I recently wanted to break into the freelancing market and had some success with this chain of events: 1) I joined my local programming mailing lists - e.g. th

I recently wanted to break into the freelancing market and had some success with this chain of events: 1) I joined my local programming mailing lists - e.g. the nearest Hacker Space, Ruby Ireland. 2) I went to a local tech conference. 3) I went to local tech meet ups and made a lot of noise. I paid extra attention to the non techies. 4) I followed everyone I met at said events. After a few months of doing this I understand the local freelancing scene much better, have a good idea of market rates and am exposed to lots of freelancing opportunities.