I could write a book on my experience going from $12/hr to $85/hr on odesk. It's been quite an experience.
I get plenty of invitations for projects at a rate slightly above $60/hr. I haven't bid on a project in many months, and I even hid my profile for a while when things got too busy at my day job.
There are a few things you need to do to be successful on odesk. I've never done a project on another site, so I don't know if these tips translate, but some of them should.
1) Get some feedback as soon as possible. Find a small project to get your feet wet and bid a low rate to get the job.
2) Answer requests from the prospective client as soon as possible.
3) Use your best grammar. I find it helps me to speak to the prospective client on the phone. YMMV.
4) When you apply to a project, read the project and ask questions. Don't just make some generic cover letter and spam the clients.
5) When you apply to the project, if you are particularly interested in the project, have past experience with the project, or have some interesting piece of information to share with the client, make that clear. It helps you stand out.
6) Take the English test on odesk and do well on it.
7) Fill out your profile. Put relevant projects (even those you didn't do on odesk) in your portfolio. Provide links to your work.
8) Do good work. Make your clients happy. Get good feedback.
9) Remember that price is a signal. Many US clients will assume that you must be good to charge such a high rate.
I used to post on HN as briancooley, but I added one too many zeros to my noproc setting and put myself on about a 694-day hiatus instead of a 69.4-day hiatus. oops Can't say that I miss posting much, but I thought I would offer some suggestions. At least for mobile development, the market seems crazy to me.
Yeah, I know I could probably send an email, but I have chosen not to do that.
As for reasoning, it was just a personal experiment to see how much karma influenced my decision to post. Apparently it was a lot because this is the first time I jumped the hurdle of creating an account to comment in 93 days, even though there were times I felt the urge to comment.
I also discovered that I get more out of HN because I'm no longer formulating possible comments when I read articles or other user comments.
It was a useful lesson, and I'm undecided whether I want to go back.
I get plenty of invitations for projects at a rate slightly above $60/hr. I haven't bid on a project in many months, and I even hid my profile for a while when things got too busy at my day job.
There are a few things you need to do to be successful on odesk. I've never done a project on another site, so I don't know if these tips translate, but some of them should.
1) Get some feedback as soon as possible. Find a small project to get your feet wet and bid a low rate to get the job.
2) Answer requests from the prospective client as soon as possible.
3) Use your best grammar. I find it helps me to speak to the prospective client on the phone. YMMV.
4) When you apply to a project, read the project and ask questions. Don't just make some generic cover letter and spam the clients.
5) When you apply to the project, if you are particularly interested in the project, have past experience with the project, or have some interesting piece of information to share with the client, make that clear. It helps you stand out.
6) Take the English test on odesk and do well on it.
7) Fill out your profile. Put relevant projects (even those you didn't do on odesk) in your portfolio. Provide links to your work.
8) Do good work. Make your clients happy. Get good feedback.
9) Remember that price is a signal. Many US clients will assume that you must be good to charge such a high rate.
I used to post on HN as briancooley, but I added one too many zeros to my noproc setting and put myself on about a 694-day hiatus instead of a 69.4-day hiatus. oops Can't say that I miss posting much, but I thought I would offer some suggestions. At least for mobile development, the market seems crazy to me.