2025 - A Year In Review
This is my seventh annual review. The ”blogging is dead” discourse is at an all-time high (I disagree by the way) but you can’t let a good…
Tom Hirst
Web developer, remote worker, long-time freelancer.
Latest posts
2024 - A Year In Review
I’ve spent the last week strolling a subtropical island writing this review in my head. Planned in 22 degrees of sunshine and finished in…
The Truth About Value Based Pricing
If you’ve come within the orbit of the freelancing space, you’ll have heard of value-based pricing. Value-based pricing, or VBP, means…
2023 - A Year In Review
Writing these reviews has taught me a lot about the importance of streaks. This is my fifth annual review. I couldn’t bare not write it…
Solidity Next.js dApp Starter
In this article, we’ll walk through how to build a full stack Ethereum dApp with Solidity and Next.js from scratch. This code is for anyone…
Things I Wish I Learned Earlier At 36
A stream of consciousness that I wrote on my 36th birthday containing all the things that I wish I knew earlier. The Twitter thread went…
2022 - A Year In Review
This year has been different. You can tell by the lack of posts between last year’s review and this one. I’m calling 2022 my year of quiet…
2021 - A Year In Review
2021 feels like the longest year I’ve lived. Some highs, some lows, some wins, some losses. And the biggest direction change for my career…
The Ultimate Guide To Getting Started With NFTs
In this article you’ll learn how to get started with non-fungible tokens (NFTs). Whether you’re interested in starting an NFT art collection…
Counterpoints
Before I started sharing my philosophy on business and life as a freelancer, I was hesitant. I knew that I wanted to change my direction. I…
Less Than You Think
When pondering a new decision we overinflate what’s needed to make it. “I don’t have enough information.” “I need more money.” “There’s no…
Run The Show
I’m excited to announce the launch of my headless WordPress company, Run The Show. You may have seen this coming. In my last post, Upside…
Upside Identification
My career is in full transition for the first time in 11 years. There’s a weight off my shoulders having written that. For the last 11 years…
Marketing For Freelancers
My Twitter thread on marketing for freelancers in article format: Marketing for freelancers. Everything I’ve learned. A thread. Marketing…
The Restaurant With A Queue
“Plenty of folks in there!”, my Dad would point out. Each trip to the entertainment complex followed the same dance. There to eat, often…
2020 - A Year In Review
I’m glad I started this habit. Looking back on 2019’s year in review has been both interesting and reassuring. I can identify growth in my…
Betting With Time
I realised control over my time the day I graduated from University in Sheffield, UK, 2009. Or so I thought. “I can’t work for a boss” was…
Pricing Freelance Projects
I wrote a Twitter thread about my experience, learning and knowledge on pricing projects as a freelancer. Over the next 36 hours it’d…
Communication Crowd Control
Dealing with interruption is a struggle that all freelancers and self-employed people face. Whether the interruption comes from clients or…
How to Start a Shopify Side Business and Sell It for 5 Figures
Since I can remember, I’ve always had an interest in business. From selling mobile phones in college, to running my own WordPress…
Why Freelancers Should Be Scared Of Whale Clients
I wrote a tweet recently that gained some attention: https://twitter.com/tom_hirst/status/1251583806026518532 Additional points were raised…
Introducing My Mentorship Programme For Freelancers
You may have read in my last article, 2019 - A Year In Review, that I was preparing the launch of my freelancing mentorship programme. The…
2019 - A Year In Review
I’m pretty sure this is the first time I’ve sat down to write a yearly review. I’ve got a chunk of time and felt compelled, so here we are…
9 Ways To De-Stress Business Travel For Work From Home Freelancers
Introduction Depending on the type of person you are, travelling in general can heighten your anxiety levels. Even if it’s for leisure…
Find A Mentor To Get Ahead
People learn in different ways. Some of us learn by doing, some of us learn by studying and some of us learn best from others. Some of us…
10 Years Remote
A colleague and friend of mine posted a link to Viktor Petersson’s reflections on a decade of remote work in Slack. As an advocate of remote…
Save Time By Qualifying Your Freelance Leads Early
There’s nothing worse than being multiple emails deep with a prospect, then realising they have a £100 budget for a £10,000 project. Well…
Freelancing Interview with Gaya Kessler
Gaya and I have worked closely together during the last 8 months for a mutual client. He’s taught me a lot and I’m thankful for our…
Freelancing Interview with Suganthan Mohanadasan
Introduction As a remote freelancer, watercooler chats with colleagues are few and far between. In the interest of getting to know my peers…
5 Ways Accomplished Freelancers Take Breaks
We all need time off from work. As a freelancer, contractor and/or business owner; taking a proper break can be easier said than done. I try…
Why You Should Step Out of Your Technical Comfort Zone
An opportunity recently presented itself that would take me out of my technical comfort zone. As a web developer, I’m generally used to…
The Importance of Sleep Routine When Working From Home
I’ve struggled to maintain a regular sleep pattern for most of my life. In my younger years, I would often game until 01:00-02:00 on…
How Successful Freelancers Retain Clients and Earn Repeat Business
As in most fields, customers you’re already in contact with, have seen what you can do and are happy with your product or service; are more…
Bad Habits You Should Break to Grow Your Freelance Business
We’ve all got our vices and it’s super easy to form bad habits when you’re your own boss. As freelancers, we often work alone for long…
5 Steps to Becoming a Better Remote Worker
We’re all looking to better ourselves and become more successful. I’ve found that being proactive in my career development has given me an…
5 Business Questions Every New Freelancer Should Ask
I recently received an email from a close friend of mine asking for advice on how to set up a freelance business. My friend had been working…
How to Start Freelancing From Home When You Have No Clients
How can I start freelancing from home when I have no clients? A question that ran through my mind when struggling to find a permanent…
Flexible Freelancing
I’ve found freelancing to be unpredictable at times; you’ve got to take the rough with the smooth and be flexible in a number of scenarios…
Next/Previous Post Links in Same Top Level Category
In WordPress it’s often desirable to restrict pagination to posts within the current posts’ category (or custom taxonomy); usually because…
Freelancers: Remember, It’s All Work
This is a short but sweet lesson I’ve learned during my time freelancing. The reason behind posting this now is that I’m going through a two…
Add Custom PHP Code to Visual Composer Pages
I recently encountered a WordPress project where I needed to add some specific PHP code to a certain part of a page template. Obviously this…
FreeAgent: Accountancy Software For Freelancers
When I first started my remote development business I had little grasp of what was not only good bookkeeping practice, but what was legally…
I’ve Never Been to a Web Conference
Whether it be development based, design focused or an area that I specialise in such as WordPress, I’ve never had the urge to attend a web…
How to Get Your First Remote Development Job
So you’re starting out as a freelance web developer and you’re ready to take on your first client. Now what? Here’s how I landed my first…