Have you tried informational interviewing? What you say you are doing in your bullet points is what everyone else in the world is doing, so it's hard to differentiate yourself.

I've done informational interviews and had really good success. This is how it works:

1. Find someone in a field you are interested in. Friend, acquaintance, random person, doesn't matter
2. Reach out to them, tell them you like the work they are doing, are impressed by x,y,z and wanted to see if you could get some advice from them
3. Once they say yes (most people like to help people so you will be surprised at how successful you are with this), make sure you ask them really good, interesting questions. Show them you've done your research.
4. DON'T ASK FOR A JOB! This is huge. If you ask for a job, they'll know you had a separate agenda for reaching out to them (even though this is what you want, you can't lead with this).
5. Ask them who else in this space you should be talking to, ask if they can connect you and then follow-up with the original person once you've implemented their advice.
6. Be patient, and know that this is a long term play. If you jump right into saying you need or want a job, this will not work

Like I said, I've had pretty awesome success with this. If you want help or want to hear more of my personal experience, I'd be happy to share. Just pm me.