Syndication

I have an idea for an article concept that I believe would work well in syndication. The problem is that I don't know how to approach getting into syndication, so I thought that I would ask you all before doing research elsewhere.

My plan at the moment is to write a proposal with samples and send it off to the chains and a few individual papers. Has anyone ever heard of someone being successful in doing this? Are there better ways to approach this other than simply having contacts or already being well known?

Thanks for your help!