Once you are established, the majority of your work will come from repeatbusiness and word of mouth recommendations. Until you are established, though,you need to get your name in front of as many people and business that you can.Most companies will send most of their work to people they know- so that is whyyou have to do the critical work of getting customers and developing strongrelationships with them.

THE YELLOW PAGES IS A GREAT PLACE TO START!!

Even at the beginning, you can do a lot by word of mouth. Unless you havebeen out of the work force for a while, you can almost certainly contact formeremployers and maybe quite a number of their suppliers and customers or clients.You already know the name of the contact person, addresses and the kind of workthey do. This enables you to slant your advertisements and selling letter totheir particular needs.

Next, you have friends. Maybe some of them may need an occasional typingdone. If you are a member of a church or other organization, you may be able toget the word out. These will be people you are already familiar with.

When approaching any organization, the best system is to first find out thename, job title and the address of the person who you should write an inquiryletter to. Next, you should follow up your letter with a phone call. Now let'slook at specific individuals and organizations how can (and almost certainlywill) need people like you to work for them.

Former Employer(s)

This is particularly useful for women who have left the work force to lookafter their families. In all likelihood you parted from your employer on goodterms, and you have two great advantages: first, you know the business, andsecond, they know you. You can even target the specific areas in which you thinkthey might need help. A telephone call should be all you need to make theinitial contact and while you are asking, you may find out if your formeremployer knows of anyone else that may be interested in your services.

Newspaper/Job Bank

Search a local newspaper, online newspaper or Job Bank. Contact the companiesthat advertise for the skills that you possess. Let them know that hiring a homeworker is an option that they may want to consider and sell yourself. Make yourfirst contact by faxing your resume along with a cover letter stating what youcan bring to the company and how you can increase productivity and lower cost byoffering your services as an Independent Contractor. Be sure to include yourreferences so that if the company has any doubts, they can call your referencesright away before they contact you.

Other local businesses

Your next contact should be any other businesses that do the same sortof thing as your former employer. Here, your "sales pitch" is simple.You already know the line of business and he skills you developed with yourprevious employer will benefit any other company as well. His applies even ifyou have moved across the country: a small manufacturing company in Maryland,for example, is likely to be run the same way as a small manufacturing companyin San Jose.

Once you have exhausted this line of approach, you should now try to lookoutside your field of proven expertise, gradually widening the circle. Forexample, from manufacturing, you might go to distribution, wholesalers or evenretailers, all in the same line of business. Then you can expand into differentkinds of business, from clothing manufacturing to electronics manufacturing,from automobile distribution to artists' materials distribution. Do you get thepicture?

This might sound like a lot of work, but let me remind you or console you,that his is pretty much a one-time effort. Once you have built yourclientele, and have made an outstanding first impression, you should be able toget repeat business. Given the shortage of reliable freelancers and the currentbusiness climate, you should be able to get a good amount of clients early on inyour efforts and these will sustain you over the unresponsive parts of yourefforts.

Voluntary and Charitable Organizations

Working with these is likely to be less rewarding financially, but morerewarding in other ways. These organizations rely on volunteers and free labor,so you may find it difficult to persuade them to pay at all and when they dopay, they may pay very little.

On the other hand, they may be more likely to be flexible- they may be happyto drop the work off and pick it back up, rather than expecting you to come tothem and there is quite often a team spirit within these organizations.

Government

Many cities or county government offices may be hopelessly understaffed: forexample, parks and recreation authorities, public health clinics, libraries andother local offices.

To find their addresses and phone numbers, look in the front page of yourlocal directory. Local government offices are usually given in their ownlisting, before the main body of names and addresses.

Hybrid Organizations

These include hospitals, community and other colleges, private schools, sometheaters, sports complexes-the precise detail will depend on where you live. Theway to find out about these is through your local directory.

Doctors and Dentists

Doctors and Dentists are one of the most overworked and understaffedprofessions. A doctor or dentist may even be too busy to ask for help. This is afairly specialized field, so you must be able to learn medical terminology, ifyou do not already know. These professions are also highly confidential. Youmust prove trustworthy and responsible to be able to land a gig here and ofcourse, experience in the field is quite helpful.

Lawyers

As with doctors and dentists, absolute precision is essential in this field.Getting into the legal field can be as difficult as getting medical work.Experience and confidentiality is a great plus, but once you are in, theseprofessions can prove very profitable and most dentist, doctors, and lawyerstend to know each other. So if you land one, it becomes somewhat of a "goldmine." The word will certainly get around.

