You can’t control a virus, the economy, or which client could be the next to stop making assignments.
In the face of so much uncertainty, it’s easy to feel helpless, especially when your livelihood depends on the circumstances of others. But between doing nothing and feeling helpless and doing something, I vote for doing something.
Here are actions freelancers can take today to deal with a down economy like the one we’re in now. I wrote the original version of this when the world was experiencing the initial fallout of the recession. Eleven years later, the advice is as relevant today as it was then.
Quick Fixes
1. Update your resume. When you’re busy, it’s easy to let months or even years pass without updating your resume or the “About” page of your website. Now’s the time. Add fresh details about the type of work you do, specialties you’ve added, and new writing samples.
2. Update social accounts. Revamp profiles on social sites you use for work, including LinkedIn – which is seeing a huge uptick in activity right now – Twitter, Facebook, IG, etc. On LinkedIn, add a tag or line to your profile to indicate you’re available for work. On Twitter, make sure your direct messages (DMs) are open – and note it in your profile – so prospects can contact you directly. Don’t forget to update portfolio sites like Contently and Muck Rack. List skills or clients you’ve picked up since your last update, credentials you’ve earned and groups you’ve joined.
3. Submit expense receipts. Filing expenses is a pain, which is why it’s easy to put off. If you have clients that reimburse expenses, that’s money in your pocket. What are you waiting for?
4. Send invoices. This is another task that’s easy to neglect when you’re on deadline. One trick: fill out the invoice as soon as you turn in the assignment and keep it in your email drafts folder until you get the go-ahead to send it. That way you don’t have to spend time on it later. Ask clients to pay via direct deposit. If they don’t or won’t, use your bank’s mobile deposit app to minimize how long you have to wait for the money to show up in your account.
Intermediate Steps
5. Pitch, pitch and pitch some more. Queries don’t have to be the world’s best or longest, as long as they meet the client’s requirements for what they should include. The point is to send things out to get the process going.
6. Reconnect with former contacts. Reach out to anyone who’s taken a new job or moved to a different company to say hi. Not every communication has to be about work, but you never know when a simple “How’s it going?” could open the door to a new opportunity.
7. Ask for work. There’s no harm in being direct. Contact clients you’ve worked with over the years. Ask if they’re taking pitches. Ask if they’ve got assignments that don’t have writers attached to them yet. Ask if they have other kinds of work that needs doing – copyediting, content audits, proofreading, etc. Ask if they know other editors at their publication who need help. In other words, ask.
8. Brainstorm. Read through old story notes or PR pitches for a nugget or thread that you could turn into a query. Take a shower. Walk the dog. Go for a bike ride – whatever you use to get the creative juices flowing. Bring a phone or notepad in case you’re inspired.
9. Pivot! Back in the day, pivot was something basketball players did. Then, it was something startups did when they realized they couldn’t make money from their original concept. Now it’s what freelancers might need to do to re-engineer their business – especially if they’ve specialized in an area like hospitality, travel or sports that right now is DOA.
Keep Busy
10. Clean your office. Go through files. Throw away stuff you don’t use and don’t need. Flipping through ephemera might flip on the old idea switch. Even if it doesn’t, a clean office is like a fresh start.
11. Commiserate. You might work alone, you might be self-isolating alone, but you don’t need to go through this alone. Freelancers everywhere are in the same boat. You don’t need to do Zoom calls to connect. Pick up the phone. Share suggestions. Why reinvent the wheel when you can brainstorm with people who’re in the same situation.