boopsie

Absolutely agree. My spouse is an active contributor to an open source project. Often, someone will come into IRC asking for help, and soon realize that the scope of the problem is bigger than they thought. Their next idea: "I should hire someone to do this for me." If you have demonstrated your tech skills, ability to communicate, and willingness to help a client... you might get the gig.

It doesn't have to be open source. As long as it's a community of techies working together to solve a problem, being the Helpful Cheerful Person in the Neighborhood can lead to consulting work.

I'd add Jerry Weinberg's _Secrets of Consulting_ to the reading list. It had a major impact on my ability to turn my tech skills into a business. For example, it helped me understand that the right answer to a client request is, "Yes, I can do that. And this is what it will cost."

I totally agree.

You _never_ want to compete on price. Compete on quality. It's a good idea to eliminate the cheapskates ahead of time.

Cold calls rarely work -- unless you are as good at selling (yourself) as you are as a web designer. That's a rare combination.

Word of mouth is the most powerful way to get business, of course. So the first step is to let the people you know know that you're available. Tell the people who might need your skills that you have them; if they don't need you, they might know someone who does. (This is a good use for LinkedIn.)

Have an elevator pitch ready that summarizes your tech specialties (e.g. HTML5, Dojo), business expertise ("have created several websites for realtors"), and a sense of the best match that hints at your rate ("affordable for small businesses"). Have a web portfolio ready. Update your LinkedIn page.

Depending on how much "a bit of extra cash" you can get started with sites like elance.com but my sense is that the money isn't all that great. (That perception might be inaccurate.) If all you're looking for is "a little extra" and an opportunity to expand your skills, it might still be a good idea.

It took reddit down!