Not sure! =) I have a handful of side projects in both programming and "soft" skills such as running a newsletter. I got some leads through various HN posts a

Not sure! =) I have a handful of side projects in both programming and "soft" skills such as running a newsletter. I got some leads through various HN posts about my side projects, and a few from the "Freelancer?" monthly thread. You can see the projects that I listed if you search last month's thread. But yeah, I find it a little surprising myself. Probably some combination of the following: -public projects -right skill set (PHP instead of more trendy Ruby, etc) -cheaper price -good environment for developers right now -luck If you think about it, there are a lot of brilliant people on HN...but many of them already have jobs. Of those freelancing, a lot probably already have a solid client load. Of those that still need clients, not all are going to be working in a specific skill set, and I'd wager many don't want to work with PHP.