Orlin Dimitrov - Senior Web Developer

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• Orlin Dimitrov
• Senior Web Developer

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Orlin Dimitrov - Senior Web Developer

• You could say that work is a playground for our
  freelancer of the week, where his knowledge and
  passion flies high like a kite and his
  professionalism makes him the confidant of all
  the other kids on the court. Orlin Dimitrov is a
  dedicated freelancer and likes to compare
  WordPress with Lego because it gives you the
  opportunity to build whatever you want with it.
  Gather round and read more about his 10 years of
  experience as a Word Press and Web Developer

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Orlin Dimitrov

• 1) First off, can you tell us a bit about
  yourself?
• Hello! My name is Orlin Dimitrov and I was born
  and still live in my nice and sunny hometown
  Varna in Bulgaria. I've been working as a Web
  developer for the past 10 years on various web
  projects. Most of my experience is with
  international companies and clients, most of it
  done remotely. Working home based is the kind of
  freedom that energizes my afternoons and nights
  because I usually work in the late hours since
  there is so much peace and silence during those
  hours. So I am definitively a night person and
  this helps me a lot in my productiveness and
  personal life. Yet being flexible and effective
  are the key components in my work and I do my
  best to satisfy every client I work with because
  this is my mission as an IT professional.

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Orlin Dimitrov

• 2) If you would search for your profile on
  Google, which are the three keywords you would
  type in the search bar?
• WordPress is definitely the number one keyword
  for me in terms of technology, my preferred
  platform. Another is OpenCoffee - an
  international club organizing informal meetings
  between IT Business people. I've organized
  those meeting for 5 years in Varna. The third one
  would be AIESEC - another great student
  organization I was part of when I worked as an IT
  Coordinator for 2 years.

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Orlin Dimitrov

• 3) What was your inspiration and when did you
  actually decide to become a freelancer?
• I started working home based right after
  University and continued this way for most of the
  time. Home based work is a freedom little people
  have the chance to experience. I've also worked
  in an office but I think home based is my way -
  it made me much more independent, self-organized
  and flexible in my personal life. Thus I decided
  I want to keep this freedom and for most of the
  time indeed have been working either freelance or
  with a contract for a company. I prefer working
  fulltime since this makes me fully occupied
  throughout the week yet freelancing with clients
  allows me more flexibility.

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Orlin Dimitrov

• 4) What kind of services have your clients asked
  you to provide?
• I've especially been working on Web projects with
  the LAMP platform so I have versatile experience
  with all kinds of projects - from small CMS sites
  to large corporate intranets and e-commerce
  platforms. I've also participated in some Open
  Source projects and developed my own websites
  (including a pastebin site) for my own
  experimentation. In the last several years I've
  discovered WordPress as a platform and made
  probably hundreds of websites and tweaks with it.
  I am pretty familiar with its API and
  capabilities as a CMS and I compare it to a LEGO
  constructor you can play with to develop almost
  any type of website.

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Orlin Dimitrov

• 5) Do you use other freelancers or companies to
  provide skills that you dont possess?
• Since I am doing mainly coding I usually work
  with a ready Graphic Design in PSD format which a
  designer creates in Photoshop when starting a
  custom project - this is usually provided by the
  company or client I work with. I usually do all
  the rest without SEO and SMM.

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Orlin Dimitrov

• 6) Now tell us, how do you find new clients that
  are interested in your services?
• A lot of clients contact me through my personal
  network of friends or colleagues I have worked
  with. I also actively use social networks like
  Facebook and LinkedIn which help me to expand my
  network and keep in touch with the people in it.
  I have a personal portfolio/blog site where I
  have listed some projects and more infos about
  me. But I also look for good companies I would
  like to work for on job boards or directly
  through their website. Yet I don't do cold emails
  and calls. If there is an open position I think
  is worthy applying for, I do it.

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Orlin Dimitrov

• 7) What about freelancermap.com? Can you tell us
  a little bit about your experience with our
  IT-network?
• I think freelancermap is a great site, I find it
  very functional and easy to use. I find a lot of
  jobs and project opportunities there and I am
  also proud it's an EU project!

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Orlin Dimitrov

• 8) How do you set yourself apart from your
  competitors? What makes you special? 
• I am always very careful with every client - I
  have a personal approach and try to fully
  understand their needs and requirements and this
  includes not only the technical part but also the
  style of communication, the timing and delivery
  urgency, budget limit, etc. I often become close
  friend with some of them and that's why I do
  agree with the quote
• "In business everything is personal."

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Orlin Dimitrov

• 9) What are the top three books, blogs or
  magazines you read to stay up to date in the
  IT-market?
• I follow especially those websites
• http//www.businessinsider.com/
• http//www.theverge.com/
• http//techcrunch.com/
• But I read a lot of other magazines and blogs. I
  also regularly read e-books or watch video
  tutorials to keep up to date. I like visiting IT
  conferences too.

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Orlin Dimitrov

• 10) Freestyle! Is there anything you would like
  to tell our readers?
• If you are a freelancer, try to make the most of
  it! Since you are your own boss you are a free
  person in terms of time management and other
  decisions. So seek your opportunities and let
  yourself and your friends and family benefit from
  it!
• And one hint many successful entrepreneurs have
  started as freelancers - this is natural for a
  free thinking person. And freelancing gives you a
  chance to think outside of the "9am-6pm" box
  which most people are fixed to. Take a look
  around and hunt for opportunities!

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