Are you planning a transition from being a traditionally employed web developer to a freelancer in this discipline? Are you a freelancer web developer looking to leverage your coding skills better and boost your income?
If you are apprehensive about making a decent earning doing freelance coding, let us put your doubts to rest.
You can become a freelance programmer if you are proficient in handling computers and software and have the technical skills to code projects. Freelancers with the professional abilities to deal with clients can build a rewarding programming career.
Freelance programming is the path chosen by many organizations for meeting their coding and application development needs. As a freelancer coding professional, you can be your own boss, choose the clients you love working with, set your terms and pricing, and enjoy the flexibility of managing your workspace to your needs.
As a freelance programmer, you can create codes for any project you feel capable of handling. Find out about reliable clients from your network, determine their requirements, fix the price, sign the contract, and begin working on the project.
You can work on some small freelance projects part-time while still working on a full-time programming job. You can also work as an independent contractor and use your coding skills to earn a steady income. As a freelance programmer, you can have complete control over the projects you accept and decide on the number of hours you want to work in a week. For assessing your potential earnings as a 1099 worker versus a W-2 employee, Keeper has a free calculator to help. This additional tool can be extremely useful for financial planning in your freelance career.
Steps To Becoming a Freelance Coding Professional
1. Build An Attractive Portfolio
Your resume is essential while bidding for traditional coding jobs, but the focus must be on highlighting your coding portfolio. An impressive and detailed coding portfolio will make it easy for your clients to envisage the output. It can help them decide to hire your services as a freelance coding professional.
Develop a robust portfolio by taking on projects that offer the scope for displaying your entire range of coding skills. Spend your initial time on the freelance coder journey developing a quality portfolio to help secure clients who can provide a steady workflow.
2. Develop An Enticing Website
A freelance coding professional is expected to have more than an impressive website to showcase their skills and expertise. Clients searching online for freelance coding services must get a great first impression of your potential from your website. You can use your website to showcase your skills as a coder and convince your clients to choose you for their coding projects over other contenders.
3. Be A Good Communicator
Ensure that you remain accessible and communicate transparently with all your clients. It is one of the core requirements for succeeding as a freelance coder. Provide regular updates about the project, ask questions, respond to queries, and always deliver on time.
If you feel a project is complex, do not give false assurances about getting it done quickly. Be honest and open about deadlines, and do not provide false expectations. The adage – promise less and deliver more is just apt for freelancers. Always communicate about project development with your clients. It will establish your honesty and reliability.
4. Research The Market
The coding marketplace is very competitive. As a freelancer, you will have to compete with hundreds of programmers for every project. That’s why it’s important to be well-informed about the industry and the latest developments happening in the market.
Research the ongoing rates for different projects so that you understand what to charge for your freelance services. Discover the skills in demand and pursue them by undergoing additional training. Update your portfolio with the additional skills and highlight them to attract inquiries.
5. Follow Up With Clients
It is not enough to bid for projects or quote your price for a freelance coding assignment. Likewise, make sure you follow up and provide additional information your client may need to make the final decision. Even after you have landed the project, follow up to get reviews and feedback from clients. This will further enhance your reputation as a committed and responsible coding professional. It will ease your efforts in landing the next project from the same client.
6. Ask For Referrals
When you have done a few quality projects and built a reasonably impressive-looking portfolio, you can ask your clients to refer your services to their contacts. If your clients love your work and overall approach to coding projects, they will unhesitatingly refer you to others who need similar services.
Conclusion
We have provided you with the information needed to make that transition from a traditional programmer to a freelance coding professional. So, apply these steps to your work process, and you will find that becoming a freelance coder is not all that tough. And while you are at it, remember to keep improving and sharpening your coding skills by learning about the latest coding languages and programs to make your portfolio attractive and robust. Offer diverse coding services to make your portfolio more attractive to clients.
