Gosh, I didn’t take what you said that way at all, sorry if I wasn’t clear. 
I was really just trying to communicate the feedback I get from others in the SF tech community.
I’ve read some books that say it’s possible to slowly build up your reputation on those sites in order to get a respectable rate (like Executive in Sweatpants by Matt Keener), and that may be true in some genres, but I don’t know if that is either true or the best way in the case of software development. If you’re a software developer, they’re are probably many ways to get better results faster than cranking away on the typical freelance site, but that’s just my opinion and gut feeling. For example, if I had to build a WordPress (just as an example) portfolio quickly, I would go around locally first, like offer a trade with your local barber to build a website in exchange for the rights to use the site for marketing, a testimonial from them for your own website, and free haircuts for a year. Or offer to do a site for a local mom and pop shop. In my experience, clients on the freelancing sites are much more likely to want to see a portfolio than my local corner store where they know me and I offer to give them a hell of a deal that’ll work to our mutual advantage. You might even get paid more. Just as an example. Good luck in whatever it is you’re doing though!
