* people finding my site online, which is so horribly outdated that I've had people ask if I'm still in business, yet people still hire me through it (I am updating it in the next 2-3 months, but I'm kind of scared I won't be able to handle the increase in workload)
* networking
* running an open source project
I've been incredibly lucky though, I never thought to ask for referrals since I was young and thought that was a no-no or something, but they came in anyway (which is a good sign :).
I also haven't really had time to do much online promotion, but having an open source project to show quality of work and to drive people to use my project and (just often enough) my services probably helps make up for my lack of online promo efforts.
As for networking, I never really tried to sell, I just go out and meet people. I often forget to bring cards or to even mention what I do (even though I do talk too much ;). I heard someone recently explain that networking isn't about marketing directly, but rather about getting your name out there and just being a real human being. The network of your network are who you'll sell to because the people who think you're alright will refer you naturally, or something like that.
The above has kept me more than busy for years now, and since I'm also working on a startup I've had to limit what projects I can take on since otherwise I'd have no time for my own...
* word of mouth/referrals from happy clients
* people finding my site online, which is so horribly outdated that I've had people ask if I'm still in business, yet people still hire me through it (I am updating it in the next 2-3 months, but I'm kind of scared I won't be able to handle the increase in workload)
* networking
* running an open source project
I've been incredibly lucky though, I never thought to ask for referrals since I was young and thought that was a no-no or something, but they came in anyway (which is a good sign :).
I also haven't really had time to do much online promotion, but having an open source project to show quality of work and to drive people to use my project and (just often enough) my services probably helps make up for my lack of online promo efforts.
As for networking, I never really tried to sell, I just go out and meet people. I often forget to bring cards or to even mention what I do (even though I do talk too much ;). I heard someone recently explain that networking isn't about marketing directly, but rather about getting your name out there and just being a real human being. The network of your network are who you'll sell to because the people who think you're alright will refer you naturally, or something like that.
The above has kept me more than busy for years now, and since I'm also working on a startup I've had to limit what projects I can take on since otherwise I'd have no time for my own...