Ask HN: What's the easiest way to get freelance work?

I was going to say that the easiest way is through your existing clients/connections…

But these don’t necessarily mean professional connections. What about your friends? Or if you are part of any hobby groups then what about people you know through them? There’s strength in weak ties; the people you know may no people that do require your services.

Go to some tech or networking events with the goal of quickly discovering problems that you can potentially solve. If you’ve ran into someone at an event you know you can help then dive deeper into the ways you can help them.

Reputation, contacts, marketing. There's no easy way. For piecework you can use sites such as UpWork but be prepared for heavy competition and third-world rates.

The best work is going to be through contacts and your network.

Upwork is competitive and rates are low.

First try your contacts/network, you might not think you have connections but I expect someone you already know either needs or knows someone needing your services. So email/call everyone you know.

While you are waiting to hear back from your network you can try going door to door to local small businesses who would benefit from your services and try to build a relationship/offer your services in person.

Sometimes it takes a while for projects to get off the ground so try to find one or price one that is 2x your rent and get 50% up front payment.

Make sure you deliver on time/quality work so you can build your reputation and build your client base.

Good luck with your freelancing and startup.

There are no really easy ways to get freelance work but there are some ways to get it quickly enough. I have a fairly good size network and I still use the following method with great success.

First, find a niche that is needed quite a bit in your area and which you can do. This might be marketing and commerce websites (custom wordpress templates? But don't say that, say marketing and commerce solutions). Maybe you specialize in media presentations for companies (custom landing pages with media and some tie to revenue). In my case I chose DevOps, as there are a lot of companies with aging infrastructure who want to go to the cloud. Whatever you do, do not call yourself a "Wordpress developers" or "Facebook specialists". If you want to make money quickly in freelance, tie yourself to revenue generation right now.

Second, start writing. Write a 1200 word, well edited article that reads like something you would find in a real magazine. Don't make it sales-y. Give deep information that helps your target market and makes you sound like an expert. My first had to do with how DevOps saves organizations money as they move from their own infrastructure to cloud infrasturcture in 5 essential areas.

Third, tomorrow is Monday. Pick 10 - 15 businesses you would like to go and visit tomorrow in your area that you think need your services. Look on linked in and find out who the decision makers are. Write a small personalized letter to these people and print them out. Introduce yourself, explain what you can do for them and how you are helping other businesses in your area with the same problems they obviously have. Do not mention price. Just mention why they need you to make more money for their business.

Fourth, print out the article you wrote above. It's your "free gift" but also shows how much of an expert you are. Get it printed on something nice. Make sure it has a byline with your name. You are now marketing yourself.

Finally, show up in person to the 10-15 businesses on Monday. Ask for the decision marker. Wait for them if they are busy. Talk to them in person if you can. Explain who you are, why you can help their business, and then ask them if you can help them with "X" thing for their business right now. "X" thing is your specialty. This is the hard sales part. Just do it. I have no good advise on how to make closing the deal any easier other than try to remember how hungry you will be if you don't close the deal.

If you can't get with the decision maker for some reason, or if they aren't interested in talking too much, leave them your letter and your article and move on to the next company. Follow up 2 days later to see if they read your letter and your article and then pitch them again on your sale point.

Do this every day. If you meet 50 companies in a week, you will have more freelance work than you will know what to do with IF you pick a niche people need.

If possible, add your contact details to your HN profile (web site, email, maybe a Twitter account). It's common for HN folks to reach out to each other with work offers, or the kind of email chat that might eventually lead to a gig down the track.

Your website should at least include your tech skills, the kind of projects you work on, a portfolio (ie proof of your ability to deliver). Even better if you can explain the benefits / results you've provided to businesses before (eg increasing sales by X%, building something that made $YYYYY in revenue or profit). It's not guaranteed to work, but it's something you could implement today to have a better chance of landing something.

Totally understand if you prefer your account to remain anonymous, but the tradeoff is you'll miss any HN opportunities that could come your way as a result of this post.

"meet rent next month"? You're not going to find clients that fast and even if, they usually take their two weeks to pay your invoice. I know some people who get 350$ setting up wordpress pages in the morning, but this usually works exclusively using connections.

Sure, ask some local companies, but freelancing isn't like tetris in sprint mode, it's more like playing chess and building relationships. I think you should also consider temporary part-time jobs doing catering. Registering on Upwork or Fiverr has a lower ROI than doing those simple tasks.