Get good at charging for results rather than hours. You can get a higher hourly rate if you're good at it. Find a niche with strong demand but without a lot o

Get good at charging for results rather than hours. You can get a higher hourly rate if you're good at it. Find a niche with strong demand but without a lot of competition. New platforms are often good targets (Facebook, iPhone, Hadoop ... etc) Move someplace where the billing rates are higher. You can almost always clear more in big cities, even after accounting for the higher cost of living.