How I (almost) quadrupled my hourly rate in less than 5 months

“It was a warm summer’s evening in June when I was anxiously awaiting one of my favorite events – the loud pop, the hurried chase, the chewy treat with a fizzy taste…..ahhh, champagne corks! It was only after the event that I realized we were celebrating Julia’s newest client (and highest paying). In less than 5 months she’d increased her hourly rate from $20/hour to $75/hour. Now that is worth celebrating!!”

Disclaimer: This post contains affiliate links, which means I may earn a commission if you click them and make a purchase. This is at no cost to you and I only share products that I use and love myself.

Do you feel stuck at your current hourly rate? Are you not getting paid enough for the work that you do? Tired of working evenings and weekends? I hear you – I was there. Just imagine if you could double or triple or even quadruple your current hourly rate – think of the possibilities! Yes, it is possible, because I did it and it took me less than 5 months. Don’t get me wrong, it took a lot of hard work and long hours, but it’s possible.

Interested? Here’s a quick rundown of the steps I took to increasing my hourly rate from $20/hour to $75/hour in less than 5 months:

1. Learned to code: my preference and expertise came with mostly front-end languages (CSS, HTML, JavaScript, etc.) with good working knowledge of PHP
2. Built two WordPress website from scratch: using the Underscores framework as the basic building blocks, this forced me to dive deep into the WordPress core files and really understand how WordPress websites function
3. Started a business: as a freelance WordPress web developer I was able to contract out my skills to a variety of clients
4. Networked: I joined a community of fellow online entrepreneurs and this really helped me thrive as I was able to ask questions, learn new skills and grow my client base
5. Learned new skills: by adding more skills to my web development repertoire (primarily digital marketing), I stood out from the crowd and rapidly increased my client base…and my hourly rate

Bottom line – in my experience it takes having a sought after skill (i.e. web development), a helpful and trusting attitude, good networking skills and a willingness to never stop learning and improving. Want more detail on my journey as a WordPress web developer – read on.

My journey to increasing my hourly rate from $20/hour to $75/hour in less than 5 months starts with me in a blah 9-5 job.

I’ll never forget the first time I was introduced to code. I was a Business Consultant at a University and I was asked to update a blog post with FAQs. The content management system (CMS) was clunky and not at all user-friendly, but I wanted to add the accordion effect to the FAQs, so what did I do….I googled it. Googling things will become a common thread throughout all my blog posts. It is literally my life-blood…my font of knowledge. Another common thread – trial and error. Between googling things and trial and error, that makes up most of my experience and knowledge.

Back to the accordion – I read about HTML and CSS and it was all completely foreign to me, but I figured I might as well give it a go. I started copying and pasting random bits of code into the CMS editor, refreshing the page, trying again, seeing change, trying some more…until finally, it worked. I couldn’t believe the magic. I’d just typed a few random bits of code on a page, hit save, refreshed another page and saw the changes. I was literally in awe…and I haven’t looked back since.

Bit of a disclaimer: don’t get me wrong, I love code! I’m not afraid of it, but I have a healthy fear of what it can do if messed with unnecessarily. I’ve broken many sites…but fixed them all. All that being said, I’m no expert when it comes to code. I know enough to get shit done, but not enough to write software.

After my revelation with the accordion, I decided to dive head-first into learning web development to see where it could take me.

I Googled everything I could find about web development. What does it mean? What does the work entail? What coding languages do I need to learn? What is front-end vs back-end? Do I need a degree? I kept coming across the same resource – The Odin Project. It is a curriculum of free resources for learning web development. I started at the beginning, LOVED the front-end projects, got part of the way through the back-end learning and decided it just wasn’t for me. I can bumble my way through them if need be, but I definitely prefer front-end coding, primarily HTML, CSS, JavaScript and a sprinkling of PHP when it feels right.

Part of the way through my journey with The Odin Project, a friend started up a business and needed a website, so he ‘hired’ me. EEEEK! What the hell was I thinking?!? For some reason he had confidence in me, so I figured I better give it a go. I did lots of research on the best CMS and finally decided to settle on WordPress (good Lord, am I glad about that now)! Side note: a third common thread in all my blog posts will be shouting from the rooftops about the awesomeness of WordPress.

I didn’t have enough knowledge/confidence to code a website, so I decided to use a premium theme. It was a great learning experience, because even though I did lots of research on the best WordPress themes, somehow I managed to pick a not-so-great one. Don’t get me wrong, the site is fine and it’s easy to customize, but the limitations are insane! This was my first experience with a WordPress theme and it was soul-crushing. There were so many additional things I wanted to do – tweaks here, edits there – but it was almost impossible with this theme. I used my new-found CSS knowledge to make some custom edits, but I was still limited in what I could do.

