Did you have a portfolio of applications you've built and code you've written? Did you put a link to it on your resume? How did you share it with the employer, if you don't mind me asking?
The consulting thing? Someone asked a question on a forum, I answered it (telling him how to do whatever), he asked a followup question that I answered, then he asked if I was willing to write the code for him on a consulting basis and I did. I guess my answers convinced him I was sufficiently clueful about the specialized thing he wanted.