Not long after Making a Living Without a Job was launched as a seminar, I had a hunch that a book would follow. I also was certain that it would take some time until I had gathered enough stories from seminar participants to use in the imagined book.

When I felt confident that I was ready to take on such a project, I explored the traditional ways of getting a book published: write a proposal, shop for an agent, revise proposal, have agent search for publisher. I knew, also, that as an unpublished writer, this would be an long process.

Perhaps I could create an opportunity for a publisher to find me, I mused. As it turned out, three publishers did just that. Although each of them  found me in a different way, they all showed up within weeks of one another.

When most people think about opportunity, they envision an unexpected bit of good fortune coming out of nowhere or something they’ve uncovered after a long search. 

And, of course, both of those circumstances do occur on a daily basis. However, I’d like you to entertain the idea that you can create favorable circumstances that will connect you more frequently and quickly with opportunity after opportunity. 

Here are four of my favorite ways to do just that.

* Offer your services to the media. Several years ago, I met an architect who had joined with several other architects to prepare a media kit introducing each of them and describing their specialties. They distributed it to all their local media outlets and made it easy for reporters working on a story involving architecture to connect with the perfect source.

Two great resources for building your own media campaign are Joan Stewart’s Publicity Hound and Peter Shankman’s Help a Reporter Out.

* Conduct a poll. Hardly a day passes when I don’t see a poll online, in the newspaper or on the CNN crawl. Apparently, we’re fascinated by the opinions and behaviors of our fellow humans. 

One summer, Garage Sale Fever author John Schroeder conducted a poll at every garage sale he visited. What are your plans for the money you’re earning from the sale he asked. He turned his findings into a press release, giving him another opportunity for media exposure.

* Get into the conversation. All over the world people are talking about a million different things. Some of those conversations have to do with things that are your specialty or interest.

You could respond to articles in magazines and newspapers with a letter to the editor sharing your thoughts. You could weigh in online in chat rooms or commenting on blog posts. 

With social media, there are more opportunities to share ideas, opinions and resources than ever before. Speak up.

* Show up. Almost every successful speaker I know has at least one experience that taught them the importance of showing up. 

In every instance, they agreed to speak for free, were questioning their decision, kept their agreement anyway, and had someone in the audience who loved what they offered and hired them for a substantial amount of money to speak at a future event.

There’s a fundamental principle that’s operating in all of these instances. That principle is this: we all like to do business with people we know and like. If people don’t know you, they can’t like you.  

That, however, is the basic tool for creating opportunity. Get creative about finding ways where such connections are naturally going to happen.

And if you’ve been waiting for opportunity to knock, how about meeting it at the curb and inviting it in?