[crownvic]

Add consulting to the mix. Like planning apps, choosing an architecture, backend, etc.

Probably you do some of the above anyway, but rates for consultants are higher generally. I charge $100 to $200 an hour or $800 per day, and I haven't seen clients object much.

And as said earlier - get referrals. Many past clients will be glad to pass your name around, assuming you did a good job for them.

[noobrunner]

Cool. Did you build your network through Upwork-like platform? How did you get started?

[crownvic]

Nope. I can't stand their so-called "tracker software" when they're snooping what you're doing on your screen, etc. So, I started by asking my existing network for referrals. Later, I had some success with clients contacting me via LinkedIn, but referrals work much better, obviously.

You have the upper hand here over me if you're in the U.S. I bet many of your colleagues/past colleagues, maybe even your friends can provide potential referrals if you ask. I was experiencing troubles when I first started doing programming and consulting because English is not my native language (I can write, but I sometimes stutter and slow down when I speak.), and because I live in Russia and it's a major no-no for a client in half of the cases (stereotypes never die).

But I methodically grew my network, and things started to get much better.

[noobrunner]

Thank you for sharing. We mostly do fixed price contracts, but I am aware that the hourly logging software is annoying!