What You’ll Uncover in John Sonmez How to Market Yourself as a Software Developer
John Sonmez – How to Market Yourself as a Software Developer
Your growth stack is innovative—for 1999…
Your coworkers laughed once they
caught you studying in your lunch break…
Your boss is simply “agile“ when he’s
dodging questions about that raise he promised…
And as you wedge yet another bug fix into that
monster 10,000-line class you wonder…
Am I Trapped In This
“Code Monkey” Job
For The Relaxation Of My Life?
Or are you able to lastly discover work that energizes you…
Fixing difficult, actual-world issues…
With a workforce of execs who take satisfaction of their work…
And even receives a commission what you’re truly value?
Expensive Fellow Software Developer,
I nonetheless keep in mind the second when my boss pushed me over the sting.
One minute my boss, Tom Shirkey, is pulling me into the convention room for a little “sidebar” chat…
Subsequent factor I do know, one thing inside me snaps and I’m screaming into his face on the prime of my lungs—whereas he yells proper again.
And it took every little thing in me not to…
Punch That Micro-Managing Weenie
Proper In The Face!
Now I’m not pleased with this shouting match. It was positively a low level in my software program growth profession.
However he actually did have it coming…
Tom was simply the worst a part of the worst job I ever had.
Each morning once I walked via that entrance door my abdomen clenched into knot. I counted down each second of daily, and when 5 p.m. rolled round I hit that door operating…
Hello, I’m John Sonmez.
And again when Tom was making daily a residing hell, I had no thought what the long run had in retailer for me.
I didn’t know that I’d someday turn into a chief within the developer group thanks to Easy Programmer, my weblog that reaches greater than 1 million devs a yr.
I didn’t know that I’d go on to create 55 PluralSight coaching programs on matters starting from Java to iOS to GoLang, or write the very best-promoting e book, Delicate Abilities: The Software Developer’s Life Handbook.
I didn’t know that I’d sometime headline at worldwide developer conferences like Ordev and Xamarin Evolve, or have main companies like Verizon knocking on my door to seek the advice of with me at $500 an hour.
And I actually had no concept that I’d obtain my lifelong dream of early retirement—and that I’d attain that purpose earlier than my thirty third birthday.
Again then, all I knew is that…
Immediately my e book Delicate Abilities is without doubt one of the greatest-promoting software program developer books of all time.
“Office Space” Wasn’t Simply
A Humorous Film Anymore—
It Was A Documentary Of My Life
To be trustworthy, I solely took that job out of desperation.
I’d been out of labor for 3 months.
My spouse and I have been residing with my mother and father close to Orlando, crashing on their couch mattress in the lounge whereas I job hunted.
And after a few months of shotgunning out resumes and listening to nothing however deafening silence, you begin to imagine that…
The Deck Is Stacked In opposition to You
Due to my function as a mentor to software program builders everywhere in the world, I hear from a lot of builders who’re in the identical boat I used to be.
Right here’s the actual drawback:
Programming has turn into a commodity.
As in, a product that’s purchased by the pound, often from the bottom bidder.
The phrase acquired out years in the past about all of the alternatives out there in software program growth.
It truly is a nice profession alternative…
The place else do you get the prospect to spend your working hours pursuing a difficult craft, fixing meaty and necessary actual-world issues, constructing merchandise that change the world, working with a number of the greatest and brightest minds on the market…
Studying and stretching daily…
Having fun with stylish workplace house, free snacks and break room ping-pong matches…
And making severe financial institution within the course of?
No marvel a “gold rush” of keen younger programmers flooded into the job market. And that development continues—40,000 new pc science college students enter the U.S. job market yearly, and that’s not counting self-taught builders and bootcamp graduates.
Now the actually nice jobs are nonetheless on the market.
However when you’ve been across the block a few instances, you begin to understand that the alternatives, salaries and perks in software program growth are “asymmetrical.”
What I imply by that’s that…
The Prime 3% of Builders
Snap Up All The Finest Alternatives Earlier than You Even Hear About Them
Which leaves you to slug it out with growing numbers of latest graduates who fortunately work for peanuts to get a foot within the door.
And what makes all this even more durable is that the hiring course of for software program builders is totally damaged.
Let me raise the curtain for you and present you simply how unhealthy it’s…
When a firm posts a job on a website like Monster or Cube, it’s like tossing chunks of bloody fish into water that’s teeming with Nice Whites—a vicious feeding frenzy erupts.
The primary software arrives inside seconds. And so they proceed to pour in for days till the posting expires.
Firms get 250 purposes for each job they put up, and that’s simply an business common.
Good developer jobs can appeal to way over that, as determined job seekers (like I used to be!) spam their resume to each firm that comes up once they search the time period “developer” on Monster…
75% of the time they’re not even certified.
Take into consideration all that NOISE.
Now do you suppose that firms have their greatest builders fastidiously weigh each software?
In fact not. Your resume will get “screened” by low-degree HR lackeys who assume “for loop” is a golf time period…
But they get ultimate say over whether or not your resume makes it into a hiring managers palms… Or will get tossed on the “unqualified” slag heap.
