Consulting & Freelance

How to use your technical skills to pick up freelance work and consulting gigs. We’ll cover the platforms that work, how to build a profile that gets noticed, and tips for landing your first clients. You don’t need a huge following to start making money.
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  6 minute read  

If you’ve spent years solving gnarly infrastructure issues, writing rock-solid automation, or securing massive networks - you’ve got skills people will pay for.

You don’t need a massive following. You don’t need a product. You just need to get in front of someone who has a real problem and is willing to pay to have it solved.

This page explores the full range of freelance and consulting options - from solo gigs to teaming up and eventually starting your own boutique firm. Whether you want a little side income or a path to independence, this is how to get started.

Why Freelance or Consult?

Here’s the pitch, without the fluff:

  • You’ve already done complex, valuable work
  • You don’t need retraining - you just need clients
  • You can start small, and grow only if/when you want to
  • You control your time and choose the projects you care about

This can be as light as helping someone fix a broken Terraform setup - or as involved as acting as fractional CISO for a startup. You decide.

Getting Started Solo

Most people start freelancing one of two ways:

  1. A warm lead: a former coworker, a friend-of-a-friend, or a past employer
  2. A cold start: creating a profile on freelance marketplaces and applying to open gigs

Both paths work. Warm leads are better - but they’re also slower and less predictable. If you want to get rolling today, cold outreach or platforms will get you moving faster.

Platforms to Find Work

These are the most well-known places where clients and freelancers meet. Each has pros and cons.

Upwork

Upwork is the largest freelance marketplace out there.

  • Wide range of jobs (IT, security, DevOps, scripting, etc)
  • Mix of low-end and high-end gigs
  • Charges a service fee on what you earn (5–20%)
Tip

Look for hourly roles or retainers from serious clients - not the $20-for-a-script crowd.

Toptal

Toptal is a “high-end” freelancer network. You have to apply and go through a multi-step vetting process.

  • Focuses on elite talent (top 3%, etc)
  • Projects tend to be longer-term and better-paying
  • Great for full-time freelancers
Tip

Best suited for people who want a stream of freelance work and are OK with the vetting process upfront.

Gun.io

Gun.io is more tech-specific and aims to connect vetted developers with serious clients.

  • Devs only (great for our crowd)
  • Short and long-term gigs
  • Less crowded than Upwork
Tip

Gun.io is good if you want focused, higher-quality leads without the race-to-the-bottom feel of general marketplaces.

Arc (formerly CodementorX)

Arc matches developers with remote freelance jobs.

  • Focus on remote and contract roles
  • Often has fractional or part-time CTO/CISO gigs
  • Some vetting required
Tip

This is a great fit if you’re positioning yourself as a senior or lead-level consultant.

Other Platforms

There are more niche or general-purpose platforms worth checking out:

Your Personal Site Matters

Freelance marketplaces are crowded. One way to stand out is to not rely on them entirely.

If you have your own site, even a simple one, you can:

  • Control your message and tone
  • Showcase your projects or open source tools
  • Link to blog posts, talks, or testimonials
  • Add a simple “Hire Me” page with a form or contact link

Even if no one finds you through Google, your site is the best thing to send someone who asks, “So what do you do?”

Make the Ask Easy

Create a /hire or /consulting page that explains what you offer and who you help. Be honest, clear, and human.

Go build your Brand Website if you haven’t already!

Finding Clients Outside Platforms

Not all clients hang out on Upwork. Some of the best-paying gigs come from direct outreach, personal networks, or just being visible in the right places.

Where to Look

  • LinkedIn – Post about what you do, what you’re building, and who you help
  • Reddit – Subreddits like r/sysadmin, r/devops, or r/freelance can be good
  • Twitter/X – Follow and engage with founders, VCs, early-stage startups
  • Discord & Slack groups – Many communities have “help wanted” or “freelance” channels
  • Your own GitHub repos – Add a Hire Me link in your README.md

Pitch Like a Human

Don’t write like a salesperson. Write like someone who solves problems.
Example:

“Hey, I saw you’re trying to migrate off legacy VPNs. I built a WireGuard + Tailscale setup for another client that scaled cleanly. Let me know if you want help thinking through the architecture.”

Starting a Micro-Firm

If you’ve got a few like-minded friends or coworkers, you can go bigger. This doesn’t mean you need a board or investors. It just means you act like a team instead of lone wolves.

Why Start a Micro-Firm?

  • Combine skillsets (e.g. DevOps + SecOps + frontend)
  • Land bigger clients who want more than one person
  • Share the marketing and admin load

You don’t need an office. You just need:

  • A shared brand name and domain
  • A simple landing page
  • A clear explanation of what you offer
  • A bank account and basic invoicing setup

In present day there are amazing collaboration tools that make it very easy to have an all-remote team. For example you might use:

Can’t Sell? Bring in Someone Who Can

If you and your partners are introverts, that’s fine. Consider finding a “sales” partner - someone who can be the face, pitch the work, and handle the client convos. You do the work, they open the doors. See: Finding a Cofounder.

Building Long-Term Client Relationships

The best consulting isn’t just one-off gigs - it’s building relationships with people who trust you.

Tips for turning one gig into a pipeline:

  • Be reliable and communicative
  • Take notes and hand off clean documentation
  • Offer a follow-up session or audit every few months
  • Stay in touch with past clients (even just a yearly check-in)

Happy clients bring referrals. That’s how real, sustainable consulting businesses are built.

Summary

Freelance and consulting work is one of the most immediate ways to monetize your tech skills. Whether you’re fixing busted scripts or designing a secure infra rollout - you can get paid for what you already know how to do.

  • Start solo through Upwork, Gun.io, or warm leads
  • Build a small site that shows who you are and what you offer
  • Use LinkedIn, Reddit, and GitHub to be visible
  • Team up with others to land bigger jobs and share the load
  • Consider a sales-minded partner if you don’t like pitching

You don’t need to go full-time right away. Start small. Solve real problems. Let the work speak for itself.