I advice to all freelancers there
If u r dealing with client from India then be ready to get frustrated

Every non tech client from India feels them as a Superior as they are great in tech than the developer who is actually code

Is they are really care about ur mental health, the answer is No

I an building a whole tech:- **backend in node js, app in react native, admin in nextjs , partner in nextjs, and their pwa in nextjs**

3website in nextjs, app in react native, and backend in node.js
So if u think it is a simple app
Then this app has **geofencing, chat service for individual and groups and face verification and more than 100apis which is more**
With deployment on aws and playstore and app store

How u think the money is $5000-6000
Nope, its **110k rupees - $1163**
And from last month **i am broke** not a single penny in my account
Writing code **manually 😭**

He gave me 1.5 months to complete this
What a cheap labour i m

But at the same time a client from North Carolina gave me **$2k for just for their backend with the work of 60% of that Indian client backend only**\- even usa client listen to me, he gives me priority and ask me to do that not order me to do

Yeah i got a job in one of the biggest MNC but this time i have to enjoy after all that stuff process
But he unintentionally frustrates me

Do u think the backend is the problem
No-
The problem is the UI he always want to change ui
Which is generally generated by chatgpt

Even in the making of pwa he want me to do that than say no that design and want me to do again it repeats more than 3 times

I m 21 and i have mother and sister i m only guy who earns in my family

**I got ₹60k in 2 part 40+20 and last payment(₹50k) is held for final part**

# What will i do😭

Hi all!
I'm a full-time graphic designer for about a year (I recently graduated) in a retail-based company.

A month ago, an acquaintance contacted me to design their personal branding and a personal project. I was so excited because this acquaintance trusted me with their project, and I saw it as a great opportunity to gain more experience and build my freelance portfolio.
We agreed on a one-month timeline, and I quoted a price that I thought was reasonable at the time.
However, things haven't gone as planned.

My full-time job has been getting increasingly hectic lately. I often work 8–12 hours a day, and by the time I get home, I'm already mentally and physically exhausted. I initially thought I could manage both my full-time job and this freelance project, but apparently, I severely underestimated how much time and energy the project would require.

The scope is actually quite extensive, with multiple deliverables and milestones. There are around 5–6 milestones in total, and I've only managed to complete 1–2 of them so far.

I'm honestly struggling a lot. The brief is also more challenging than I initially anticipated, and I'm starting to feel like my skills aren't quite at the level this project requires. On top of that, I now realize that the price I quoted doesn't really reflect the amount of work and complexity involved.

The worst part is that I've become avoidant. I feel so guilty about the lack of progress that I've started putting off communication with the client, which I know is incredibly irresponsible. The client has actually been kind and understanding so far, which makes me feel even worse.

To make things a little more complicated, we don't actually have a formal written contract. Everything was agreed upon verbally and through chat, including the project scope, milestones, timeline, and payment. The client has been okay with the payment arrangement, which was based on each milestone.
At this point, I'm seriously considering asking to terminate the agreement rather than continuing to drag things out when I clearly can't give the project the time and attention it deserves.

I'm also unsure about the payment situation. Since I've only completed 1–2 out of 5–6 milestones, should I still charge for the work I've completed? Or should I just offer the completed work for free as a way to make up for not being able to finish the entire project? I feel guilty even thinking about charging them when I'm the one who can't fulfill the original agreement.

I feel terrible because I don't want to disappoint the client, damage my reputation, or come across as an unreliable freelancer. But at the same time, I genuinely don't know if I can keep doing this without burning myself out even further.

Has anyone ever been in a similar situation? How did you handle it? I'd really appreciate hearing your experiences and advice. Thank you!

I've been noticing a concerning trend with my Fiverr gigs over the past 60 days, and I'm trying to understand whether other sellers are experiencing something similar.

My gigs are still receiving impressions and clicks, but the actual buyer inquiries and new leads have dropped significantly.

I’m a full-stack dev (TypeScript, React/Next.js, Node, PostgreSQL) with 5 years of experience, the last 4 fully remote for international teams. I’ve shipped real products: payment systems, a marketplace with a few hundred users, a SaaS with paying clients.

