[rizkeyz]

My advice would be to target a situation where clients search for you, rather the other way around (everything else I find unsustainable). For that you need to put your work out, like breadcrumbs - so the interested party gets curious and reaches out.

Has worked for me for the past seven years. The cost of putting your work out is basically zero these days - all you have to do it put the time in, which you have to do in one way or another anyway.

Not my field of expertise, but if I were a data science consultant I'd make sure I'm a top ten (%) kaggle person, and so on.

[eatonphil]

For a different perspective: this hasn't ever worked for me. I have a reasonably trafficked blog and github and only twice in 7 years has someone asked me if I'd be up for contracting and both those times it was for a thing I wasn't qualified for.

In contrast I've found contracts and been emailed by employers looking for contractors numerous times after I posted on HN's Who wants to be hired post.

But it could be that although my blog is reasonably trafficked and technical, my posts just aren't particularly practical. :)

[urthor]

"Hello! I'm Phil, based in Queens, NY. I've been a developer and manager in the past. Some of the most viewed posts on this site are about building compilers, databases, and emulators from scratch.

I am building Multiprocess Labs around DataStation, an open-source data IDE to help you create dashboards and exports on data from every database, API, and file without cumbersome ETL processes.

I also run a Discord community for developers working on or interested in challenging programming projects like compilers, databases, emulators, etc. Come to share and learn from other folks!

You can find me elsewhere on Github, Twitter, LinkedIn, and Goodreads.

I love hearing from you!"

Probably because nowhere on your blog, or your Hacker News bio, do you say "please reach out for contracting."

You don't even say you're a contractor or have worked as a contractor in the past. It reads like you're a full-time employee.

ABC, always be closing.

If you don't have a call to action to convert blog readers into consulting customers, how will you ever get people wanting to hire you?

[eatonphil]

I used to have contract info on there and I removed it because it wasn't effective. :)

[version_five]

I disagree with this. Not saying it's impossible to build a reputation on haggle or whatever but networking and getting to know people (potential employers) and their problems is more important.

I've been on both sides as a contractor and hiring contractors. I've never seen anyone go for the "smartest" person or a popular person in the field. It's all about comfort working together, and being top of mind when there is work. For the latter point, some kind of "presence" on social media or whatever may help, but I still think there's a massive wall between media and reality (like I'd never consider reaching out to a social media celebrity if I need work done). Regular calls and check-ins, pitching ideas, getting to understand clients. That's what wins the work. And once you're in, just do a good job (again be understanding the client needs, not really by being smart) and you're good.

[orzig]

I'm a DS/ML consultant, but I've never done Kaggle or even serious public github projects. For context, I've only changed clients once, as my contracts have been very long-term. My initial client reached out to me and induced me into part-time consulting in the first place, and my second/current reached out to me based on previously working at the same company.

So I'm not saying that I know everything, but n=1 says that interpersonal connections in a domain+skill can be fully sufficient. Obviously, which one to focus on depends on where you're starting from - I have 10 years of experience in a domain and have interacted as a skilled expert with many people who are now managing budgets at various mid-sized companies. If I needed a new client, I'd primarily reach out through that network instead of using Kaggle.

[pinum]

>I've only changed clients once, as my contracts have been very long-term

It should be pointed out that this is much closer to insecure employment than traditional contracting/consulting. No judgement from me, because I'm in a very similar position- freelance contractor on paper, but in reality, one client and a very employee-like working dynamic.

[urthor]

Also that changing clients is just as lucrative for contract employees as it is for fulltime employees.

You're usually expected to have 2-3 solid backup options, minimum.

[sillysaurusx]

Seconded. Maybe the kaggle thing works, but for me it was just posting all of my work to Twitter every day. Two years later and I'm listening to my wife saying "Wow, your tweets pop up randomly in my search results" for random obscure ML related searches.

The downside is that it will probably dry up quickly. But I try to pay it forward by spotlighting other capable engineers who have less visibility. Which reminds me, I have to go do that now. (Done: https://twitter.com/theshawwn/status/1490472576379932673)