Personal contacts i.e. get out and be seen. Treat every floor spot as an audition.

Be persistent and organised: don't be afraid of being refused*. Get a Filofax with all contacts and histories of conversations etc and make sure you phone back slightly before you agreed you would.

Treat the booked as you you wish wish to be treated. Be professional. Take care with your contacts and promo packs. A sloppy approach there just could be construed as illustrative of a sloppy appraoch in general.

(i.e. all the stuff the previous posts have already said. Plus the Filofax)

Good luck.

Hamish.

*I know of many very talented artists who don't play as many gigs as they could cos they're afraid of a knock-back. So they don't phone.