Most people who try to become freelance web developers fail.

They waste time on the wrong skills, underprice themselves, and get stuck in low-paying jobs with difficult clients.

But if you do it right? You can work remotely from anywhere, and get high-paying, long-term contracts with great clients who value your work.

Here’s what skills to learn, how to position yourself, and the mistakes to avoid.

If you’re new here, welcome! My name is Diana.

For the past three years, I’ve been working 100% remotely as a web developer contractor while living the digital nomad lifestyle.

Now, in my spare time, I help others leave the office jobs behind and become remote web developers like myself, so they can work from anywhere and have more freedom in their lives.

I hope you enjoy this content - let’s get started!

The difference between web developers who struggle and those who do well often comes down to what skills they choose to learn and monetise. Some skills seem like an easy way to get started, but they actually make it much harder to earn good money over time.

That’s why the first thing to focus on is avoiding the low income skills - skills that attract cheap work, short-term clients and make it difficult to build a stable income.

Before you start, ask yourself:

1. Do you want to spend most of your time doing work and getting paid for it?

2. Or do you want to spend most of your time trying to find clients?

A lot of freelance web developers fall into the second category - the constant cycle of searching for clients. This is a tough game to play because the clients they attract are usually looking for cheap, short-term work.

This is where I’d categorise web developers who focus on building websites and landing pages. Beginners often choose this path because they think, “If I learn how to build a website or a landing page, I can make money.” In reality, this doesn’t go the way they expect.

If you spend 2-3 weeks learning how to customise a Squarespace or Webflow website, you’ll get to a point where you have the skills - but then you hit a wall. You don’t know how to find clients.

And the clients who typically need these skills are business owners who don’t have the time to build their own website.

The problem? This type of work falls into the low-revenue category.

Unless you’re creating websites for major influencers or big companies - which is extremely hard to break into - you’re looking at jobs that pay anywhere between $500 to $2,000.

At first, that might sound great.

”$2,000 for a website? That’s good money!”

But what many don’t realise is the downtime between jobs - weeks or even months spent searching for new clients. That’s the real problem.

This is what I call the many clients, low pay cycle. You need to spend time marketing and doing social media, or going on freelancing websites to convince someone to give you 1k for a website.

Instead of playing that game, I recommend beginner web developers focus on learning high-income skills.

Yes, it might seem harder at first. But in terms of monetisation, high-income skills lead to long-term, well-paid work.

Web developers in this category typically get just 2-3 clients per year, because the contracts are long-term and high-paying. And they can charge anywhere from $50,000 to $100,000 per contract, depending on their skill set and the contract’s length.

These web developers learn skills that aren’t tied to a specific platform. Instead, they focus on learning how to build web applications that can be used across industries.

This is exactly how I started. First, I learned the basics: HTML and CSS. But then, instead of just sticking with website building, I picked a framework that would let me build complex web applications. I chose React.js which is a popular Javascript library.

Three years ago, I got my first long-term contract with a company that needed a React developer to build their software. And that first contract? I signed it for one full year.

For an entire year, I had secure, well-paid monthly income - enough that I didn’t even need a second client. Anything extra was just a bonus. That level of stability changed everything for me and allowed me to enjoy my digital nomad lifestyle without worrying where my next paycheck will come from.

And this is exactly what I teach in my private community - how to build skills and find clients who are willing to sign long-term contracts instead of just hiring you for quick, one-off projects.

Think about it: Would you rather spend a year working remotely for one client on a high-paying contract or constantly struggle to land 3-5 new clients every single month just to make the same amount?

One of the biggest things people don’t talk about in freelancing is financial security.

Freelancing doesn’t have to mean jumping from job to job every few weeks, that’s exhausting and stressful. To actually enjoy this work, you need two things:

1. Freedom → the ability to work remotely and have complete location freedom.

2. Stability → earning well and having a consistent income so you’re not constantly stressed about where your next paycheck is coming from.

Learning to build websites might seem like an easy start, but long-term, it’s one of the hardest ways to make consistent money. You’d need 40+ clients per year to reach the income that 1 high-paying client could provide.

So if you want financial stability, remote work, and a comfortable life, focus on learning high-income skills instead of chasing small, low-paying jobs.

If you need more help getting started, I have a private community for digital nomad developers where you can ask me questions, get support, and connect with others on the same journey.

It also comes with a guide I wrote—The Digital Nomad Developer Guide—where I share more on how to become a remote developer and digital nomad like myself so you can enjoy both location freedom and financial stability.

If that sounds like something you’d find helpful, come join us!

Join the Dev Nomad Community