Freelancers: Work for free

If you do work for free, pick projects that you want to do and bring you value (use new technology, work with fun people, etc) despite being unpaid.

Working for a customer for free in hope of getting paid work from them later rarely works.

That said, it is probably better to work for free than at a reduced rate. When you work at a reduced rate to help a struggling company starting out, they resent it when you start charging them full price later on instead of feeling grateful that they got a great deal before.

Cheap customer usually are more hassle than they are worth.