And for the reason that HR screeners can’t inform the programmers from the posers, they simply scan for buzzwords—a median of simply 6 seconds per resume.
Right here’s a scary stat:
98% Of Candidates Are
Eradicated
Based mostly On Their Resume Alone!
Which means your odds of even touchdown an INTERVIEW are just one in 50.
And your odds of truly getting a proposal?Simply 1 in 250.
Once more, that’s an AVERAGE.
Need to work at Google? Good luck—it’s 10X tougher to get a job there than to get into Harvard.
May issues worsen quickly?
Nearly each week there’s phrase of one other spherical of mass layoffs at main tech giants like Microsoft, Yahoo, and IBM.
And in accordance to Enterprise Insider…
Trade Leaders Anticipate The Latest “Tech Bubble” To Burst At Any Time
Why isn’t anybody telling builders about this new actuality?
It’s the explanation why I spent months sleeping on my mother and father’ sofa, making use of for job after job, by no means getting a lot as a well mannered rejection discover in return…
And it’s why I agreed to interview with the consulting agency in New Jersey the place I met Tom.
That dysfunctional crew appeared decided to make me depressing from the primary minute. They pressured me to put on a full swimsuit and tie to the interview—which occurred over lunch in a Chinese language restaurant.
The entire time they’re chowing down on egg rolls, they usually didn’t ask me a single technical query.
(Later I spotted that they didn’t actually care if I might program—they have been hiring me to be a fall man. Extra on that in a minute.)
And as I’m fielding their softball questions, I’m considering, “I do not want this job, I do not want this job…”
So Of Course I Get The Job
And the hourly fee was too good for a down-and-out developer like me to go up. In any case my household was relying on me to put a roof over our heads once more.
So we packed every little thing we owned into our Xterra and headed up the coast to New Jersey—and thus started the longest 11 months of my software program growth profession.
Day 1: Welcome to Hell, We Have T-Shirts
My new boss Tom was an ex-excessive-faculty soccer coach with a bushy brown mustache—the stereotypical overbearing step-dad.
He was there to make you run your performs like a good linebacker, and when you didn’t, Tom was going to make you do wind sprints till you dropped useless of exhaustion.
Tom had juuuuuuuust sufficient Visible Fundamental beneath his belt to make him a licensed professional on each side of software program growth.
Tom had to evaluate all of my code earlier than I checked it in—although he didn’t know a vector from his… Nicely, anyway…
Tom had to give his blessing earlier than I might set up any new instruments on my dev field—and man did he ever pitch a match once I put in the .NET framework with out operating it by him first.
Later I’d uncover that Tom even wished management over what I did once I WASN’T beneath his paternal eye…
Anyway, my first day on the job I hadn’t fairly figured all this out but. Tom begins explaining my project to me, and I might hardly imagine what I used to be listening to.
And I began to understand that…
This Entire Gig Was A Setup From The Begin—They Anticipated Me To Fail
Their little racket went like this:
Tackle a filthy profitable consulting mission with a humanly not possible set of necessities.
Then rent the primary hourly marketing consultant who wanders in off the road as your fall man.
And when he fails, you simply hearth him.
You and your good ol’ boy FTEs escape scot free, and also you’re laughing all the best way to the financial institution.
Tom didn’t clue me in on that although.
As a substitute he gave me some information on this proprietary printer format from Xerox referred to as Metacode.
My job was to rip aside these chunky binary information, pour via megabyte after megabyte of uncooked hexadecimal code, and discover a approach to yank out fonts and pictures—WITHOUT entry to the supply information, or any documentation on Metacode itself.
Good luck, son!
I Can Learn The Matrix
The primary time I cracked a kind of Metacode information open in UltraEdit, I felt sick. Pure hexidecimal gibberish.
However after a couple of minutes of feeling sorry for myself, my QA coaching got here again to me…
In school I’d labored for HP as a tester for his or her printer drivers. My job there consisted of finding out reams of printouts and searching for patterns, in order that’s precisely what I did.
And finally I seen one thing:
The sample “1A 1B,” repeated time and again. A header!
I’d discovered a crack within the fortress wall, and a pair of weeks later I had written the world’s first Metacode decompiler.
Now after this you’d assume that Tom and the gang would lastly begin to give me some respect.
As a substitute, they accused me of CHEATING.
I had to stroll them via full demo. “See, now I’m extracting a font file. Look ma, no hands!”
“Well Crap, If We Can’t Fire Him,
Maybe We Can Make Him Quit“
Looking back I realize that I’d put them in a tight spot, because they never planned on me sticking around.
But since I’d just pulled off this “Metacode miracle” (which was value hundreds of thousands to the corporate) they couldn’t precisely hearth me both.
So Tom took each probability he might to crank the screws tighter and tighter…
Just like the tongue-lashing I took the time I completed a mission early and determined to add a couple of “nice to have” options that I knew the customers would actually respect.
And the grueling all-day journeys to buyer websites on Lengthy Island to babysit installers and swap out CDs.
Tom was attempting to grind me down.
