The Freelancers' Show

Panel:

• Reuven Lerner
• Erik Dietrich
• Jeremy Green

In this episode of the Freelancer’s Show, the panelist discuss “Responding to RFPs( Request for Proposal).” Each panelist describes their experience with consulting clients and companies and working out RFPs. Eric Dietrich of episode 296 gives great insight on ways to communicate clearly with companies when approached for bidding on a job. This is a great episode to understand appropriate precautions and understanding the “others side” of RFPs. In particular, we dive pretty deep on:

• Eric talks about his experience with RFPs
• Jeremy describes his past encounters with RFPs.
• Jonathan’s experience with RFPs.
• Price droppers
• Learning about the budget
• Qualifications points of the job
• Individual to RFPs
• Risk competing with companies
• Last resort
• Issues of RFPs - Not individual but by companies
• Quoting a price 
• Involving a phone call
• Resumes
• Changing the conversation
• Value-based pricing
• And much more!     

Picks Jonathan Stark

• Chris Do of Blind
• Gorilla Clients
• valuepricingbootcamp.com

Erik Dietrich

• Cortana
• Top Loader for Jeep

Jeremy Green

• Increase Your Consulting Fees 
• Rock’n Roll with EmberJS

Panel:

• Reuven Lerner
• Jonathan Stark
• Jeremy Green

In this episode of the Freelancer’s Show, the panelist discuss “Negotiating with Clients.”  The panelist, Reuven, Jonathan, and Jeremy give strategies on how to accomplish a “win-win situation” when clients who are trying to bargain on price.  Each panelist provides their paths and actions to stand firmly on the price of their services. This is a great episode to get some insight on what at the professionals do to get appropriate pay on their services and many other facets of negotiations that are available. In particular, we dive pretty deep on:

• Do you negotiate on price?
• Discounts?
• Steering away from the prices
• Comparing your services to others
• Politely decline
• “Your prices are higher than the other companies”
• Losing clients
• Finding a good fit and getting referrals
• Problems with giving one discount
• Hourly rates vs. Fixed
• Caving on prices once!
• Removing Scope
• New Proposals and re-quoting
• Other things besides money to negotiate on
• Payment options on service
• Pricing to guarantee there are not bugs
• 100% payment upfront
• 60-day net pay
• Working around policies to get paid
• More on payment terms
• Negotiating  and deadlines
• Getting Leads
• And much more!     

Picks Reuven Lerner

• tranistor.fm

Jonathan Stark

• Learn Your Lines

Jeremy Green

• Increase Your Consulting Fees

Panel:

• Reuven Lerner
• Jonathan Stark
• Jeremy Green

Special Guest: Erik Dietrich In this episode of the Freelancer’s Show, the panelist and guest Eric Dietrich discuss “Future of Labor.” Erik is a software developer, was an executive a software company, but turn to consulting for a number of years. Currently, Erik runs a digital content marketing agency and still does consulting. Erik is the author of a number of developer-related books, including Developer Hegemony: The Future of Labor, which is the basis of today’s episode topic. In particular, we dive pretty deep on:

• Demands for software
• Labor vs. Knowledge work
• Software architects to Developer
• Law firm agency, apprenticeship
• Leaving big companies
• Giving up on staffing IT, etc.
• Outsourcing
• History of corporation
• Just sitting in your basement and code…
• Business skills  - Being an entrepreneur, not an employee
• What should a developer do to take advantage of this?
• Start to understand the  fundamentals of a business
• Maintenance work vs. designing the future
• UpWork -  and commodity labor
• Transferable skills
• Trends for Freelancers
• Becoming business savvy, entrepreneurial
•  
• And much more!     

Links

• https://github.com/erikdietrich
• https://www.linkedin.com/in/erik-dietrich-109a888/
• https://www.amazon.com/Erik-Dietrich/e/B00J6314XY=
• @daedtech

Picks Reuven Lerner

• Slow Burn Podcast

Jonathan Stark

• Dyson V8
• Value Pricing BootCamp

Jeremy Green Increase Your Consulting Fees

• Increase Your Consulting Fees

Erik Dietrich

• Developer Hegemony
• Post Scan Mail

Panel:

