I don't mean to toot my own horn, but I wrote a fairly successful blogpost about what I've learned doing full-time freelancing this summer: http://sealedabstrac

I don't mean to toot my own horn, but I wrote a fairly successful blogpost about what I've learned doing full-time freelancing this summer: http://sealedabstract.com/rants/5-lessons-learned-while-being-a-freelance-iphone-developer/ http://sealedabstract.com/rants/5-lessons-learned-while-bein... I think you're on the wrong track focusing on the technical side. If you read HN, you're at least an okay coder. Focus on improving your business skills: * Figure out where your potential clients hang out. Capturing Google searches is a good place to start * Filter out the really dumb people in some sort of automated fashion. Every minute you spend figuring out if a client is even serious is a minute where you could be productive. * Learn to write clearly. Either that or talk on the phone. Master at least one communication skill, and try not to suck at the other. * Get some pretty templates for doing estimates, invoices and such * Read a book or two on contracts. Write out your terms in a bulleted list, but hand it to a lawyer to enlegalize. * You don't need a signed contract on every project--just the ones for which you want to be paid. * The most important thing is to get 3 projects in your portfolio. Even if you have to be your own client. * Deals fall through. Always talk to 3x as many people as you can actually do work for. If you're turning away business and people get angry with you, you're doing it right.