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Ask HN: How to get higher paying contracts?

3 points by motivatednoobie ↗ HN
I have been working as a software developer for 6+ years and have a considerable amount of experience with many different technologies.

Like - Mobile Development (React Native, Ionic and actual native on both Android and iOS), - Backend with PHP, Python, Ruby, Java - Frontend with Angular, Vue and React.

I currently get between $40 and $50 an hour as a contractor and I usually do whatever work comes my way and these are mostly low paying contracts and I end up making way less because I have to pay for my insurance and all that stuff.

I was just wondering how I could get higher paying gigs? How did you start charging higher? Lets say $100 or $125 an hour? Its impossible to find people who would pay that much.

I just need someone to point me in the right direction and I'm happy to work my way through.

6 comments

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kazishariar
People tend to pay more for people in-person, meaning go do a talk, go co-working dive spaces, or space diving -that's a thing, --it's a thing, right? Word of mouth will always be your best contracts, and network. Lastly, do what you love, and love doing it. Rinse. Repeat.
motivatednoobie
I have been trying networking but I am guessing that builds up over time just as the word of mouth? I do get a lot of referrals but most of them, their budget is usually what the person who referred them paid. So, it's a spiral.
cimmanom
You tell them that that’s a grandfathered price for loyal past clients, and no longer available. Then you quote them 25% higher and let them negotiate you down to 10% higher. Wash, rinse, repeat, and a year later your new clients are paying 50% more than last year’s.

Then (once you have more work than you have time for) you tell your old clients that due to excessive demand, you’re raising your rates by 50%, but because they’ve been so loyal, you’ll give them a valued customer rate of only 25% higher.

scarface74
Work with recruiters. They will take their cut but you should still be able to make more than $40-$50 an hour and if you are a W2 contractor you can probably get cheaper health insurance working through them.

But why are you contracting at all if those are the rates you are getting? If you live in a major metropolitan area in the US, you could make much more as a permanent employee and get benefits.

Again work with local recruiters who specialize in tech.

motivatednoobie
My only requirement is I'm looking for remote roles. I don't mind going in to the office a few times a week but would love a remote component.

Recruiters usually have more onsite roles.

scarface74
My experience is that makes things harder. A lot of companies want to do “rural sourcing”. Where they outsource so they can get cheaper domestic labor in lower cost of living areas by hiring remote workers.