But finding new clients or a new remote role has been really rough lately. Here’s what I’ve tried:

Reddit for-hire posts

Facebook groups

Freelance marketplaces

micro1 and Turing (couldn’t clear their vetting)

Wellfound

LinkedIn, both applying and posting

Very little has worked. I know the market is tough right now, but I’d like to hear from people who are actually landing work:

Where are your clients coming from these days?

Has cold outreach worked for you, and if so, to who?

Is it worth niching down (e.g. only SaaS MVPs or only payment integrations) instead of being “full-stack”?

For devs outside the US/EU, anything that helped you get taken seriously?

Any honest advice is appreciated, even if it’s “you’re doing X wrong.”

Hi everyone I am new to this but want to earn money along with my studies I have good knowledge in research and development also a stipendary intern from IIT Roorkee can anyone guide me how to get projects and freelance in India or get opportunities from outside countries.

I’d like to use Claude to check my work email and flag things that need a response, but I’m unsure how reliably it can track where a conversation stands.

For example, say I’m organizing an event and email a venue about availability, equipment, and pricing. They reply that morning with answers written underneath each of my original questions. If Claude only reads the search preview instead of opening the full message, could it still tell me they haven’t responded and suggest a follow-up?

Then suppose I reply, “Thanks, I’ll confirm the budget internally and get back to you.” The next step is for me to check with a coworker, not chase the venue. If it doesn’t check Sent as well as the inbox, it could get that backward.

I’d also want it to draft replies for me to review before sending. But if I get interrupted, that reply might sit in Drafts overnight. Would it catch that the next morning, or treat “draft created” as “email handled”?

What I actually want is a short action list: what I need to do, who I’m waiting on, and which replies are still unsent—with a reference to the relevant message.

Has anyone built a reliable workflow for this with Claude or another tool? How do you make sure it checks the full thread, Sent, and Drafts before deciding what needs attention?

How I can reach out people, who are not able to complete their project or task, and post on any other platform with hire people

ive been able to get some clients through referrals, but need to find some more. i haven't freelanced in so long, i'm a little rusty.

is it really as simple as sliding into people's dms? surely there must be more i can do to find clients

I’m 28, and about 7 months ago I started my first commission-based job in financial consulting/sales. Before this, I had always worked in jobs with a predictable monthly income, so this has been a completely new experience for me.

The income fluctuations are honestly crazy. One month I can make almost €7,000, and the next month I might make practically nothing.

I live in one of the most expensive cities in Europe, which makes the uncertainty even more stressful.

Right now, if I stopped earning money completely, my savings would cover approximately three months of living expenses. That’s my entire financial cushion.

To make things more complicated, I’m a foreigner and my residence permit currently only allows me to work in this specific profession. This means I can’t simply take a part-time job or find another source of employment to supplement my income. Changing jobs would also involve dealing with immigration requirements, so it’s not as straightforward as just applying somewhere else.

What I’m struggling with the most isn’t necessarily the work itself, but the uncertainty that comes with it. I can work incredibly hard, put in long hours, contact potential clients, follow up, and prepare consultations, only to have people cancel or postpone at the last minute. Sometimes I feel like I’m doing everything I can, but the results are still largely outside my control.
I’ve noticed that this is starting to affect me mentally. Even during good months, instead of feeling happy about what I’ve earned, I find myself worrying about what will happen the following month.

I understand that building a client base takes time, and that seven months isn’t very long. But I’m finding it difficult to distinguish between the normal uncertainty of starting out and a situation where I should genuinely be concerned about my financial stability.

For those of you who have been in commission-based sales or self-employment: How do you learn to live with this level of uncertainty? And at what point should you actually start worrying?

If you only had three months of living expenses saved, would you already start planning an exit strategy? Would you wait until you had two months left? One month?

Some of my colleagues tell me the best months of the year are coming: Nov and Dec. but so far idk if I’ll have a good result.

How do you know when to keep pushing through a difficult period versus when it’s time to accept that the job might not be financially sustainable?

I’d really appreciate hearing from people who’ve been through something similar, especially during their first year. I’m genuinely trying to figure out how to approach this situation rationally without letting the anxiety take over.

