This thread is great, every suggestion has a reply that says "This is terrible advice."
Might I suggest people stop giving advice if they haven't actually done it themselves? Just spewing what you think should work, or what you think you've seen people do could be super harmful to this person's career. Let's hear some first hand stories of what worked, not second/third/imaginary hard stories of what people think should work having never been in this situation.
@noddly I have some actionable advice. You are in an excellent spot.
week 1, 2 maybe 3: search for popular android applications that have low ratings that you can implement, sort them whichever way you prefer, do some wireframes and plan your first project. Do not spend less than 3 weeks. Do not spend more.
Week 4: This is the most important week. Figure out the tech you will be using. Make lots of demos projects, fail a bunch of times, set up libraries, APIs, accounts, integrations, link them to your project, whatever you need to get this to work. You have to know what you are doing before starting the project.
month 2, 3: implement a very simple frontend and a backend for that project. Cut corners on features, but make sure it doesn't crash. Test, test, test. Plan ahead. When a feature is done, do not look back. Do not spend less than 2 months. Do not spend more. Monetize, that's why we are here. Free to download, but put 1-2 features inside the app that can be purchased via google play. Make them $10 each.
month 3 week 1, 2: Automate deployment on server side, deploy on google play, send to friends, go on reddit, HN, itch.io, spread the word. Your goal is to get at least 20 customers a month. So one person a day. Assuming you did something that has a conversion rate of 1/100 (worst case), you need 2,000 people to see it every day. Google play will do most of the work for you.
Start the next project. Hopefully the first project will start getting traction.
Repeat this 3-4 times. Let your previous project's ratings and money motivate you. Things will accumulate over time.
Things don't work? No problem. Now you have four apps on the market to show to your next employer and a bunch of new experience.
Some business-y ideas:
1) Build an affiliate site. Some of the older posts on /r/juststart [0] are helpful.
2) Organize information and sell it. See the stuff made by Pieter Levels [1] or BuiltWith [2]. I just put together LotsofOpps [3] (which is just bunch of information on online/offline ways to make money). There is lots of info out there that will be interesting to someone if you can find the right angle.
3) Unbundle Craigslist [4]. Craigslist is terrible for some things. I'm working on BuiltRigs [5].
4) Unbundle Zapier [6]. A great example is BannerBear [7].
None of these things are particularly easy. Marketing is the hard part, but it's most important to actually build something and release it quickly.
[0] https://old.reddit.com/r/juststart/
[1] https://twitter.com/levelsio
[3] https://www.lotsofopps.com/
[4] https://thegongshow.tumblr.com/post/345941486/the-spawn-of-c...
[5] https://www.builtrigs.com/
[6] https://kamerontanseli.ghost.io/first-it-was-craiglist-next-...
My view is coming from someone who hires people last few years.
1) People hate on Freelancer sites, but get on them and and build a profile. If you are good it will show in time. Expect to work for peanuts at the beginning - consider it advertising.
2) Don't lie about what you can do. Always do a good job. I've tried a bunch of people from poorer countries and those seem to be the 2 main issues. Dont have a mentality of cutting corners.
3) Build stuff hired or not. I watch guys blossom from jr to mid/snr after work and work. You learn by doing. If your not working, work anyway. Pick a business, and build something that would be good for them. Contact them and see if you can sell it cheap. But keep building and getting better. This is a long term game. You might pick up a 1 decent client a year, but 5 years from now you will be flooded type deal.
Good luck - I think many of have the fear of what might be if this economy truly tanks.
Possibly an unpopular opinion on Freelancing work, but generally avoid anything that is highly saturated. Become a very deep expert in something older or niche.
These can lead to opportunities to maintain older software, or work on very specific projects. I did well updating and maintaining ancient Microsoft Access databases for small and medium size businesses who relied on them for day to day operations.
I'm currently utilizing several contractors who specialize in single products, and know them like the back of their hand (Lucine/ElasticSearch for actual full text search, not just elk stack)
There are TONS of "Full Stack" developers out there, so trying to work in that environment until you have a solid client base is, like you said, a race to the bottom.
On the local SMB side, I never told clients I was a Software Developer. I was a problem solver who could use technology when appropriate. Ask some local companies or SMB employees what the most painful part of their day happens to be. Maybe its something you can solve with some out of the box open source, a repurposed desktop as an SMB Server, or a little software development project. These things turn into recurring revenue as you save the companies money and time.
> I'm a dev with almost no experience
> Started coding 3.5 years ago and probably have enough under my belt to try multiple projects over this duration
This isn't enough information to go on, 3.5 years of programming could mean you've built your own game engine and a CMS from scratch in an attempt to do some project of yours, or it could mean you've been watching random programming courses sporadicly in hopes of landing a higher paying job eventually. (What third world country has median income of 1500$/month anyway ?)
Going off on what this sounds (because you didn't provide the info above) it seems like you aren't even close to an independent developer/freelancer but you're starting the discussion by determining your expected income.
