Remote work, how to protect yourself?

Question

Freelance

Actually by nature - a web developer, mostly doing freelance work. Recently I wondered if the income mainly comes from fl.ru, in the event of a ban, all earned reputation and, accordingly, the source of income are lost.
There were ideas to create a site and post the work done there, but since I write the code for the most part, there is not much to post. And it turns out that without an account on the exchange I am an empty place.
1) How, then, to show employers that I am not the first day in this area? (The option to post to the git is not considered)
2) Where do you look for vacancies for remote work (not freelance) excluding exchanges?
3) Is there any way to be confident in the future and still work remotely?

Answer 1

I'm very. I have been working remotely for a long time. The last year has been so much on its own. Github is very good, it is needed. I was looking for vacancies on hh.ru, now I'm looking for a resume)) There are a lot of offers both there and there. Also, do not forget about the TM resources of brainstorage.me and freelancing. With a good package of knowledge, finding a remote job for 80-100k is not a problem. (note hh.ru)
Confidence in tomorrow - well, when you get a job / project, etc., you must necessarily conclude an agreement, which spells out the obligations of the parties, financial issues, etc. Only with this approach you will be more or less confident in the future.

Answer 2

Now I will probably say a very controversial thing, but I will say it: I have a reputation of 0 on fl. Moreover, I specifically ask employers now not to leave reviews. I never show any work before I receive an in-principle consent to work. Those. confirmation that the person agrees to the price and conditions.
All for some reason - about three years ago I noticed that employers are divided into two categories - one is checkered, and the other is to go. More precisely, I noticed it right away, but three years ago I made the following observation: among those who need reviews / certificates / portfolios there are representatives of both categories. But among those who do not care about all this, only those who go. They won't do pixel hunting, they won't make empty nitpicks just not to pay money, as long as none of them tried to scam me. And they always have a real job.
Yes, I lose a lot of normal customers with this approach, but at the same time I don’t waste time on any nonsense and can only do work. Well, I don't mind losing my account ;)

Answer 3

It’s not bad to create a portfolio website; in the eyes of the employer, this will give more bonuses than a stock exchange profile. It's okay that you are a programmer - after all, you can describe the task, the end result, the deadlines, and provide all this with a review from the employer. A solid design and thoughtfulness of the portfolio will tell about you as a well-organized person with a serious approach to business. The profile on the exchanges does not have such bonuses.
And by the way, developing an offline dating network through which orders can come is much more interesting than sitting in one place with your head buried in the monitor.

Answer 4

Diversification is everything. No need to depend on one exchange. Pay attention also to odesk, elance, etc.
And in vain you do not consider the version of your site + github as an addition to your work. Start 1-2 small open source projects as a hobby for your work.
Often open source projects with some kind of community and some popularity can say much more about you as a professional than some obscure projects in the portfolio list on fl.ru

Answer 5

For example, I chose the Corona SDK framework for myself. I began to communicate closely with the developers of the engine itself and the community as a whole. Now they know me even without a profile on the stock exchange and I can always find clients.
I need a website and I have it too. As well as an account on twitter and on github, where I share my work.

Answer 6

Work on Odessa, everything is very stable there.
pumainthailand.com/answer-na-voprosy-o-workote-n...

Answer 7

Regarding points 1 and 3
I do not have a special portfolio (did not fill it out). Accounts on several exchanges. The whole thing is picked up in the feedreader (via RSS feeds) and I am constantly monitoring all the exchanges.
At the same time, when I find a project that suits me (SEO / SMM / Context), every time I try to come up with something that suits this particular person. What will bring him profit. And I do it all from scratch every time. And not a template answer like the other 100,500 freelancers.
As a result, the conversion is 5-10% (number of responses / payment). I propose to start thinking about people :)
And one more thing.
Perhaps someone will not like it.
But I advise you to try to create a dummy project on your topic. And see what others have to say.
And then sit down and think carefully about what ideal answer you would like to see for a similar problem.
Recently there was a comical situation.
The customer described in great detail what he needed. But the essence of the project was to develop a real estate portal. Budget over 1 million rubles
One of the open responses looked like this:
- "Good morning!"
And how to react to this???
PS Competition is only in our heads.

Answer 8

Very smart approach from Suntechnic, although specific - such a coarse filter eliminates quite a lot of adequate clients. Over time, everyone develops a certain filter, according to which screening occurs. Offline, this always happens to me at the first meeting, thanks to 16 years of experience, I determine at the first conversation whether the client is problematic or not. If it’s problematic, I won’t work with him, even if I suddenly get into debt and he promises a fantastic budget :) Online - everywhere there are my own methods and nuances, but I always try to apply offline experience here too - if possible with each potential client before the agreement, I call up on Skype, since my English is fluent. Serious clients are happy to conduct such sessions / "interviews". When you talked to a person with a voice, or even with a video, looked at each other - a completely different level of relationship. Well, you can filter out bugs and muddy ones quite easily with a very high degree of probability.
As for the other nuances. With new clients, the first project is always through a secure transaction and with stock exchange documents. With repeat clients, I often work past the exchange, directly. If this is a second request, then the client was satisfied with the first job, in this case, you can safely demand an advance payment, and the client will do it without any problems.
Bonus: To increase conversion, it is important to write the correct application for the project, and not the standard "I'm cool, I'll do it all right". I always describe in the application what exactly needs to be done, if necessary, I ask relevant questions. If there is an example of such an implementation in the portfolio - I give a link. If there is an opportunity to do something additional useful when solving a problem (while spending a minimum of effort and time) - I mention such a bonus. I also approximately calculate how long it may take and announce the cost with a breakdown so that the client understands how much and what to pay for. With this approach, the client immediately sees that you are adequate, experienced, delved into the essence of the task, you understand what needs to be done and how. He basically has no objections. Against the backdrop of standard Indian responses in the style of "hello sir, I'm ready to clean your boots"