Interested to know more about WordPress? Check out my blog post ‘Top 7 Reasons Why WordPress Is The Best CMS’ to learn about why I believe WordPress is the best Content Management System.

My next step – learn to build a WordPress website from scratch.

This was easily the most important decision I made in my journey to becoming a web developer. I didn’t have confidence in myself and I was constantly plagued with ‘imposter syndrome’ so I thought the best way to battle this was to force myself to build a website (two, in fact) entirely from scratch. I say from scratch, but I used the Underscores Framework, which effectively gives you the basic building blocks for a WordPress site, but that’s it!

I desperately wanted to get over my ‘imposter syndrome’ and I also wanted to learn how to fully customize a site, without any theme limitations. It was time consuming and really difficult, but between online courses (mostly free, one paid) and googling code snippets, I was successful. Not only was I ten times more confident than before, but I was able to tell potentials clients about my achievement and this helped me land most (if not all) of my clients.

While I’m certain I could have found plenty of free resources online to learn to build a site from scratch using Underscores, I decided to invest in my future and pay for a course on WordPress development with Skillcrush. It wasn’t just the course material I was paying for, but also the instructor and community support, which turned out to be invaluable. Plus, my first paid gig ($20/hour) came from the Skillcrush alumni network, so the course has easily paid for itself many times over.

In January of 2017 I landed my first paid gig as a freelance WordPress developer…and the next BIG step after this – NETWORKING!

It was the best feeling ever. When I got my first paycheck, I couldn’t believe I was getting paid to do something I not only loved, but taught myself to do. My next step in my journey to increasing my hourly rate was joining the Create Your Laptop Life (CYLL) Network in February. The CYLL Network is a business and lifestyle community that accelerated my business growth faster than I ever could have done alone. It literally took me from being a new and floundering business owner to a savagely smart and profitable online entrepreneur. I learned all about utilizing Facebook Groups to land clients, how to put together a proposal, how to accurately cost a project (and still make money), what software and tools are necessary to run an efficient freelance business and most importantly – NETWORKING!! I attended the annual CYLL Conference and it was mind-boggling with the amount valuable information we received. Plus, the relationships I made at the conference have literally transformed my business, not only because my client base went from 3 to 30+, but I’ve also had referrals out the wazoo!

Never stop learning – always look for ways to upskill and make yourself more desirable to potential clients!

During those 5 months, I used the courses available in CYLL to upskill my web development knowledge. I knew tech, so decided to learn the ins-and-outs of digital marketing to really set myself apart from the competition. The Digital Gangsta is a full-on, no-holds-barred course on all things Digital Marketing, from Facebook ads to email marketing to sales funnels. It seriously has it all. While I’m still working through all the content myself (while working full time on client work), I highly recommend this course if you’d like to add to your tool kit.

Now more than ever digital marketing skills are highly desirable, so having knowledge about how to set up Facebook ads, build sales funnels and run email marketing campaigns will set you so far apart from your competition!

So how did I finally land my first $75/hour client?

There I was, doing exactly what I’d promised myself I wouldn’t do….scrolling through my Facebook feed at 1am on a work night. And then there it was….someone in a Facebook Group needed immediate web development help. I reached out and said I could help. We had a few emails back and forth, she sent through the info that night and we hopped on a Skype call the following morning. I was able to fix her website and she was so pleased with the result and our working relationship that I’m now on her team as her web developer.

Since that initial Facebook interaction, I’ve built a number of new landing pages, changed up her Blog page to focus on conversions, migrated her site to Siteground and I maintain/update her website on a monthly retainer.

Tech skills + networking + willingness to continue learning = higher hourly rate

While that may sound a bit too easy, it certainly took a lot of hard work to get to this point. I had to learn the tech skills, I had to overcome imposter syndrome, I had to put myself out there and network online, I had to start a business and I had to continue learning to stay ahead of the curve. My next goal is to reach $100/hour and I will do this eventually by employing the same steps I used to get to $20 then $30 then $45 then $50 and now $75. I’ve done it, so I know you can too.

Interested in learning web development or digital marketing? Want to join an online community of fellow entrepreneurs to help guide you through this journey? Here is a list of free and paid resources that I have found to be invaluable during my journey! For a full list of Web Dev, WordPress and Freelance resources, check out my RESOURCES page.

• Google (and trial and error)
• Stackoverflow
• The Odin Project
• Codecademy
• WPBeginner
• W3schools
• Skillcrush
• The CYLL Network
• The Digital Gangsta

Perhaps some of you have come across other great resources for learning web dev and WordPress? I’d love to hear from you – I’m always up for more learning! Feel free to share your journey and aspirations in the comments below.

Disclaimer: This post contains affiliate links, which means I may earn a commission if you click them and make a purchase. This is at no cost to you and I only share products that I use and love myself.