Trying to market your business on a shoe string budget? Here is a list of free, or almost free, resources to help. Remember though, nothing beats elbow grease when you are trying to market your business.

You probably know that it is easier to find clients, charge decent prices, and establish yourself as an authority when you choose a niche to write in. But did you know you can make your niche even…nichier? For instance, let’s say you are a science writer. What if you instead became an earth science writer? You could take classes, buy books, do some self-study and really become the authority for earth sciences. You also  have further narrowed down your target client list making it much easier to find clients and reduce serious competition.

If you want to get paid quickly, use Paypal for your invoicing. It’s free, allows you to give a full breakdown of the charges, and the invoice is emailed to your client along with a big “Pay it now” type button that makes payment super easy. The only problem I have with them is that you can’t print the invoice (or see it) after it’s been paid—so make sure you PDF a copy in case of future disputes.

Once a week, I meet a telecommuting friend at Panera or in my home and we work together for about four hours. We’ve been friends for almost 20 years and we’ve shared many jobs during that time, so we know how each other likes to work and we manage to get in a lot of chatting during that four hours. But it makes me feel a little closer to society after we meet and a little more like I’ve got coworkers than I might if I was home alone all the time.

So try to reach out to any telecommuters you know and see if you can set up a weekly or monthly work meeting. If you don’t know any, you could post a notice on the bulletin board of your favorite Wifi spot and see if any locals want to meet up. Just be sure you don’t take the person home or give them too much information if you don’t know them. Duh.

It’s almost universally agreed that writers who specialize have an easier time making more money than those who don’t. But how do you know what to specialize in? In order for your pick to be successful, you must be able to come into the specialty with authority. Think about your hobbies and your work history. Are there any subjects or activities you are intimately familiar with? If so, that’s probably your best bet for a specialty.

If you can’t think of anything you really bring enough experience to in your current education state don’t forget that you can always combine your work experience with some formal classes, certificate programs, or licenses to really round out your credentials.

I am not someone who works well around clutter—but I am someone who invariably collects it. I never read newspapers on the day they come out, but can’t bear to recycle them before I’ve read them; same thing with the mail. The resulting piles of unread crap make me feel pressured and disorganized when I have them on my desk. So I bin them. I bought a canvas bin and I put all my piles in there throughout the week. On the weekend, I go through the bin, read everything and recycle.