(FORTUNE Magazine) – DEAR ANNIE: Help! I recently moved to a city where the cost of living is much higher than it is in my old hometown. It took me a little while to realize this, and in the meantime I gave a prospective employer a salary figure that I have discovered is much too low. What should I do? And in general, is it acceptable to factor in a "cost-of-living increase" when job hunting? SUDDENLY STRAPPED

DEAR SUDDENLY: No question about it, the cost of living varies wildly in different parts of the U.S. (not to mention overseas). For example, current statistics show that New York City is about 2 1/2 times more expensive than Baltimore or Baton Rouge, while San Jose will cost you, on average, 55% more than Peoria. Yet job seekers routinely forget to check this out beforehand. Elaine Evans, national practice leader for human resources effectiveness at Towers Perrin in San Francisco, has helped lots of big companies set relocation policy. "You can always ask for cost of living to be taken into account, but whether you get that increase depends on each company's policy and on how 'mission critical' you are--meaning, how badly they want you in the new job," she says.

In most cases, Evans says, your best bet is to do some homework and find out--from headhunters, for example--what the salary range is in your new city for the kind of job you are seeking. Then ask for a salary that is somewhere in that range. If the cost of living really is high, the odds are good that competitive salaries will be too. In the situation you describe, where you've already given a salary requirement that you now doubt you can live on, you have no choice but to go back to the interviewer and explain that, having done some research, you realize you underpriced yourself. This is not as big a gaffe as you may fear. A job interviewer in, say, Los Angeles who sees on your resume that you used to live in, say, Toledo would be aware of your mistake and waiting for you to figure it out.

DEAR ANNIE: I've been considering going into business for myself, but I'm concerned about the idea of investing a lot of money before I've built a solid base of clients. Are there ways to get customers without spending a lot on advertising and marketing? SHOESTRING SALLY

DEAR SALLY: Have I got a book for you. Take a look at The Business of Consulting: The Basics and Beyond, by Elaine Biech (Jossey-Bass/Pfeiffer, $39.95). The title notwithstanding, this is really a guide for anyone trying to start a one-person business on a limited budget. Biech, who started her consulting business from the kitchen of a Wisconsin farmhouse 20 years ago, amassed a client list that has included McDonald's, Hershey Foods, Lands' End, the Federal Reserve Bank, the U.S. Navy, and Coopers & Lybrand. Chapter 5 features a list of "113 tactics for low-budget marketing."

One caveat: Biech states that "none of the 'secrets of success' will work unless you do," and most of her 113 suggestions are pretty labor-intensive, such as getting out into the community--both your local market and your industry as a whole, through trade and professional groups--and networking until you drop. Then she wants you to go home and hand write follow-up notes to everybody you can think of. If you aren't an outgoing person to start with, all this schmoozing can be onerous, but it does pay off. And once you have a few satisfied customers, don't be shy about asking them to help you woo new ones.

DEAR ANNIE: I'm not your average FORTUNE reader--I teach English at a state university--but I wonder whether you can help me out. I'm teaching a course in business English this semester, and I find that students are quick to disparage the importance of writing as a business skill. Can you give me a realistic view of how useful it is to be able to communicate well in a business environment? SISYPHUS

DEAR SISYPHUS: Gary Blake, who runs the Communication Workshop in Port Washington, N.Y. (www.writingworkshop.com), has this to say: "When I go around the country talking with big corporate clients, I am astounded at the number of managers who bewail the fact that nobody who works for them can write a simple paragraph. You can have the greatest ideas in the world, but they're no good to your company, or your career, if you can't express them clearly and persuasively."

Paula Goodman, a vice president and senior recruiter at Citigroup in New York City, finds that strong writing skills are "a tiebreaker. If I have two job candidates in front of me, equally qualified except that one can write well and the other can't, I'll hire the one who can--every time."

Want statistics? A survey last year by Robert Half International of the 1,000 largest employers in the U.S. reported that 96% say employees must have good communication skills to get ahead. And several detailed studies have shown a clear correlation between literacy and income. Stephen Reder, a linguist at Portland State University in Oregon, has worked closely with the U.S. Department of Education in measuring how American adults' verbal proficiency (or lack thereof) affects their economic success. Reder found that among people with a two- or four-year college degree, those in the highest quintile in writing ability earn, on average, more than three times what those with the worst writing skills make. Tell your students that, and I'll bet they sit up and pay attention. And their future colleagues, who will be spared jumbled reports and murky memos, will bless you.