4 ms·

If you charge more, people don't bother you with nearly as much low-ROI scut work, which means you (assuming you can deliver) find yourself focusing on more int

• davidw 11y ago
  Well, that, or you can't find work at all.
  • chc 11y ago
    Yes, there's an Underpants Gnomes quality to this sort of career advice. It's not bad, but there's a giant "?" in the middle that nobody can really help you with, which seems to involve accumulating a huge base of clients beating down your door.
    • sarciszewski 11y ago
      Personal and business relationships vary from person to person. I guess the assumption is that, if you are skilled enough at engineering and marketing, you will find yourself getting clients and make money hand over fist. Unfortunately for me, I'm purely a technology guy, not a people person.
      • roel_v 11y ago
        "Unfortunately for me, I'm purely a technology guy, not a people person." This is bullshit. People can change. You can change yourself. 'I only do tech' is an excuse to not have to go outside your comfort zone. Of course it's a big change. Of course it's scary. Of course you don't know exactly how to get from A to B. But just giving up with a 'this is how I was born' is defeatism.
        • deleted 11y ago
          [deleted]
    • tptacek 11y ago
      Serious question: Patrick was about as well known on the Business of Software message boards as you are on HN when his consulting career started. Those boards no longer exist and were always smaller than HN. Prior to consulting he held what is probably the lowest- status job in software development. What do you think the secret ???'s were for him?
      • chc 11y ago
        Well, if I knew what went there, it wouldn't be a question mark. My best guess is "luck," though I feel like that's kind of a facile answer. I don't have a better one, at any rate. What do you think it is?
        • tptacek 11y ago
          The most important two secrets to sales: know how to qualify a deal, and ask for the sale.
          • chc 11y ago
            That's good advice, but the problem is that the ??? comes at the point where your only sources of prospects are morally equivalent to oDesk. No matter how good you are at qualifying and closing deals, it does no good if deals.filter(:is_qualified?) == []. Based on Patrick's account, it sounds like good consulting work mostly just came to him — he commented late in his consulting career how strange it was having to actually go out and hit people up for work lately. You do need to close the deal when you find a good prospect, but we're still jumping over the ???, which is where you get that steady stream of good prospects in the first place. That's why my best guess is "luck" — because I've never heard anyone say anything about what they did beyond, "Eh, I found good clients and became a successful consultant" or "I did not find good clients and struggled in my consulting career."
        • imron 11y ago
          Some people would argue that for the most part you make your own luck.
    • roel_v 11y ago
      Actually, that '??' part is only '??' for engineers, who generally don't know how to drum up work. There is a process to getting business, it's called 'sales'. Take a reputable sales class (3 or 5 days or so). It'll set you back $5k-$10k, and it'll push you way outside your comfort zone, but it works. Getting business isn't that hard: first, you identify your customers. Then you think of a way how to find those people/organizations. Then you contact them, and set up appointments. Lastly, you convince them (during the meeting) to buy your product (where 'product' can be software you've already written, software you'll write or man hours you'll spend working for them). The above of course skips over many details. But the point is - selling stuff is not 'luck' or 'magic'. There is a process, although of course it has to be tweaked every time. All you have to do is learn it.