IMO start with anything where you see you have potential to progress at any price point - if you actually have technical skills it shouldn't take you long to reach the level that matches them and if you don't it will give you time to learn.
Don't bother with domestic freelancing. Chances are you will be worked to death and struggle to even get paid. Software engineers are rarely taken seriously in developing economies. Focus on overseas freelancing.
Start small and gradually increase your rate. You probably won't get big projects or a nice pay rate in the beginning. It's fine, in the long term things will work out. You will build a reputation over time.
Impress people with the quality of your work. Even if you are working on a small issue for a low amount, go the extra mile. Write stellar code and work long hours to deliver it quickly. Your effort will pay off, as clients will recommend you to others.
Communicate. I can't stress this enough. A big problem in outsourcing is that it's hard to find engineers who are good communicators. Never disappear, update your clients often, don't be afraid to show up in calls, write detailed answers. This makes a huge difference.
In your free time, study. Practice. Become a better engineer. Don't limit yourself to technologies you are comfortable with. Learn something new every day.
When applying for a freelance gig, take everything I've said above into account. Write a detailed proposal that makes it clear you understand the problem at hand and are more than qualified to solve it. If possible, attach a code sample that demonstrates how you'd tackle the problem. Don't forget to mention you are available for a chat whenever and respond quickly if you get an answer.
Don't ask for $1.5k/mo. No one will think of you as valuable if that's what you ask for. People who do pay you that much will treat you like shit and are not the kind of people you want to work with.
The problem is you're referring to yourself as a newbie. I don't know where you're from, but generally in America that would be seen as lack of confidence. Don't be humble. You can learn on the job. Working from home you can easily work 12 hour days if things take you longer than an experinced developer.
Look for companies you'd like to work with. If you're fine with startups which can be generally more approchable I'd look on AngelList. Email the founder or CTO. Talk to them about their problems. Try to be genuinely helpful and understanding. If they have job openings talk about how you can help them. Put everything you did on your CV. Upload your projects on GitHub.
You can absolutely do this, but first you need to change your mindset.
You say you don't want to use Fiverr because "fiverr is a race to bottom". But your goal is to make $1,500/month. If you work just 25 hours/week, that translates to $15/hour. If $1.5k is truly your goal, then Fiverr is the perfect platform for you.
Platforms like Fiverr and upwork get a lot of hate from the HN crowd, precisely because their expectations are to make $50-100+ per hour. And that's much much harder to do on Fiverr because you're competing against people like you who are charging $15/hour. Their frustration is your opportunity.
Once you've grown your skills and have more financial stability, you can start branching out into other career models. But as a newbie with low salary expectations, don't be afraid to do unglamorous grunt work. It will give you experience, build up your reputation, grow your skills, and most importantly, pay rent.
Your best bet is going to be freelancing/software dev contracting. There are many platforms other than Upwork and Fiverr. If you're on LinkedIn, post it to your network that you're looking for some consulting work. Talk about what you can build - focus on outcomes (how you can help clients deliver stuff). Join Slack communities focused around your skills. Find any community you can join and keep an eye out for work.
Even in a "third world country" (fwiw I don't like that term), you can easily get $25-40/h doing freelancing for US/Europe based clients. At $30/h, you only need to freelance 50h a month to make $1.5K. It is very doable.
My personal 2c is ignore all the other advice you're getting in this thread (some of it is outrageously impractical and divorced from reality) and focus on finding freelance work.
NOTE: I'm talking from experience (though I'm in the US). Heck, I'll send some work your way if you're good at your stack. Send me an email (in my bio).
As someone who has been hiring a lot of freelance engineers for web dev projects, here are my tips assuming you'd like to check that path and assuming you are still not very experienced:
1. Only take projects you're confident you could ace. Customers would often not tolerate work that isn't accurate, not built according to best practices and is not delivered on time.
2. NEVER fail your client. Assuming the clients is honest and not someone looking to abuse you, if you've committed to a project you must complete it on time and deliver something great. If you can't make it one time, let the client know ASAP. If you can't get the right quality, let the client know ASAP. The client may ask to cancel the deal and get the money back but your reputation will not suffer as much as if you'd waste any more of their time by being late or delivering low quality deliverable.
3. Never submit your work without THOROUGHLY TESTING IT. I see way too many junior engineers saying "I'm done, check it out" only to find out whatever they build easily breaks the moment we start playing with it. CHECK YOUR SHIT before you deliver it or else your client will lose trust in you.
Even if your first few projects turn out to be not that great, if you'll learn from your mistakes and push through, you should be able to maintain clients who will be working with you for the long-term.
The amounts of money you're looking for are a non-issue for many companies.
If you are a good dev, with a good work ethic and some hustle this won't be that hard.
Although the "almost no experience" and "Started coding 3.5 years ago" aren't very congruent - you should really clarify that.
