Ask HN: Tips to get larger contract work?

[TimothyBurgess]

This is in light of this thread: http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=2485098 And this comment: http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=2486093

The answer(s) to this question may be a fairly obvious to most here and I'm sure a number of responses have already been considered, but I know I'm not the only one here who'd like some tips from more seasoned professionals regarding how to become a well-known contractor. Starting from basically nothing but a degree and a few years of experience, what's the best way to reach out to potential clients in an area of expertise? (I'm leaving this generalized so other readers can better relate.)

Concerning the post above, there's no doubt that my coding abilities are way above average... and I've had a taste of the corporate world... I worked for a $17 billion company for a few years, and while the people there were enjoyable, the work I did was not. And I'm definitely not alone when I say I prefer to be my own boss.

I currently have a couple startups in the works (one is actually to help bootstrap the other) but I don't expect to see any money from them for a while. And I'm nearly broke at the moment since I'm in my early 20s and have been working on my startup(s) day-in, day-out since June 2010. And in all honesty, being broke has put quite the hold on my social life for months now and it's gotten extremely depressing.

So with that said, what do you seasoned professionals suggest in terms of bringing in decent paying contract work (i.e., larger projects, but not too large)... and soon? Is this unreasonable? I do realize this is what nearly everyone is after but I'm no mere mortal! smirk I complete larger projects in a fraction of the time with rarely matched efficiency and perfection (just ask anyone I've worked with!)... But of course coding ability only accounts for a small fraction of my value... Giving clients exactly what they need to make their businesses run way more efficiently is what I do best. What I do lack is the ability to make this known to a large group of potential clients... Or should I just contact them all directly? I hate to be spammy though. I've checked out some freelancing sites and knocked out a few smaller projects but have seen nothing even remotely close to the aforementioned comment.