bdunn

15 ms·

91.
by bdunn 13y ago
Gotcha. I misread. He misspoke. And yes, life is still good :-)
92.
by bdunn 13y ago
It's all about risk. It's risky for a business to hire someone to "write code", which is how the average freelancer positions themselves. The act of writing code doesn't necessarily translate to the hiring business
93.
by bdunn 13y ago
Best of luck. I think you'll find that becoming known for creative applications of code (e.g. Python) against certain niches will far outweigh trying to become a "Python thought leader." Since you mentioned an interest in Int
94.
by bdunn 13y ago
As he said, he's selling a fixed bid project that is scheduled for a week. The client he's looking to work with is looking for results, not how long he spends sitting in front of an IDE.
95.
by bdunn 13y ago
This is pretty much the exact path I took. It becomes really interesting when it finally dawns on you that there's very little difference between building and selling a 3 to 4 figure / mo SaaS and offering a value-oriented consu
96.
by bdunn 13y ago
Not sure when you last tried Planscope, but you can archive projects now (and resurrect them whenever you'd like) :-)
97.
by bdunn 13y ago
(Guy behind Planscope here.) I've actually been working on what I think are going to be some nice changes that will make juggling multiple projects a LOT easier. My development background had me working on one big project at a time, bu
98.
by bdunn 13y ago
Looks nice. Has anyone tried tailoring one of these services to appeal to client <-> developer relationships? e.g. selling "your clients can easily edit the emails your app sends out without bugging you / requiring a redeplo
99.
by bdunn 13y ago
You're still in charge of scheduling when you'll actually get the work done. The benefit for the client is that they don't need to review and sign a brand new Statement of Work whenever they want to change a button's c
100.
by bdunn 13y ago
Likewise. It's one of the best posts I've read on growing an audience.
101.
by bdunn 13y ago
I think you're assuming that Wordpress types aren't worth what a Rubyist might be. I know a quite a few consultants who are ridiculously smart at business and realize that WP and other off-the-shelf solutions can solve the majorit
102.
by bdunn 13y ago
You could go REALLY far just by leveling up your copywriting and business/sales skills, and applying them to $7 WordPress themes you buy off Themeforest. The majority of web designers/developers are so focused on aesthetics, desig
103.
by bdunn 13y ago
(I loved phrasing this as "You could certainly have your engineering team do this, if you want to write a $10,000 payroll check with the memo 'Reading free information on the Internet'.") This is probably one of the be
104.
by bdunn 13y ago
That's the one issue I had too. I still have early adopter customers of mine who pay me $6 a month (minimum now is 4x that), and I'd never dare to change their original pricing.
105.
by bdunn 13y ago
Congrats guys! I've been a huge fan of Intercom and the team behind it since, well, back before they started charging. Most products are going to need some sort of custom dashboard, will also eventually need a way to do in-app feature
106.
by bdunn 13y ago
FYI your newsletter has the same name as mine: http://freelancersweekly.com/
107.
by bdunn 13y ago
What really impresses me most about what Robert's done is that he's realized that by selling the outcome that most clients want to hear (higher conversion rates, more leads) instead of what designers tend to emphasize (clean design, HTML5 c
108.
by bdunn 13y ago
So you determine value based on mediums (PDFs) instead of the outcome (learning how to self publish)? I don't think anyone who reads Nathan's book and ends up doing something because of it is going to bemoan the format they read it on.
109.
by bdunn 13y ago
There are events like MicroConf and BaconBizConf, and information is shared throughout the year via blog posts, tweets, podcasts, etc., but there's not anything directly comparable to HN. The Micropreneur Academy forum is probably the close
110.
by bdunn 13y ago
Another option would be to simply ask someone when canceling why they're canceling. It's not as conversational as a phone call, but you can get juicy bits of info like... "Out of business. Too little, too late..." "Working on-site with corp
111.
by bdunn 13y ago
Retainer agreements are, by far, the easiest and most straightforward way for the average freelancer to create recurring revenue. Check out my other comment on this thread with the list of bullets for a blueprint.
112.
by bdunn 13y ago
Actually, Paul (lifeisstillgood) is talking about the Consultancy Masterclass community group, a private, ~80 person group. (More info for the curious: http://doubleyourfreelancingrate.com/build-a-consultancy )
113.
by bdunn 13y ago
Add to that: * I'll be available to apply any security patches as they become available without the need to draft a Statement of Work. * I'll make sure backups are happening as they should. * [If your project is public facing] I'll run your
114.
by bdunn 13y ago
I don't sell to individuals (consumers) :-) While a freelancer/consultant is theoretically one person, they're wearing their business owner hat when buying my products. This is why they'll pay a fair amount of money to get more clients, rai
115.
by bdunn 13y ago
Notice I'm not recommending building a SaaS or any sort of hosted software product that requires 24/7 support. A lot of consultants could go beyond just selling their time and consider selling training workshops, short ebooks or video serie
116.
by bdunn 13y ago
Happy to answer any questions. I've gone from freelancing -> running a consultancy -> 100% living off products, this last jump having been made a little over a year ago. Interesting sidenote: I don't think I would have thought to wr
117.
by bdunn 13y ago
Good point! Thanks. Serves me right for writing them in a bar in the center of a Vegas casino :-)
118.
by bdunn 13y ago
Remember back in grade school when our teachers would require that we write 20 page reports double-spaced? We all knew that was bullshit, right? Same applies for books. As long as the amount of value derived from the information outweighs t
119.
by bdunn 13y ago
Great post. I recently rewrote Planscope's welcome email (original here: http://copy-cat.co/blog/a-followup-email-that-actually-works... ), and this time around really emphasized point #9 of yours: providing onboarding tips. If you don't h
120.
by bdunn 13y ago
After talking with a bunch of people at MicroConf last week, I noticed that a lot of consultants were having a hard time bridging the gap between selling their time and selling products. Happy to answer any questions.

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