[Beltiras]

There's no easy way to do that. You have to market yourself as worth the money. You are absolutely right about fiverr, upwork and similar outlets will not bring clients that pay good money and they are usually more demanding than when you get your name into a managers rolodex (contact list is the modern equivalent I suppose). A little fake-it-till-you-make-it might bring you some of the way there. Try making a webpage selling your consultancy with a portfolio of projects you are proud of. It's something to put on a business card that you can pass out when networking. I want to echo what others have said about going to conferences. The trick is that you don't want to get onto the contact lists of other devs and managers don't often go to conferences. Your best bet at the conference itself is going to the sponsor desks and asking around. It's a hustle and I don't think it fits your idea of making a few extra €€. I've found that once I have a solid engagement that takes 8 of my daily weekday hours, I just don't have time to hustle the way I can when I don't have a dayjob.

Good luck.

[jinglejangley]

Thanks! To be honest, the replies to this thread have just solidified that a side gig is more work than it's worth haha.

[Beltiras]

There are benefits to sharpening the blade. If your day job vanishes all of a sudden (happened to me twice in my career), having your tentacles out to look for gigs will soften the blow. I've also had a gig turn into a dayjob (even if that one was short-lived and problematic on many fronts).