| Like you, I was once in the same position. Extremely poor, I literally hand drew business cards and cut them out of cardboard and walked around the city to hand-deliver them. This helped as someone eventually gave me a chance, but I'm sure it's because he felt sorry for me. I had no experience and learnt how to code from making free photo copies of the pages in the visual basic 6 book at the local public library. Where I'm from (South Africa), internet was expensive and not accessible to all at the time. Some advice for your situation: - You are at the bottom, your only way from there is up - this is something to be excited about. - Fake it until you make it. When meeting potential clients, talk the talk and do the walk later. - You'd be surprised at how many SME's need IT services and don't know it yet :) You can simply walk in the door and have a chat to them. - Put your ego away and always be aware that in order to eat, you need to sell. Selling is actually pretty simple if have a bit of confidence. - Look after your laptop with your life, it's your key to getting out of your situation. - If you can write code, it most likely means that you can solve problems logically - this doesn't only apply to coding, figure out where you can use that and make a bit of money. - Don't be afraid of charging for your time. Poverty is also a mindset, as soon as you realize that, you are one step closer to getting past it. - Just ask for help. You are not alone and most people will be sympathetic when they are asked. - You don't need to prove yourself to anyone in order to survive, simply do what you do best and the rest will follow. Goodluck!
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