Hit Subscribe Freelancer Q&A

Is It Worth It to Bring in Subcontractors?

If you establish a practice and start to earn a good bit of business, sooner or later you'll have to contend with the decision of whether or not to bring on subcontractors to help you. Should you do it?
 
View this podcast as a video on YouTube.
 
Link of the week:
Get Started With Salesforce QA and Testing: A Tutorial

Will ChatGPT Replace Freelance Programming?

I resisted talking about ChatGPT as long as humanly possible, but I did wind up getting a question in the backlog about it. So, will ChatGPT replace freelance programming?
 
View this podcast as a video on YouTube.
 
Links of the week:
How to Do Test Data Management in Agile: 8 Best Practices
Android testing: An easy introduction with examples

Freelancer or Self Employed: What Should You Call Yourself?

If you go into business for yourself, what should you call yourself? Freelancer? Self-employed? Something else?
 
View this podcast as a video on YouTube.
 
Link of the week:
Enov8: The IT & Test Environments Management Company

What Bookkeeping Software Should I Use to Freelance?

If you're thinking of hanging out your shingle or have just done so, you might wonder whether to use bookkeeping software and, if so, what to use. I have a surprisingly specific and opinionated answer for this one.
 
View this podcast as a video on YouTube.
Link of the month:
TEM Metrics - Test Environment Management (DOT) Com
 

How Freelancers Can Avoid Self Employment Tax

When you go off on your own, at least in the US, you might be in for a rude tax awakening. In this video, I talk about what self-employment tax is, and what you can do about it.
 
View this podcast as a video on YouTube.
 
Links of the Month:
An in-depth look at spike testing with examples
Follow our podcast at Iheart!
Automate web and mobile testing with AI
Metrics vs. Logs: When to Use Each in Your Telemetry Stack
DORA Metrics Dashboard: How to Build One, With Examples
 

Which Meetings with Clients Should I Bill For?

You're a freelancer and doing regular work with your clients. If you bill by the hour or, more generally, for time and materials, which meetings should you bill the clients for?
 
View this podcast as a video on YouTube.
 
Links of the Month:
What are the different types of release management?
Follow our podcast at Buzzsprout
Follow our podcast at Listennotes

When Do You Look Too Much Like an Employee?

Freelancers, especially newbie freelancers, can find themselves caught in situations where their only, large, 40-hour-per week client starts to treat them more like an employee than a freelancer. What should you do?
 
View this podcast as a video on YouTube.
 
Links of the month:
End-to-end testing for enterprise business processes
Check out our new State of the Business newsletter

Is California a Bad Place to Start a Business or Practice?

I've been asked this more than once, but eventually got around to doing a video about it. Rumor has it that California is "business-unfriendly," and, if you live there, you should start a business in another state. What's my take on that?
 
View this podcast as a video on YouTube.
 
Links of the week:
Salesforce Test Automation: What Every Engineer Should Know
Key Components of a CI/CD Pipeline

Should I Run Away If Someone Offers Equity?

It's a situation that a lot of techies can relate to. Someone comes along and offers you a stake in their business, instead of money, if you build their vision for them. What should a freelancer do in this situation?
 
View this podcast as a video on YouTube.
 
Links of the week:
Oracle testing
8 CI/CD Best Practices for Your DevOps Journey

Is It Okay to "Fake It 'til You Make It?"

We've all heard the phrase "hake it 'til you make it." A reader asked me if this is a good mantra to live by.
 
View this podcast as a video on YouTube.
 
Links of the week:
Data: What Is DevSecOps?
Key Components of a CI/CD Pipeline