As a substitute he lit a hearth beneath my ass, and…
I Was Decided To Be The Finest C++ Programmer In The Nation
I spent each “spare” minute finding out.
I realized every little thing there was to find out about pointers and vectors and reminiscence administration. I mastered superior algorithms. I even constructed my very own app—a life counter for Magic the Gathering.
When the smoke cleared, I used to be top-of-the-line-ranked C++ builders on this planet on Prime Coder.
My confidence in my expertise was hovering.
However daily at work, Tom would kick my tooth in and remind me who was boss.
Lastly They Pushed Me Too Far
Sooner or later Tim declares that all the workforce is taking a MANDATORY week-lengthy journey to Manchester, England for coaching.
Now I’m the one contractor within the group—everybody else is on wage. I receives a commission by the hour. And all that point I’d be spending in jolly previous England was time away from my household and my all-necessary aspect initiatives.
So I pull Tom apart. “Are you planning to pay me for 24 hours a day on this trip?” I ask.
Tom laughs. “No, you’re getting a free trip to London,” he says.
You’re gonna go, and also you’re gonna prefer it, sonny.
And that’s once I snapped. Earlier than I knew it, Tom and I have been stomach-to-stomach like a couple of trash-speaking linebackers after a nasty play.
I used to be out of line, and as a contractor, I had NO leverage within the state of affairs, however I used to be DONE being pushed round.
There was no approach I used to be getting on that aircraft.
Oh Goodie, Now We Can Fireplace Him
I sat within the empty workplace for the subsequent 7 days, all on my own beneath the beneath the buzzing florescent lights.
Everybody knew my days have been numbered. They let a couple of weeks go by to save face, after which the ax fell.
And although I had zero job prospects, I used to be SO relieved.
We jumped within the automobile and arrived at my mother and father’ home at 2:30 the subsequent morning.
“Surprise, Dad! I’m Back!”
This time I KNEW issues can be completely different.
Thanks to my every day Prime Coder bench urgent, my C++ muscular tissues have been bulging. Good luck stumping me in a tech interview.
And I’d racked up a listing of accomplishments that will impress the socks off any hiring supervisor on the market.
So I jumped again into the now-acquainted routine of browsing Monster and Cube for job openings, typing up cowl letters, emailing out my resume, submitting on-line kinds…
And let me inform you, I used to be shocked when I hit that very same stony silence.
No acknowledgement of my purposes.
No replies to my observe up calls and emails.
No rejection notices.
You Begin to Surprise,
Am I “Hell Banned”?
In the meantime the clock is ticking, and I’m getting determined once more.
By some means I finagled my approach into interviews for two completely different positions at HP.
I packed my swimsuit, they usually flew me out, and I utterly ACED each interviews.
So think about my shock when the rejection letters arrived!
This was like a bucket of ice water within the face—a impolite awakening.
That’s once I first realized that:
The Finest Jobs Not often
Go to the Most Proficient,
Educated Developer
For the primary time I noticed that when it comes to touchdown a nice job, your technical expertise gained’t take you all that far.
This discovery turned my world the other way up.
Right here I had invested months of my life finding out and hustling on aspect initiatives…
And in the long run it didn’t depend for a lot.
The sport actually was rigged.
Even my “interviews” at HP have been a full sham.
HP is a good ol’ boy’s membership, and I used to be simply a “token” exterior candidate.
They have been losing my time and getting my hopes up when actually I had NO probability.
The identical goes at most firms.
There’s a “shadow job market” that’s invisible to outsiders.
As a result of in accordance to the U.S. Division of Labor…
85% of Jobs Are By no means Marketed
The perfect jobs are virtually at all times snapped up by inner candidates or inside-observe referrals LONG earlier than they ever hit Certainly or Monster.
Whenever you’re looking these websites, you’re scraping the underside of the barrel.
Actually, a fairly good rule of thumb is:
If You See a Job Marketed,
You Don’t Truly Need It
After getting my fingers slammed within the door, I made a decision to see if I couldn’t make this “shadow job market” work to my benefit.
So I regarded up a former boss, the man who employed me at HP the primary time.
He was nonetheless there, and as it turned out, he was searching for a QA lead.
I accepted his supply—at a satisfaction-busting fee of $35 an hour.
I lastly had a job once more, however I used to be nonetheless fairly discouraged, as a result of…
In Simply 4 Quick Years, I’d Gone from Teenage “Boy Wonder”
Pulling Down $75 an Hour
in California…
To Getting My Head Bashed In
For $45 An Hour…
And Even As One of many Prime
C++ Builders In The Nation…
I’m Compelled To Take A Job In QA That Pays 1/3 What I’m “Worth”
It made NO sense in any respect.
Why didn’t anybody appear to worth my my coding expertise?
However I used to be lastly beginning to catch on, as a result of I understood…
You Want an “In” to Get the Job
Nicely, that crappy QA job was my “in,” and I swore to myself I’d be writing software program once more quickly.
Sooner or later I overheard a developer named Brian speaking about a drawback he was scuffling with. Brian was a new developer, and he was approach in over his head.
