The Freelancing Developer

Being a Freelance Developer is the dream that everyone wants — “Pay me well so I can give you all my genius code to make you a success.”

And why not, Developers see a problem that needs to be fixed (shoddy delivery on a project) and are the first ones to suggest a solution (employ my SWAT developer skills and all will be good).

Except, the first mistake we make (yes, we, been there, doing that) is that these are not the only skills we need to be a successful Freelance Developer. When meeting with a client for the first time, they already know you’re a coder, they already know what you can do, what they want to know is whether you can help with all the other problems that is going on with their project — can you fill the gaps in other areas around the code that will make bringing you on for that well paid position worthwhile.

And that’s where your value comes in and separates you from the rest of herd.

Remember the goal of a Freelancer is not to have lots of clients with numerous projects, but to have a few a clients, with great projects that showcase your value.

With that said, here’s a list of Needs where you should put some thought into if you’re thinking about breaking out on your own and being successful at the Freelancer gig.

Need Project Management Skills

I’m not talking full on PM certification but know how you like to see things delivered and what process you want to use. Clients love someone coming in with a plan in their head and even better if you can share it with them. Asana is a great, simple tool for this that can be shared with other users too.

With this comes the necessity for you to be able to manage changes and deviations to your plan. You don’t have to put up your hand every time a change comes across your screen, but make sure the client understands what is and what is not a significant change to the project.

Get them on board, get them agreeing to it because when it comes up the battle will be that much simpler.

Need Requirement Skills

Requirements come in a variety of forms and everyone will expect you to simply “know” what to do. Don’t fall into this trap, work with the client to refine what they want, help them break out the iterations and get the information you need. The first iteration will be the most painful, after you have everyone on the same page, it’ll get easier.

Need People Management Skills

This isn’t always easy but if you can tell a client what their real problem is in a tactful way and help them get to what they really should be working on, you’ll be hero where everyone knows your name. Do it in a blunt and disrespectful way and you’ll be out after the last release ships.

Need Testing/QA Skills

You’re going to be testing your own code and by doing so you’re going to need to be doing a lot more than pointy point and clickety click. Come up with a plan, write it down, execute it. Better yet, do it with test cases so you can pass this onto the client. Delivering code to a customer is about saving time, if you’re being consumed with a constant stream of bugs this isn’t saving you time. You’ll thank yourself and the client will thank you.

Need to refine your Sales skills

Your Sales Skills are what will get you work. Knowing how to walk into a client office, talk to them on LinkedIn, put together a simple powerpoint and not give all your goodies away is paramount to your success. If you get into the client’s office and give them everything in an hour, they know what to evaluate next against you. Create the tension to make the sale, pull them in and polish those skills that hype who you are and what you can deliver.

Need to Quote what you are Worth

Don’t under quote jobs, they are never worth it. They are never worth winning, draining the life out of you and getting paid less than what you are worth. If your Spidey sense is tingling, quote for the tingling and ensure you get what you are worth.

And if there is an expectation of travel or other budgetary expenses related to the project, add them in. The client won’t baulk at these, they will appreciate your experience and knowledge in properly quoting for the project as a whole and seeing the big picture.

It’s okay for clients to walk away, remember the goal is quality over quantity.

Need to Track your Time and Expenses

There are many apps that can simplify this work, I use an iPhone app called Timelogger that tracks my monthly investment per client and gives me a breakdown at the end of the month/project. I do this daily, it takes a total of 2 minutes and it saves me at the end of each month. I spent $4 on the app.

Need to Invest in What’s Next

This is hard for everyone. We are all busy, we’re all working through projects and trying to figure out what happens next. Getting a client is easy, figuring out what you want to do after word of mouth gets around about how great you are is an entirely different matter.

Always be looking forward, your first, fifth, twenty-fifth client is not your end game.

Always be putting some effort into your website to keep it up to date and yes, people still use Business Cards (even though you might not care to) — it’s a small price to pay ($19.95) at Vistaprint to get setup quickly.

Need to Plan to Recharge

Call it what you want, vacation, staycation, break, etc. But it’s the time that you need to keep getting better, maybe it’s some additional training and development, maybe it’s a day staring off in the distance, maybe it’s a few hours chilling and watching the latest Marvel flick. Whatever it is, recognize you need it and book some time with it.

It’s unbelievably easy to burn yourself out when the message coming at you is — “Work 9pm — 2am at your SideHustle to be a success.”

Need to Automate All This Stuff

Second to last, all of this, some of it can be automated, some of it can’t. Figure out what is of value to be automated, budget for it, invest in it and make it happen. Your goal is to focus on what you want to be doing, so if tools can help simplify test case generation, document creation, project plan genesis, etc, etc — look at them, try them out, see what they can save you and put them into practice.

For Sales and website stuff, buy templates, save yourself the time and go lookup for goodies that will give you additional ideas for what you need and make you look as professional as your code.

Need To Do the Work No One Knows How To Do

And last and definitely not least, as a Freelancer, you are doing the work no one knows how to do it. Remember to focus on those clients and projects because those are the ones that will raise your game as a Freelance Developer, those are the reasons you wanted to get into this game and those are are the reasons why we need you doing the work you do.

Everything else will help you get here, but what you pick is entirely up to you.