You've advised "get a client" and "people will ask to hire you," but that only works if people are already aware of you. What if you are unknown? Where do you find these people people who will ask to hire you?
If you are a developer, your friends should at least know that you are a developer. Start from there. Giving talks at meetup groups is also a huge plus. I think a key thing is that people need to know you do or are at least looking for contract work. If your goal is to find contract work, I highly suggest your linkedin profile list your job title as Freelance Software Developer or something similar if your primary job doesn't monitor your linkedin profiles.
Frankly this is just negative self talk and excuses.