In the practice of the skilled trades, often times it is a little bit tricky to find work, in spite of how useful your skills may be. Sometimes you just need to get yourself placed somewhere. Now, there are two different ways to get placement, and we need to cover them each briefly before we explain them in more detail. First off, there is placement into a company, which will pretty much ensure that you are going to have all the work you can handle. It is more predictable (both the workload and the compensation), but it does have its limits. There is also getting placement as an independent contractor, generally through such simple lead generation methods as having your name be in the phone book and having people call you up when they are in need.
If you get placed with a company, you are going to be able to make W2 income (which is good if you want to take on a mortgage), and generally have a much simpler process ahead of you. While you are only going to make a cut (usually an hourly rate) of what you would if you were out on your own, your process is a whole lot simpler. All you have to do is apply, interview, get the job and do what they tell you.
On the other hand, getting placed as an independent contractor can be a whole lot more complicated for you. First off, you are going to need to either sit by the phone all the time, or hire some people to do that. If you work in a field where there are lots of panicked people (such as HVAC), you should probably employ an answering service, so that you can occasionally get some sleep. From there, it is nothing more than a matter of getting your name out, to have clients find you.