So I popped over to his dice and we thrashed out a answer.
Earlier than lengthy I used to be a “stealth member” of the dev workforce, and a trusted mentor and adviser.
Lastly they went to their boss and mentioned, “You have to hire John. We can’t hit our deadlines without him.”
I had found the precept that will come to outline my profession:
The Means to Create Actual, Life-Altering Alternatives For Yourself Is To First Give Worth to OTHERS
Essentially the most profitable individuals in any stroll of life are profitable as a result of they’ve created huge worth for others.
Take a “famous” software program developer like Robert “Uncle Bob” Martin, for instance.
Uncle Bob constructed his fame by sharing his knowledge on UseNet, and now he’s one of the crucial trusted and talked-about consultants within the discipline.
What sort of consulting charges do you assume Uncle Bob can command as of late?
Or take a look at Scott Hanselman, who has constructed a huge following by instructing every little thing he learns on his weblog, podcast and convention shows.
If Scott determined tomorrow that he was carried out at Microsoft, how lengthy do you assume it might take him to discover a new job?
In each job I’ve made it my goal to add increasingly worth above and past “just” code.
Once I took a contract with the Idaho state authorities, I made it my mission to assist each member of my workforce turn into a extra productive, extra fulfilled developer, and began Easy Programmer as a approach to share what I used to be studying with my workforce.
Phrase unfold about my weblog, and shortly hundreds of individuals have been studying each month.
These builders began to look to me as a chief, somebody whose voice and opinion deserved RESPECT.
As a end result, I acquired promoted to mission lead—on the highest hourly fee of any contractor in Idaho state historical past.
Then someday I acquired one other lesson:
When You Turn out to be A Acknowledged Authority, Alternatives Chase YOU
I used to be sitting at my desk when my telephone rang. It was a hiring supervisor from a multimedia software program firm.”
Hey John, all of us learn your weblog and like it. We have now a place opening up, and we’d like to rent you for it.”
I wasn’t actually searching for a job, however cool. What’s a good time for me to interview?
“Interview? No, you don’t understand. We don’t want you to apply—we just want to hire you. The job is yours if you want it.”
That floored me. What a turnaround!
Simply a few years in the past I couldn’t get employers to a lot as take a look at my resume if I begged them to…
And I’d get edged out even once I ACED the technical interview…
And now I used to be getting “walk on” job presents!
Whenever you deal with at all times giving worth, you’re making “deposits in the emotional bank account,” as Dale Carnegie wrote.
Whenever you do that, earlier than lengthy individuals look to you as an professional, authority and even a chief…
And you begin attracting opportunities with out even attempting.
Sudden job presents.
Profitable freelancing and consulting gigs.
Talking invites.
E book offers.
Enterprise partnerships.
That is the actual secret to touchdown the BEST software program growth jobs and alternatives—you realize, the “mythical unicorn” jobs you generally hear about…
The place you’re working with a workforce that’s as enthusiastic about studying as you might be…
Constructing software program that solves REAL and attention-grabbing issues…
The place you’re challenged to develop and develop your technical expertise…
And the place the pay and job perks are TOP TIER.
When You’re A Identified And Revered Authority, The Previous “Rule Book” Goes Out The Window
After that shocking job supply, the alternatives began coming quick and livid.
And when you might have extra alternatives than you possibly can say sure to, which means you might have OPTIONS.
You’re within the drivers seat, and that provides you a large feeling of safety and confidence.
Are you aware how nice it’s to know you could stroll into your boss’s workplace and say, “I quit!”
Since you KNOW past a shadow of a doubt that you might ship a couple of emails and stroll into a new job tomorrow morning?
When you might have choices like this, interviews aren’t scary anymore. You radiate confidence, since you don’t want them, they want YOU.
Briefly…
As a substitute Of Chasing “The Prize,” You ARE The Prize
Listed here are simply a few issues that occurred to me over the subsequent a number of years:
- A startup contacted me about constructing a testing framework for them. I didn’t really need the work, so I quoted what I believed was a loopy excessive hourly fee of $300 an hour. Their reply: “When can you start?” I’ve since raised my consulting fee to $500 an hour, and I flip away requests usually.
- I acquired invited to converse at conferences like Ordev, Xamarin Evolve and TiD China.
- One of many prime publishers in software program growth, O’Reilly Media, contacted me and supplied to publish a e book on ANY subject I wished to write about. A yr later they launched Delicate Abilities: A Software Developer’s Life Handbook, which has turn into top-of-the-line-promoting software program growth books of all time.
- I acquired invited to audition as a web-based coach with a little startup referred to as PluralSight. They preferred my audition, and I spent two years cranking out 55 programs. The royalties on these programs enabled me to “retire” as a millionaire at 32.
- Easy Programmer grew into a full-fledged enterprise that generates 6 figures of earnings a yr and employs 3 different individuals.
All This, And I’m Nonetheless Fairly A lot the Similar Man Who Couldn’t Get Firms to Even LOOK at My Resume
Don’t get me incorrect, I saved finding out and studying new programming languages and platforms and structure patterns.
