with are abroad like the US or parts of France or Germany so I have adapt to a timezone that suits everyone, it’s what is expected when working freelance.
The money isn’t great I must admit but it’s the first couple of months so it’s not gonna be brilliant be prepared to live close to the breadline and stash some savings away just in case you reach that point and need some cash for bills and stuff.
Eventually you’ll get there you’ll have to go 110% with some clients and do big jobs for next to nothing to earn some rep.
There are several freelance sites around that you can sign up to and get working, but with most the sites you do have to build up a profile and get some feedback before anyone notices you.
Freelance sites:
I’ve found out that by bidding low on some proposals will get you the work, people don’t tend to go for the most expensive. People are cheap, be aware people will expect something for nothing .
People will end up adding additional amends to the original proposal and you can either tell them it’s gonna cost more or you just do it, my advice is when starting out just do the extra job if it is a massive job then yes charge them but if it’s only a small job then just get on with it.
There can be a language barrier sometimes when it comes to these sites, I will admit that a lot of the community on freelance sites does come from the other side of the world, don’t get me wrong you can find brilliant freelancers who do excellent work from India, Packistan etc, but sometimes you will have a language barrier when discussing projects and it can be difficult to get across what you want.
I have dealt with several clients who had their work built abroad as it cost a fraction but after looking at some of the sites created, some are excellent, but some are just disappointing, poorly built and your surprised how they are even running in the first place. Your last resort is to start a fresh or try and repair what’s left but if there has been a disagreement between the client and the old developer then you’ve got no chance of getting any info on the theme if you needed it, as they dont exactly come with documentation.
My point is that you should go for someone that you feel confident with and you can communicate clearly with it may mean a little extra but its worth it to have your project completed on time and to what you asked for.
It is fun at the end of the day don’t get me wrong, I’ve been wanting to do freelance or run my own business for sometime now and I’m doing it, it’s going well I have some goals I want to achieve and I’m aiming for them.