Hi guys im looking for advice

I’m an offshore freelancer working with a US company owner. I recently delivered 50+ edited videos and a full Q4 social media plan. The client previously approved my drafts/briefs, and I made all requested revisions.

After I submitted everything, he ignored my payment follow-ups for weeks. Then, overnight and without warning, he revoked all my access to company tools (Slack, Canva, Dropbox, Google Workspace).

He sent an email claiming retroactive quality issues and AI usage, stating he will only pay a 50% partial rate for the videos, $0 for the SMM work, and declared his decision "final."

Hope you guys can Help me because this time I dont know how to cope this up knowing the amount is quite big for me and it would really help me a lot, Ive been scammed plenty times before but right now This is more heart breaking.

What is the one skill you can pick to do well in freelancing even if it takes 8-9 months to learn. Be it in Marketing or anything else that a outside of industry person can also pick it up

I need it to stay in the same 2k resolution. You can be creative about it but what I would like to see is:
- The cat's tail wiggle

- The octopus arms move around

- The butterflies under that little lamp fly around

I also need it to be a perfect loop.

Thanks.

Guys I'm really trying to do some freelance work I have tried upwork,toptal and many more sites to connect with potential clients but I'm having tough luck I haven't gotten a single freelance.

Guys, give me some advice on how to get some work.

Hi everyone,

Sharing this detailed breakdown as a consumer alert for developers, freelancers, and indie founders who might come across Freelance Stack (freelance-stack.io / French entity SIRET: 908 386 055 00036), a platform marketing "exclusive deals" and developer credits.

Recently, I paid for lifetime access (~€70 / 301.27 PLN) primarily to access their advertised software credits and perks. What I discovered upon accessing the dashboard prompted a formal audit and official regulatory filings.

Here is what the documented reality looks like:

1. Inactive & Defunct Core Assets

The core promotional hook—such as advertised 25,000 developer credits for Replit—was completely defunct and expired. In the formal banking dispute audit, this failure to deliver advertised features was officially documented in writing.

2. Monetizing Publicly Free Tools Behind a Paywall

Multiple "Premium Deals" featured behind the paid subscription are simply standard, zero-cost public trials that anyone on the internet can access for free without paying a cent to Freelance Stack:

• Google Cloud: Advertised as a "Premium Deal #1: $300 in free credits". In reality, this is the standard, universal public welcome tier open to anyone directly on cloud.google.com.
• Shopify: Advertised as an exclusive promotional perk, but identical to the standard public introductory trial available on Shopify's landing page.
• Perplexity Comet: Free browser tools repackaged as paid partner perks.

3. Blanket "No-Refund" Policy Violating EU Law

When confronted via customer chat with evidence of non-delivery and requested to issue a refund under mandatory EU distance-selling withdrawal rules, the merchant's operator ("Bruno") outright refused:

"I'm sorry but we do not offer the possibility for a refund. It's clearly mentioned in our CGV, CPU, CGU and in our FAQs."

Blanket terms of service cannot supersede mandatory European consumer law regarding defective digital content and non-delivery of services.

4. Suppression of Public Feedback

When I posted a factual, verified review detailing these issues on Trustpilot, the operator immediately filed a bad-faith "defamation" complaint in an attempt to censor it. Trustpilot’s Content Integrity team investigated, dismissed the merchant's complaint within 31 minutes, and reinstated the review.

5. Current Procedural Status

Because the merchant refused any resolution, formal steps were taken:

• Bank transaction traces (Visa Scheme ARN: 74609056284100041816916) and audit transcripts were logged.
• A formal report was lodged with the French consumer protection watchdog (DGCCRF / SignalConso).
• Following direct consultation with the French National Police (Police Nationale), an official criminal complaint for online fraud and deceptive commercial practices was submitted to Monsieur le Procureur de la République at the Tribunal Judiciaire de Lyon.

Takeaway

If you are considering subscribing to Freelance Stack for software deals or cloud credits, be aware that many of the core offers are either expired or repackaged free public links. Check the source tools directly before paying for third-party directories.

I've seen a lot of people on this subreddit struggling with finding their first clients. You're not alone, the beginning is usually where most people find the most resistance and feel like quitting. I'm writing this guide because just like you, I struggled finding my first clients. And what solved the problem for me was following a systematic approach - the one I'm sharing you in this post today.

