Are you a freelance writer? Got all the clients you can handle? Great!
But there can come a time when you lose important clients, perhaps all of them.
Or perhaps you’d like more clients? Better clients? Let’ see what veteran writer and editor Tom Mangan has to say…
Help! All My Clients Ditched Me!
A few months ago, a freelance writer I know posted a message to a writing group basically begging for any assistance from any source: All of his clients had bailed at the same time and his income had plunged to pretty much zero.
He was in desperate straits and extremely worried because he had been doing this work for decades and had never had a drought like this one before.
Fast forward a few months later: Now he has so much work he’s practically turning clients away.
When his work ran dry, he started marketing like crazy, putting all his time into finding new and profitable clients.
It took a couple months, but now all that time and effort are paying off with a full workload and a raft of new insights about how to land clients, bounce back from hard times and turn obstacles into opportunities.
Key Takeaways for Freelance Writers
1. Things going terribly wrong gives you an incredible incentive to fix things. You lack this incentive when things are going right.
2. There’s always a market for your skills somewhere — it’s just a matter of finding the market.
3. When things look bleakest, that’s usually a sign that things are getting ready to bounce back in your favor.
4. Never forget the concept of opportunity cost: if you’re working for $50 an hour, you can’t find work at $100. Having clients bail creates the opportunity to find those $100 clients you’ll never find when you have a full plate of $50 work.
5. Always have a cash cushion to ride out the rough times.
About The Author
Post author Tom Mangan is a great example of someone succeeding as a freelancer. I run occasional posts from people like Tom who are very good at what they do. Tom is the founder of Verb Nerd Industries based in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. He writes and edits for clients in higher education, technology, industrial B2B, fitness and content marketing.
Your Take
Do you agree with Tom’s key takeaways? What’s been your experience when your freelance writing business took a major nosedive?
I agree on all points. And I’d add another: marketing every day keeps this from happening again.
I’d say point #3 can be a dangerous one for newer writers. Those first five years can be a yo-yo career time. It would be too easy to lean on that point and say “Well, it’s about to change for the better!” I know he meant for writers who have been in the trenches a while, but I did want to throw out that warning.
That said, I totally agree. I’ve had times where one client was holding up the bulk of my work. Of course, that’s also when I’ve reached out for magazine assignments to tide me over (never stop thinking of the drought!). But within weeks, there was so much work I had to turn things down.
And #4. Bottle that, patent it, and sell it. That slow time is an excellent opportunity to gain more clients at better rates. It’s not a loss if you look at it that way!
Lori, I agree about point 3: it is directed at skilled and experienced writers. And you’re right: it’s best to do some marketing every day, even if it’s just for a few minutes.
Tom does nail it in number 4, and it’s a key reason why many freelancers never make a lot of money. They get stuck working full time on low paying projects in a specific niche and they never expand to better niches or better clients.
In #2 you have mentioned that, there is always a market for skills. What are your thoughts about different marketplace for newbie writers, I believe they can be a good starting point for them. In my very little experience, I have learned that it’s easier to rely on these marketplaces than on direct clients.
Dean, are you talking about the companies that farm out website content, usually blog posts? They can be a place to start, but most don’t pay well. You want to get to $50 an hour as quickly as you can, and then move beyond that, and that usually involves working directly with clients.
Hi,
All freelancers have this fear. I am a freelance blogger, and I do have this fear of losing all my clients one day. And it is a must to have a little bit of emergency cash somewhere.
On few occasions I, did lose few clients, and it was tough. We freelancers must learn the art of getting new clients as fast as possible.
Thank you.
Great reminders, John, Thanks.