Here are two options for you:
1. partner with someone and develop a SaaS product. There are thousands of "business" people with no tech experience who have ideas and are looking for a technical partner. But spend a lot of time doing due diligence and make sure they really have done the market research, have customers lined up, and really know the space well. From my personal experience, this usually doesn't happen - they have an idea, get excited about it and want to find someone to work for free and build it on speculation. So be really careful here. BUT if you find the right person, this could be an amazing opportunity for you.
2. As others have said, work on sites like Upwork, and start building a portfolio. At $6.25 / hour (your $1k month goal) this is pretty low risk for the customer. Start with small projects you know you can knock out quickly - get the positive reviews and feedback, and raise your rates accordingly.
I'd be willing to help you with either #1 or #2 - get in touch if you are interested.
Since you mention having finances to manage for some time, I can share that in my personal experience, when I lost my job amid a regional financial crisis, I focused my efforts on an open source project (something I built, I didn't join an existing one, though at first I did have former coworkers hack on it with me). I did it to stay busy (I found back then that it's important to stay busy and maintain a routine when you're out of work) and improve my skills, but as a side-effect, it got me a contractor offer from a remote company that found my project useful (it was a set of ha scripts for mysql, this was 2002, before there were proper ha tools for this database) and "hired" me using the project as resume.
I'm not saying it's a sure path to getting income, but at the worst case, you'll be left with something to show and some programming experience too.
I'm probably biased, but you can build a Shopify app and have a very, very high chance at earning $1k or $1.5k per month within 12 months.
Here's a list of ideas that I researched last year, if it helps.
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1Hnpcl1VAlPC9MuFvvsl2...
If you do decide to go this path, I've written a guide from my experience that might help you get things off the ground.
https://www.preetamnath.com/blog/shopify-micro-saas-growth
Whichever path you choose, all the very best!
Learn to write well. You can make 1k-1.5k/month starting next month if you can author good blog posts for businesses. Writing content, like coding, is something where the time investment cannot be "hacked." For a 1200 word blog post someone has to sit at the computer and actually write the 1200 words. That takes time. In many cases there is no content writer on staff and someone has to do the work.
I'd say 90% of the posts you read by a company CEO, CTO, or COO are in fact written by someone else and at least half the time in those cases they were written by someone that doesn't even work there. My first professional writing gig was for a German industrial paint company entering the US market. I earned $50 for a 600 word post and wrote them 3 posts per day. Related: I nearly failed chemistry in high school and know nothing about paint.
Until about a year ago I had been blogging for others for close to a decade. 4 or 5 years ago I surmised that I probably had someone in the neighborhood of 4 million words out there on the internet, mostly applying to subjects I have no training in. I just like to write and people will pay for that. I've easily made $400-$1000/month writing posts for businesses as I have a beer in the evening and my wife makes dinner.
Businesses of all types will pay between $500 and $1000 for a well written, well researched blog post between 800 and 2000 words. Can you create a technical whitepaper or even an eBook/lead magnet with citations and some science in it? That STARTS at $2000.
That means companies (like mine) that have those opps are more than happy to farm them out to someone else for a few hundred bucks. You can easily command a dime per word if you are reliable and write with quality. In fact, I don't have $1k of budget for you/anyone right now but I'd be glad to pay a dime a word starting Monday for someone to start pumping out all the posts for my business that I've been meaning to write but - wait for it -simply cannot find the time to prioritize the work.
THe content creation/professional blogging space is still full of opportunity and based on the short post you have here it looks like your English is just fine.
"So where do I find the work?" Craigslist - tons of opps, tons of competition Fiverr Blogmutt and similar Content co-op sites Cold approach - send me an email I'll send you the exact instructions for doing this.
Good luck.
It'd be hard to say without more information. Third world country is a wide and shifting definition, and it's the most important aspect of your question. Couple of general points:
1. A large number of countries have agencies that will aggregate freelancers and take on large jobs. I'm not suggesting large players in the size of TCS or SAP, but smaller shops that hire out devs. It's a good place to start to get contacts into companies you'd like to work at, then move to a direct position there. Most countries make anti-poaching clauses practically unenforceable, especially if the candidate is the one approaching the company.
2. This is higher risk higher reward, but building micro-B2C/SaaS for a different market then launching on sites like Product hunt have the opportunity to bring in revenue. This is only if you're cut out for it.
Can't say much more without details, but I wish you luck in your search!
I'm a doctor from a third word country and we make around ~$1.2k per month.
Imagine training to become a doctor and being a doctor with no family life and making ~1.2k per month?
If I can make around 2-3k per month I would quit being a doctor and do that job any day.
And someone from a third world country I can totally relate and understand your situation. The politics and corruption has rotten the country to the core.
If you would like to connect I'm open for taking. Hit me up if you are interested on taking and maybe brainstorming something.
Good luck
> More of a opinion, but overseas freelancing opportunities aren't gonna hire a newbie
Everyone on upwork is new at some point. You do a few jobs, do the, well, get reviews for reliability, then you can seek better stuff.
$1000 a month at $10/hr = 100 hours, which is a bit less than 25 hours a week.
