DEV Community: Rahoul Baruah

Remember: you're an expert

Rahoul Baruah — Mon, 19 Apr 2021 09:29:02 +0000

It's easy to forget that you're an expert.

Even if you're a junior.

You look at the problems you've got to solve.

You spend so much of your time searching for answers.

You feel like you don't deserve to charge for the stuff you do.

But you're still an expert.

You know more than your client.

You are fixing their problems.

You can do stuff that most people can't even begin to imagine.

I've been a Ruby developer for 15 years - and I still have to google how to generate a CSV every couple of weeks.

It doesn't matter if you don't remember it all.

It only matters that you make a difference.

How to specialise as a freelancer ...

Rahoul Baruah — Mon, 29 Mar 2021 13:38:28 +0000

You've seen all the "experts" tell you that "the riches are in the niches" (if you pronounce it that way).

But the idea of positioning yourself like that is terrifying.

Turning away clients? Saying no?

It's hard enough getting clients as it is.

However, without even realising it, you're already doing it.

Every time you write a custom proposal, you're doing the same task.

You're positioning yourself as the expert.

In a niche of one.

Your proposal is a sales document, telling your prospective client that you know what they want, you understand why they want it and you have a plan to deliver it for them.

Because the proposal is a one-off, it doesn't feel like you're excluding others.

But because the proposal is a one-off, it also takes you a load of time to write.

All niching does is save you time by generalising your proposal writing.

Instead of a new sales document, custom-written for every client, you're saying "I've already got one for this group of clients".

Write once, use many.

If you want to attract several groups of clients, you just research them, find out what they're looking for and write a proposal for each group in turn.

You don't have to exclude anyone you don't want to.

You're just saving yourself time.

Perfectly positioned.

(If you want more like this, check out my "All Work, No Pay" - a free podcast and daily email)

Is there any point in launching an app?

Rahoul Baruah — Fri, 26 Mar 2021 11:07:28 +0000

"There's no point launching an app ... all the good ideas have been taken"

Is that really true?

It depends on what you want.

You might not start the next unicorn. You might not become the next Elon Musk.

But there are always problems to solve.

Problems that people will pay good money to make disappear.

Problems that seem immense to your clients but are simple to you.

Choose an audience.

Do your research.
Find out where they get stuck.
Discover what they'll pay to get fixed.
Focus on solving it really well.

And then you'll succeed.

(Check out All Work, No Pay for more on building a business that works)

Who do your freelancing clients think you are?

Rahoul Baruah — Thu, 25 Mar 2021 06:36:19 +0000

Are you good at what you do?
Are your technical skills excellent?
Do you have the knowledge and the experience to amaze and delight your clients?

You know you do.

So make sure your clients know this.

Don’t hide behind low prices.
Don’t ask for small projects.
Don’t say you’ll do any work for anyone at any price.

Tell them that you’re the person they can believe in.
Tell them that you're amazing at what you do.
Tell them that you can deliver the results they need.

You know it’s true. So make it happen.

Freelancers - is the client always right?

Rahoul Baruah — Wed, 24 Mar 2021 13:21:41 +0000

Is the client always right?

What if they constantly change their mind? If every other undoes what they asked for last week. If they wait two weeks to reply to your emails and then expect you to have the work done in ten minutes? If they pay late? If they don't pay at all? If they're a bully? Or just a massive dick?

The fact is you chose to work for yourself.

And that means you get to choose the terms of engagement.

You can set the rules.

“You get two revisions”.

“That goes against our previously stated objectives”.

“As stated in the welcome pack, as you did not respond within five working days, I've had to move the deadline back by two weeks”.

“Our payment terms are quite clear”.

“Violation of those terms will result in legal action”.

“I think you would be better off taking your business elsewhere”.

“WE DONT WORK WITH DICKS”

Remember, you're the expert. You get to choose.

If you work for yourself, charge more

Rahoul Baruah — Tue, 23 Mar 2021 11:21:29 +0000

If I could only give you one piece of advice, it would be this.

Charge more

Some clients will complain.
It will feel uncomfortable.
It might make your "hourly rate" seem astronomical.

But charging hourly is harmful for both you and your client.

Bad for your client as they does not know how much they are going to pay. And once the project has started you have them at your mercy.

Bad for you because you have no incentives to get better at your craft, learn new tools and techniques. It's better for you to work slowly.

Ultimately, it comes down to this.

Clients don't care about your hourly rate.

They only care about the results you deliver. And when you deliver them. And how much grief they have to put up with in order to get them.

Who do you think the client would prefer?

The person who charges $1000/hour and works for 10 hours to deliver a $1,000,000 result?
Or the person who charges $10/hour and works for 1000 hours to deliver that same result?

Do you think the client would even believe that someone who charges so little could deliver a $1,000,000 result? Or that someone who charges so little won't need a whole load of hand-holding, cajoling and management?

So charge more.

