I wouldn't add much to your advice, Lori, but I would expand on the bit about breaking into bigger markets. I managed that by spinning information gleaned by writing for a broad-based business trade into highly-focused queries for specialty magazines.

At the same time, I sent letters of introduction to editors at some major magazines. Somehow my timing was right to nab some assignments about the TV Upfronts (which I'd never heard of before) for a major advertising trade. I was able to turn one blurb from one of those articles into a short article for a major TV trade that I still work for now, some 14 years later. I had no intention of specializing in the TV industry (and I live in the "fly over states"), but here I am.

And that was back when we had to either fax in copy or mail in floppy disks!

Devon, that's a super approach. I think the research is a must. Some companies seem great on the surface. But just under that, it's a mess. You make a great point – different markets are going to require different approaches. LOVE your postcard return percentages!

Eileen, you touch on exactly the issue – beginning writers are generalists. They're not sure which direction to go or if they want to remain general or go specialized. It's why I say try all sorts of marketing methods. You never know what will work, though obviously some methods work better than others.

This may or may not get me anywhere, but I've had a few articles run lately–I sent links to the sources I interviewed (who I would love to work with) and wrote a brief email thanking them for their time, the piece is now live, and explaining that I also do business writing. It landed me one client (although they came to me), so I figured I had nothing to lose.

I think the current lull is partially because of Elsa's health problems, and I have to figure out how to re-balance — get some more short turnaround work quickly for the vet bills, so I can keep working on the long-term projects.

The main thing, for me, is that if I come across a company/publication/organization that interests me, I do the research. Several hours' worth of it, so I know more about the company than most of the people working for it. Then, I figure out my angle and write a proposal to convince them they can't live without me.

I don't do that for EVERY company to which I direct market -but the ones I'm determined to work for — I keep at them until they hire me.

once one has clips, I think the local Chamber of Commerce is a goldmine — provided you don't go into meetings and get too aggressive. I'm pretty quiet at meetings and listen a lot, and then figure out the angle for each place that interests me, and send a proposal package within the week, rather than assaulting them at the meeting. In fact, we usually have a mundane conversation about something else at the meeting — something about which I remind them in the cover letter.

Usually, one assignment pays for the year's membership, and, usually, I'm the only fulltime writer who's a chamber member.

Also, remember that I tend to target very different markets than most of the other freelancers hanging out here. I sell a lot of fiction and plays. I work with a lot of non-profits, museums, historical societies, independent small businesses. I don't like most corporations or their models, and I don't market to them. Sometimes they find me, and we work together, but, for the most part, my focus is at a very different section of the market than to those the rest of you here market.

I'll work for the small local museum in someone's garage rather than the big, shiny corporation. And I'm happier.