You basically should invest some time in building up a portfolio of your own projects. Otherwise you basically have to either undercut everybody in your bids t

You basically should invest some time in building up a portfolio of your own projects. Otherwise you basically have to either undercut everybody in your bids to make yourself attractive on a cost basis, or when you bid on a project, show the customer a "proof of concept" or something that shows you already have something solid to show them before they choose a freelancer, which may or may not be feasible for the type of projects you're interested in doing.