"Pricing? Any advice on pricing." Overprice projects for clients you feel will be a pain in the *&^. Be competitive (middle pricing) for clients you really want or think you might want to work with. I don't recommend pricing a project low or even too low. If you do this, you'll get the client and they'll suck everything out of you.... including your time. Been there, done that.
"Advertising and marketing tactics?" Utilize the projects you've worked on in order to market yourself. If you've done ads in real estate, you can say that you specialize in ad design for real estate. But do your homework first. Look at other ads and see what is wrong with them. Pay attention to what catches your eye first. Once you've done this with lots of ads, mailers, brochures, coupons, etc., then go out and find a book about marketing and advertising. You'll be surprised how much you already figured out on your own by paying attention and making notes for yourself. This type of research is what helps you design for a client and figure out where they might want to advertise successfully.
"Is it worth searching for work online? If so, what sites are best for finding quality clients that are willing to pay." It's always worth searching online. We used Elance for a while and found many loyal, good-paying clients from it. It's actually very expensive, so you'll have to be able to afford the cost of being a member at first. We've been on iFreelance and only landed one client. The client we landed is pretty much a flake .... as far as keeping on top of things, but they did pay on time.
"What kind of forms or procedures must I go through in order to be a registered or legitimate designer?" It really depends on where you live. Here in the county I live in in California, there is no such thing as a business license (the county doesn't even offer a license). Instead we are required to have a DBA or Doing Business As that we had to pay for and run in the local newspaper. The DBA is so that we can open a business account in our company name. This makes us look more credible than just using a persons name. Other than that, make sure you pay your taxes.
Keep in mind that if you feel you are a good, but not a great designer, that doesn't mean you won't do well. I feel I am a decent designer with a great business sense. That's what makes my company better than a great designer with no business sense. I know how to collect the money, how to do an invoice, what to invoice for and what not to invoice for. These are all things you need to know to be a successful graphic designer.
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