I do this on the side. I currently work full-time at Run Games, a small indie game studio. I started out doing freelance web development for people I knew pers

I do this on the side. I currently work full-time at Run Games, a small indie game studio. I started out doing freelance web development for people I knew personally. I'd set a price, usually ~$300 because I'd feel guilty if I took any more, and spend the time to make a custom website for them. They'd recommend me to a friend and I'd do the same thing over again. I quickly realized this wasn't sustainable, so I experimented with raising my rate substantially and doing Wordpress sites with a theme for people. As it turns out, my clients didn't notice a different in the quality of my work and liked having a CMS they could use (over a Jekyll-esque thing I had set up for myself). So, to sum it up, I recommend starting small with doing themed Wordpress sites for local businesses and offering low rates. You're going for recommendations at this stage. Once you have clients approaching you, you can start to raise your rate.