How To Become A Freelance Web Developer With Visiple

NEW LONDON, Conn. - Oct. 10, 2016 - PRLog -- Can you give us a brief intro?  How long have you been doing web development?  What is your background and specialty?
My name is Philip Bowles and I first became interested in web development when I was 15 and played around with creating Star Wars fan sites…The web has come a long way since then. I took a different career path than most to get to where I am today. I had always told myself that I didn't want a computer desk job (even though that was what I was always interested in). After 15 years of working in retail and spending 5 of those years as a store manager of a large natural foods grocery chain, I had decided I had enough and took the plunge.

The summer of 2013 was when I got back into web development and made the decision that it was what I wanted to do. I began hitting the books hard and finding any online resource I could get my hands on to get myself up to speed. Over the next 4 years, I had read about 20 books on HTML, CSS, JavaScript, and PHP as well as used online learning tools like #Team Treehouse, #CodeAcademy, FreeCodeCamp, PluralSight, Lynda.com, Udemy, and Udacity. I was determined to get myself job ready and make a career switch.

After getting my Nanodegree I took the plunge and turned in my notice at the company I had spent just over 10 years at. I didn't have anything lined up but I had saved up about a year's pay and was ready to devote myself full time to learning more about web development and finding a job. This was a big decision and not something I took lightly…

Do you have any tips on people looking to move into freelancing?
Do your research – Read up on the reddit freelance channel, read blog posts, etc…Whatever you can get your hands on. There are a ton of possible mistakes to be made as a new freelancer. Learn from other people's mistakes and read! I can't tell you how many times I feel like I dodged a bullet because I had read about someone else's horror story.

Save, save, save – Freelancing is scary. Especially when you first start out…The fact that you might not know when and where your next paycheck is coming from can be terrifying, especially when you have people depending on you, car payments, mortgage, etc…

Customer service – This is something that I feel gave me a huge advantage over other freelancers/developers. Working in retail for 15 years, I knew the value of great customer service and just how important it is when dealing with people. It all comes down to communication and just treating people with respect and honesty.

How do you find most of your clients?
I've found most of my clients to date on Upwork. It takes a little extra work to weed through all of the cheap jobs on there, but once you get started and you figure out how things work, there are actually a decent number of solid jobs on the site. I've been fortunate enough to obtain a good number of great clients.

What does your typical work day look like?
This is one I struggle with and still haven't quite figured out. I work from home and wouldn't have it any other way. But I've struggled to find a routine I'm 100% happy with. I'm an early riser and find that I do some of my best work first thing in the morning. So I wake up at 6am and get started right away while I'm having coffee. Around 9 or 10 I'll usually take a break and go for a run, shower, then get back to it. I'll sometimes go out to eat or work from the local Starbucks for awhile but I typically eat lunch at home and enjoy working from my desk in my home office.

Do you have a proper office and how much thought went into setting it up?
Yes, I've got a small office in the house which I put quite a bit of thought into.

Are there any invaluable skills you believe a person must have to be a freelancer and work remotely?
Determination, discipline, routine, and people skills. You've also got to be able to take care of and enjoy all of the aspects of your business, not just the development side. Acquiring clients, onboarding, billing, all of it is on you. You've got to be disciplined above all else though because there is no one standing over your shoulder telling you to work harder or what to do and when. It's all on you.

To you, what is the biggest advantage to being a freelancer?  And are there any regular stresses associated with it?
I really enjoy not answering to someone else or doing mindless work just because someone said so. I can work with the clients I want to work with, do it in the comfort of my own home, and have the flexibility to work when I want to. Honestly, I put in more hours a week than I did when I was working retail. The difference is I enjoy what I'm doing now and I know that I'm investing that time in my own business and growing something that really matters to me

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