However my profession stayed caught in impartial till I made a shift from at all times attempting to be the “rockstar” coder with the most popular technical expertise…
And targeted my consideration on giving worth in ways in which actually matched what employers wished and wanted.
As I shared that worth with as many individuals as I might, they got here to respect me as an authority…
And so they’d search me out in order that I might assist them much more.
There’s A Time period For This—And It’s A “Dirty Word” To A Lot Of Builders
However we’re all adults right here, and I do know you possibly can deal with it.
Prepared?
It’s referred to as:
“Marketing.”
Ahhhh! Advertising and marketing?!?
I get that response each time I convey this up.
Let’s be completely clear about one thing right here:
There may be a LOT of nasty stuff that goes on beneath the banner of “marketing.”
You don’t need to be related to any of that, and neither do I.
However don’t let these scammy techniques blind you to the underlying reality that…
“Marketing” Simply Means Connecting A Individual With A Drawback To A Individual With A Resolution
Advertising and marketing is essentially about serving to individuals clear up issues.
And isn’t that what we excel at as software program builders?
Whenever you “market yourself” the best way I’ll present you, by at all times wanting to give ship overwhelming worth, it feels utterly pure.
Actually it’s even satisfying.
And let me inform you, it’s so significantly better than placing your self via the degrading meat grinder of the job hunt course of.
Now I fell into all of this fully accidentally.
Every of the ideas I’ve shared with you right here… these concepts which have propelled me to successes I by no means thought potential…
Took me YEARS of trial and error to uncover.
If somebody had taken me apart once I was a model new developer at 19, and walked me step-by-step via what I do know right this moment…
It might simply have saved me a decade of wrestle, frustration and rejection…
And as an alternative of feeling trapped and caught, and questioning why nobody appeared to acknowledge what a proficient and arduous-working developer I used to be…
I’d have had a clear plan for constructing precisely the sort of profession I most wished.
Nicely, it’s a little late for that now—for me, at the very least.
However not for you…
As a result of I’ve taken all of the street-examined data and arduous-gained expertise I’ve collected during the last 17+ years…
And put all of it collectively into the sort of all-in-one coaching program I want I’d had 20 years in the past…
Introducing:
How to Market Yourself as a Software Developer
How to Market Yourself as a Software Developer is a systematic approach to construct up your fame, authority and goodwill…
By at all times wanting to give monumental worth earlier than you ask for something in return.
Whenever you do that persistently, you’ll discover that you simply’re not struggling to chase alternatives.
As a substitute, you’re attracting the easiest alternatives to come to YOU.
And as your profession grows YOU develop, changing into a higher and extra fulfilled software program developer.
This course accommodates my complete system for:
- Touchdown the job you’ve at all times wished—fixing difficult issues, pushing your self to develop your technical expertise, and dealing with individuals who share your ardour for the craft of software program growth
- Incomes a elevate of 20%, 50% and even as a lot as 300% over the approaching months and years
- Creating your individual “safety net” of profession alternatives so that you by no means have to fear about the place your subsequent paycheck will come from—that is TRUE safety
- Constructing a dependable feeder system for 4- and 5-determine freelancing and consulting work
- Creating a platform for launching your individual worthwhile enterprise as an entrepreneur, both by promoting your data or by creating a software program product
- Having fun with extra satisfaction in your day to day work
- Mastering your craft and persevering with to enhance your expertise and productiveness
- Constructing relationships that may lead to worthwhile enterprise alternatives down the street
- Incomes extra respect out of your workforce and supervisor and a voice in making vital selections
- Growing the boldness to rise up for your self—and even stroll away from a poisonous job
Right here’s How It All Works…
The course is offered in 6 modules, every constructing on the concepts within the earlier modules, brick by brick, till you’ve assembled your new profession-enhancing platform.
In every module, I’ll personally stroll you thru a handful of key ideas.
Then I’ll present you the sensible, step-by-step actions to take that can shortly start to construct your fame and authority in your chosen area of interest—and begin incomes the respect your data and accomplishments deserve.
Right here’s simply a glimpse of what you’ll uncover:
Module #1 — Why Advertising and marketing Yourself Is Essential (And How to Get Began)
This module lays the inspiration for every little thing else within the course.
To begin, we’re going to bulldoze away a entire pile of lies which have roadblocked your success in your profession up till now.
Lies about what it means to be a skilled. Lies about your expertise and your true worth. Lies about what firms really need and wish within the builders they rent.
The mindset shift you’ll make right here is vital. With out it, any advertising and marketing methods you strive will probably backfire and go away you feeling low cost and unprofessional.
Then I’ll present you the essential constructing blocks in your new “authority-building” plan.
You’ll see how all of the items match collectively at each a “strategic” degree (the “what” and “why”) as effectively as a “tactical” degree (the “how”).
