A Year with Codeable

In late February of 2013 I found myself on a website called Codeable. A few minutes later I was emailing my credentials to try and get an invite to the live beta.

The idea was simple, but one which I had never heard of before: a freelancing job board connecting developers with clients, but without individual bidding for the client to choose from. Developers need to apply to have access to the clients and Codeable keeps everything running smoothly.

Shortly after applying I had an email interview and was invited in. Very quickly I realized this was the best thing since sliced bread. At that point in time everything was still in beta and the Codeable staff invited all contractors to lurk in an IRC channel to quickly iron out any bugs, answer questions, and chat. Within a few days I had completed my first task and within a few weeks my next dozen.

I was, and am still fulltime support for Kriesi themes, as well as a stay at home dad, so my freelancing through Codeable was squeezed in whenever I was able. As the weeks passed and my schedule became more consistent I found myself able to fit in extra time for a few tasks a week. I could pick and choose those jobs that I knew would be completed in my available time and it helped make life a bit more comfortable for me and my family.

I wonder if I can do that

As Codeable grew in popularity so did the number and type of tasks showing up. I don’t recall when exactly I started doing it but at some point in late spring I started looking at every single task that came in and asking myself “I wonder if I can do that”. I didn’t have the time to do everything of course but the opportunity to grow as a developer while making some extra income was just sitting there in my email.

Instead of playing games in the evening or watching TV I would try and find solutions and then pre-write the code to solve tasks that came in. I missed some, I solved others, I kept learning. It started to reflect on my “day job” as I was able to answer more difficult support questions, give out custom code for themes and send over bug fixes instead of just bug reports to Kriesi.

June

As my wife was winding up her school year we started making plans for the summer. I was excited about the work I was doing for clients on Codeable, what I was learning with WordPress and the sudden increase in income. I wanted to see just how much I could get done if I pushed myself. For the whole month of June my wife would be Super Mom and I would be Super Worker. Each day I did six hours of support in the morning and then the rest of the day with clients on Codeable. Every single task that showed up I would try and get. If I didn’t know how right away I would race to look into how I could do it. Once again there were some that I couldn’t quote or apply for but the majority of them I could and did. It was like being in exam time in school again except I was getting paid for it instead of paying out.

At the end of the month I averaged one task a day and made an extra $3,454.00 for June.

Room for One more

All of a sudden the year was coming to an end. I had completed over a hundred tasks with Codeable and was coming up on two hundred. Somewhere along the road I lost a gut feeling of fear I had developed ever since I became a father. Things would be okay and I had the ability to keep them that way.

With this new found stability we decided to shake it all up and daughter number two was born March 3rd 2014; just about a year exactly from when I completed my first task on Codeable.

By the Numbers (not actually numbers)

So what did I actually do?

  • Lots of new widget areas
  • Lots of css fixes and customization
  • Internet Explorer fixes
  • Responsive fixes, additions and complete responsive overhauls
  • Migrated WordPress installs
  • Lots of Quick Theme and WordPress setups
  • Lots of WooCommerce integration
  • A handful of completely custom themes
  • Lots of phone consultations and training on using WordPress
  • A handful of consultations and training on using WooCommerce
  • Lots of custom functions, fixes, template files
  • AWeber and Mailchimp forms

Some of my favorites:

  • Built a custom theme for a national advertising agency and saw the site rolled out as a part of a national ad campaign
  • Australians – I’ve never had a bad experience working with a client who had a .au site
  • Helped an incredibly nice women set up a site for her to teach knitting using WooTheme’s Sensei plugin.

17 responses to “A Year with Codeable”

  1. Alysia Avatar

    Great post! I’m actually a newbie at codeable and it’s super encouraging to read how far you’ve come in a year. I can’t wait to see what’s in store for me.

  2. Jay Tillery Avatar

    Devin,

    I’m also coming up on a year at Codeable. Looking at completing 100 tasks shortly. I’ll admit that you inspired me the most on Codeable. I loved the way you would write your opening message for the tasks and how you knew the right questions to ask. Thanks for that and congratulations on the new family member and continued success.

    Best,

    Jay

  3. Devin Avatar
    Devin

    Thanks Jay! Congrats on coming on 100 as well.

