hello all
i experiment with freelancing as c++/java developer for 2 years mainly along with my day job
in well known freelance marketplace site.
i probably dont need to tell you folks how very hard it is to get good quality work there and get the pay that your work is worth.
i call it "red light district of freelances" . even though i managed to do very well there and got very high reputation for my work manly to learn how is it to be freelance.
but the pay is low .and i found out that employers that usually using those sites don't like to pay more if you keep working for them out side the site. (maybe a little more)
and the competition with the low bid'rs from developing countries is very hard.
BUT now as i want to go full time freelance i can't count on such site's. i want to get to known by people that needs contractors and willing to pay as i deserve.
not 20$ for hour for c++ job hi.. i got 15 years experiences. and from where i am
my type of developer worth 70$ and more.
how do i break out ?
But seriously, devote sometime to create your image, whether writing open source or giving presentations. It's good and it makes you more skillful. I actually love writing OSS, even more than money.
A good freelance job offer usually COMES to you. The one I've been working to I've got from a HN spreadsheet. I contribute to one of the libraries that they used internally in the project so... they accepted me at first sight.
I don't have your amount of experience and I make ~$40/h(which is low by market's standard!). Having good communication skills and being able to let your client have almost no overhead from managing you can clearly be VERY VALUABLE. It's actually the employer's dream to find someone like this.
I've also worked with bad freelance jobs: didn't pay me in time, codebase was shitty and so on. I advise you to drop ship and look for something else. I have pleasure when I work
Aim to be a contractor bringing way more on the table than just flipping bits skills. :-)