Your long run rate would trend much higher, I’m just considering the very initial rate when you’re building a reputation and a client base. I’m sure you can get at least $10 an hour with your skillset, even if only doing random upwork jobs.
If you can get $20/hr, then the hours needed cut by half. Others have more programming specific advice, but wanted to lay out some of the economics of upwork. And I did hire newbies when I hired from there.
This is what I'll do, I've personally tried some of these (not the onlyfans account :P) and despite people will tell that it won't work, it will, somehow.
* Create info websites and put banners/affiliation there. Target a specific niche where you have some knowledge, try to write at leats 15/20 articles for 2k words per article, optimize a bit for SEO and taget the eu/usa market, there are plenty of guides out there. After some months if you're lucky you can make 100/200€ per website, with not much effort. * Sell stuff online. Is your country famous for some specific thing? Are you able to create templates, plugins, etc? Sell them online using gumroad or something similar. Create a landing page and include gumroad, that's it. Avoid marketplaces, they're overcrowded * Try to write for some tech blogs, they pay peanuts, but it's ok if you can't find anything else. * Do you have the guts to open an onlyfans porn account? That can be an emergency solution. * Scrape websites and sell interesting data. Like I don't know, a list of all the shops of a specific category in the state of Illinois for 5$, always on your website using stripe, gumroad, etc...
Many small activities can at the end of the month ammass a decent amount of money.
I would apply to something like Toptal. When we were first built our team for my startup, we used Toptal contractors for quite a while. They were solid, and to my understanding, made good money. Toptal takes a significant cut of course. The bar is you have to pass a qualification test, which given your 3.5 years of experience, should be enough to get up and running.
I don’t know which country you’re in but your written English makes you sound very fluent.
That aspect alone probably puts you ahead of other devs globally (and heck even in the US).
Communication is the biggest thing IMO for overseas devs. Ukraine is a pretty good example (lots of very talented devs who can speak English pretty fluently).
I’ve worked in the past with devs from Ukraine and Russia.
Since you have about a year worth of exploration, you could look at https://www.indiehackers.com/products
You can filter out SaaS products, and explore other business models and what kind of revenue to expect by browsing the products and interviews.
I hope this helps.
Here's a trick (that I haven't tried personally): say you're looking for 3 (paid) internships, say you don't care about money, you only want them to improve your resume. Ask if they want to be one of the three companies on your resume. Say you will need $1,500/month just for food/rent, otherwise you work for free. The good thing is you can get an income immediately, and internship income isn't considered a "salary", so in case you do a great job and they want to hire you, you can start a negotiation without the low $1500/month working against you.
The reason this can work is that many companies (including all the ones I worked at) are happy to pay for a small number of interns over the summer.
If you have design or product mindset, then the idea of spending a few weeks to launch products make sense.
One good reference is the "stair step" approach. You can make something that a few people will pay $50-$100/month for. Maybe like a theme or a designed landing page. Then you can ramp up to make something that does $100-$250/month. Once you have those two, then aim for something that brings in $300-$600 month.
If the 1000-1500 range seems daunting, then aim for an intentionally low, but consistent amount, then repeat.
Link: https://robwalling.com/2015/03/26/the-stairstep-approach-to-...
Do you think there are more people around you in your situation?
If there are, there might be strength in numbers. You could organise to deliver a signifficantly larger project than any of you could get done individually. You do not need to hire anyone - use the principles of a cooperative and get like minded people that share the profits in an equitable way.
Along the same lines there are companies that may be looking to expand to capture the avilable workforce in your geographical area but lack the apropriate contacts to get started. Your written communication skillks seem to be above average which I consider quite important for such an engagement. If this sounds interesting, do leave some contact details.
Open a Developer account on Gitcoin and start contributing to open bounties. [1]
The track record you establish by completing jobs is more than compensated by the payments. I suggest Gitcoin rather than Github as you are directly compensated. Contributing to Open Source projects is useful and you can certainly point to your Github portfolio. I think that your near term goals will be easier to achieve with Gitcoin.
[1]: https://gitcoin.co/explorer?network=mainnet&idx_status=open&...
If you know Python, your background is perfect for a role with my company Hummingbot (https://github.com/coinalpha/hummingbot), an open source project for crypto algorithmic trading.
We have devs from Nigeria, Malaysia and Phillippines on our core team, and we work with extended devs all over the world.
Even if it's not a fit, I can try to help you find gigs. Because most crypto companies are remote-first and maintain open source codebases, we tend to work better with remote devs in developing countries.
> I'm a dev with almost no experience
Experience, as in experience that a person who hires you can read from your CV, is the key for the developer's career. However, $1-1.5/month is a junior developer salary (and I don't live in a first world country either), and one year is more than enough to build a CV and/or github profile that shows that you know what you're doing. I was just recently hiring junior developers (and probably will again in the near future), and if I would see someone with relevant tech stack (sorry, I think that for a junior, matching the tech matters - although I believe that a senior can easily switch and learn), experience with different aspects of that stack (not implementing the same feature 10 times on very similar projects, but doing something different each time), projects complete and even some code on github (alhtough I work in the industry where this is much less common), he would jump to the top of my list. There's plenty of advice on how to write CV: focus on what you've done (as opposed to what you've been doing), drop keywords (but convey your level of expertise truthfully), it's all common knowledge, but it works.
