My first consulting gig was mostly born out of necessity. At that time (2011), I was one of the founders of a startup, whose product was an enterprise / intrane

My first consulting gig was mostly born out of necessity. At that time (2011), I was one of the founders of a startup, whose product was an enterprise / intranet search engine. As is common with enterprise products sales was hard. Not being Microsoft, IBM or any other of the big names in the industry didn't exactly help either. Suffice it to say, the company didn't do too well. However, trying to sell an enterprise product came with the benefit of making a lot of new contacts, many of whom needed bespoke software development and consulting (rather than a turnkey enterprise search solution). Hence, I quickly transitioned into the IT consulting business. In more generally applicable terms, networking and becoming known for an area of expertise in my opinion is absolutely key for continued, sustainable success as a freelancer / consultant. So, here for some more general pieces of advice: Go to events / meetups. Talk to both people from the industry you market your services to and fellow entrepreneurs and engineers. When doing this continuously and consistently consulting gigs almost inevitably will come up. Create a professional website that describes the services you provide and the value you create for your clients. This is essential. Don't just put up a CV and be done with that. If you want to stand out you have to explain why you're not just a commodity paid by the hour but how you can solve a problem for your clients. On that website, write about your current work and your area of expertise in general. If such opportunity presents itself (which it also almost inevitably will once you start networking with others at meetups or other events) give talks about these subjects.