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How To Find Freelance Clients Mar 20, 2019

Show notes

In this episode Wes and Scott talk about how to find freelance clients — tangible things you can do to position yourself and set yourself up for success.

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Show Notes

1:27 - Question from Andreas Trattner: I am a backend developer with 4+ years experience working on large systems in Europe and am considering moving toward freelancing/contracting. However, I find it difficult to discover quality opportunities. Any tips you can share on how to strategically get projects?

There isn’t a secret trove of work, and there’s no one way to do it.

4:50 - Relationships

Trust and relationships rule all. The best paying gigs are never advertised.
Who should you know?
- Other developers
  - How? Meetups, Conferences, Twitter, Slack rooms, Friends
  - Tip: Volunteering is a great way to get in to conferences, plus you often get to know people
  - Tip: If you are friends of a friend who gets a lot of work, as for a introduction
- Designers and marketers
  - You usually work together
  - How? Twitter, Email, Dribbble, Instagram
- Project managers
  - How? Cold emails, tweets
- Office managers
  - Life blood of the office - they know everyone
  - Often move into other roles
  - How? Meetups, previous employees
- Entrepreneurs
  - Lots of connections, often switching gears
  - How? Demo camps, Facebook marketing groups
- Venture capitalists
  - Have dozens of companies and tons of connections
  - How? Demo camps, introductions, cold email

19:08 - Display of expertise

It certainly is an option to just be really freaking good at what you do
Speaking at conferences and local meetups
Working on open source
- Helping in chat rooms
- Posting guides
- Maintaining docs
Offering reviews / Make things public
- Performance - Harry Roberts from CSS Wizardry
- Accessibility - HeydonWorks
- WordPress speed
- React checking
Start a podcast
Blogging
Volunteering

9:22 - Visibility

You need to let everyone know what you do. Your mom’s uncle’s friend’s cousin on Facebook might casually ask for recommendations.
Instagram / Photos. Showing people what you are doing and what you are working on will make a mental note in their head that you do that type of work.
Facebook / Twitter / Instagram
Blogging
- This makes the “vetting” process much easier
Tweeting
YouTube videos
Slack channels you are involved in

38:02 - Other tactics

SEO - Locality (Toronto designer), specific technologies (Redux contractor)
Craigslist
- This one sucks, but it can lead to decent work occasionally
- You need to be more vigilant in screening, most clients will suck
Cold asks - Just ask people what works well
- “Hey, I’m looking to book a few contracts starting June 2019. I love working with ______ and you can see my work here”
Put a phone number on your website. Seriously.
UpWork
- Won’t make as much money here because of competition
Local business listings
- Find online and offline biz listings
- Old fashioned — putting your card on bulletin boards

47:29 - Maintaining Relationships

Check in every few months with non-biz related contact
- But also just straight up ask for work
Christmas / Thank-you gifts

Links

Canadian Couch Potato

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Scott: Google Drive Scanner
Wes: Endy Mattress

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Hasty Treat - React Suspense Mar 18, 2019

Show notes

In this Hasty Treat, Scott and Wes talk about React Suspense — what it is, how it works, support and more!

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Show Notes

Not live yet - it may/will change. Be warned!

3:59 - The problem we have with React right now

API calls
Image loading
Code splitting

7:16 - What is React Suspense?

First we convert our async data fetching functions into resources
Resources can then be read inside render - above the return
Resources can be read from cache
Resources can be preloaded into a cache if you anticipate needing them
Resources reads are blocking for that function - you can’t return JSX until the resource is read
In your component that fetches data, there is no need to maintain a loading state
Then, anywhere higher up in that tree, you can introduce a suspense component
The suspense component can detect if any of it’s children are currently loading data
If they are, we can then choose to show a loader via the fallback prop
We can also choose to show nothing via the maxDelay prop — this is helpful for fast connections that shouldn’t see the spinner for a short split-second

15:20 - Support

React.lazy and suspense for code splitting is already here
The React.lazy function lets you render a dynamic import as a regular component
Loadable Components is recommended if you need splitting with SSR
Data Resources is not here yet

Links

React 16.x Roadmap

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Bootcamps vs School vs Self-learning Mar 13, 2019

Show notes

In this episode Wes and Scott talk about developer education — what to look for, what to avoid, and how to be a life-long learner with good problem solving skills.

