Hangout: Becoming a freelance developer

79 points

11 years ago

A few weeks back I sent a survey to my developer friends (results below). I was surprised at how many are interested in learning how to become a freelancer. So, I asked 4 friends who are already freelancing if they'd join a Google hangout and share the story of how they got started. The hangout will be this Wednesday at Noon PDT. Please join us to learn how each of us got started freelancing.

RSVP to the hangout here https://plus.google.com/u/0/events/cdkkq1uei70k87ohiaq07sd4o7o?authkey=COmw4ImAtf-a2QE

Survey Results I had 17 respondents to my original survey (here is the survey if you’d like to take it: http://goo.gl/forms/LTAqtJcitT).

What do you DISLIKE about your current job as a developer? (multiple choice)

* 44% said "not enough actual coding." Other popular responses were "work is boring," or otherwise inefficient.

What do you want more of? (multiple choice)

* 75% said "freedom to work only part of the year" * 56% said they want more interesting problems. * 44% said they want more money

If you are NOT a freelancer now, why not? (multiple choice)

* 67% I like the security of a regular paycheck & 401K * 42% I need the health benefits for me or my family

The surprising one was...

If someone made it EASY for you, would you work as a freelance web developer?

* 73% probably, yes * 27% probably not

Admittedly this question was not well phrased since a handful of the respondents are already freelancers or contractors. But still, this is a surprising percentage!

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