And regarding remote work - now it's the best time for remote it's ever been, and there's plenty of companies from first-world countries that hire from anywhere in the world, with montly salaries for seniors reaching up to $6-10k a month. It may not be easy to reach that level, but it's certainly doable.
1. Try to pick a product in a large market. 2. Look at a few existing products and identify a couple of things that you can do better than the incumbents. 3. See if you can solve those 2-3 problems better than others. 4. Speak to potential users and find 10 people who would be willing to use and pay for your product. I can’t emphasize this enough. 5. Give yourself a timeline on how long do you want to persist with an idea. 6. Rinse and repeat. 7. Stay at it and keep iterating. 8. Good luck!
Most of these projects are waaaaaaay to slow to reach profitability. You want product market fit ASAP. I also don't think it should be a programming project. Code is a tool, like anything else, and if you have no experience, it's tough to compete with experienced toolmakers. Instead, leverage some domain specific knowledge to be competitive.
Does your country have a robust eBay market? I've found plenty of "beer money" success selling specific things there. If you know more about something than almost anyone else, you can monetize that via eBay easily and with excellent reach.
For example, there's plenty of sellers in Russia/Eastern Europe selling vintage soviet machining/radiation equipment. In SE Asia, a million mom and pop shops moving ICs. In Japan, high quality tooling. Plenty of people all over just hawking the results of a university auction. I even buy from a guy in the US who only sells refractory ceramics. You can find incredible niche stores on eBay who are doing very well.
Where the coding comes in is automating everything. For example, code to automatically print labels for my packages. A local database to manage quantities. A (rudimentary!) pricing algorithm to maximize volume or profit; the possibilities are endless. These projects are easy to justify, and the immediate improvement is clear.
This is my anecdote, I hope it serves you well.
I'm a computer engineer with a respectable bachelor's degree from Turkey. Google has enough material to see what kind of 3rd world country Turkey is.
I found myself in a similar situation 2 years ago. I had 5 years of experience at that time. Due to my father's decreasing health condition, remote had become by only option. I don't know if it was luck or simply how the system works but in my case Upwork saved my situation 1 month after I signed up. I created a modest profile and clicked a bunch of gigs I found interesting. I did a bunch of Skype calls to present myself as approachable as I can and even took some disappointing gigs just to get used to freelancing (it was my first) without causing harm to my reputation. Somewhere along the second month I spent in the platform, one employer from another country approached to me. Unlike my other gigs, this employer valued trust more and asked me if I can join them part-time for a month, to be able to evaluate my performance without taking too much risk. I was promised the one time payment even for failure. Luckily I didn't fail. Now I am a full time remote employee and have a competitive salary even for European standards.
TLDR: Try upwork.com, maybe it will work.
OP, please send me a message by adding me on discord at metalforever#4052 . I have some work and want to learn about your skills for a possible arrangement. Thanks.
> 3rd world country
That might be your advantage. You know the language, companies and culture.
I'd look into cloning something that international companies overlook or poorly optimize for.
It can be really boring stuff: can you build the best site in the following niches?
Classifieds, auction, product search engine, travel location aggregator, real estate search engine, used car website, etc.
Do you have beaches? Focus on tourism.
If done right, over time you can have your $x000 and many more.
I have an idea that I've wanted to build since about 18 months to scratch my own itch (and I know of many users that could benefit from this as well).
I have asked and this is at month something that can be built in about a month.
If you want to do a joint venture, I'll be the first paying customer and take care of finding paying customers for the tool.
1 - Create an online portfolio on LinkedIn. Don't worry about what's on it, just make it. Keep it updated.
2 - Log hours programming whatever it is you like programming to build your resume and skills. Since you need money and you're remote, your resume is what will land you an interview. Your skill important because that'll land you an offer. The number of hours you log will matter most and that will depend on how much you like what you're doing. You want to have the "oops I worked too much again" problem, not the "oops I forgot to work again" problem
Finding a job: Find a remote engineering job. You may find luck in crypto, check out https://cryptocurrencyjobs.co/engineering/
DM me on twitter, @code_faster if you have more questions.
> More of a opinion, but overseas freelancing opportunities aren't gonna hire a newbie and fiverr is a race to bottom.
Why? have you tried? I had a company for some time and we hired remote developers who have just finished their careers. I am sure more startups will be willing to do the same. It is a matter or knowing where to look at. Try angel.co, or the monthly thread here for jobs. These jobs might not last for all your life but they will give you the initial experience you need to be freelance.
Freelance sites could be a good option too. You will have to offer a lower rate than others to get a job, but as I said, you need something to start, them things get easier (or not).
Anyway, best way to find a job is to be able to show what you are able to do. So you must need some open source projects the people who potentially will hire you can see how good you are.
