Hi Corrie and Scotty,
You might also want to consider volunteering your services. While you won't get paid, you
will be helping out a worthy cause (of your choice) that probably desperately needs any help they can get. It will also enable you to start gathering those all-important testimonials and could very well lead to client referrals when you've done a good job. It can also let you test out any skills you might not have perfected yet as the expectations of these businesses probably won't be as high as that of an actual client.
Good luck!