One thing that took me a long time to learn: when negotiating, make it about what the other person wants. So, in your case: don't ask people to take chances on you. Tell them why you're the best person for the job. Show them why you're the best person for the job. Anything else isn't business, it's charity.
And if you aren't the best person for the job? You'll have to up your skills or start with jobs that you are the best person for. Put up a friend's blog for $20. Find that business down the street that doesn't have a web site and sell them on doing it for $50. Build a volunteer registration app for your favorite non-profit for $100.
Is the reason you don't have time really that there were zero seconds left in every single one of the last 365 days? Or is that part of how you're bullshitting yourself? We all do it, so you shouldn't feel bad about it. Just spend some time thinking about how you got where you are and what your priorities are. It's important to recognize (in a kind and respectful fashion as possible) that the biggest common factor among your last jobs has been you. Sure, change careers if that's what you really think you need. But don't be surprised if changing careers doesn't fix the big problems.
This is good advise but the problem is that I'm never going to be the best person for any job. I'm not even the best person for my current position. I can guarantee had our startup not been acquired I would have never even been considered form y current job. However, I can do the job and do it pretty well. The reason I got hired at the startup was that they were desperate for people with some understand of web dev to meet the demand of consulting projects they had backed up. I think they really did take a chance with me and it ended up working out.
I agree with what maerF0x0 says (best applicant), but wanted to add, that it's partly a marketing thing, a confidence game. If two equally good applicants present, one with self-esteem issues and one who says, with quiet confidence, "I know I can solve your problems and that you'll be happy with my work," then most people will hire the confident person. We're primates; social signal matter to us.
Also, you should consider whether you're experiencing the Dunning-Kruger effect. The way that people get good is by having high standards and then working to live up to them. As Ira Glass says, "Nobody tells this to people who are beginners, I wish someone told me. All of us who do creative work, we get into it because we have good taste. But there is this gap. For the first couple years you make stuff, it’s just not that good. It’s trying to be good, it has potential, but it’s not. But your taste, the thing that got you into the game, is still killer. And your taste is why your work disappoints you. A lot of people never get past this phase, they quit. Most people I know who do interesting, creative work went through years of this. We know our work doesn’t have this special thing that we want it to have. We all go through this. And if you are just starting out or you are still in this phase, you gotta know its normal and the most important thing you can do is do a lot of work. Put yourself on a deadline so that every week you will finish one story. It is only by going through a volume of work that you will close that gap, and your work will be as good as your ambitions. And I took longer to figure out how to do this than anyone I’ve ever met. It’s gonna take awhile. It’s normal to take awhile. You’ve just gotta fight your way through."
And if you aren't the best person for the job? You'll have to up your skills or start with jobs that you are the best person for. Put up a friend's blog for $20. Find that business down the street that doesn't have a web site and sell them on doing it for $50. Build a volunteer registration app for your favorite non-profit for $100.
Related to that, and to your comment about not having the time, I find this piece from John Scalzi helpful: http://whatever.scalzi.com/2010/09/16/writing-find-the-time-...
Is the reason you don't have time really that there were zero seconds left in every single one of the last 365 days? Or is that part of how you're bullshitting yourself? We all do it, so you shouldn't feel bad about it. Just spend some time thinking about how you got where you are and what your priorities are. It's important to recognize (in a kind and respectful fashion as possible) that the biggest common factor among your last jobs has been you. Sure, change careers if that's what you really think you need. But don't be surprised if changing careers doesn't fix the big problems.