Without a doubt I would start on Craigslist. If you go the freelancer site route expect a lot of competition and lowball prices. I have found the people who are looking to get something done on craigslist a much better customer and better payor. If you see someone looking to get something done right away then you can charge extra for the convenience you are providing them.
Your question was "where to start?" when I was doing freelancing I started on fiverr and later discovered at least 15 more clones..just copy your project to all of the clones you'll see yourself it's working
yes you can go ahead with freelancer.com, odesk.com and you find many such websites if you search in google..
For starters Fiverr is the best option or such small money Gigs websites. If you can do Professional graphics work or php or program writing as well, you can try yourself at freelancer.com or myscriptlance for php scripts
Why go to any other site to start out being a freelancer? In fact, digitalpoint can provide that for you. I do recommend it as you can get more cash out of your work rather than getting outsourced by someone else.
Build a strong portfolio first before worrying too much about finding high paying jobs. You need to show that you can do the work to attract bigger employers.
IMO you should sit with an accountant and discuss the differences between companies and individual entrepreneurs and other structures. We are facing a large number of consultants and many of them choose to trade as a company for various reasons, however, depends on their business plans, personal position and risk consulting work he is doing.
oh, you can begin with many sites, elance, odesk, buzzpromote, freelancer. make sure you have your portfolio ready.
I've tried oDesk and it doesn't cost anything to join. For freelancer.com, I think they have a minimal fee or membership fee. There's also eLance and Fiverr but I haven't tried those.
Well actually yeah, you can offer and freelance on DP or other webmaster forums as well and sell your service
I would personally say, it is difficult to get projects on Freelancer.com or any other such freelance sites as the competition is too much. People offer services for dirty cheap prices. It is better to offer services on Craigslist (but stay away from scammers there) and high traffic forums like DP and others.
That's the problem with Craigslist. There's way too many scammers. It's like "enter at your own risk". Competition is tough in sites like oDesk, Freelance, etc. But there are set rules there that need to be followed so you as a freelancer are protected. You'll have to work cheap for a while but as you build your reputation, you can increase your rate.