At this point in my web design career I have two websites that I've created for clients that I want to showcase in my portfolio website (with testimonials for each). I don't have the website launched yet but I do have it all setup in flash already. I have two more websites that I'm finishing up so that I'll have a total of 4 websites that I have done for my portfolio.

1. One thing thats bugging me about my portfolio website is that it's done in Flash. I'm really happy with the way it came out and I'm just wondering if this seems like a logical route to take since I know their must be people out there who still don't have flash? Should I just make it HTML/CSS?

2. I've mostly established clientele through craigslist and word of mouth. At this point in time I want to promote myself through other websites and other means. I know sites like eLance seem to have potential to acquire clientele. What can you suggest to me here?

3. I would like to start promoting myself more in many different places, via online and offline. The problem I'm facing is if now is the right time for me to register myself as a freelancer with my local gov't. I wouldn't say I'm making all that much money right now since I'm not working on a bunch of projects or anything, just one here and there. I'm still in school and have other commitments in addition to building websites for small businesses. My question is should I wait until I'm able to focus more on web design and am making steady progress to register my freelance business? I don't want to go through the trouble of doing that until I feel I'm in a relatively secure position with it. Let me know your thoughts?

Thanks in advance

Regarding Flash: many people use it, but some (like me) block it by default due to a paid traffic. Why not make two versions? Flash would be more beautiful and impressive, but you'd be sure that anyone would be able to see at least a basic version.

Sites like Elance and Guru are interesting, but it might also be worth checking more niche-oriented resources where a larger percent of potential clients might be present. In such a case, an answer depends much on what is your niche.

Regarding Flash: Flash is a basic necessity of many people who surf the web. In other words, everyone has Flash. However, as X-Cart points out, some people block it. So, if your user blocked flash, you should automatically transfer them to a html/css version.