From an economics point of view - We cannot say whether we are in a recession or a depression or none of that. Depression is supposed to be much longer. Probably we are in a recession and won't get into a depression unless some major geopolitical conflict occurs
It is good that you have 1 year of backup. Others have already given good business or technical ideas, my comments below are more philosophical
You should not target 1-1.5k. It may be enough today, may be better than nothing. But not okay, even for a 3rd world country. To begin with - you should target 2x of your job income at least. Once you have a figure in place, find out what you like to do (and that pays). It will be easier for you to filter opportunities as they come by. Believe me, opportunities come in truckloads and almost simultaneously. Everyone has just 24 hours and without a filter you will not be able to grab the right opportunity.
If you lose the job, you could get into panic driven fire-fighting mode. With a job today, your fear of losing it might drive you into a half-hearted effort to do something. In the safety of your job, you can plan for your progression to become independent. Tech skills are just one small part of the progression. Read books (or watch videos or listen to podcasts) about entrepreneurship, sales and/or people. Learn about finance and good financial mindset - it helps in the long run too. Take a notepad or use boards like Trello and keep writing the ideas that come to you, what you want to do, how will you achieve it, what problem it solves for you and others. Then prioritize and do the practical stuff one step at a time. That list will never come to an end. Other than a house mortgage, stay away from debt and even the house mortgage should be low or reduced.
Consulting for someone or some company is a good way to make yourself financially independent/safe sooner. But unless you enjoy it, do not stay with that too long. It consumes you and it is a different mindset. I've seen people (including myself) not able to leave consulting for a long time.
Start a business. Even if it fails it will help you migrate towards a not pure software engineering role which, as you are now seeing, is highly cyclical.
It is 100% okay if the business fails. I cannot stress this enough. Starting and running even a failed business combined with your technical ability will separate you from almost all other candidates if you need to re-enter the job market.
You sound like you are in a lower wage country so I would recommend a marketing or sales tool. That is typically a growth industry during slowdowns as sales people search for new tools to turn their numbers around. That makes it easier to sell to people in higher wage countries without having a physical presence that is sometimes important in typical b2b sales.
So a couple of thoughts...
- Don't write off working for domestic SMB's just because their sales are in a downturn. At least 50% of my earnings over the past decade was building software & analytics tools for companies that were in outright financial distress. The pain of the downturn will prompt people to change their organization and process in ways they never imagined. As a developer, you can make an excellent living as an enabler of that change.
(In fact, I get a premium due to my experience in this space)
- Overseas freelancing is a meat market on the provider side; that being said, most of your competition sucks. (speaking as someone who spends five figures a year on offshore talent). Lots of exaggerated resumes, lousy rush jobs, and general lack of professional service. There is a high risk you're going to have to fix the work later. This is particularly true for clients with an established business and something to lose if the project goes sour. Avoid "aspiring CEO's" and other cheap d-bags lurking on the platform. Raise your prices and you'll be surprised to find decent clients who are willing to pay for value.
Rate also isn't everything. Consider % of time billable and % of time chasing clients or payment. One big advantage to places like Upwork (if you can land the right clients) is you don't need to screw around with the even larger pile of BS involved in working with small businesses directly. (Like um, tire-kickers and people that slow pay invoices)
- I wouldn't write as an overseas freelancer. I would consider publishing and affiliate marketing. Your content and code is just as good as that published by a high cost country and you have a cost advantage. It's not all junk either - take a look at SAAS affiliate marketing... it's a fairly natural place to go if you've got real world IT experience and doesn't involve mortgaging your soul to push someone's fake pills or dating scam... https://highestpayinggigs.com/affiliate-marketing/saas/
- Pick an idea that people are already paying for.
- Talk to the users on a community or cold tweet or email them asking about the difficulties.
- Start solving the problems and onboard them as users
- Pitch other users with the same problem
- Charge them upfront, don't give it away for free
In case you are interested in open source stuff, check out these pages, especially the internships, which are a good way to build contacts with open source companies, especially if you pick the right projects (like the Linux kernel).
https://www.fossjobs.net/ https://github.com/fossjobs/fossjobs/wiki/resources
Judging from your post you speak/write excellent english. Maybe you can capitalize that. Start an outsourcing shop for international customers or something like that.
Speaking as a former developer (~5 years) + current business owner (~10 years):
"Race to the bottom" freelancing for a dev with no experience is as intended -- the priority is to 1) develop a portfolio of experience to get better cred 2) filter/find long term partners who treat you right. This is a grind and an investment to get out of the race to the bottom.
$1-$1.5/mo is straightforward as long as you keep grinding + filtering for good partners.
I would happily pay you 1k a month for 40 hours a week of work. Would you be open to that? My email address is in my profile if you want to explore this further.
Most devs lack actual proof of the ability to deliver when under their own supervision. I would choose a tech that is high in demand. Javascript, Golang, Kubernetes. Use the learning process to develop a project. Deliver it to open source with all the bells and whistles. Know how to pitch the project and speak to its architectural decisions.
