This event changed my mindset about money.
To protect the project's identity, I'll simply refer to it as "PROJ."
I always had the habit of working for free on projects with cool ideas, as long as the work required wasn't too long or complex on my end.
This habit led me to many leads.
The project owner I helped for free, referred me to the PROJ team who needed an NFT contract.
I was just starting with NFTs so I wanted to practice.
I've accepted the job for 1.5 BNB.
The task was to create a simple ERC721 token with basic features, including:
- create a single NFT
- create an NFT into a wallet
- create X NFTs into multiple wallets
- create X NFTs into one wallet
The entire process took about an hour.
The team was pleased with the results and the speed of execution.
They asked if I could provide them with another service, this time a bit more complex.
- Migrating from BSC to ETH
- Creating a new ERC20 contract
- Implementing special staking
- Developing a dapp for the users
Their idea was unique and unlike anything I had seen before.
Basically, it was a staking platform with a fixed APR.
The staking itself was a contract with a single NFT, generated from a factory.
This NFT held the deposit amount and rewards that could be claimed once the timer expired.
The NFT could be transferred and the ownership of the contract (and so deposited&reward tokens) would be moved to the receiver.
I was excited to work on this system (YAY NFTs!!) that I started before even discussing payment, just to determine if it was achievable with my current skill level.
Turned out i was already 70% done when i had say my quote.
I was thinking.... let's... try to... ask... more.
I've been insulted months earlier for my low prices so....
So i landed my price.
35 BNB.
16k.
Oh man, what I've done? Potentially ruined a promising lead.
But let's wait and see.
After some hours...
"Ok, payment sent."
My entire world collapsed.
I opened my wallet and saw the BNB balance...
refreshed two times, closed and re-opened the browser.
I made my ATH.
Again.
That was impossible.
The month before i did my personal ATH and it was already brutal for my mind, this one broke everything.
Moving from a job that paid me 1200€ per month, waking up at 9, working for 9+ hours every day, weekend included and... i did 16 fucking k dollars in 3 days.
In that exact moment, I've confirmed a theory.
I see those money as i see the golds in world of Warcraft.
Amazing.
My human/sentimental part is not touched by those numbers.
What i've learned
- Don't be afraid to ask what you think your work is worth
- Never rate yourself with a hourly ratio, you're penalized for being efficient
- Know when to make that kind of offer (right market, right client, i was LUCKY)
- Having high paying clients is better then having tons of low paying clients. They care as they're invested in.
- Always give your best, help anyone
- Give give give
- When you receive that high amounts, swap to stablecoin
PS: I've never sold those 35BNB. They still with me at -4x from their original value. ❤️