Tag Archive for: Cyber Security

How Does A Freelancer Find Work?

When you do this kind of work, which is so obviously web-related, and especially work from home, people often snicker behind your back about the ‘fact’ that you don’t leave home – so HOW on earth do you find the work that you ‘claim’ to do?

Interesting question. Kind of.

The first couple of years, after you decide to go down the freelancing / independent / self-employed route, it’s tough. Real tough.

Nobody has your back. You’re left out in the wilderness, with not many people wanting to pass on any work (for fear that you’re no good).

I guess that like everything in life, people have their own ways of finding ‘a way’ to succeed in their chosen path.

Personally, the way I succeeded was simple. I built my own websites and signed up as an affiliate to a lot of companies. Some websites I built were niche (adult), but they all did alright – they did what I wanted them to do, they made money.

Suddenly, I would get emails from people, asking if I could help build them a website, and THAT is how it started.

When I moved onto WordPress, and eventually eCommerce sites, I began to join forums, and I would purchase WordPress themes to test them out, see what they could do. If I came across an error, or even a ‘better’ way for something to be implemented, I’d reach out to the developer – free of charge.

Now, some developers reach out to me. But now, I charge. Not only do I ‘find’ work in this manner, but every now and then I login to a theme support page and look at problems people are having – you have to remember, a lot of people try and work out this whole WordPress thing themselves, until they can’t. Generally, I’ll help them – for free, but they know where to find me if they need more help. This is where my paid service begins.

Over the past decade, I’ve helped thousands of people in this way – and found repeat clients as a result, and they also refer people to me. They are happy to pay what I ask, because I helped and respected them early on, without charge. And, they know I can help them. Providing free support for work you’ve done is also an added bonus that people like. Mind you, it is built into the price, and my clients know that.

I know this post is short, but the experience gained over the years, and the work that’s gone into helping people build and maintain their websites, is massive. I definitely didn’t get to this point overnight.

People in general, I believe, just don’t understand the amount of work available using this platform – if you’re good. So far this month, I’ve completed (about) 120 hours of work, with no shortage of work to do. Actually, I didn’t want to do anything this month at all – November was a 200 hour month, and I need a break. I’ll stick it out though, you never know what’s around the corner.

If you’re interested in Website Design / Development, stay motivated. Read up, stay focused and even watch (and subscribe) to some experts, like Stefan Mischook on YouTube, see below.

Are you a WordPress Professional, looking for some extra work? If so, I could use some extra hands. Contact me using the link at the top of this page.

As always, if you have a question, contact me.

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How Do You Calculate What You’re Worth?

Ever wondered how people calculate what they are worth, per hour, or per job?

Due to being asked about why I charge $88 per hour (minimum 3 hour blocks), I thought it would be interesting to ‘investigate’ and finally answer this question.

OK, let’s get to it.

First up, I’d like to say that I’m not the highest paid WordPress Professional. There are many freelancers like me, that took it upon themselves to build their own name / brand, instead of working for another company, for a lot less money – resulting in more hours needed to work for the same money.

In the beginning, it is hard – no doubt. YOU need to chase work, often working many more hours for roughly the same money you’d earn working as an employee – or less!

The best advice I could give you (if you’re deciding to go down the freelancer road), is to have a willing partner who can see and understand what you are ‘trying’ to do, and support you, both morally and financially. My Mrs is the best.

My hourly rate has not changed in about 3 years. As of January 1, 2019, I am actually increasing it to $100 per hour (minimum 4 hour blocks).

Demand for my ‘skills’ are increasing due to the fact that more websites are being built with the WordPress Platform, both privately (blogs) and Business Websites, both static and eCommerce.

Being skilled in numerous coding languages is an obvious benefit. I learned basic HTML, CSS and JavaScript about 20 years ago, and followed this up with with PHP and SQL a few years later. I’m also quite ‘fluent’ in JQuery, JAVA, Ruby and Python to a lesser extent. There are pro’s and con’s with all languages. Some developers will absolutely love one code, and hate another, but in reality, they ‘can’ work together if you know how to implement properly.

Obviously, the deeper the understanding of ‘how’ the WordPress Platform works, the better.

To be a successful WordPress freelancer, you also need to know about a large number of plugins, how they ‘work’ and how to customize them, if need be. With new plugins being released every day, and existing plugins being updated regularly, there is a lot of work you need to do to stay on top of the game. BUT, if you enjoy it, it’s not a problem.

