January 3, 2018
113,796
If you search Upwork for “web development,” you’ll get 113,796 results.
Whoa. That’s a lot.
But maybe “web development” is an outlier? Maybe other disciplines aren’t so horrible commoditized?
Mmmm... no.
- IT & Networking - 100,388 results
- Marketing & Sales - 169,628 results
- Design & Creative - 355,059 results
- Writers - 366,224 results
Here’s the kicker:
Regardless of the search you do, half the results in the first page charge $40/hour or less.
Here’s a typical example:
Alex A. - Graphic Design
Upwork Top Rated
Job Success: 100%
Hourly rate: $40/hr
That’s right. A top rated (by Upwork) graphic designer with 100% job success percentage is making $40/hr.
This is nuts!
Ask yourself:
- How can you expect to compete with this tidal wave of low cost labor?
- How can you stand out from the crowd?
- How can you justify a premium rate?
If you believe that you are worth more than $40/hour - or don’t want to charge hourly at all - you have to completely change the game.
For the next few days, I’m going to talk about how to get noticed, how to attract ideal clients, and how to charge and get what you’re worth.
Spoiler alert:
There’s no silver bullet, it’ll take some time, and you’re probably not going to like my advice.
But I’m quite certain that you need to stand out to survive long term as a self-employed software professional.
If you don’t, you’ll be number 113,797.
Stay tuned...
Yours,
—J