• Jonathan Stark

In this episode of the Freelancer’s Show, Jonathan discusses “Flipping the Switch,” on a solo podcast episode. Jonathan answers questions about shut down his old mobile site jonathanstark.com and replaced the content with ExpensiveProblem.com. Jonathan continues with important insights, in his journey, when you are considering closing doors on one business and starting the next. In particular, we dive pretty deep on: t

• Combining business at jonathanstark.com
• Closed doors on the mobile business
• Working with Credit Unions
• Horizontal expertise
• Picking a vertical market
• Mobile strategy
• Adaption
• The announcement of the iPhone and mobile focus
• Smartphone craze
• Joining open source projects
• Jqtouch
• PhoneGap
• Mobile platform
• Jonathan book launch on JQT and PhoneGap
• Being part of a tribe or a new culture of developers
• Change in 2012
• Leads? Budgets for mobile were drying up
• 2017 - Mobile become the dominant computing platform
• Main Stream
• Blockchain, AI, etc.
• Side interest - Hourly Billing
• Coaching service
• Where your name is associated
• And much more!     

Panel:

• Reuven
• Jonathan Stark
• Jeremy Green

In this episode of the Freelancer’s Show, Reuven and Jonathan discuss “Keeping Your Skill Shape,” with Jeremey Green. The panelist discuss ways to improve their game to keep ahead of the curb in freelancing. This is a great episode to learn the different avenues of sharpening your skill with technologies, applications, courses,  project, and literature to stay consistent with an ever-changing industry. In particular, we dive pretty deep on:

• Keeping your skill sharp
• Doing a mix of things to stay ahead
• Students and questions
• Teaching, Education, and Training
• Strategy to learn new things
• Doing Side Project to keep ahead
• Blog, Teach a Course, Write a book
• If you know more about it then everyone else, you are the expert
• Learning other technologies
• Becoming specialized in a specific technology
• Knowing how to finding information when you need it
• Crafting the right Google query
• Social Learning Theory
• And much more!     

Picks: Jonathan

• Revenue Lerner’s Git Course
• Understanding and Mastering Git
• ValuePricingBootcamp.com

Reuven

• Podcasts -  Pod Save The World
• Podcasts - Chompers

Jeremy Green

• Ableton Live

Panel:

• Reuven
• Jonathan Stark
• Jeremy Green

In this episode of the Freelancer’s Show, Reuven and Jonathan discuss “Pros and Cons of Building a SaaS,” with Jeremey Green. Jeremy is going to be a part panelist and guest on this edition of the Freelancer’s Show. Jeremy is a past guest of the podcast, and is a software developer, independent operator, works with clients and companies, and lastly,  has worked with SaaS (Software as a Service) projects for many years. Jeremy and the panelist talk about the pro and cons of working in the SaaS industry. This is a great episode to learn about freelancing in the SaaS industry, and the business perspective of working with SaaS. In particular, we dive pretty deep on:

• Jeremy talks about his background as a developer and SAAS developer.
• Reuven asks Why SaaS, and Why not SaaS. (Software as a Service)
• Shopify
• Woking in SaaS
• ReMark
• Working with other technologies to build software
• Launching to customers
• Software Freelancers
• Building a SaaS is seductive, but?
• Having a conversation with actual clients before jumping in
• How is Shopify a SaaS? 
• Crowd Funder
• Do you categorize apps differently?
• Upside of the Shopify platform
• Standalone SaaS
• How much time do you spend on these project per week?
• How many hour to each project per week?
• Customer support
• Bug reports
• Do you talk people more now or before you did SaaS products?
• And much more!     

Picks: Jonathan

• The Seven Basic Plots: Why We Tell Stories
• Value Pricing Bootcamp

Reuven

• Understanding and Mastering Git

Jeremy Green

• Boarding House Reach by Jack White

Panel:

• Reuven Lerner
• Jonathan Stark

In this episode of the Freelancer’s Show, Reuven and Jonathan discuss “Free Advice.”   Reuven mentions the importance of how to handle free advice. Jonathan and Reuven talk about their experience with providing consultation to business owners or developers who need direction. When do you provide advice?  How do you get compensated for your wisdom and expertise? How do you do this professionally and make a profit from your insight?  This is a great episode to learn when and how to provide your expertise with a price tag. In particular, we dive pretty deep on: 

• Jonathan and Reuven do some housekeeping on the upcoming Episode 300!
• Email [email protected] about topics of Episode 300
• Reuven tells his story on advice.
• Being a mercenary or profiter
• Giving rules of thumb and web base advice, or best practice
• Profit building advice
• It depends? It is advice quick or will it take long to explain
• Providing advice on low risk verses high risk
• Being asked in person, email, or over the web
• Sending people to a blog or a resource to help them
• Free options, communities forums, websites, etc
• Privatise Consulting
• Blair Enns -  The Win Without Pitching Manifesto
• Pitch Deck
• Opposite of sounding desperate
• Dealing with discount prices
• Payment plans options
• And much more!