  4. Devin Avatar
    Devin

    Thank you Alysia! Good luck in getting started. Once you get the feel of the whole process it becomes much easier and you can it to grow into any area of WordPress development you want.

  5. Bogdan Dragomir Avatar

    Congrats Devin!

    You are an inspiration for me to.

  6. Sourav B Avatar

    Hey Devin, nice post. You are an inspiration for me since I joined Codeable. And congrats for the new comer in your family 🙂

  7. Arbab Avatar

    Hey Devin,

    I read your post as Per put it on.

    Its an excellent way to really appreciate what codeable has provides in terms of platform, support, knowledge and learning

    I myself just introduced to codeable a couple of months ago, and the results are fantastic.

    You are an excellent inpirational and very respectful personality at codeable among the contractors.

    I really look forward your ideas, the way you pitch it to clients, your questions, your solutions they all are outstanding.

    I wish you more excellent jobs and prosperity in future.

    Regards,
    Arbsb

  8. Matjaz Muhic Avatar

    Great story!

    We’re so happy to have you on board since the start. Without guys like you codeable wouldn’t even exist. 🙂

    Best wishes,
    Matjaz

  9. Liam Bailey Avatar

    Wow – 200 tasks – well done my friend. It is true Codeable is a dream come true for us mid-high level WordPress developers. I know the internet made it easy for charlatans in a lot of industries, but I think none more than web design and development, it is nice to work from a position of trust and have half the battle won before you start writing code.

  10. Tenika Jones Avatar

    Congratulations on everything you have accomplished so far and the new bundle of joy.

    Thanks for being a HUGE source of inspiration for all of us. Codeable has been beyond amazing so far and I find myself going out of my comfort zone and learning new things. Codeable keeps me wanting to learn new things and work on some amazing projects.

    Keep continuing to inspire all of us here at Codeable.

    All the best!

    P.S. in my eyes, I always considered you the face of Codeable developers. 🙂

  11. Giulio Avatar

    Devin,
    your post comes in a perfect time. I agree that Codeable is the best thing since sliced bread, and it’s also one of the things that pushes me to keep improving my skills.
    I see developers like you that seems so comfortable in doing every task, and I wonder when I’ll have the same level of confidence. I could apply to many more tasks than I do but I always have that bad fear of finding something unexpected that I’m not able to fix. But I see that you are learning along the way, just as I’m doing right now. Thank you for inspiring me.

  12. Devin Avatar
    Devin

    Thank you once again everyone! Hopefully overtime we can get more of a community going on and share some of the code we create and solutions we find 🙂

  13. Erik Avatar

    Year two is going to be even better! Congrats on a great 1!

  14. Brian Avatar

    Awesome post Devin! I’m a brand new contractor on Codeable (I think today is 1 week) and I feel like a got a glimpse into the future. My wife is currently pregnant with our first and Codeable has been an absolute God-send! I’ve also found myself looking at every single task wondering how I could learn what is necessary to complete it if I don’t know it already.

    I also agree that it would be great to start to build a community at Codeable. Thanks for sharing your story 🙂

  15. Devin Avatar
    Devin

    Codeable is a fantastic place to grow while still bringing in some extra income. Congrats on your first and if you have any questions about a task you see me pick up but were unsure about send me an email and I’ll share the code/what I did if possible 🙂 [Same goes for any developer]

  16. Chris Avatar

    Wow, thanks Devin and everybody here for your insights into Codeable. It inspires me as I am with Codeable for about 2 weeks and got no tasks yet. I am also searching for daily job at the moment because we are falling quickly into insolvency. Earning $3000 / month at home WAW! Sounds so much more than a dream that comes true for me. Congratulations for new family member! We got two (8 and 10 y old).
    How about Facebook Group for Codeable Community? Some themes providers also went to Fb. What do you think?

  17. Mirta Avatar
    Mirta

    Thanks for this post, Devin, and congrats on the addition to your family! I have joined Codeable recently, and I am following the same logic as you did – doing what I can right away and “I wonder if I can do that” (and explore & learn how) approach for the rest.
    Just starting my first 100 tasks, but it’s good to see that’s the way to go 😀