On this no fluff, 13-chapter PDF you’ll uncover:
- The devastating penalties of attempting to “opt out” of selling your self. Selecting this path means surrendering your future to the companies you’re employed for
- The key standards that interviewers use to go judgment on you (all of them do that, ESPECIALLY those who swear they don’t)
- Why the traditional knowledge about advertising and marketing is totally backwards—and the way reversing the damaged “marketing equation” is the important thing to constructing your fame as a skilled
- How to be certain that your splendid employers preserve bumping into you in every single place they flip, till you turn into the “obvious expert” that everybody turns to
- Must you market your self beneath your individual identify, or create a standalone firm? The professionals and cons of each, plus the “Goldilocks Strategy” that simply could possibly be the very best of each worlds
And a LOT extra.This cornerstone module has been supplied elsewhere for a advised worth of $29.
Worth: $29
Module #2 — Constructing A Model
Now that you simply perceive what advertising and marketing IS (and simply as importantly, what it ISN’T), you’re prepared to start constructing your individual advertising and marketing plan.
And all of it begins with establishing your model.On this 8-chapter “crash course,” I’ll stroll you step-by-step via the method of growing your model—which is the picture you mission within the software program group.
You’ll lastly get clear about the place your profession is headed, and how one can attain your targets whereas staying true to your core id.
I’ll additionally present you:
- How “Casual Friday” can torpedo your profession, and the way to know what you must put on in any job state of affairs
- Why constructing a model is NOT about “all sizzle and no steak,” and the way you as a developer MUST create a model primarily based on substance, talent and experience
- How Apple established itself as a premium model, and how one can observe in Steve Jobs’ footsteps to soften away resistance the subsequent time you’re negotiating your wage or pay bump
- The “Plumber Principle” that ensures they name YOU first the subsequent time a nice job opens up
- A delicate branding pitfall that makes you appear like an beginner to your pals and colleagues (and leaves you feeling like a phony), plus the best way to keep skilled and genuine in your advertising and marketing
- How to harness your “weaknesses” and play off your private flaws and failings to appeal to new and thrilling alternatives
- The true motive most builders by no means attain their potential, and how one can be an outlier whose success is all however assured
The 8 chapters on this module span 106 minutes of HD-high quality video. All movies are DRM free and downloadable in .mp4 format for playback on the system of your selecting.
This module accommodates as a lot meaty content material as programs I’ve offered for $147, however I’ve determined to embrace it right here as a part of the low bundle worth.
Worth: $147
Module #3 — Creating A Weblog
In case your model is the dent you propose to go away on this planet, a weblog is the sledgehammer you’ll use to make that impression.
Your weblog is your “home base,” a digital avatar that reveals the software program growth group what you stand for.
Creating a profitable weblog is like a Jedi constructing their lightsaber. It’s a ceremony that marks your passage into maturity as a programmer.
When you might have a effectively-maintained weblog, your friends sit up and take discover of what you might have to say. And potential employers and shoppers know that you’re a severe practitioner of your craft.

On this 154-minute, 7-chapter video collection, you’ll watch over my shoulder as I present you the way to “build your lightsaber.” You’ll see behind the scenes of how I work at Easy Programmer, together with the instruments and workflow I’ve used to construct a weblog that receives greater than 1.5 million web page views a yr.
You’ll additionally uncover:
- Why following the lead of common bloggers like Seth Godin might set you up to have your concepts censored, and what you possibly can to do shield your concepts and your voice
- The three frequent “blockers” that kill most software program growth blogs—and the steps you possibly can take to guarantee yours doesn’t turn into a casualty
- A vital lesson you possibly can be taught from the highest 20 web sites on this planet to get your weblog up shortly. (Many builders flip their nostril up at this, solely to discover that sustaining their website turns into a large burden…)
- The only most necessary step to take along with your weblog even BEFORE you purchase a area identify or draft that first “hello world” put up. Skip this and you might find yourself beginning over from scratch. Get it proper, and creating your website turns into a lot, a lot simpler
- Why the frequent method of utilizing a weblog as a place to “park” code samples and snippets out of your newest initiatives doesn’t lower it, and the 5 ways in which your weblog can propel you ahead in your profession
By the point we’re carried out, you’ll have a weblog you’ll be proud to present to your friends and colleagues.
This module might simply promote for as a lot as $147 by itself, but it surely’s embrace within the low bundle worth.
Worth: $147
Module #4 — The Full Information to Getting Your Title Out There
You’ve outlined your model, and also you’ve constructed your “home base.”
The following activity is capturing the eye of your fellow builders—and the workforce leads and hiring managers at firms you may want to work for.
Many builders soar straight to this step with out laying the groundwork that we coated within the first 3 modules. As a end result they wind up operating in circles—and resolve that “marketing yourself doesn’t work.”
However you gained’t have that drawback, thanks to the agency basis you established in modules 1-3. Now you’re in a nice place, the place each little little bit of legwork goes a great distance, and every tiny win strikes you additional down your chosen path.
This module is a whirlwind tour via the entire completely different instruments you possibly can deploy to begin to construct your fame and viewers. And there have by no means been so some ways to get your message in entrance of the best individuals.
On this 9-chapter, full coloration PDF I’ll present you greater than 2 dozen methods for getting individuals to sit up, take discover, and even begin to look to you as an authoritative voice in your discipline.