Eng managers love this proof of delivery. It will help in getting remote positions as well.
Combine two interests or abilities. Try combining writing (which you seem to be good at) with computer skills or security with web application experience. You'll be able to charge more if you carve out a niche for yourself.
Fiverr is actually fine if you can do that. It's only a race to the bottom in saturated segments with no differentiation. You might be able to apply to be a Fiverr "Pro" and charge more.
I think your best bet is to find someone
- who thinks (s)he can generate $3k/mo (essentially 2x of your target),
- who has reasonable proof that this is plausible and
- who cannot build it (her/him)self.
It is also great to have company, to keep you on track, motivate each other when you need it (and you will), and help you sell.. Don't take this as a freelancer gig, make sure you are cofounders/partners in this
Best of luck for whatever life throws at you! Cheers
If you’re going to write a SaaS project (most of HN success stories) then consider what market you’re targeting. I found this article useful:
http://christophjanz.blogspot.com/2014/10/five-ways-to-build...
Eh just get a job with an outsourcing company that sends people to client locations. They will send you overseas eventually. Then switch to a company located there before your residency permit runs out. You will no longer have a third world salary. I don't know whether this is possible in a year but I've seen it many times.
1. Do you live by yourself? If so, moving back to your parents will help a lot (if you have a good relationship with them).
2. Pick the skill you are most comfortable with and focus on that when freelancing. The more efficient you are the quicker you can finish the tasks.
Combining 1 & 2 will buy you some time to get a better full time job for the future.
I might be totally wrong but I think making online courses might give you some passive income and learning opportunity at the same time. Of course it requires you to focus on one small/niche subject and becoming expert at it. Maybe someone with experience in making courses could chime in and tell if it's doable.
weel, you problably is in a similar situation like me, live in a country where the local currency is falling like flys in relation to the dollar, so you can try remote jobs.
Don't sell yourself short. You problably cheaper than local works, and there's always jobs that a noobie can do (dull jobs most of the time, I know, but they put food on the table). You clearly speak english well, so this helps a lot.
Here are some sites that may help you bud. https://www.workingnomads.co/jobs
What languages and technologies do you have experience with? I agree with the other posts telling you to checkout IndieHackers and build something. In the meantime, there are probably some contract gigs you could pick up to extend the runway.
Email me if you are looking for projects.
I've hired through UpWork.com
I see two options for you:
-Try to emigrate to a country with a strong tech sector and get a day job there.
-Build a web service that people love and will pay money for, because it does something very useful for them.
Everything else probably isn't going to result in you making money.
My company (https://packetstream.io) is hiring technical account managers.
Send an email to ronald@domain
It's hard to give advice without knowing what kind of experience you have. I'll go with all the signals I can get. I grew up in Uganda and Kenya but now live in the US so I have a bit more context. I also have a few businesses making more than what you're looking to make so this might help too.
Temporary Solution:: Your English is good so I'm guessing you're from a former British colony. If you're above average as a developer, look into sites like toptal for some consulting opportunities. They're fully remote so that shouldn't be a big problem. Also, don't necessarily ignore domestic consulting. Just pick your clients more carefully. Reject opportunities that are clearly WAY below market. Have a secondary reason for accepting a gig e.g. learning more about the inner workings of a business/industry or building rapport with the business owner.
More Permanent Solution:: I'd strongly suggest going into the B2B SaaS space. The more money the companies make, the better. It may be a developing country but there's still real money out there. I have a friend making more than $400K a year in a SaaS business with <5 few employees (I'll keep details vague to protect his identity). Reach out to business owners (I know this is hard but you really have to believe in yourself to make this work). Spend time with them and discover REAL problems that they have and are willing to pay. I guarantee you'll come out with some really nice ideas doing this. Don't necessarily take the first idea you discover. Verify that other business owners in the same industry have a similar problem. An area I'd suggest looking at is the agricultural/horticultural sector. These folks export goods in the billions of dollars and there are definitely some things you could work with them to improve. The harder the better (few choose hard problems and churn is low once things start working). At times, you'll discover they're already paying for some software but the licenses are like $10K a month and they only need it for a single thing. Work with them to create something new with exactly what they need for a steep discount. Trust me, these opportunities exist. I'd also suggest the insurance, banking and healthcare fields. There's little competition there. Logistics (trucks, freight) is also something you can look into. The better you are as an engineer, the easier developing solutions will be. Nothing should be beneath you. e.g. Don't necessarily look for AI/ML problems. Use the right tool for the problem, however simple. Also, listen to your customers.
Sometimes, people have real problems but they just can't find someone they can trust enough to execute them. Trust takes time to build but once it's developed, many more opportunities open up. You want to be invited to meetings where finances are discussed. Seeing the finances will show you exactly what they pay for and this is invaluable.
Hope this helps. All the best and may God bless you in this journey!
Try getting a job in react or python(Django?) or nodejs. There are huge demand for these and these are the easiest to learn.
