I saw this today and think it’s worth reading if you offer freelance services:
https://andyadams.org/everything-i-know-about-freelancing/
Take your finely-calculated estimate and 3x it, both in time and money.
You should get really comfortable with “no”; Both saying “no” to bad fits, and hearing “no” from clients who can’t afford you.
There are freelancers and consultants making $3,000+ per day doing basic marketing consulting, building simple websites and CRUD apps, or configuring servers – stuff that you could do, too. There are also freelancers and consultants making $100/day for almost the same work. The difference is as follows:
High-rate Freelancers Low-rate freelancers Find clients who can’t afford cheapness Find clients who can’t afford quality Focus on clients’ pain points Focus on the technical details Charge more, forcing low-pay clients out Charge less, accepting lowballers as clients Sell their talents Hope people notice their talents Take ownership of their projects Do their part, and no more
If you specialize, specialize in a type of customer rather than a technology. Think “specialist in accounting departments for manufacturing companies” instead of “specialist in the Quickbooks API”.
A lot of people debate what you should call yourself: Freelancer, Con$ultant, or Contractor. You should probably stick with “Consultant”, but what matters more is that you position yourself as a high-value professional. The easiest way to do that is to raise your rates. Don’t call yourself a programmer. If you’re interested in being an official consultant, DaedTech is a great place to read.
There are more tips in the article.