If you are a consultant, freelancer or in any other sense not a full time employee at a megacorp, how much time do you find yourself hustling for new work (i.e., networking with people, trying out new technologies, improving your online profile etc)?
Pretty much all of my time. We're a small shop. I network like crazy, both paid and free networks. If you have to choose, always go with paid. I also setup lunches with potential partners, clients and people who know people. About 3-5 lunches a week. It has a compounding effect and people will start referring others your way after a while.<p>My company's website is solid and it's purpose is to confirm that what I tell people is real. My online profile is also thought through.<p>Trying out new technologies isn't relevant, that's improving your skills as a SE. The others in my shop get to do this on a more regular basis since they hardly have to do any sales / networking.
ABC. Always be closing. Closing on skills, demos, phone calls, e-mails.<p>Just finished a Node.js "assessment" for a job opportunity and uploaded it to my Github. I may never touch it again, but there it is.
Jeb Blount recommends an hour daily for prospecting > <a href="https://youtu.be/hfGqPHWv9b4" rel="nofollow">https://youtu.be/hfGqPHWv9b4</a>