I did freelancing for a long time until 2022 when the job market collapsed, everything went south for me. There was a ton of competition from asian countries and clients with pretty low budgets, so I decided to start building my own products. Now, I'm happy to say my monthly income is 3x what it was when I was freelancing!
Yea, same, EXACT, experience man. I've done 30+ interviews since last October, 95% just ghosted, fine they don't owe me anything but odd. No offers yet. Years before this it would have been a couple weeks between dev jobs for me. This is a new world.
I have 4 years full-stack development experience and use a very similar stack to you ( JS front and backend, not always next.js ). I related very much to this video as I got laid off at the end of last year and have been freelancing ever since. I am still trying to figure out how to get into a good rhythm of consistent clients and market myself better into the right communities but this video gave me a lot of insight. Thank you for sharing this !
@@nzuzomal4545 great I'm so happy to hear that brother. Freelancing has mostly given me hope and something to fill the gaps in my resume 🙏🏼 Good times will return for the computer literate just need to hold on tight for now and freelancing is a great way to find work. All the best.
Hi david, The content you shared is truly informative, Please continue sharing your experiences. It might be beneficial to invest in a high-quality streaming camera. Additionally, kindly consider adding your social media links in the description so people can connect with you.
thanks a lot, really needed this at this point. i have 3 yoe and I love my job but freelance sounds like a fun idea. i earn close to 25/hr at job but I think even having something extra outside of job income will be much more better as I won't be totally dependent on my job for the income
Wow, what an inspiring story! 🌟 Thank you for sharing how freelancing changed your life as a developer. Your journey from struggling to find a manual job to thriving in freelancing is truly motivating. I’m just starting my freelancing career, and your video has given me so much value and hope. Please keep creating and sharing your experiences. Any guidance or tips for a newbie like me would be greatly appreciated. Keep up the great work! 💪
Just start. Do some tiny project for free- just for review. You prolly have some finished projects, take the one you think is the best, that's the result of all the different skills and knowledges you posses. Then reach a friend, give him like 100$-200$, or the some amount you think that project worth. Then tell him to make job post for that exact project, you can write job post with all the requirements and send him to post. Congrats! YOu have one job on Upwork done!
@@Ja-rz9fq interesting approach. Thank you! Hmm can consider that but idk how ethical it would be to lie that had previous employers on that. If many or most do that then cool.
@@abdullahnaim10 you literally wont lie about anything. If somebody ask (and prolly wont) - you have one finished project on upwork. Is that a lie? Absolutely not. You yourself made that project, and thats all that matters. You have skill to build that project yourself. End of story. But you missed the point here- the only reason why you're doing this is not to deceive someone, but to save yourself from "discrimination". Because nobody trust the profile that's completely empty. Wont say when you do this you will immediately get the job- but it would increase your chances at least. Also have a protfolio that showcase your skills and previous projects.
@@ms1295 this stack allows you to get projects hosted very quickly. I don't want to deal with infrastructure, I want to deliver products quickly. When you start a project, clients want speed and results. They don't want to pay for setup and configuration. I also am very familiar with React and Javascript.
@@davidsampson94 Well, I hope you have better luck than I did on Upwork. 2 months ago I won a job there which seemed very promising. 40 hours per week @ 25 USD per hour. I'm already 8 weeks into the contract and have only billed a measly 70 hours because the client barely ever gives me any work.
And since then I bid on a couple other projects - many of which aligned perfectly with my experience and skill set. I have a github account with 3+ years of open source projects using these technologies. And my proposals weren't even viewed. To test the waters I posted a fake job listing and within 1 hour I received 50 AI proposals by devs from India and Ukraine who supposedly have already earned 100k+ on Upwork despite their accounts only being 2 years old. Upwork seems very sketchy to me. In my experience it's a scam. And the little money I earned from the 1 contract I won was pure luck,
@@mintz347 no I don't think so, people at all levels are always moving away from dev. There is always a need for developers. Especially in MERN. It's a great stack and popular would recommend over another stack.
You mentioned that in certain circumstances you might be making less than $10 / hr. I'm a bit confused by that. Given a 'ridiculous' high workload of 12hr / day for 5 days a week that would be $600 a week. At 22 working days a month that'd be $2,640. Are we talking net or gross pay? That seems ridiculously low
The secret is you work 2 hours and you bill 12. So 120 actually means 60 bucks per real working hour. I had a colleague who produced about 50 lines of code in 4 months. And they weren't even that well written.
