Looking for advice to become a freelancer

Hey guys and girls,

It’s been awhile since I’ve posted in this forum. I have actually switched to the other side – I now do iOS development and like it more. :wink: Swift, a modern language coupled with iOS designs patterns simply feels natural to me.

I have developed a few iOS apps now, working with all the important technologies, and comfortably so; Core Data (and other persistent storage such as Realm, NSCoder, JSON, file reading and writing, etc.), local notifications, navigation and tab controllers, different types of view such as UITableView, UIStackView, and UICollectionView, working with external REST APIs, etc. I can comfortably, easily, quickly create working prototypes of most simple apps.

Out of the few apps I have developed, I published only one of them and it has made nearly $600 in sales. I have published over 12 Android apps and never got that much. I just published a second iOS app and am looking to publish more in the near future.

Now, regardless of how much my future iOS apps may sell, I am thinking I could get substantially more by doing freelance and contract work. However, I do not want to compete in the race-to-the-bottom-pricing via freelancing over the internet. I live in the United States in a city with loads of small businesses. I would like to start working as an iOS developer within my city (or locally). I am a full-time student in pre-engineering courses and think I could make more than working a minimum-wage job.

Does anyone here have any experience doing freelance/contract work for mobile development? Any pointers/tips/advice for someone looking to get some initial contracts? There are quite a few “Meetups” in my area for internet marketers, entrepreneurs, small-business people, etc. and I was thinking I could go to those and network myself (with the added benefit of learning even more about marketing and business, etc.).

I’m a freelancer, and have been for about 15 years. Sometimes things go well, and sometimes you lay awake all night worrying about where the next job is coming from. I find the best was to keep things going is to not tie myself to one platform, be very good at what I do, keep up to date with all the latest technology, and work hard.

If you’re looking for easy money - good luck! It may happen, it does for some.

Thanks for the insight. :slight_smile:

I’m not necessarily looking for easy money, but just some money that beats minimum wage.

I’m a college-age student and would like to earn some money while going to school (obviously my studies take priority).

Do you have any advice for finding initial clients/contracts? How did you get started?

I would suggest on creating a free app for a charity (pet shelter, homeless… dunno… just do it for a charity).
Back when I had a web dev company I made the website for the local soccer club and they made a presentation with all the sponsors attending. That night I got 2 new clients.

Freelancing is great if you live in a poor country - you can get amazing money from companies that are situated in rich countries. Otherwise and local work is usually hard work with little pay and a lot of stress.