Do your research.
Know your clients, understand what they are looking for and what it's worth to them.
Learn what stops them from buying and what makes them feel safe.
Focus in a method of delivering what they are looking for as quickly as possible. No frills, no extras, just the results.

Look at your prices.

And charge more.

How to get hired

Rahoul Baruah — Mon, 22 Mar 2021 13:11:55 +0000

How do you get hired as a developer?

Fire off your CV in a scatter-gun manner to as many places as possible? Or try something a bit more targeted? You can probably guess where my preference lies.

Firstly, I'm not going to talk about technical skills - I'm assuming you have those or know where to find them.

Instead, you need to think about what will make you stand out from the crowd.

I'm speaking here as someone who's hired a lot of freelance developers to come and work with me although I will admit my experience in corporate is limited.

Corporate, freelance or somewhere in-between; there's still one important question that you need to answer.

What is the outcome they are looking to achieve by hiring?

Agencies generally want someone who can get up to speed and start churning out code as quickly as possible. And they don't really care about the quality because they are hired on a per-project basis; once it's done, it's done.

Corporates generally want someone who is willing to learn the ropes and do things the right way. Because the code is going to be around for years, so needs to be well-structured, well-engineered and well-tested. And knowledge transfer is vital, so you need to be able to document, explain and work within a team.

And small businesses need to be able to trust you. The owner is placing their livelihood in your hands, so even if you don't have all the technical skills, if you've got the people skills you've got a way in.

So take the time to understand who you are applying to. Figure out what they're looking for. Discover what their values are - are they data-driven or person-led? And optimise for what they are looking for.

Getting clients through content marketing - but what do I post about?

Rahoul Baruah — Sun, 21 Mar 2021 19:26:08 +0000

Have you heard that "content marketing" is a great way to get clients to come to you?

It's true - content marketing works for positioning you as someone who knows what you're talking about. They just need to look at your track record of blog posts, Youtube videos or podcasts to see that you're an expert.

But the next question leads on pretty quickly.

"What do I post about?"

The way I do it is to look at the questions that my ideal clients are asking, then I write posts answering them.

The other day I posted about someone whose contract was coming to an end but the client wanted them to "hang around". Personally, I've never been in that situation, but I know what I would do if it happened to me - so that's what my post was.

And weirdly, it was really popular on LinkedIn, getting lots of engagement and a whole discussion thread started. Something I totally wasn't expecting.

In order to make this work, I had to find the questions that people are asking. And a side-effect of this is I started to notice patterns in what people are struggling with.

For me, I noticed a lot of freelancers and consultants believing that the client holds all the power in their relationship - if the client says jump, you have to ask how high.

But I believe that's not true.

You're an expert. They hired you because you know things that they don't. And if the client isn't treating you correctly, then you should walk away.

You deserve better.

So my content marketing does double duty.

It shows off my expertise - here's a common question, here's the answer.

And it also shows off my philosophy - if you're a freelancer who wants to redefine the relationship you have with your clients, then I'm the person you want to be talking to.

So how about you?

What questions are your clients asking? Are you showcasing your expertise by answering them?

Starting out as a freelancer? What do you charge?

Rahoul Baruah — Sat, 20 Mar 2021 10:34:20 +0000

When you start out working for yourself, one of the first questions that crops up is "what should I charge?"

It seems like a natural place to start.

But it's the wrong question.

Sorry to make it hard for you, but there are a whole series of things you should be asking yourself first.

Who is my client?
What do they want?
Why do they want it?
What's it worth to them?
Why should they choose me?

You need to put yourself into your client's shoes.

They need an expert. Because they want to improve their business.

Ultimately that means they want to save money. Or make money.

Now think about what you do.

How much impact will you have on their business? Is it greater than money they are looking to make?

How much will it cost you to deliver that impact? And remember - time is a cost, change requests are a cost, grief and heartache and getting yelled at by an arsehole are a cost.

Now choose a price that's above your costs and below your impact. And show them why they should trust you.

Because price is just a number. Impact is what counts.

The most valuable thing about you, as a freelancer, is not what you do...

Rahoul Baruah — Fri, 19 Mar 2021 15:24:05 +0000

Let me ask you a question. Are you an expert?

Do you know your way around React?
Can you make things happen with Laravel?
Does .net quake in fear when you fire up VSCode?

That's amazing. Being an expert is something to be proud of.

But, if you're a freelancer or you run a small agency, I have to ask: do your clients care?

It might seem like they care. They might ask you about your experience. They might even test you on your skills.

But, deep down, do they actually care?

The harsh answer is "no".

Your clients only want to know three things.

Do you understand what they want to achieve?
Is the outcome worth the fee you’re charging?
How big is the risk in hiring you?

Your expertise, your skills, they are just a partial answer to the third question.

You also need to answer the first two questions. And if you don't the clients you attract will fill them in for you.

By micro-management. By complaining about price. By doing everything they can to reduce the risk to their business.

So if you want better clients, who let you get on with the job, who pay higher rates and trust your expertise, you need to start filling in the blanks for them.