You need to specialize in a specific industry, and I’m not talking about a tech field (iOS dev, AI specialist, etc). Use your skills to market yourself. Here is what businesses care about: “I can make you money” and “I can save you money”. I personally have specialized in the refrigeration industry, which is to say temperature control. So thermodynamics, heat transfer, simulations, sensors, etc. No one has ever asked me if I’ve programmed in x or used tool y, they just say they want something and I make it for them.

To do any of this you need skills but you also need to know people. That is actually the most important part.

I second networking. Otherwise, specialize yourself in certain fields and market yourself with respect to them. I specialized myself in some obscure GIS subfield and it brought in a couple of sweet gigs over the course of the years.

Network to be honest. If you don’t have events and stuff near you, just apply for jobs normally and then negotiate the freelance stuff at the last step when they already like you.

Off the top of my head;

• Specialize rather than generalize.

• Highlight your specialty or niche. “Python developer”…TF does that mean? “Data science consultant specializing in Python and machine learning” makes more sense. Pick an area you excel in and highlight it.

• Work on your soft skills. Anyone can learn to program (or whatever) given long enough. I want people on a project who can communicate, understand the concept of project management, are proven collaborators etc.

• Testimonials/reviews as standard. “I can do x because the people at y company said I was good at it”. Cool, prove it, show me.

• If you’re doing something broad like SEO or whatever, don’t just put SEO. Something quantifiable with metrics to back it up. “I did x and increased client traffic by 30% as per this dashboard here”. Yes, graphics can obviously be photoshopped, but a quick bit of double checking can usually spot those.

• Build a presence. Doesn’t have to be some smarmy LinkedIn page with thought leadership listicle rubbish (though there are some areas where that does work), but have something to show. For example, if I want to hire a writer or journalist, I’d ask to see their portfolio. Same goes with a developer, editor, designer etc.

• The daily Github update thing for developers is almost a meme at this point, but if someone tells me they’re passionate about building and then don’t have any evidence of them actually building something, then why should I believe them?

• Network. It’s not what you can do, it’s who knows you can do it. Make connections, talk to people you know who are doing the same thing, what are they working on, what’s a skillset the people they are working with are looking for right now etc.

This is all a bit basic in terms of advice, reading back, but TBH the basics account for most of what I’ve found works, and what I look for in new hires.

Network and niche down as much as possible.

I’ve researched this topic quite a bit and I used to work in staffing. It’s all about trust:

1. Use your existing network <— the best
2. Answer a million questions related to your expertise on a social network (like Reddit) and opportunities arise.
3. Bust your ass working for pennies on fiverr/upwork to build up a client base and raise your prices later
4. Post content related to your expertise on Twitter/yt/ig
5. Work with a recruiter. You’ll get price gouged but work is work.

Lots of people here saying ‘network’ but this is what it takes to network today.

I have more niche skills. Xamarin developer has been my focus for 5+ years and even thought there aren’t that many projects out there, there aren’t that many experts either.

Network.

Get involved in communities in your chosen programming language and get to know people in the community. Added bonus if you contribute with open source libraries / packages to help other developers.

Eventually you’ll hear of others who are doing freelance and more than likely than not one of them will have too much work for them to do and they’ll need to bring in more people to help out and this will be your opportunity.

This is what happened with me in the Flutter community.

Focus on showcasing unique projects, not just skills. Build a personal brand around your specialty and passion. Quality work and great communication attract clients who value you.

In addition to what others are saying here have a product mindset. Build and deliver a product and solution rather than fulfilling tickets.

In freelance people are typically trying to buy a finished product.

Also people here are saying networking, you need more than just networking you need to be able to market and sell yourself and your skills.