Sorry to enter the conversation so late (had a minor outgoing email
issue with the list)...
After 8 years of working from this desk in the windowed corner of my
Brooklyn apartment, I couldn't disagree more with a lot of the sentiment
in this thread. Like tedd, I never have to look for or ask for steady
and high paying work (rating a minimum of 100 hourly at rare occasion).
I usually have 2 - 3 medium to large projects going at any given time,
during which I have to turn down a couple others due to time constraints
or disinterest. Some of my clients have been with me for months and
others for years and they keep coming back. Best part being that I've
never met the majority of them in person - some of them I've never even
spoken to over the phone.
Don't get me wrong, I love to talk to my clients and whenever any happen
to be in town (or I'm where they are), I make sure to buy them dinner or
a drink or whatever their pleasure. But when it comes to work, it's
hard to find anything more reliable than email (or Maybe basecamp). The
secret is to over-communicate. Make sure that you get your point across
in a friendly and professional matter with more information than the
client could possibly hope for (about the work, not the wardrobe),
taking no chances that they'll "just get it". It allows the client to
feel free about opening up as well and provides a means of un-awkward
communication with a "paper" trail. If you find that the communication
between you and your client is lacking, blame yourself. As the
professional, it's your fault. Specs are always short-sighted on the
first round, and only get better by hand-holding and lullabies and
meeting face-to-face doesn't necessarily make that better - many times
it makes it worse as you'll "feel" like they get what you're saying
because they're nodding their heads trying not to look dumb.
As for the odd idea that the availability of work is diminishing - you
couldn't be further from earth. There is Plenty of work to go around
for web programmers. Especially if you care about your craft. Our
industry is Incredibly young. There are TENS of THOUSANDS of businesses
who have a sub-par web presence built a decade ago and most of them
could benefit from an application that would help them run more
efficiently right into the current century. If you're pretty good at
what you do with the ability to communicate with other human beings, you
should be able to get paid whatever you need to get paid to live in
comfort. And if you can't communicate, find someone who can and give
them a cut.
If you're not finding it here, there's plenty elsewhere. There are TONS
of the smaller well-known design firms based in California. They all
need developers to implement their grandiose designs. They have fortune
500 clients. They pay on time, happily. They have little issue with
working with someone from afar. New York... well, I love the city and
hence I live in Brooklyn, but I've very few New York clients - and
that's not to say I don't have plenty offers for freelance work and
employment here. I'll just say that my clients elsewhere have generally
been easier to work with - especially around pay day.
As for large projects. While I agree that you won't easily find a big
gig when solo - it is very possible. Every large gig I get usually
involves being invited to a team put together by one of my clients. So,
sure big gigs can be difficult, but they are absolutely possible if the
right people know you're good at what you do.
And for the IT industry... I left a high paying job as an IT manager on
Wall Street long ago to program full time and I've slept much better since.
Mark Armendariz
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