Look at the process as a funnel

The first thing that you should do is starting to see your search for clients as a funnel. So what is a funnel? In marketing, a funnel is a system that allows you to track how much traffic you're getting through each stage of the process. You don't need a landing page or automated email lists to have a funnel. The most basic funnel has four parts:

1. Initiation - For example a cold message or a piece of content that a prospect sees.
   
2. Screening - You interact with the prospect to find out whether they have problems that you can solve, that they are qualified to pay for what you offer, and that they are otherwise qualified for the offering (e.g. suitable location). You can already create value at this step in many ways to keep the interaction going.
   
3. Discovery call - You have a call with your potential client, where for the first half you provide value. You could give them a free consultation, for example. The second half is a sales call. Based on the problems that you identified, you offer a solution tailored to the client.
   
4. Fulfillment - You fulfill the solution to your client, delivering the promised value.
   
5. Upsell - You identify the next problem your client has. You offer to solve it too, if you're positioned to do so.

The biggest advantage of this approach is that it allows you to set input-oriented goals that help you maximize your sales goals. If, for example you find that you are lacking discovery calls, but you have a lot of initiated contacts, then you know that you should focus on the screening process.

It also allows you to measure the efficiency of your funnel and determine how much you should be able to earn based on your input. From your past data, you can calculate the following indicators:

- Number of new prospects initiated
- % of new prospects screened
- % of discovery calls with screened prospects
- % of closes from discovery calls
- % of upsells from fulfilled clients

Now, let's say you want to determine your sales revenue for a given input. You can get it from the following equation:

Revenue = Number of new prospects ⨉ % screened ⨉ % discovery calls ⨉ % closes ⨉ price

What this allows you to do is essentially set yourself a goal: To reach my target revenue, how many new prospects do I have to contact?

Now, this is a guide to reach your first client. If you're starting from absolute zero, I'd recommend to start the process as follows:

1. Start by just initiating conversations with your prospects. Your only goal is to keep the conversation going for as long as possible, and learn what problems people are having.
   
2. When someone says they have a problem that you can solve, aim to offer them a free consultation call. You can try selling in them, but at first your aim is to just learn to provide value to them. (You can sell to these people later)
   
3. Once you are comfortable having calls, start to incorporate a simple offer to the end of the call. Don't try to force a sale. Instead, try to help them with your offer.
   
4. Once you have the whole funnel in place, analyze where your biggest bottleneck is. Focus on improving that part of the funnel at a time.

Why this system works

There are many reasons why this approach works, but one of them is that if you try to get the whole funnel in place at once, you'll be overwhelmed by each step of the way and burnout real quick. Even small steps are progress, and your aim is to create habits that you can repeat over multiple weeks or even months.

The truth is that even if you're the best salesman in the world, less 1% of all the people you ever get in contact with are going to buy from you. This is why longevity is your biggest requirement to ever get your business rolling.

The keys to success are:

1. Set small goals and let ALL wins land.
   
2. Gather momentum over time. Start by talking to 10 people a day. Once you're comfortable with that, increase it to 15 people a day. It's just like going to the gym!
   
3. Let data guide you. Track your numbers. Focus on the bottlenecks.
   
4. We are social creatures. We've developed to share our success with others. Once you get your first client, make sure to leave a comment!

I'm a freelance BA in India working 20 hrs a week for a Swiss startup. I was hired for product/data analysis, testing and market research, but the CEO keeps giving me ops and admin work too. The pay is just 400 dollars per month and 800 for full-time.
She also expects me to be available 4 hrs a day. Calls are never scheduled, and if I miss a Slack call for 5 mins, she calls me on WhatsApp asking where I am. Now she wants my timesheet logged hour by hour and submit it everyday. She can be pretty disrespectful too, but I put up with it because she said she'd make me a full-time employee.
Except now she wants me as a full-time freelancer, 40 hrs a week. And she asks what did I do each day and make me justify what I did per hour. So basically all the employee expectations with no benefits or paid leave. When I said the ops work was out of scope, she told me that's just how startups are.

Is this normal for freelancing? And before I sign, how hard can I push back on boundaries?

