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Any hope for freelance PHP developers?

Discussion in 'HTML & Website Design' started by David26, Oct 3, 2014.

  1. #1
    Hello, I started PHP/SQL/HTML programming back in 2002 and had been successful at it up until 2012 when I decided to change into another job field. I am thinking about going back into freelance PHP development and was wondering if there is still an opportunity to make a decent living wage without having to struggle every second to grab a new client? Please let me know if things are still going well for this profession. The main reason I quit programming is since I can code everything from scratch whereas everyone wants to use wordpress and other frameworks now. Thanks.
     
    David26, Oct 3, 2014 IP
  2. COBOLdinosaur

    COBOLdinosaur Active Member

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    #2
    According to http://w3techs.com/ about 82% of publicly facing websites use PHP, on the other hand only 23% use Wordpress which has about 2 thirds of the market so the majority of sites are not using the bloated crap that gets generated by the amateur off the shelf CMS. the bigger problem is the number of wannabe developers using client side bloatware plugins to generate client side with jquery and totally trash the DOM, standards and maintainability. If you have "write from scratch" skills then you are like the one eyed man in the land of the blind.

    There are all kinds of third rate developers around dumping out crap using tools and working cheap, but they don't keep clients very long and for a competent developer charging fair hourly rates it is a good time to be in the profession in most markets markets in North America and Europe. In the rest of the world; crap reigns because site owners are looking for cheap; quick turn around; and geewhiz presentation that 12-year old kids are very good at producing using off the shelf feces based bloatware.
     
    COBOLdinosaur, Oct 4, 2014 IP
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  3. David26

    David26 Well-Known Member

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    #3
    I totally agree with your post thanks. The bad part is that a lot of uninformed clients think that any script off the net is safe so they rather use that than a pro.
     
    David26, Oct 4, 2014 IP
  4. COBOLdinosaur

    COBOLdinosaur Active Member

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    #4
    The way to deal with morons like that is to give them your card and tell them to call you when the site fails or they get hacked and need a professional to do the site right. There is little point in debating them because there is no cure for stupidity. However if they are just ignorant, then the education they get from a crashed, hacked or worthless site will be more that you could teacher them with a month of tutorials.

    I don't know how competitive a market you are in, but my experience is that a quality developer who refuses to compromise on quality will outlast the third rate trash merchants who are busy fixing the crap they unloaded, or hiding from the owners they screwed.

    The key is to have the confidence to walk away from morons knowing that they are headed for quicksand and you have better options to pursue where you can actually make a profit.

    Anyone can call themselves a developer, programmer, web designer, seo specialist, or anything else. The proof is in delivery, and fortunately the cream rises to the top even in very competitive and aggressive markets.
     
    COBOLdinosaur, Oct 5, 2014 IP
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  5. usemyteam

    usemyteam Member

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    #5
    Hi! There are still many companies looking for PHP developers. People think PHP is not so much helpful but in fact many online companies seek the help of PHP developers in their website development. I dont know the specifics and updates but Im pretty sure this is still a good career.
     
    usemyteam, Oct 6, 2014 IP
  6. ethansamuel17

    ethansamuel17 Greenhorn

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    #6
    Without putting any efforts, you can not get anything. So, You need to put some efforts to settle as a freelancer.
     
    ethansamuel17, Oct 7, 2014 IP
  7. tadigpo

    tadigpo Peon

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    #7
    Also pretty interesting, the cms usage statistics: http://trends.builtwith.com/cms
    Wordpress only 45%, isn't that surprising?
     
    tadigpo, Oct 14, 2014 IP
  8. COBOLdinosaur

    COBOLdinosaur Active Member

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    #8
    45% sounds about right. About half of websites are using a CMS, so a 45% market share is probably in line with the w3techs stat that 23% of sites are using Wordpress. I might also add that a very large percentage of the Wordpress developers are not professionals who actually make a living doing WP sites full time, because for the most part is is a low end solution, and the real money is for custom sites written by professionals who can actually code their content management without the bloat and security issues you get with the stuff designed to be easy for novices.
     
    COBOLdinosaur, Oct 14, 2014 IP
  9. deathshadow

    deathshadow Acclaimed Member

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    #9
    When I was freelancing that's what I built my reputation as -- the guy you call when things go wrong or to clean up other people's messes. You build a reputation for doing that and doing it well, you can have clients knocking down your door coming to you instead of having to spend all sorts of time the other way around.

    ... and it's why I still get people coming along hat-in-hand despite my being on doctors orders not to work anymore; not that said doctors orders stops me as much as it should... I have great difficulty just sitting around with my thumb wedged up my backside.
     
    deathshadow, Oct 17, 2014 IP
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  10. malky66

    malky66 Acclaimed Member

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    #10
    lol...no one could ever accuse you of that.:)
     
    malky66, Oct 18, 2014 IP
  11. COBOLdinosaur

    COBOLdinosaur Active Member

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    #11
    Right thumb or left thumb? ;)
     
    COBOLdinosaur, Oct 20, 2014 IP