In addition to advertising over the Internet, it may not hurt to advertise in your local city or town. There are a number of advantages to this. First, there will often be small to medium size business owners in your town who may be uncomfortable hiring someone over the web, and may instead want to deal with someone local, a person who they can sit down and talk to. By advertising your services to locals, in many cases you will be able to eradicate much of the global competition that you will face over the web.
On the Internet, when it comes to marketing your freelance services, regardless of what field you choose, you will be up against everyone in the world, since anyone can access the Internet. However, when it comes to locals, many locals will be reluctant to deal with people over the web. Building a relationship with a local small or medium sized business owner can be very lucrative for you over the long term. Not only will you have a client who will be likely to send you back-to-back work, but they may also partner up with you on other business deals which could lead to substantial amounts of money down the road.
Placing an ad in your local newspaper may be a very wise and prudent decision. Though it will in all likelihood cost more than what you would spend over the Internet, it will often give you a nice return on your investment. Another technique that can allow you to find freelance jobs within a short period of time are freelance job sites, which allow members to either post jobs they need completed, or bid with other freelancers for jobs.