@@davidsampson94 do it sir!!! I'm planning on doing free-lancing online, I have 4 years of experience on programming, do you thing with these years is enough to start free-lancing?
"You need to market yourself..." Great point. Some don't realize they have to sell themselves to the company. That's the key.
I did freelancing for a long time until 2022 when the job market collapsed, everything went south for me. There was a ton of competition from asian countries and clients with pretty low budgets, so I decided to start building my own products. Now, I'm happy to say my monthly income is 3x what it was when I was freelancing!
David you got this right!
I've been freelancing 5 years in Japan.
First 3 years was in a company.
I'm trying to go direct to client.
Good on you!
Yea, same, EXACT, experience man. I've done 30+ interviews since last October, 95% just ghosted, fine they don't owe me anything but odd. No offers yet. Years before this it would have been a couple weeks between dev jobs for me. This is a new world.
I have 4 years full-stack development experience and use a very similar stack to you ( JS front and backend, not always next.js ). I related very much to this video as I got laid off at the end of last year and have been freelancing ever since. I am still trying to figure out how to get into a good rhythm of consistent clients and market myself better into the right communities but this video gave me a lot of insight. Thank you for sharing this !
@@nzuzomal4545 great I'm so happy to hear that brother. Freelancing has mostly given me hope and something to fill the gaps in my resume 🙏🏼 Good times will return for the computer literate just need to hold on tight for now and freelancing is a great way to find work. All the best.
Your video came in the perfect time, thank you for sharing 🙏
Your content has truly earned my unwavering support. Consider me a dedicated subscriber from now on.
@@imrankhan-nq8ug 💯 thank you
Hi david, The content you shared is truly informative, Please continue sharing your experiences. It might be beneficial to invest in a high-quality streaming camera. Additionally, kindly consider adding your social media links in the description so people can connect with you.
@@aadhavan.s8364 thank you for this feedback
thanks a lot, really needed this at this point. i have 3 yoe and I love my job but freelance sounds like a fun idea. i earn close to 25/hr at job but I think even having something extra outside of job income will be much more better as I won't be totally dependent on my job for the income
Nice! It is a great way to earn money and experience and make yourself more financially resilient
Wow, what an inspiring story! 🌟 Thank you for sharing how freelancing changed your life as a developer. Your journey from struggling to find a manual job to thriving in freelancing is truly motivating. I’m just starting my freelancing career, and your video has given me so much value and hope. Please keep creating and sharing your experiences. Any guidance or tips for a newbie like me would be greatly appreciated. Keep up the great work! 💪
@@imrankhan-nq8ug thank you for this comment I appreciate it. More vids coming brother. What kind of freelancing are you doing?
@@davidsampson94 Web scraping and Data Analysis
@@imrankhan-nq8ugthat's awesome, try make a portfolio and profile maybe?
Great video man, wishing you all the best!
Great and informative video David i myself a software engineer and we have a pretty much same stack.
You are the best, I love this! 😇
Would be great to hear your tips on getting started on upwork. Great video!
Just start. Do some tiny project for free- just for review. You prolly have some finished projects, take the one you think is the best, that's the result of all the different skills and knowledges you posses. Then reach a friend, give him like 100$-200$, or the some amount you think that project worth. Then tell him to make job post for that exact project, you can write job post with all the requirements and send him to post. Congrats! YOu have one job on Upwork done!
@@Ja-rz9fq interesting approach. Thank you! Hmm can consider that but idk how ethical it would be to lie that had previous employers on that. If many or most do that then cool.
@@abdullahnaim10 you literally wont lie about anything. If somebody ask (and prolly wont) - you have one finished project on upwork. Is that a lie? Absolutely not. You yourself made that project, and thats all that matters. You have skill to build that project yourself. End of story. But you missed the point here- the only reason why you're doing this is not to deceive someone, but to save yourself from "discrimination". Because nobody trust the profile that's completely empty. Wont say when you do this you will immediately get the job- but it would increase your chances at least. Also have a protfolio that showcase your skills and previous projects.
I like this idea but I feel like I have to get out of debt first. Massive mortgage and car debt to payoff chains me to an off desk, aka slavery.
