How to be a Freelance Ecommerce Developer

Most of us have bought stuff online. It is one thing that is here to stay and your future as a prospective or adept Ecommerce developer looks secure. Ecommerce development is a buzzing field with loads of money, no pun intended. Ecommerce has its roots in modest ancestors, whose legacy is the barrage of popup style adverts on our screens today.
There is decent money to be earned as a freelance Ecommerce developer. You can earn more than the average web developer can. By taking on many simultaneous projects, or moonlighting as a freelancer with a constant job you can turn your life around. The instances of freelancers earning more money than their corporate counterparts are no longer stories on the internet that you need to judge and frown upon suspiciously.

Job Duties for Freelance Ecommerce Developer

As a freelancer you will be doing exactly what you do at office as a Ecommerce developer, with the only difference being that you will most probably be sitting at home in your pyjamas or your shorts, eating, and in some cases even spilling coffee, on your desk.
In this position, you will most probably:

• Serve as an Ecommerce Developer on assigned projects and accounts
• Liaise with teams and be part of the build-out of various web, ecommerce, and mobile applications
• Liaise with design team members in shaping user experiences through demonstrating latest technology tools constraints, and interfaces
• Provide technology estimates then provide high quality work within estimates
• Maintain knowledge of current web, ecommerce, and mobile technologies and best practices
• Assists clients in deployment of web and mobile technology
• Learn new e-commerce languages, platforms, and 3rd party integrations

Skills:

There are many skills that you must develop and or hone to land some decent freelance projects. Ecommerce is the trade of things online, and you must develop your skill-set to utilise your talent effectively and to make good money in the field.
Some of the skills you need to master include:

• Marketing skills, preferably also SEO skills as Google must love your website
• Working knowledge of web fundamentals
• Have a basic understanding of HTML, CSS and Hosting fundamentals
• Be able to work with technologies like PHP, MySQl and jQuery
• Be an analytical thinker, logic driven and able to solve problems
• Ability to adapt and learn newer technologies

Many websites, videos, online discussion forums, and Wikipedia offer insight into the world of Ecommerce. You can learn and even hone the skills mentioned above through many resources.
Some of the niche ones include: Lynda, The Free Micro e-MBA, Peer to Peer university and Ecommerce.shopify offer many videos, tutorials and in some cases certifications on Ecommerce development.

Being successful as a Ecommerce Developer:

Ecommerce development is a money spinner alright. If you have been following trends or work in the same sphere, you will attest. Ecommerce can offer the many things that all of us crave, even if you freelance fulltime.
However, more often than not, talent is not a determinant of success in any sphere. It is possibly truer for writers, with the freelance market insisting that talent must be combined with the relevant experience to attract prospective employers.
Hence, to be successful initially, you could:

• Offer to do projects for minimum fees, sometimes for free
• Bid the lowest for a project on freelancer portals
• Be adaptable, mould yourselves to the job
• Be able to learn new technologies quickly
• Create a website, or at the very least, a web page
• Advertise your services on social media platforms

Average Remunerations:

Ecommerce development is among the top freelance career options out there. And rightly so, if you contemplate the number of ecommerce websites that are now huge. Who knows maybe you can develop the next Amazon, or even Ebay. Ecommerce development is one skill for the future.
Usually freelance portals offer various kinds of payment models. In the fixed-price model, the price is usually pre-determined. The hourly model is the most popular and employers usually pay a predetermined sum per hour. Finally, in the project-budget based model, you often need to auction for such projects. Usually a fixed price model may range from $20- $200 and upwards, while you have to pitch for hourly projects, and budget payments, which usually range from $5- $35 an hour. The average amount that a freelance Ecommerce developer earns is $20 an hour.

Finding Work:

Finding work as a freelance Ecommerce developer is not difficult. There is a dearth of portals advertising your services. It is a reasonably well paid job and there are thousands of opportunities for prospective work-at-home Ecommerce developers like you.
Ecommerce development is a mainstream career option today and as ideas develop, so do websites; a situation that suits freelance Ecommerce developers like you perfectly. Ecommerce development is essential to the digital market, and there is no shortage of websites offering work. Many portals and websites like Odesk, Elance, Guru and Peopleperhour offer jobs to freelance Ecommerce developers like you.

Resources:

There are many resources available for you to begin and even enhance your career as an Ecommerce developer. Lynda, The Free Micro e-MBA, Peer to Peer university and Ecommerce.shopify offer many videos, tutorials and in some cases certifications on Ecommerce development.