My suggestion: Decide 2-3 strategies that play to your pure strengths and pursuits and deal with these.
With so many choices to select from, you DON’T have to do something that’s too far exterior your consolation zone. This fashion you possibly can “get your name out there” with out feeling inauthentic, phony or pushy.
On this module, I’ll present you:
- A approach to “cascade” wins into larger wins, triggering a virtuous cycle the place your successes shortly compound
- 2 sources for site visitors that may ship a flood of latest readers to your weblog. (Warning: this will convey your web site to its knees)
- How to use multi-channel leverage to dramatically enhance the impression of your on-line authority-constructing efforts
- The #1 greatest frustration of first-time bloggers, and three methods to zip previous the “lost in the wilderness” part that sucks the life out of most new blogs
- How to faucet into “instant audiences” and get your identify in entrance of influential builders who aren’t but studying your weblog
This e book is NOT out there on the market anyplace else.
Worth: $29
Module #5 — The Final Developer’s Information to Social Networks
Social media simply is perhaps the only greatest approach to “get your name out there”—it’s so necessary I’ve devoted a whole module to it.
To make social media give you the results you want (and never in opposition to you) requires a stable technique. This module kicks off with a take a look at what social media can and (simply as necessary) CAN’T do to provide help to construct an viewers and advance your profession.
Then we’ll see how every social “channel” can match into your total plan.
You’ll additionally be taught:
- A typical social media blunder that diminishes your standing, robs you of the respect you’ve earned, and even trigger your followers to really feel embarrassed for you (the “kiss of death” in your profession)
- What branding “puzzle pieces” you MUST have in place earlier than you begin firing off tweets
- The “thermostat principle” for turning informal acquaintances into loyal followers
- 3 usually missed methods to construct your social media following
- How to use social media to “be everywhere” with out wanting like an obnoxious self-promoter
This 9-chapter module is offered in a downloadable 58-web page, full-coloration PDF.
Worth: $29
Module #6 — Resume Recommendation that can Make or Break You
Ever discover a job that regarded excellent, ship in your resume, after which… Crickets?
Extra builders lose out on potential job alternatives due to resume errors than for some other motive.
Whether or not you’re making use of for a job your self or responding to an invite from a firm that’s keen to recruit you, there’s a lot hinging in your resume.
In module 6, I’ll present you the way to keep away from the resume errors that may torpedo your probability to land your dream job.
This fast-studying 14-web page PDF will level out:
- The #1 resume flaw that will get your resume despatched straight to the “round file” (aka the trash), by no means to be seen once more. Keep away from this and also you’ll instantly remove half your rivals for a given place
- A resume prep protip that can prevent time—whereas additionally guaranteeing you’ll be taken critically as a candidate. (Even when you take nothing else away from this whole course, following this one pointer could possibly be value hundreds of {dollars} when you put it into motion)
- The job seeker blunder many builders make when scrambling for work. What appears “efficient” to you possibly can truly make your software stink of desperation, inflicting an in any other case employer to say “Thanks, but I’ll pass”
- How making use of a approach from Agile methodology to your job hunt can get you MORE interviews and presents with far LESS effort and time
- A approach to shift the main focus off your “thin” work expertise and impress hiring managers along with your expertise, data and work ethic (particularly necessary for brand spanking new graduates and mid-profession “job switchers” wanting to break into programming)
Worth: $19
With These 6 Modules You’ll Create
A Rock-Strong Basis
For Your Profession…
However I wished to load up your “tool kit” with much more profession-constructing instruments, so right here’s what I got here up with:
Bonus #1 — 11 Profitable Software Builders Spill Their Profession Secrets and techniques
This course is like a set of Lego bricks. You’ll be able to combine and match them many various methods to construct the long run YOU need.
That’s why I made a decision to sit down 1-on-1 with 11 software program builders to learn how they’ve utilized these ideas in their very own careers.
The programmers you’ll meet in these interviews run the gamut from “celebrity developers” like Robert “Uncle Bob” Martin and Jeff Atwood to workaday programmers who’ve extra lately found the facility of constructing a model.
In these conversations you’ll be taught:
- How Uncle Bob spent 25 years as an obscure developer earlier than stumbling into his model, and the way he “accidentally” discovered himself writing a e book (plus some insider tips about the publishing business)
- The savvy profession transfer that Microsoft MVP and PluralSight writer Dan Wahlin made that boosted his credibility and began his rise to prominence
- How JavaScript and Node.js maestro Derick Bailey‘s blog earned him the respect of one of his programming idols
- A powerful way to destroy writer’s block and by no means run out of running a blog concepts from Stack Overflow founder Jeff Atwood
- How ASP.NET developer Josh Earl constructed an viewers round a textual content editor that earned him greater than $50,000 in aspect earnings
- Mozilla developer evangelist Christian Heilman‘s #1 recommendation for what to put on your blog that will make you stand out to potential employers
- How popular conference speaker John Papa went from unknown to in-demand, packing out rooms at major development conferences
- How Google engineer Jon Skeet became the “Chuck Norris of Programming” by helping other developers solve their toughest problems
- The techniques that .NET developer Miguel Castro used to build a high-paying business as a software consultant
- A “gross” hack that SQL DBA Pinal Dave used to grow his blog from 180 visitors in month 1 to 1.8 million users over 7 years
- How web developer and PluralSight author Rob Conery rode an open source project to prominence—and a sweet job at Microsoft
These video interviews span more than 4 hours. And each of these 11 developers value their time at a MINIMUM of $150 per hour. (Several of them bill at $250 an hour or more.)
