I work full time as a .Net programmer in Kansas City. I would like to start picking up some side gigs for extra cash.
Anyone else doing this? How are you finding the opportunities? Any tips, suggestions, advice would be greatly appreciated.
+6
A:
Word-of-mouth is where a lot of side gigs can come from.
You can also register for some of those freelance sites like http://www.RentACoder.com and see if any potential projects come out which interest you.
TheTXI
2009-01-12 15:32:45
+1 for word of mouth. Unfortunately, canceled by mention of RentACoder. The problem with those sites is that you're competing with people in parts of the world that can work for pennies an hour.
Bill the Lizard
2009-01-12 15:37:01
Sure you may be competing with people who can work for pennies on the hour, but there also a good chance that if something requiring a certain complexity shows up, you may have more skills or be seen as a more reliable option than the $0.01/hr workers.
TheTXI
2009-01-12 15:40:36
Absolutely true. I'm not saying you're competing on skill. Just on price. In my experience on RAC, though, the vast majority of jobs go to the low bidders.
Bill the Lizard
2009-01-12 15:43:33
@Bill: Indeed, I don't normally use it (I think I did for one job) but I was just tossing it out as an example of a freelance site where you can scour for potential work.
TheTXI
2009-01-12 15:44:38
I don't mean to sound bitter about it. I just stopped using it after winning 1 bid out of about 20 or so that I placed. Most of the ones I lost went to people who bid $5 or less. Maybe a student would have better luck.
Bill the Lizard
2009-01-12 15:47:57
It's definitely not for everyone. Every once in a while you will find that diamond in the endless amounts of dirt though. I do believe that the networking and word-of-mouth route is much more effective overall.
TheTXI
2009-01-12 15:51:57
An API to filter out all the dirt and find those diamonds would be great. Maybe I should post that as a job. :)
Bill the Lizard
2009-01-12 15:55:28
+1. Word of mouth and my network of friends and former colleagues.
Brian Clapper
2009-01-12 16:24:01
+4
A:
It's all about the people you know, and who they know, and so on. Although I despise the term, it's called "networking" with people. I have gotten a few side jobs now and then by word of mouth.
I try hard to make it so that potential clients are referred to me, instead of having people I know passing out my phone number or email address. Inevitably, I get calls at home, or emails soliciting my help.
Sometimes it's fun to ask how someone found out about what I do, and trace it back. I have found that sometimes my network of colleagues is several layers deep!
eleven81
2009-01-12 15:35:13
I once had a side job where the client found me on a previous project, but then found my contact information through google searches, phone calls to previous co-workers, and then finally somehow found my AIM screen name. The hoops she jumped through to find me was crazy.
TheTXI
2009-01-12 15:41:59
I tried networking but apparently I'm on a non-routable address. :-(
Paul Tomblin
2009-01-12 15:46:51
+6
A:
Networking with people you already know (classmates, instructors) is the best way. Another way to increase the size of your network is to contribute a little bit to an open source project. At my company there are two people who got hired full time because of work they had done on open standards that we use.
Bill the Lizard
2009-01-12 15:41:01
+2
A:
I agree with TheTXI on word-of-mouth being the main way (+1 for that). I'm not so sure about the RentACoder sites.
I have managed to fill the odd gap in my contracts in the past with small jobs obtained via contacts from previous jobs. The key is having plenty of experience in the relevant field, and having impressed some people enough that they will recommend you to their contacts - and having kept in contact with these people, at least to the extent that they know how to find you.
One way to maintain contacts is via a site like LinkedIn.
Tony Andrews
2009-01-12 15:47:51
Your mention of contact with previous jobs is something I should have remembered myself. We regularly hire out a former co-worker of mine on certain projects since he is still our best option when it comes to finding someone with his particular set of skills.
TheTXI
2009-01-12 15:53:20
+1
A:
I landed one contract through a community e-mail. They then referred me to a second client for a much larger project. A friend in IT refers me a couple times a year and those usually pan out. I find that the best jobs come from referrals, because the clients know what to expect and you know, based on who made the referral, how difficult a client they are likely to be and can use that to help you decide if you want to take the contract or not.
Elie
2009-01-12 15:48:28
+1
A:
I'll second the vote for online consulting sites. I had very good luck with Guru.com at one point. The projects posted there tend to be of a very good size for "off-hours" work, and since it costs a bit of money to post projects there, they tend to be serious.
Other than that, I have to agree with other posters that word-of-mouth is important. Let your colleagues know that you're looking for contract work and you may find referrals coming your way.
MattK
2009-01-12 15:50:56
+7
A:
All of my side jobs have come from previous employers...one more reason not to burn your bridges when you leave one position for another!
Matt Peterson
2009-01-12 15:53:01
Exactly. If you have a skill set that makes your pretty unique then your previous employers will tend to keep referring back to you for projects that you can do if they never managed to truly replace you.
TheTXI
2009-01-12 15:55:10
+1
A:
Every city/town has a few businesses that do computer work for small businesses. You know, set up networks, install hardware, etc. Usually stuff that's a bit too much for the big-box store services and the business is too small to have its own IT people.
These small businesses often wind up running vertical market software (particularly for accounting) and often will want changes/enhancements made. Or sometimes just a standalone solution for some weird problem that only they have.
Often computer consulting business are small shops that don't have the time or expertise to to do the programming stuff, and if they know about you, they may throw some business your way when the opportunity arises. Don't forget to kick a few bucks back to thank them or you may only hear from them once.
Keep in mind this work is typically not that sexy (actually, usually pretty boring) and small businesses don't have a lot of cash to give you. But it can be rewarding at its own level.
Marc Bernier
2009-01-12 15:54:31
+1
A:
Get involved in activities like sports teams, child play groups, churches, singles groups, etc, whatever extracurricular activities you do. Once they know what you do, you'll be who they contact when they need help or advice. Just talk to people will get your name out there. Volunteer to do a web site or some small application for somebody and then watch the word-of-mouth spread.
Scott
2009-01-12 15:55:14
of course most of the time they will be contacting you for free tech support for desktop issues!
Steven A. Lowe
2009-01-12 16:12:30
+2
A:
I got all of my side work from previous employers. These were mostly temp positions where I formed a bond with the manager. It's a lot more cost effective to cut out the middle man (i.e. temp agency)!
my 2 cents...side gigs are not worth it in the long run. It left me with no free time and put a strain on my personal life. I believe you'd be better off finding a better full time job.
dotjoe
2009-01-12 15:57:06
A:
Start small, search on craigslist for little jobs and then build a reputation. Eventually your network will refer you via word of mouth.
Sheehan Alam
2009-01-12 16:04:13
A:
Word-of-mouth. Get your name out there. Work on open-source projects, interact with local businesses (Chamber of Commerce), specialize in something, participate in forums.
You'll need to somehow differentiate yourself from the thousands of .NET developers out there also looking for side work.
Paul Lefebvre
2009-01-12 18:25:53
A:
I have not actually used them(still "browsing") but http://odesk.com seems really good. Much better (at least from the browsing POV) than RentACoder or Guru.com . Some of the really handy things I like is that you can take these (kinda useless, but help you get jobs) test things in different programming languages and frameworks and such. By far the coolest thing though is that you can see all of the other bidders and what the average quote is. This is very handy if your new to making quotes and don't want to go too high or too low..
There is also a reputation-like thing for both buyers and workers, so that you can tell if a buyer is really crappy from their score..
Also, I regularly (twice a week) get employers that contact me from it. So far they have all been really crappy full time jobs (one was paying $5/hour) but I assume that one day I'll get a decent one..
Earlz
2010-04-12 05:23:46