[AndrewLuke]

One thing freelancers should consider is how they present themselves to the market. I used to simply knock on doors as a sole freelancer. That would get me some work, but it was inconsistent. I would be booked for two months, then out of work for three. After reading patio11's blog, and some marketing books, I decided to stop marketing myself as a freelancer. From that point forward, I would lead a software/hardware development firm. It made a big difference. I now market more easily, and land better clients. Plus it allows for me to hire other developers and share the work between all. It also allows for me to launch products through the firm. Which improves our market presence, and increases our workload. Its a win-win.

[tocomment]

Can you expand a bit more on the difference. What do you say exactly?

Why do you think it makes a difference?

[bdunn]

It's all about risk.

It's risky for a business to hire someone to "write code", which is how the average freelancer positions themselves. The act of writing code doesn't necessarily translate to the hiring business being better off than they were before they hired you.

Consultants positions themselves to align with the underlying business problem and recognize themselves as an investment vessel, not an expense. "Ah, so your employees are wasting dozens of hours a week on dealing with this crazy Excel spreadsheet that runs your business? Let's find out how we can put together a solution together that will dramatically lower the time spent fiddling around in cells. A quick back of the napkin calculation... your employees dump about 30 hours into this spreadsheet a week. If you're paying $50 an hour to keep these people on payroll, that's close to $100k a year in spreadsheet overhead. Here's what I'm thinking..."

[AndrewLuke]

To add:

If this is a new product project, a firm is simply positioned better than a sole freelancer. Business value stability, and a firm provides the perception of stability.

[agibsonccc]

It's all about how you present yourself. You can either present yourself as a programmer which is a cost, or a guy who will double a person's sales by providing a great value add.

An example: Programmer: I'm a freelancer. I will make this website for you. My rate is $X/hr. We can expect to have it done within a month.

Firm: A partnership with us will provide you with a vehicle to double sales and reduce costs by 10% due to employee labor time.

You could also say: This contract service will output a service which will save your sale's reps 100 hours in time per week.

All of these "outputs" are typically a website. A client doesn't care what you pick to do it. They care more about how you produce value and what you do for them.

One is positioned as a cost. Another as a value add. Not only will you be able to charge in proportion to the value add, but you won't limit your amount of revenues you can make with a client due to trading time for money rather than value.

[AndrewLuke]

It is very simple.

As a freelancer, I was seen as disposable. Akin to a construction worker standing in front of Home Depot waiting to get some work. As a firm, people see it as a place that provides solutions to their problems. If they need some software written, they can come to the firm, and it will be done dependably. As a freelancer, they would call me, and hope I was available.

The only downside to the firm is that people believe it is more expensive to employ it, than to hire a freelancer. I still work for the same rates as before (lower than in the Valley). If another developer has to be sub-contracted, then I start to negotiate from the developer's rate. I only charge a bit more to cover risk (insurance, mostly). But all of the people in the my network have proved to be reliable and hard workers. Once (we) programmers find a good source of work, we treat it with love and respect.

I will take the opportunity to invite anyone who might be interested in getting to know the firm to contact us through our website(in my profile).