Ask How do freelancers who never use Upwork or Fiverr find clients consistently?

[Brendan]

A lot of freelancing advice focuses heavily on platforms like Upwork and Fiverr, but there are people doing very well without using them at all. They seem to have built something that brings clients to them without relying on a platform that takes fees and controls the relationship. It raises the question of what they are actually doing differently and whether it is something that a newer freelancer could realistically copy. Do you know freelancers working this way, and what do you think makes their approach work well enough to avoid the platforms completely?