hi all

Hi i'm just starting out along the freelance programming road and happened onto this website. Looks great !

Anyways, i won't go into my history but started programming in 1980 (!!) using z80 machine code & BASIC. Then did little bits of things for fun over the years. I have now been coding in html, javascript, php & mysql for 12 months 'ish and call myself a novice.

My problem is i need to make some money as i am (sadly) disabled following an accident, my expertise is in computer hardware (my training is electronic engineering) but i would really like to make use of what i've learnt about programming.

I have a Win NT4 sp6a server running SBS4.5, php4 and mysql and a LOT of free time, but i don't know where to start. I don't want to take on paid projects for fear of getting stuck and letting down my client, but i seriously do need to start making some money.

My other problem is that i'm too nice a guy (as you may have guessed !), i have coded a couple of websites (just basic stuff) for a friend who has subsequently run off without paying.

So my question is: help ! What should i do, where should i start and is there anyone out there willing to 'hand-hold' me ? I could use a couple of small simple projects just simply to get the references but they are usually grabbed before i see them. Also what some people term 'simple' might not be to me !

ok i blabbered enough, anyone got any advise or willing to help ?

thanks

Voila:

http://www.devshed.com/Talk/Practic...Dev1/page1.html

It's a pretty good article. Hey - don't worry about going out and looking for jobs. If you get an offer for a job but think it's over your head, just decline it. You don't HAVE to take a job offer.

If you have plenty of free time, I would reccommend setting up a Linux-type or BSD-type box to bop around on. *nix skills are a big plus in the biz.

thx i am digesting it already.