Business Fairs

In any city of any size, there are always business and other fairs throughoutthe year. The bigger the city, the more fairs. Your local Chamber of Commercecan usually let you have a list of these fairs, and if you go to them in person,you may be able to pick up a surprising amount of business.

The great advantage of visiting these fairs is that you meet people face toface. For small businesses, you will meet the principals and for biggerbusinesses, you will meet the people who can give you the name and address ofthe principal.

Photographers

Many freelance photographers need someone to type their letters, follow upwith their clients, catalog their pictures and a great deal more. They are morelikely to be interested in someone who can offer a full range of services.

Advertising Agencies

Advertising agencies normally work on a boom or bust. In the boom times, theyalways need help. It may well be worth approaching advertising agencies andletting them know that you can offer a fast and reliable service when they havebulk work. Of course, you can charge handsomely for this project.

Insurance Brokers

For preparing complex quotes, and for regular reminder letters to theirclients, you may be able to land a gig here as a typist.

Realtors

Have you ever wondered who types up those descriptions of houses thatrealtors hand out all the time?

Veterinarians

Everyone thinks of doctors and dentists when you say "medicalrecords" -but animals have medical records too.

Most small businesses do continuous advertising in the general media but foryou this would be a waste of money and time. You should concentrate on targetedadvertising. If you are going to pay for advertising, it is best to target itcarefully so that people who might need your services see it. In your ad, youalso need to be specific about what you offer.

Targeted Advertising

An example of targeted advertising might be in a magazine aimed at authors ormore generally in a local Chamber of Commerce publication that will be seen bylocal businessmen.

The classified section of a business magazine may be the best place toadvertise your service. Or you may write an article on a subject that ispertaining to the magazine. For example, if it is a health magazine and you area medical transcriber, you may write an article on "how to lower yourtranscription cost." This would get a lot of attention because everyoneloves discounts and most of all this would be free advertising.

Advertising by mail

If you are advertising your skills as someone who is able to turn outpolished letters and resumes, it would seem reasonable that you should be ableto do a good job of writing a sales letter. Because this will be a sample ofyour work, it must be on the best paper you can possibly afford and it must beabsolutely flawless in all sense of the word. No grammatical errors, nowhite-out, absolutely no mistakes are acceptable. Always address your letter toa specific person. This greatly reduces the chance of your letter beingdiscarded immediately as "junk mail." Do your research before youconstruct a letter like this one. Call the switchboard and find out the contactperson. You can say something like this to the operator or receptionists:

"Hi, my name is Jennifer Summer, and I am launching a medicaltranscriptionist service. I want to send a letter to the person in your companythat may need this service. I know that it is possible that you may not needthis service now but I thought it would be useful to have the information onfile." No one has ever refused to give me a name when I have asked. Sodon't be afraid. Just ask.

Advertising on the telephone

This is called "cold calling" and is an art. Cold calling is notsomething that most people relish. To be honest, I don't but I do it because Ihave to. Cold calling, however, gives you a better chance of finding the rightcontact person. The mere fact that you are calling, gives you an edge. Thisshows the employer that you are serious, a go-getter and ready and willing towork. Secondly, it demonstrates your willingness to take chances, knowing thatyou may face rejection. This is a plus for you. However, be prepared for thatrejection and handle it with grace and then move on to the next person. It isnot easy but you will get over it soon enough.

During your follow up, be prepared. You will be asked some hard questions. Ifyou are asked who your other clients are, you can answer truthfully in generalterms or simply say you regard that as confidential. Most employers respectconfidentiality and privacy.

You may be asked to come in and bring your portfolio of work you have done inthe past. If you do not have any samples, prepare some sample and put togetherin a nice folder of if you can afford, purchase a nice portfolio.

Other Possibilities

The Yellow pages or Internet directories are good places to list yourservices. Online Bulletin Boards and business cards are sophisticated but cleverways to get noticed. You will be able to experiment with these for free. A Webpage is a great advertising tool and it does not have to be fancy nor do youhave to acquire any special designing skills. There are software tools that willallow you to create a web page as if you were using a word-processing program.Microsoft Front Page will help you to do that. Although expensive, there is atrial version that cost only $6.95 plus shipping cost. You will be able to useit for 45 days. Go to http://microsoft.com and see for yourself.