HiveMinds

^WingNut^

woot! First post in two years! Razz

As previously mentioned in the off-topic thread, I'm trying to pick up freelance work I can do on the side. I plan to start with small projects and work up to larger ones as I build a contact list and reputation.

I plan on doing mostly PHP/MySQL and maybe some JavaScript thrown in, but I really want to stick to web programming as much as possible as opposed to design.

I've looked at a few sites such as Elance and ODesk, but there are so many options out there its hard to determine which ones to focus on. For instance, some of them seem to cater overseas developers who will work for practically minimum wage (US min wage, that is). What sites do you guys have experience in and what ones have worked out for you?
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^WingNut^

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Cshark · Posted: Sat Dec 13, 2008 4:35 pm Post subject:

WINGNUT!!!

Good to see you again, man.
It's been awhile since I've posted anything either, don't feel bad.

You know, it's been my experience that the best freelance projects come from either straight solicitation, or word of mouth. You would be amazed at some of the decent work I get from the recruiters I know. They all seem to have side projects, and generally know other people with side projects. A girlfriend or wife with a pretty voice, who is willing to go down the list in the yellow pages can also be an amazing resource.

I've never had much luck finding things online.
The Internet being what it is and all, it's more than a little difficult to compete with these overseas guys (who generally do crap work). The issue being that people who go to those kinds of web sites expect to get cheap work, so the standard of quality is low; very low in some cases. And it doesn't really make sense to go to a site like that, bid more, and profess to offer a better product. If they wanted a better product, they wouldn't be soliciting people in pakistan and indonesia in the first place.

But, in the off chance that I was looking to find freelance work online, specifically programming work... I would look to LinkedIn. That would work sort of like the yellow pages theory, only you have much more information... like names and titles.

Good luck Wingnut, don't be a stranger.

Regards,
Sam
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^WingNut^ · Posted: Sat Dec 13, 2008 5:01 pm Post subject:

Good to see you again, too Cshark!!

Thanks for the advice! I noticed that the average pay on projects from those sites tends to be pretty low compared to average programming rates. I've seen people wanting someone to design an entire website with some PHP work for less than $100...

One thing that's working out well pretty well is doing paid support/customization for an e-mail listserver called PHPlist. Its a very nice open source listserver with lots of features. I started digging into it because we were switching over to it at work and I was put in charge of the switch.

They've got a place in their forums where people can post requests for paid support, whether its configuration/troubleshooting or doing customizations, so I've started getting some projects from there. There aren't a large number of projects posted there, but its sort of a big fish/small pond kind of thing and I've also made some contacts that may lead to other projects, as well.
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^WingNut^

If at first you don't succeed, skydiving is not for you...

Cshark · Posted: Mon Dec 15, 2008 3:39 pm Post subject:

That's not a bad idea.

I seem to remember doing some work writing modules for OSCommerce, back in the day, Wordpress, and a Perl based auction package, whose name alludes me at the moment. I imagine that there's probably no shortage of open source projects out there, where people would be willing to pay for customizations. You might even be able to build a niche and promote yourself as someone who does just that.

While you're at it, you might want to consider putting your own commercial stuff out there. I find it amazing what people are still willing to pay for. There are enough avenues out there to make something like that feasible, especially now with the landscape of web apps going through another paradigm shift.

One option I'm very seriously considering is developing commercial apps based on Adobe AIR. I'm hot for the technology, and I like the idea that I can write an AIR App and run it on damn near anything. I mean, sure, everything's been done on windows, just about... but Linux is an open market for good shareware apps. Macs have been similarly deprived. AIR really makes doing it easy. Like I said, I'm digging it, lol.
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^WingNut^ · Posted: Mon Dec 15, 2008 11:16 pm Post subject:

I have to admit, building a niche troubleshooting and customizing open source apps is an interesting idea. I hadn't really thought of making that a focus.

I also like the idea of starting to develop my own apps. Hard port for me would be deciding what to develop.

Adobe AIR sounds interesting, I'll have to check it out.
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^WingNut^

If at first you don't succeed, skydiving is not for you...

^WingNut^ · Posted: Tue Dec 15, 2009 11:47 pm Post subject:

Well, a year later I'm taking a serious look at Adobe AIR and will be using it to build the client half of a client/server app, will probably use Flex for the interface. Should be fun.

Developing (primarily) for open source platforms has been working out really well for me. I was fortunate enough to build good relationships with a few clients early on and they have been providing me enough repeat business to keep me pretty busy.
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^WingNut^

If at first you don't succeed, skydiving is not for you...

colleenb · Posted: Thu Dec 24, 2009 7:41 am Post subject: a LOONG time

Well, I've been so busy in my life, I haven't been here in eons.

Great to see the forum still exists.

Will be checking in again...more often!

Colleen
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^WingNut^ · Posted: Sun Dec 27, 2009 8:45 pm Post subject:

Hey Colleen, its good to see you! I hope you and your family had a very merry Christmas!
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^WingNut^

If at first you don't succeed, skydiving is not for you...

jmikec · Posted: Tue Jan 19, 2010 10:53 am Post subject:

Wingnut,

Cool on the AIR stuff. Would love to see uipdates on here of the project as it goes along.
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