> If you don't go through the recruiters, you end up being left with the cheap arse companies that won't pay up anyway.
I've never used a recruiter, the companies I work for paid pretty good and I had one unpaid bill in a couple of decades.
Building your own network and getting rid of recruiters as your main source of income is very important to new contract programmers.
For one they take a cut and for another they will sell those parties where they can take the largest cut first.
I'm not saying they don't have a function but recruiters goals and the recruited goals are not 100% aligned and you should be very much aware of that when using one.
One way to side-step recruiters is to build up (large) number of contacts with people in the industry who may get to know someone that needs your particular skillset.
The more peculiar your skills the harder it will be for recruiters to place you and so more of the acquisition part will have to be done by yourself.
Think of using recruiters as 'outsourcing acquisition', it has all the upsides and the downsides associated with all other forms of outsourcing.
Another danger with outsourcing your acquisition to recruiters is that you are handing the keys to one of the most important parts of your business to another party, who can then either cut you off at will, replace you and retain their contact with the company you were placed in and so on.
The sales department (which you've essentially outsourced) is a very important (if not the most important) element in any company, even a small one.
You may be able to make your life a little easier by not doing that work, especially if you're an introvert but in the longer term you're setting yourself up in a very dangerous position.
So, use recruiters if you have to but be wary and make sure you have alternative channels to being hired under your own control. Never let a single recruiter get you all of your jobs or even a majority of your jobs.