[mittermayr]

I know you're looking for a book recommendation (my recommendation would perhaps be a bit too socializing-weighted with Never Eat Alone by Keith Ferrazzi) — but I also wanted to reiterate what others have said here already. It's a two-step process — you need to get in front of a potential client, and then you need to convert them into a sale (project). I personally think that most books focus on the latter, whereas the former is arguably the hardest part: finding leads.

It's the same problem most indie devs and startups have (without VC-infused Adwords budgets) — getting their product in front of other people.

I have been consulting in a self-employed capacity for 13 years now, next to doing other things, and 100% of my leads have come through friends, exclusively. This is not to show how great my friends are (debatable), but how I have been completely unable to attract business outside of my network, even in 13 years!

Marketing yourself to even be considered a point of contact for whatever it is you're offering is - in my opinion — by far, the hardest nut to crack.

I'd love to hear suggestions by others who've been successful on this front, especially how you attract out-of-network leads. It seems next to impossible at times, except for those rare (serendipitous) moments when someone reaches out after a newspaper article or being featured online somewhere.