a single source, nothing corroborates it

Take unfamiliar work at volume and overdeliver

With no portfolio, win contracts by applying to a lot of small jobs from pre-written templates, taking work you cannot yet do and reading your way into it. Insist the deliverable is something you control, since being paid only on an outcome you do not own can mean being paid nothing.

The method

1. 01

   Take the job you do not yet know how to do, then read everything on the subject and wildly overdeliver, so one contract buys you both a happy client and the skill.

2. 02

   With no portfolio and no reputation, win freelance work by making it a volume game: build a workflow of pre-written templates and automation so you can apply to a large number of small jobs.

3. 03

   Refuse success-based contracts where you are paid only on an outcome you do not control, and prefer work whose deliverable is concrete and whose definition of done is unambiguous.

What it returned

• $200

  The author's portfolio was a few WordPress sites built free for friends; applying at volume on oDesk and Elance began landing $200 and $500 contracts, and by 2012 steady small jobs at a reasonable hourly rate

• $250,000

  The author signed contracts with over $250,000 of potential fees, delivered about $75,000 worth of successes and took home nothing at all

• The author reframed bidding for unfamiliar work as being paid to learn to code instead of paying for courses

Sources

• How I pay my bills - Tyler TringasTyler Tringas · tylertringas.com · The switch to software freelancing/consulting · 2014-11-05