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1. Expectations vs reality What do freelance developers actually make in the US? Because all this advice says "raise your rates" and that recent HN post saying

1. Expectations vs reality What do freelance developers actually make in the US? Because all this advice says "raise your rates" and that recent HN post saying freelance developers make $150/hr on average but no one wants to pay that. I'm getting rejected left and right. I have a portfolio, I have great references, 10 years of experience, and experience in the most popular languages and frameworks. So am I missing something? 2. Where are the clients? As a consequence of 1, I'm not overwhelmed with work like everyone says I should be. So yeah I'm getting leads, but everyone balks at price, and I'm less than $150/hr. 3. No but seriously...I need clients.

scarface74 9y ago
I live in a major metropolitan area where the salary for a senior developer/architect is between $125K - $145K - not a bad salary, the cost of living isn't that high. I haven't been able to find rates above $90 an hour as a contractor. But the only way I could be guaranteed enough hours to make it work would be going through an agency, after they take their cut, it's usually $70-$80 as a W2 contractor (meaning they pay the employer's side of Medicare, Social Security). When I can make $140K as a employee, with paid vacation and paid time off and much cheaper health benefits (hypothetically - I'm covered under my wife), it's not worth freelancing.
pryelluw 9y ago
Tell me about your marketing.
- acconrad 9y ago
  I post on hackernews every month in the hiring posts. I reach out every day to at least 2 of my personal contacts informing them of my business and a 5% referral fee if they know anyone needing my services. I point all of this to my personal (https://conradadam.com https://conradadam.com) and consulting (https://anonconsulting.com https://anonconsulting.com) portfolios. I have a free crash course giveaway on my consulting site to capture leads and interest and offer a variety of services, not just custom work. One thing I know I have to do is get my blog going. Part of me scrambling is that I had a contract slated to end in October but it is ending this month instead. I assumed I'd have 6 months to build up a blog and a presence online but I'm basically given no time to make that happen.
goatherders 9y ago
I run a business that helps digital agencies and web pros get more leads through highly targeted email campaigns. Email is in my profile if you are curious how it works. www.rncld.com
Sukotto 9y ago
I am not a freelancer so I'm not speaking from experience. So... grain of salt eh? Have you tried charging per week or per project instead of per hour? Maybe clients will respond better to "My rate is 78hundred a week" than they do to "My rate is $150 per hour"? Or anchoring the cost against the value of the project? "Once this project is complete, how much extra revenue do you expect it will bring to your company?". Keeping focus on the value, makes the cost look low in comparison. And if it's not going to bring them very much value, then maybe not a good fit for your skillset. I also wonder if you have tried getting contracts where the client pre-pays for a certain amount of "maintenance/minor fixes" hours from you at the conclusion of a successful project. (Where the hours are use-it-or-lose-it during the time period. Bonus points for making that a rolling contract) I presume you are already mining clients for referrals. One trick I heard on a podcast (years ago so I don't remember which one. Maybe Pat Flynn or Kalzumeus?) was to ask for the referral at the time the client agrees to the project. (Which kind of blew my mind but made sense in the context of the person being happy/excited that about the project so they are more willing). Maybe worth trying?
- acconrad 9y ago
  I use all of these - I charge by value for contained projects and per week/month when they are longer, less defined projects with incomplete scope. I ask for 50% up front and 50% on completion, and any maintenance is considered retainer which has a fixed monthly cost if they so desire. I do mine for referrals and am still trying to tap through my networks

scarface74 9y ago

I live in a major metropolitan area where the salary for a senior developer/architect is between $125K - $145K - not a bad salary, the cost of living isn't that high. I haven't been able to find rates above $90 an hour as a contractor. But the only way I could be guaranteed enough hours to make it work would be going through an agency, after they take their cut, it's usually $70-$80 as a W2 contractor (meaning they pay the employer's side of Medicare, Social Security). When I can make $140K as a employee, with paid vacation and paid time off and much cheaper health benefits (hypothetically - I'm covered under my wife), it's not worth freelancing.

pryelluw 9y ago

Tell me about your marketing.

acconrad 9y ago
I post on hackernews every month in the hiring posts. I reach out every day to at least 2 of my personal contacts informing them of my business and a 5% referral fee if they know anyone needing my services. I point all of this to my personal (https://conradadam.com https://conradadam.com) and consulting (https://anonconsulting.com https://anonconsulting.com) portfolios. I have a free crash course giveaway on my consulting site to capture leads and interest and offer a variety of services, not just custom work. One thing I know I have to do is get my blog going. Part of me scrambling is that I had a contract slated to end in October but it is ending this month instead. I assumed I'd have 6 months to build up a blog and a presence online but I'm basically given no time to make that happen.

goatherders 9y ago

I run a business that helps digital agencies and web pros get more leads through highly targeted email campaigns. Email is in my profile if you are curious how it works. www.rncld.com

Sukotto 9y ago

I am not a freelancer so I'm not speaking from experience. So... grain of salt eh? Have you tried charging per week or per project instead of per hour? Maybe clients will respond better to "My rate is 78hundred a week" than they do to "My rate is $150 per hour"? Or anchoring the cost against the value of the project? "Once this project is complete, how much extra revenue do you expect it will bring to your company?". Keeping focus on the value, makes the cost look low in comparison. And if it's not going to bring them very much value, then maybe not a good fit for your skillset. I also wonder if you have tried getting contracts where the client pre-pays for a certain amount of "maintenance/minor fixes" hours from you at the conclusion of a successful project. (Where the hours are use-it-or-lose-it during the time period. Bonus points for making that a rolling contract) I presume you are already mining clients for referrals. One trick I heard on a podcast (years ago so I don't remember which one. Maybe Pat Flynn or Kalzumeus?) was to ask for the referral at the time the client agrees to the project. (Which kind of blew my mind but made sense in the context of the person being happy/excited that about the project so they are more willing). Maybe worth trying?

acconrad 9y ago
I use all of these - I charge by value for contained projects and per week/month when they are longer, less defined projects with incomplete scope. I ask for 50% up front and 50% on completion, and any maintenance is considered retainer which has a fixed monthly cost if they so desire. I do mine for referrals and am still trying to tap through my networks