Well, what kind of experience do you have?
@noddly, what stack are you comfortable working with? Do you have an upwork account?
Great question! And I think that where you are right now is as good a starting point as any. With COVID and lockdowns and economic recession going on, I think more and more people are going to ask themselves how they can bridge the gap on their own for the next 6-18 months.
I'm saying "good starting point" because this is where you are right now. Start from there. Start where you are. Don't think "I should've" because it never helps.
3.5 years of coding experience is terrific! I wouldn't call that "almost no experience". Even if you wouldn't count all 3.5 years since starting. In my experience, for gaining experience, a good mindset and a little bit of a head start is what you need to tackle new projects. After 10 years, I still feel like (and am) a beginner every day.
I recommend you revisit your assertions about consulting, SMB, etc. I'm sure things are tough right now, and the market is getting smaller, but it's going to pick up at some point too. Consulting as a freelancer for you could mean a few extra months of runway. The upside you can get by experimenting with freelancing far outweigh the negatives. This is even more true for online freelancing with platforms like Upwork.
Invest time into building a network online. When you're supported by a network of peers, you'll get more opportunities. It's also fun, you learn a ton, and a network is generally an asset that doesn't go away quickly if you keep putting energy in it. For me, networking starts with putting stuff out there: writing, helping others, building projects. IMHO, networking doesn't merely include chatting on Twitter, LinkedIn, etc., but contributing in thoughtful forums and communities definitely helps. The best way to start here is to start building projects. I've always met people through their works and their projects.
How can you make $1k a month? With the above (freelance + networking) I think you can already get there, if you get opportunities to build projects for people. It's also smart to start thinking in terms of assets. Freelancing is a trap in the sense that time == money, and if you stop working, you stop making money. Can you build something online that makes money? A SaaS, an app, an email newsletter, a website about something you like, teaching/mentoring people, a service – anything.
(Before you start, get a good book/resource on launching a business. It helps avoid so many mistakes and reinvented wheels. A few hands-on ones come to mind, but see what works for you: $100 startup, traction, AppSumo $1k course, "This is marketing" by Seth Godin.)
I'm mentioning SaaS last, because it takes time and luck to make that happen quickly (or at all). You want to bootstrap yourself first, extend your runway, work on time-for-money projects, and then spend 1/3 or 2/3 of your time on building a SaaS or app.
The last bit of advice I wanted to give is that it all starts with people. Freelancing, networking, building a project – it's all people. Find your people first, and then build something that helps them. Instead of the other way around, is finding a product first, and then retrofitting it for people.
Good luck!
(My credentials: I've been a freelance app developer since 2009, I now make a living teaching iOS development online.)
I would hire a junior dev with 1.5 k salary per year.
Can you put down your email on your profile?
I can’t really speak to your question, but Good luck! Hope you find something that meets your needs. It’s out there, waiting for you.
I think open source projects are a good avenue of fulfilling income if you live in a third world country.
What is your stack?
Commenting to save
Google offers free training to get certified being an AdWords manager, you can take the courses all online/remote and get certified remote within a month or two.
Most of the jobs start at $40/k year if you are learning ($3,330 month before taxes) and they can scale up pretty easy to six figures after you have some experience. It's not $500k like, apparently everyone who contributes to open source makes ;) but, it is something that programming can help with.
best of all, the majority of the jobs are remote and don't require a lot of contact, mostly you need to be able to generate a report of what you did each week/month and simply manage ads which is not horribly a hard job, so you can work on other things as well.
You should actually be asking: How can I make something in X time unit, which saves Y people Z amount of work per day.
Money is a symptom.
ask hn: how to compete woth 3rd worldlers who's eating my rice bowl
You need a niche.
these constant posts of how to make money are getting ridiculous. i feel for people and what not, but really at this juncture you can just do a search and go through all the answers to the previous times this has been asked.
It seems like this is a big list of things you aren't willing to try, but you still want someone else to come up with a $10,000 idea for you.
What you're asking for is an easy way out. There isn't one.
If you've got over a year of financial runway, I'd say you could feel pretty happy about that. I'm sure you'll figure out something in that time.
What I've seen that has worked in the past is this:
Pick an open source project that is in a language that is respectable and commit to contributing to it for three or four months. Full time. Try to make sure that your written English is clear and professional in things like PRs.
Try to keep your code as clean and as well tested and linted as possible. Once the core team gets to know you a bit you'll be able to reach out for introductions to people hiring for remote jobs that you just wouldn't have had access to before.
I've seen people make $500k a year doing this. Just make sure that you choose wisely on the language and project. If you want to do frontend then it's probably going to be a project in TypeScript or JavaScript, but if you want to do backend then there are a lot of projects in tougher languages like Rust. Python isn't a bad choice either, even though it is easy to learn. Google has a Python style guide that is pretty good so look it up.
If I knew you were good at Python and you were asking for $1.5k a month I would hire you and laugh all the way to the bank. Set your aim hirer than what you need to survive.