Right, the nitty-gritty of this post – MONEY.

There are websites that will give you an idea of what current rates are for freelancers, such as Hello Bonsai. Hello Bonsai gives you some options to choose from, see below.

As you can see, I’m actually on the lower end of what the going rates are. I believe (although cannot be certain), if you’re paying $140+ per hour, you are probably also paying for graphics etc. Personally, I just stick to what I do best – WordPress.

Is there a ‘demand’ for work at $120 per hour? Absolutely. BUT, as I’ve stated above, knowledge of various coding types and plugin (customization) is a must. My rate incorporates the knowledge and understanding of numerous coding types and plugin development, allowing me to do the work of, lets say 3 or 4 people. If you were to go to a Web Dev company offering what I can do, your website will cost you $200+ per hour. On that basis alone, I’m cheap.

Don’t get me wrong, sometimes I do get stuck on something, but it’s easy for me to pick up the phone, send an email or get onto a forum to help me solve a ‘problem’. That’s on me.

Instead of just taking my word for it, visit wpmudev to find out more of what I’ve screen-grabbed below, about Pricing Your Services.

If you visited this blog because you found it via Google etc, thanks for visiting.

There are lots of resources out there that allow you to judge what you should charge / pay (if you’re a client). Some people may have differing opinions on how to charge, and that’s fine. I haven’t been short of work for a long time, so I guess I’m doing something right?

Again, everyone will have their own ways to calculate their worth, with regards to WordPress freelancing. If you are just starting out, may I suggest that you work for an organisation for a few years to gain more of an insight into the industry, and gain some contacts. I did it the hard way, which isn’t bad, but at least I can offer the advice now.

For the record, I am contacted by at least a dozen people each week, wanting to know if I can help them. I can, but I’m up front about what I charge, and they say no thanks. It’s interesting to note, that some people have gone off and had work done by others, only to ‘come back’ when their website ‘breaks’. Sometimes I’ll help them, most time, I say no.

When you can choose who you work with, you know you’ve done something right. Word of mouth in this industry is supreme.

If you are looking at getting into this line of work, I wish you well, and if you require further help, please get in touch. If you came hear to read my thoughts and find out about how and why I charge what I do, I hope you now understand.

Like always, if you have a question, contact me.

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What is WordPress?

So, you were wondering what WordPress is. Let’s find out.

OK, Wikipedia describes it best (?), so here – ‘WordPress is a free and open-source content management system (CMS) based on PHP and MySQL. Features include a plugin architecture and a template system. It is most associated with blogging, but supports other types of web content including more traditional mailing lists and forums, media galleries, and online stores. Used by more than 60 million websites, including 30.6% of the top 10 million websites as of April 2018, WordPress is the most popular website management system in use. WordPress has also been used for other application domains such as pervasive display systems (PDS).’

You might still be thinking, Um ok, so what is WordPress?

Put simply, WordPress was originally used as a blogging platform, which after years of development (still ongoing really), allowed people, like me, to develop websites for personal use, as well as design, develop and build business websites – from a simple ‘this is me, this is what I do and I’m located here, so click here to contact me’, to a fully functioning eCommerce website allowing businesses to sell products and services online.

What WordPress allows any user to do, is almost limitless.

If you’re interested in setting up a ‘family’ website (for example), showing off some family photos you’ve posted on Instagram, and writing a blog post about work you’ve done on your house, or you may want to write about your holiday, it’s just so easy. Done right, you can set up affiliate links throughout your posts, advertise a friends’ business or use Google AdSense to earn revenue – even if it just pays for the website and hosting.

There are some drawbacks to operating a WordPress website.

Now, these drawbacks have nothing to do with WordPress itself. It has to do with people being cheap – paying for cheap hosting, using slow themes, as well as starting a project, thinking that it will be easy and the moment it seems too hard, people call it quits.

It’s not expensive to contact someone like me to help you through the initial setup phase. I can also teach you how to update your website themes and plugins, and guide you through to self management.

WordPress is not necessarily easy to navigate, but at the same time, you don’t need to be a rocket scientist to manage your own WordPress website.

Given the popularity of the platform, its’ usage will only grow bigger, and the need for more WordPress Professionals will also increase. You never know, you too, may find it as interesting as I do, and make a pretty good living from working your own hours, building and maintaining websites for others

Any questions? Like usual, Contact Me.

 

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