Picks: Jonathan

• The Win Without Pitching Manifesto
• I Want You to Give Me One for Free - Mad Men
• Learn Your Lines

Reuven

• Life360

Panel:

• Reuven Lerner
• Jonathan Stark

In this episode of the Freelancers’ Show, the panelists discuss sunsetting products and services and when to pull the trigger when they aren’t working. They talk about not putting too much time into a product or service that isn’t taking off, having a positive or negative ROI, opportunity cost, and many other topics. This is a great episode for freelancers who are struggling with the question of whether or not to retire certain products or services in their own business. In particular, we dive pretty deep on:

• When to pull the plug
• Why a product or service wouldn’t be working
• Killed off Daily Tech Video
• The importance of not waiting too long to pull the plug
• Hard to make a public commitment and then give it up
• If you’re doing something and you’re not making money, it’s a hobby not a business
• Is your ROI positive or negative?
• Opportunity cost
• Have clear goals and objectives for products and services
• Sunset if they aren’t selling well
• Getting rid of Road Mapping
• Finding a better way to produce these products and services
• Experimentation is key
• Will it make money that is fast enough for your business?
• Is it worth your time and effort?
• Mandarin Weekly
• And much, much more!     

Links:

• Daily Tech Video
• Mandarin Weekly

Picks: Jonathan

• Value Pricing Bootcamp
• The Dip by Seth Godin

Reuven

• Counterpart

Panel:

• Reuven Lerner
• Kai Davis

In this episode of the Freelancers’ Show, the panelists discuss common mistakes that they have made in their freelancing and consulting history to help you learn from their mistakes. They talk about mistakes when it comes to raising rates, hiring employees, having a home office or not, and much more and how you can avoid them in the future. They also stress the fact that communication is key when it comes to keeping a health client relationship. In particular, we dive pretty deep on: 

• Common foibles
• When raising rates, make sure to give your clients some advanced notice
• Want to make sure you don’t ruin your relationship with your client
• Put yourself in the client’s shoes
• How to properly raise your rates
• Communication is key
• Don’t get caught up in the illusion that you must hire other people to succeed
• Don’t discount your ability to sell yourself
• Only hire on an hourly basis not a full-time basis
• Don’t be afraid to fire people if you have to in order to survive as a business
• Hire people as sub-contractors
• Having an office outside of the house pros and cons
• Importance of having a separation of spaces in a home office
• The importance of following up with past clients to see if they have new needs
• Value-based follow-up
• Always start with a contract!
• You will be scammed by people in your career
• And much, much more!

 Picks: Reuven

• The Daily podcast

Kai

• Apple Home Pod

Panel:

• Reuven Lerner
• Jonathan Stark

In this episode of the Freelancers’ Show, the panelists discuss pricing. They really emphasize the fact that you need to think about the scope last when making a sale. You should be focused on the desired future outcome and the intensity of the problem at hand before you think about the scope. They discuss this concept and give many other tips on things you should be thinking about and saying when pitching a project proposal to clients. In particular, we dive pretty deep on:

• What is scope?
• Coming at a project from a value basis
• Don’t think about the scope in a sales meeting
• Focus on the business goals at first
• What is going to make their business better?
• Why do they need your services?
• Get a picture of their long-term goals
• Asking these questions differentiates you
• Humanizing the conversation
• The importance of having the “why” conversation
• Always give three options in a project proposal
• Set prices and then define your scope
• Show them that what you are planning on doing will help them reach their goals
• If they succeed, you succeed
• How do you convince clients to work with you and pay you to help them?
• You have to be good at what you do
• Be comfortable speaking business language
• Let them know that you have their best interest at heart
• And much, much more!     

Picks: Reuven

• “How China Is Changing Your Internet” NY Times Video
• How To Set Up Alipay As a Foreigner by Sijia Chen

Jonathan:

• Google Wifi
• Value Pricing Bootcamp