i looked back through your posts a bit to see if you answered this already and came up empty, so i apologise if someone's already asked you this sort of question. Any advice for someone who's just starting up with commissions and doesn't have any sort of popularity or prominence? I've tried going through dA for people asking for commissions, but as I expected it's so oversaturated with other, often better artists that no one bites.

Draw frequently - if you don’t have quality, people like quantity.  And also work hard at getting better.  That’s the TLDR version.

You have to work for a good while to build up a clientele - post a lot on different sites, work hard to integrate yourself into communities, make a lot of friends, and then see if people might also want to buy your work. You have to start small!