NYCPHP Meetup

[Mark Armendariz]

Sorry to enter the conversation so late (had a minor outgoing email 
issue with the list)...

After 8 years of working from this desk in the windowed corner of my 
Brooklyn apartment, I couldn't disagree more with a lot of the sentiment 
in this thread.  Like tedd, I never have to look for or ask for steady 
and high paying work (rating a minimum of 100 hourly at rare occasion).  
I usually have 2 - 3 medium to large projects going at any given time, 
during which I have to turn down a couple others due to time constraints 
or disinterest.  Some of my clients have been with me for months and 
others for years and they keep coming back.  Best part being that I've 
never met the majority of them in person - some of them I've never even 
spoken to over the phone.

Don't get me wrong, I love to talk to my clients and whenever any happen 
to be in town (or I'm where they are), I make sure to buy them dinner or 
a drink or whatever their pleasure.  But when it comes to work, it's 
hard to find anything more reliable than email (or Maybe basecamp).  The 
secret is to over-communicate.  Make sure that you get your point across 
in a friendly and professional matter with more information than the 
client could possibly hope for (about the work, not the wardrobe), 
taking no chances that they'll "just get it".  It allows the client to 
feel free about opening up as well and provides a means of un-awkward 
communication with a "paper" trail.  If you find that the communication 
between you and your client is lacking, blame yourself.  As the 
professional, it's your fault.  Specs are always short-sighted on the 
first round, and only get better by hand-holding and lullabies and 
meeting face-to-face doesn't necessarily make that better - many times 
it makes it worse as you'll "feel" like they get what you're saying 
because they're nodding their heads trying not to look dumb.

As for the odd idea that the availability of work is diminishing - you 
couldn't be further from earth.  There is Plenty of work to go around 
for web programmers.     Especially if you care about your craft.  Our 
industry is Incredibly young.  There are TENS of THOUSANDS of businesses 
who have a sub-par web presence built a decade ago and most of them 
could benefit from an application that would help them run more 
efficiently right into the current century.  If you're pretty good at 
what you do with the ability to communicate with other human beings, you 
should be able to get paid whatever you need to get paid to live in 
comfort.  And if you can't communicate, find someone who can and give 
them a cut.

If you're not finding it here, there's plenty elsewhere. There are TONS 
of the smaller well-known design firms based in California.  They all 
need developers to implement their grandiose designs.  They have fortune 
500 clients.  They pay on time, happily.  They have little issue with 
working with someone from afar.  New York... well, I love the city and 
hence I live in Brooklyn, but I've very few New York clients - and 
that's not to say I don't have plenty offers for freelance work and 
employment here.  I'll just say that my clients elsewhere have generally 
been easier to work with - especially around pay day.

As for large projects.  While I agree that you won't easily find a big 
gig when solo - it is very possible.  Every large gig I get usually 
involves being invited to a team put together by one of my clients.  So, 
sure big gigs can be difficult, but they are absolutely possible if the 
right people know you're good at what you do.

And for the IT industry...  I left a high paying job as an IT manager on 
Wall Street long ago to program full time and I've slept much better since.


Mark Armendariz