NYCPHP Meetup

[Kristina Anderson]

Tom, like a lot of the folks on this list, I'm a PHP programmer 
developing internet applications (coding forms, building MySQL 
databases, meeting with clients to determine requirements, etc. etc.).  
I've been doing this (in different languages and platforms) for 10 
years and in PHP for the past 2 years (and love PHP!).  I do this for a 
living because I like doing it, I'd probably be better off in 
retirement if I went to law school in the near future but I don't want 
to do this.  I want to be a programmer.  I just want to get paid what 
my skills are WORTH as a programmer.

I'd love to charge my clients more.  And I've recently gotten wise to 
opportunities where clients are able to offer me part ownership of 
startups in addition to hourly consulting rates.  But...I do think that 
clients price things out and give bids to people who charge reasonable 
rates.  There is a reason I get 90% of the projects I bid on.  If I 
asked for $100 an hour, that would be great, but $100 an hour for 0 
hours is, well....zero dollars.

As a self employed person I'd love to hear any real, usable suggestions 
on how to increase income.  My network is great and I have tons of 
projects going, business is growing every day as I meet new 
people...but the market does price at a certain level and if I start 
asking for more than people can afford, or more than others with my 
same skills are getting paid...I am not going to get hired.

Your libertarian jawflap about how Social Security is  "hurting us" (I 
disagree) and how the market is totally open for me to charge whatever 
I want are well...interesting theory and pretty typical politics for a 
certain segment of the IT industry...but.  And saying I "look to 
others" to "solve my problems" is beyond a low blow, it's just too 
stupid a remark to even rebut.

Thanks,

Kristina

> Hi Kristina,
> 
> On Wed, Apr 16, 2008 at 4:59 PM, Kristina Anderson
> <ka at kacomputerconsulting.com> wrote:
> > Tom --
> >
> >  The average corporate attorney makes $200K.  The average attorney 
in
> >  business for themselves makes about the same.  The average CPA, 
about
> >  150K.  The average doctor, electrician, etc. etc. etc...way more 
than
> >  we do.
> 
> I have what I consider to be more than average experience with
> electricians and they are nice folks, but hardly what I'd call on the
> top of the "social status" scale and I would question what the average
> salary was, but I doubt your numbers.
> 
> Really, I doubt your "average".  But it doesn't matter.  You make what
> you do because that is what you are willing to work for.  Suppose the
> floor fell out of IT tomorrow (literally), and the going rate for PHP
> was $10 per hour.  Would you still do it?  Maybe for fun, but not as a
> job.  Why?  Because you won't work for that little.  You couldn't
> survive.  But you can survive on $80K (or whatever), so you do it.
> When you decide that $80K isn't enough, you'll stop working for that
> much.
> 
> >
> >  The AVERAGE programmer makes, what, 80K if on salary?  (I'm self
> >  employed and the hourly rate I can get from the clients is pretty
> >  constricted by the market, and I'm trying to bust open that 100K
> >  barrier but it won't be busted...I'm still on the losing end.)
> 
> Look at your market.  The "big" consulting firms charge much more and
> pay their people much more.  How come they are getting it and you are
> not?  That's the question you need to ask.  You shouldn't be looking
> for protection from the marketplace, you should be looking for ways to
> excel in it.
> 
> >
> >  Come on, work with us.
> >
> I am, really!  I'm telling you to not look to others to solve your
> problem - it won't help.  Look at things Social Security and pension
> plans.  These systems put the burden on others - and they both have
> severe flaws which are hurting us now.
> 
> Look at what you can do to excel.  How are your sales efforts
> (speaking for myself in my experience as a consultant - I always
> dreaded sales, but recently realized that it needs to be embraced, not
> feared)?  Professional networking?  Who is your customer?  Are their
> pockets deep enough?  Are you really taking advantage of your
> expertise (are you doing graphics when you are really a DBA at heart)?
>  How can you get the work done faster?  Can you invest in tools (store
> bought or that you create) to help?  Invest in services?  People?  Can
> you reuse code?  Are you tracking problems so that you don't make the
> same mistake again?
> 
> There are answers, but no one just pays more for your services "just 
because".
> 
> Tom
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