Peter does a great job at laying that out, Jake, I agree. I'm just a chicken. When I sold real estate, it was the part of the job I hated most. I would have bought and sold homes myself to avoid that damned phone.

I think I should give it another try, though.

Good seeing you, Joseph! How are you?

It's always worth experimenting with something new, but if you hate it or don't find results from it, for heaven's sake there's no shame in abandoning it. Like Tom Robbins wrote in Still Life with Woodpecker, "There are two mantras, Yum and Yuck. Mine is Yum."

Fast-forward a few years, and she was writing almost exclusively for one very specialized sector. Due to the economy (this was late 2001 early 2002 when most companies slashed ad budgets) several of my regular markets folded (only one was in my main area of interest). The same person – raking in the cash from one or two huge clients in her field – said, "You spread yourself too thin. You should have specialized on one area, like me."

She denied ever having given me the opposite advice.

In the end I think the only advice that might work is to be true to yourself. Seek out work that interests you. Not only will your enthusiasm for the subject shine through, but you'll enjoy your job.

Interesting about the follow-up postcards. I'm going to give that a go myself.

Cold-calling also doesn't work for me. Direct mail does, especially with follow-up postcards. The post-cards usually get more response than the DM.

Eileen, same. I loathe cold calling. LOATHE it. I will say getting a person on the phone does work, but I'd rather walk through boiling water.

Advice that works for me again and again: targeted direct mail campaigns with a soft offer of an informational bait piece. There are books, ebooks, coaches, and bloggers who dispense this particular piece of advice, and tailored to a writer's goals and skills, it can be a powerful way to build a business.