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Show Notes

3:59 - Our experiences

Scott:
- Went to college - Go Blue!
- Worked odd jobs while self teaching
- Was mentored and taught more while working at my first job
- Self directed since then
- Started teaching via LUT in 2012
Wes:
- Went to university for Business Tech - entirely self-taught
- Led and created part-time HTML + CSS program at HackerYou
- Led and created first bootcamp at HackerYou
- Led and created first JS part-time at HackerYou
- Been offered jobs at colleges + universities

10:02 - School - $$$

Pros
- The best thing about school was unrestricted free time to find out what I enjoyed, which lead me to coding
- Co-ops can help you find what you like and what you don’t like
- Life skills that involve you being on your own and figuring things out more
- You are exposed to interesting people and ideas
- CS Degree work can open more career doors
- Professional networking
- Many companies wont hire you without some sort of bachelor’s degree (this might change)
Cons
- Not everyone has the time or money to devote two to five years to school — especially to something they might not end up enjoying
- Potentially outdated staff and course material
  - Wes was often asked to lead a video editing course, print design course and a web development course
- Lot’s of distractions

23:10 - Bootcamp - $$

Pros
- Very fast, lots of info, but can be a bit overwhelming
- You can get up-to-speed extremely quickly
- Focused on hire-ability and job-ready skills
- Focused information
- Personality is really the deciding factor here - lots of people do well, and some don’t
Cons
- Hit or miss — quality of bootcamps aren’t vetted, so do your research
- Talk to someone who took it, find out who the instructors are
- You absolutely must continue learning after the bootcamp
  - The bootcamp is just a push and you are expected to continue learning once you are done
- Not great for individuals that can’t handle the pace
- You have to quit your job

37:09 - Self-Taught - $

Pros
- Self-directed people will prevail here
- Can be drip-fed while earning money at another job
- Can be supplemented by a job (e.g. you are front-end and want to go full stack)
- Can get real world experience as a freelancer while you evolve
Cons
- Not for everyone
- Can be difficult to self-motivate
- Hard to get help - sometimes you can be stuck for hours on a two-second fix
- Potentially discouraging
- You might go down the wrong path without guidance on what you should learn

47:11 - Part Time Programs - $

Pros
- Fantastic way to get up to speed with a new tech
- Goes at a good pace - twice a week usually
- Offered on weekends and evenings where you can maintain a regular job
- Very low risk - you can try it out
Cons
- Might not be as fast as you like it
- Quality is all over the map

49:55 - Mentored Self Learning - $

Pros
- Best to do with a mentor on the job
- Mentor can help steer what to learn in your free time
- Good feedback and a place to ask lots of questions
Cons
- Can’t be done without someone willing to mentor you
- Only as good as your mentor

52:55 - What approach would we take?

Bootcamp > then immediately supplement with courses

Links

Notion

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Scott: Digital Minimalism by Cal Newport
Wes: American Kingpin

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Hasty Treat - Communication Skillz Mar 11, 2019

Show notes

In this Hasty Treat, Scott and Wes talk about communication — why it’s important, how to improve, building good habits, tools and more!

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Show Notes

3:59 - Why it’s important

Projects can live or die by the team’s communication
Project timelines can be disrupted leading to big problems with scheduling

5:53 - How to improve communication skills

PRACTICE
Pay attention to what works
Have a system – standups, weekly meetings, etc.
Over communicating can be annoying but effective
Realize that people can’t read your mind, so having your intentions and timelines public and known is important

9:12 - Building good habits

Need to practice
Build systems to support new habits

11:04 - Tools we use to communicate

Email / Standups
Notion
GitHub Issues
Slack
Missive

Links

Syntax 075: Hasty Treat - Feedback and Criticism

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Potluck - Are classes dead? × Tutorials vs Real Life × CRA vs Next × Scraping × More Mar 06, 2019

Show notes

It’s another potluck episode in which Wes and Scott answer your questions! This month - are classes dead?, tutorials vs real life, the smart home, developers and mental health, and more!

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Show Notes