That means this collection is easily worth $600 based on sheer “time on the clock.” (But the insights you’ll glean are value much more that that.)
Worth: $600
Bonus #2 — Profession Instruments Fast Reference Information
This 2-web page PDF offers you one-click on entry to the 30 profession-constructing instruments and assets talked about within the course (plus an unique low cost to have your resume polished by a skilled CV author).
Worth: $5
Bonus #3 — 29-Step Software Developer Advertising and marketing Guidelines
This guidelines walks via the entire steps within the How to Market Yourself as a Software Developer system on one web page.
You’ll be able to print it off and hold it subsequent to your monitor—it’s your roadmap from unknown developer beginning at sq. one to revered professional, standing aspect-by-aspect with the highest builders you admire from afar.
Worth: $7
Bonus #4 — Full Phrase-for-Phrase Video Transcripts for “Building A Brand” and “Creating A Blog” Programs
These uncut transcripts are excellent to preserve helpful as a fast reference while you need to refresh your reminiscence with out scrobbling via the movies.
I’d extremely suggest printing these PDFs out and retaining them with you when you watch the movies. You’ll be able to underline key factors and make notes within the margins.
The transcription alone would usually set you again $260, however you get each transcripts as a part of this bundle at no extra value.
Worth: $260
Bonus #5 — Networking Do’s and Don’ts Poster
Your private community is your #1 profession asset—and an insurance coverage coverage in opposition to powerful instances.
This poster-sized infographic offers you 20 ideas to construct a far-reaching community that can bulletproof and enrich your profession.
You’ll uncover… The BEST time to add individuals to your community… A approach to ask for a favor with out feeling like a mooch… How to make extra pals in two months than most individuals make in two years… And extra!
Worth: $7
So Now You Could Be Questioning,
How A lot Will All This Value?
All collectively, this bundle is valued at $1,279.
And to be trustworthy, it’s value much more than that.
This course is the sum whole of the knowledge I gained over greater than a decade of wrestle, failure, experimentation—and eventual success.
If somebody had given me this course at first of my profession, it might simply have been value a whole lot of hundreds of {dollars} in extra earnings, not to point out a extra satisfying and fulfilling profession.
For instance, let’s return to that depressing job I took in New Jersey. Realizing what I do know now, I’d by no means have accepted $45 an hour. I used to be value greater than that.
Even when I’d solely managed to bump my fee up a measly $5 an hour, I’d have earned an additional $8,800 over 11 months I spent there.
And if I might have negotiated my fee up to $60 an hour, that will have amounted to virtually $25,000.
Are you starting to get the image?
Look, I’ve met and talked with hundreds of builders within the Easy Programmer group, and I’m regularly amazed at how a lot untapped potential many builders have.
Actually, the most important motive many builders are caught of their careers is identical intelligence and love for his or her craft that makes them glorious programmers within the first place.
Whenever you’re doing one thing you like, you don’t understand how uncommon and helpful your expertise and data really are, and it’s straightforward to let your self accept lower than you deserve.
That’s the actual worth of this course.I’ll present you the way to elevate your value in your individual eyes and within the eyes of your colleagues and future employers.
Let me put it this manner:In the event you apply what I present you on this course, you might simply earn your self a further 2% elevate in your subsequent efficiency evaluate.
And when you’re incomes $85,000 (a mid-degree developer wage within the U.S.) which means an additional $1,700 in your pocket subsequent yr.
Say the yr after that you simply change jobs, and use your new data to safe a 10% elevate. That’s one other $8,670, and now you’re incomes $95,370.
Assume that sounds far fetched?
Not too long ago I acquired an electronic mail from a Easy Programmer fan who used what I’d taught him to change jobs twice in lower than 1 month—and enhance his earnings by 300%! (Extra on this in a bit…)
So given all that…
How a lot would YOU make investments to safe returns like this?
I do know I’d fortunately have paid $1,000 to have somebody present me the ropes early in my profession, and I might have earned that again dozens of instances over.
Now when contemplating how to worth this course, I spotted that charging $1,000 would put this information out of attain for many builders—the very individuals I wished to assist.
And even $500 could be a stretch when you’re not being paid what you’re actually value at your present job.
So after a lot of thought, I made a decision to set the value at an reasonably priced
Learn extra: https://simpleprogrammer.com/products/developer-marketing/
This is What You may Get in John Sonmez – How to Market Yourself as a Software Developer
IMPORTANT: This complete “John Sonmez – How to Market Yourself as a Software Developer” is totally downloadable and out there to you instantly (In case of a damaged hyperlink, we’ll renew your hyperlink shortly). Your persistence is appreciated.