Tools of the Trade: What Tools I Use for iOS Consulting | Hacker News Reader

Tools of the Trade: What Tools I Use for iOS Consulting

brandontreb.com

27 pointsbrandontreb9 comments

As a web app contractor / sometimes consultant, I'll also recommend framework-specific job boards ([1] & [2] for example).

[1] http://www.djangohire.com/a/jbb/find-jobs [2] http://djangogigs.com/

I'll second Freshbooks. Awesome for invoicing, receiving invoices and now importing expenses from your cards & accounts. It pretty much handles everything you need for collections, receivables and taxes.

I'll second LinkedIn as well. Keeping a network of people you've worked with and paying for the business account allows you to find (your network * 3) of potential sources to introduce yourself to. Ihaven't tried the jobs feature - will do now that you've recommended it.

Recruiters work too. They are expensive to your bottom line but mitigate risk. They typically have 6 month waiting periods after you've finished a contract before you can work with the client directly - and I recommend you wait patiently then let the client know you are now independent.

I'll finish with this: know who you are targeting. LinkedIn has an industry and location search - your acquisition strategy should too.

Cashboard (http://cashboardapp.com) is also a fantastic invoicing tool, and their free plan gives you some different options from what Freshbooks gives you.

He doesn't mention one if the most important things, time tracking, I use harvestapp there is also toggl, both are great to keep a log of the time you spend on a project, with reports and invoicing.

Ahh, perhaps that wasn't obvious. I do all of my time tracking inside of Freshbooks. That way there is no discrepancy when I bill the clients.

Really useful. Not sure how I've missed CocoaPods or Freshbooks but I'm off to check them out. Thanks

Linkedin seems to be very interesting! Other feedbacks about linkedin?

I don't understand why you would make posts like this, OP. I really don't.

Your target market for this post: people who are either iOS consultants or want to become iOS consultants

Your competition in the workplace: people who are either iOS consultants or want to become iOS consultants

Telling people where you find jobs and how you find jobs is just mind-boggling to me. The number one way to lower your ROI for said gigs is to increase your competition.

Hey Scott,

I totally understand your perspective. However, this is Hacker News. It's all about the community and helping other hackers out. To be honest, there is such a huge sea of work out there, I would be happy if others would take some of it on.

I have to reject a few contracts a week due to the volume that seems to be coming in. Also, you might not have guessed it, but posts like this help bring me more work than anything else.

I would definitely worry about what you are saying if mobile development was a race to the bottom and only about getting the cheapest price. Then I would be screwed. However, if you hone your skills and are at the top of your game, you should never have issues competing for contracts.

Cheers!

To be honest, there is such a huge sea of work out there, I would be happy if others would take some of it on... However, if you hone your skills and are at the top of your game, you should never have issues competing for contracts.

Life is long, Brandon. What's "hot" today might not be so hot tomorrow. Teaching an army of followers to do things the same way you do is just a race to the bottom (of the hourly/project rate variety certainly). The more you train, the faster you will find it harder to find work. The faster you train them, the sooner it is that someone else's rates will be played against yours in a bidding war. It's not rocket science we're talking about here; there is no debate about whether this will or won't happen. I think market economics are such that, if you/others cause the bottom end to drop (in price due to more competition), that the top end will drop correspondingly.

I always chuckle a bit about this and think, "Is this the sort of thing Sun Tzu advocated in The Art of War?" I can imagine a five-star general posting his "Here's our strategy in detail" on a public forum haha.

Jacques Matthiej has my favorite post on this topic: http://jacquesmattheij.com/So+you+are+making+good+money+now+...

Here's a tip: if you ever want to get downvoted, post that link. All the copycats at HN hate it when someone posts it. They want everyone telling them what/how to "be successful" rather than them having to actually work at it.

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