The idea is to start building up your portfolio now to release those chains and improve your options. Good luck.
thanks for your suggestion.
How would you compete with $2-5/h Asian devs while freelancing on platform like Upwork, Toptal, etc.?
Businesses will look for Value and pay appropriately. 2-5$/h is just a waste of time to them if it doesn't reflect their business value.
Experience , Competence I guess
To those who aspire to deliver quality, paying the appropriate price is not the issue.
@@Lykkos29 thanks for the tip dude.
thank you.
Where did you find these opportunities?
Can you post your freelance page? Might hire you later down the line :)
Can you do a video on how much you make freelancing and the hours you put in?
I will!
I'm tempted to do some freelance work beside my job, only at weekends dont know if clients accept that
@@iercan1234 they do man phone is buzzing right now
How do you typically communicate with clients on Upwork. Is it possible to work only via text?
Hello, yes it can be done via text and video and upwork recommend speaking on their platform to protect yourself.
Why did you choose this specific tech stack? Is it because you had experience with it or you feel it’s particularly works well for freelancing work?
@@ms1295 this stack allows you to get projects hosted very quickly. I don't want to deal with infrastructure, I want to deliver products quickly. When you start a project, clients want speed and results. They don't want to pay for setup and configuration. I also am very familiar with React and Javascript.
i always confuse, how much should i charge for software development?
Hi David ,
After graduation I'm struggling to get job can you help me suggest anything?
@@omkardeshmukh7130 I will post a video about this soon
where do you find nextjs listings?
@@Jared.Graham loads of nextjs jobs on upwork
Your upwork profile say you have only billed 24 hours and your rate is $25. So ~$600.
@@ryanvb3452 yes that's true, changed my life by landing me a role when I couldn't get one otherwise.
@@davidsampson94 Well, I hope you have better luck than I did on Upwork. 2 months ago I won a job there which seemed very promising. 40 hours per week @ 25 USD per hour. I'm already 8 weeks into the contract and have only billed a measly 70 hours because the client barely ever gives me any work.
And since then I bid on a couple other projects - many of which aligned perfectly with my experience and skill set. I have a github account with 3+ years of open source projects using these technologies. And my proposals weren't even viewed. To test the waters I posted a fake job listing and within 1 hour I received 50 AI proposals by devs from India and Ukraine who supposedly have already earned 100k+ on Upwork despite their accounts only being 2 years old. Upwork seems very sketchy to me. In my experience it's a scam. And the little money I earned from the 1 contract I won was pure luck,
what is your hour rate?
I will make a video about this.
which stack u using?
Next.js, Mongo, vercel, Tailwind
@@davidsampson94what do zpu think is it late learning that stack like MERM in todays market cuz of oversaturation
@@mintz347 no I don't think so, people at all levels are always moving away from dev. There is always a need for developers. Especially in MERN. It's a great stack and popular would recommend over another stack.
Hi David bro,can you just hire I will be work as full stack developer for you iam student.looking for opportunities
Have a look at next video for tips to get job. All the best brother.
Can I freelance as a specialized backend golang programmer?
Of course
Yes absolutely I would recommend making a profile and giving it a shot!
@@davidsampson94 oh damn I thought it was for frontend guys only lol, I had no idea...
You wonna network ?
Of course, message me on LinkedIn
Can you share your profile tips
I will make a video about this!
@@davidsampson94 thanks
You mentioned that in certain circumstances you might be making less than $10 / hr. I'm a bit confused by that. Given a 'ridiculous' high workload of 12hr / day for 5 days a week that would be $600 a week. At 22 working days a month that'd be $2,640. Are we talking net or gross pay? That seems ridiculously low
Here in South Africa over 2k dollars a month is a good salary..
The secret is you work 2 hours and you bill 12. So 120 actually means 60 bucks per real working hour.
I had a colleague who produced about 50 lines of code in 4 months. And they weren't even that well written.
@@redguard128 lol nah you have to over-deliver when you young man, reputation is everything. You never want to get to the end of your rope socially.
i disagree with Upwork , is not beginner friendly at all and toxic .
This may be true, it has been good to me. I will make a vid explaining what I did and what worked for me.
@@davidsampson94 do it sir!!! I'm planning on doing free-lancing online, I have 4 years of experience on programming, do you thing with these years is enough to start free-lancing?
Somebody actually did see this. 😉