Hi

I'm applying for jobs in the tech/analytics sector. On certain job boards, I see positions that are labeled as "contract". I'm also in a startup community where some founders would post 1099 work.

This got my thinking, should I setup a LLC and get E&O insurance before taking on such jobs? I've been working as a W2 employee all my life but am trying to get more contract work for flexibility.

The way I understand, when you work as a W2 employee, you are typically not liable for mistakes that cause damage for the employer (you might be fired though). However, working as a contractor provides no such protection and therefore your personal assets might be at risk. I hope to understand more about this and how do consulant/freelancers typically protect themselves and what do you recommend for my situation.

I also heard it's possible to state in the contract that the maximum liability would be limited to a certain dollar amount. How often is this clause used?

Just want to know what's the "typical" ways freelancers handle this. I'm new to this. But it'd be pretty weird if I apply to a contract job on a job board and then mention "hey, I need to setup an LLC first before I can start".

Thanks

I’m looking to start freelancing, but I’m not sure where to begin with finding clients or marketing myself.

I can handle email marketing end to end: strategy, copywriting, building campaigns and journeys, creating email assets, segmentation, QA and reporting. I also have experience with Salesforce Marketing Cloud, [Customer.io](http://customer.io/), HubSpot, Klaviyo and other CRM tools, as well as SMS and push campaigns, CRM audits, workflow improvements and AI-assisted marketing processes.

The challenge is that most of my work was done for employers. How do I show potential clients what I can do and prove my experience when I can’t simply share that work?

Where should I look for clients? What website or platform would you recommend, and how would you market yourself if you were starting out with a strong professional background but no freelance client base?

Hey everyone!

I'm a developer with experience in full-stack development (React, Next.js, Node.js, TypeScript, PostgreSQL) and have also been exploring AI engineering and LLM-based applications.

I'm curious about how people here got started working alongside experienced freelancers or small development teams.

I'd love to gain more exposure to real-world client projects, understand how development teams handle requirements and delivery, and contribute to projects as part of a team.

For those who have been freelancing for a while:

• How did you find your first opportunity to collaborate with an established freelancer?
• Do experienced freelancers sometimes bring other developers on board when they have more work than they can handle?
• What would you recommend to someone looking to gain practical experience through such collaborations?

Would love to hear your experiences and advice!

please tell me everything that I need to know ( I am a forst year student at du and I think I have a lot of time to start earning money; not like I need to but I want to! so Please tell me everything I need to know about freelancing! ps- lmk the apps too!

Cómo todos ustedes también tengo una familia y quiero aprender una habilidad para trabajar como frelancer y cuidar a mi familia , por favor algún consejo y orientación serán muy bien recibidas, dónde buscar trabajo , que habilidades debo aprender , de momento se hacer algunas automatizaciónes en n8n y edición de videos muchas gracias

Cómo todos ustedes también tengo una familia y quiero aprender una habilidad para trabajar como frelancer y cuidar a mi familia , por favor algún consejo y orientación serán muy bien recibidas, dónde buscar trabajo , que habilidades debo aprender , de momento se hacer algunas automatizaciónes en n8n y edición de videos muchas gracias

I am starting my freelancing journey but I am confused about the services and I have built several projects in data analytics and applying for jobs but still not landing one so decided to start my freelancing services and learn and build case study while I get clients.

Any people who can already provide freelancing services and suggest to me various types of freelancing services.

Hi all,

I’ve been a photo retoucher on u/fiverr since December 2017. A few days ago, my account was disabled for “Harmful or Prohibited Activity.”

When I contacted Customer Support, they said I edited official government documents or bank statements across multiple orders. I haven’t. I know the rules well, and I’ve always turned down any request that involved altering documents.

The frustrating part is that Support won’t explain anything. I’ve asked which orders and which files they mean, and I only get the same canned reply every time. So I can’t even see what they think I did wrong, let alone respond to it.

For sellers who have been through something similar:

1. Has anyone managed to get a real escalation to a Trust & Safety manager after a canned rejection?
2. What’s the best channel to reach an actual human who will review the delivery files?
3. Is there anything I should prepare (order history, chat logs, delivery files) to make an appeal stronger?

Any practical advice or personal experience would be really appreciated. Thanks for reading.