My opinion and advice is that the very best way to proceed is to get your work out there. The Pixeljoint gallery is fine if you clean it and keep it very pro. A personal blog/portfolio is better because you can showcase yourself and your work. Social network sites like behance work well too. Having all 3 or more is even better. I get offers often and they come from all over the place. When it comes down to it its about the work and how you present yourself so you have to work and take every road you see to expose yourself.

At first, offers may be slow so you need to invest in yourself for a while. If an offer exists that is good for you, take it regardless of money at first. You are building your brand and you need experience. A project may be 'indie' and have little pay involved but doing a few is good because it shows others that you can commit and produce. Especially, if your involvement is big. A project may be small but for a big game company or well known title. They are both equal in stature in the end. When clients see real project samples they tend to trust you more so you need some regardless of the scope.

Some clients will not give you the rights to show what you make for them so you can make your own project to showcase yourself. For example, all the game mockups I've made have been to showcase that I can make any genre of game art with pixelart because I prefer making game art. Showing some versatility is always good.

If you see yourself as a spriter then don't showcase BGs. If you hate animating then don't show any. Think of yourself as a 'product' and market yourself at all times starting NOW! all the while practicing, improving, refining, learning and asking questions.

Rates is always a difficult thing and you have to rreview every project on its own. If a project comes along that is easy and comfortable for you and something you wish to do then working cheap or even for free sometimes is a great investment. If a client has a strict budget for a certain list of assets then you can guage it and see if its worth your while. If Nintendo offers you a project but is just grunt/sh*t work with little creativity then it doesn't matter what it is, you do it, because forever you can state that you have worked with them and this attracts others.

Its a process, you have to be active, creative and sometimes a businessman. Some things go smooth others a nightmare...you just keep going.