liverpoolx,
You're definitely off to a great start, becoming active in forums that are relevant to your niche, which is graphic design. I have a few strategies about getting your name out there that I'd love to share with you. They'll help you network with other professionals in your niche and build your business and brand at a rapid pace.
The first step is going to be getting online and creating a website for your brand. If you're interested, I have a free 30 Day eCourse that teaches designers how to setup profitable blogs about design. The eCourse will show you how to market yourself as a designer, make your brand recognizable, and pull in a profitable income online. Here's the link to the eCourse if you're interested.
http://meltingwaves.com/ecourse/
You'll need to create different pages on your site to show your audience what you're all about. Include a portfolio page that shows your best work and then add a page that talks about your experience in the design field and your interest in graphic design. Now you're going to want to create a page where viewers can go to hire you for projects and you're also going to want to add a page that shows testimonials from clients you've worked with in the past. It sounds like a lot, but these elements are all necessary components of a successful freelance design website and if you just break them down bit by bit, you'll have it up and running in no time.
The next step is to get involved in social media and forum posting. You're definitely already into forum posting, so kudos for that. If you're not into social media, you can dive right in by creating a Twitter profile, a Facebook Fan Page, and a LinkedIn profile to market your company.
Now you're going to start sharing your artwork with popular portfolio sites such as Behance and DeviantArt and rapidly promoting the new work that you create on your website.
Start guest posting on design blogs that are relevant to your niche and really reach out to other passionate designers and share ideas and positive energy with them. It's all about connecting the community, so the more connecting you do, the better known you will become. Good luck with everything.