TBDMark

Background: I am an entrepreneur with a relatively successful, small, first-year consulting firm. In addition to running the day-to-day business and selling, I constantly want to grow my knowledge and keep challenging myself with the next set of in-demand skills. I have worked with databases/SQL for almost 10 years and am six months into learning R.

Goal: I would like to find additional work in data analysis and data science fields, but am unsure where to look. Contract work is preferable - I have tried oDesk and Elance in the past but was disappointed in the listings and expected pay. I love staying busy and much of my current gig is cyclical, so I want to prepare for any downturns.

Question: What's the best advice for beginning the search for contract work? Is it worth reaching out to local recruiters in the area as a "consultant"? Get back on oDesk and do some small jobs? Browse Kaggle constantly for the white whale?