What’s on the iPod: Bride and Groom by The Airborne Toxic Event
So far, it’s been a nice, slow week. That’s because I’m taking an unofficial vacation and allowing myself some much-needed downtime. Doesn’t seem that I’d need that since I missed most of May thanks to surgery, but that’s not “fun” downtime. This is.
I spent the last two days working on a project that isn’t due until mid-week next week, but one that I’d love to have finished. I find I can’t relax much if a deadline is looming. I put some time into a larger project, and the rest of my time is for my personal projects.
Welcome to this month’s blog theme — Diversification. I landed on the idea from a post I’d written two years ago. I had written it in response to the negative comments from a handful of writers who were saying that freelancing was pretty much dead, that anyone making over $500 an article was as rare as the Hope diamond, and that magic-bullet remedies don’t exist.
At least they got that last bit right.
Too often writers are bombarded by sales ads and promises of all the answers to our questions. Follow our writing success! You must buy this course or you’ll miss out on BIG BIG MONEY…and drivel just like that. The only thing these tactics deliver is profits for the hucksters. That’s not to say there aren’t fantastic books, courses, and coaches who can indeed help you find your way — there are plenty. Unfortunately, they’re being drowned out by the one-trick ponies who probably swiped their ideas (and sales tactics) from each other.
So how can we as writers create the same kind of success for ourselves that are promised by the masses? Glad you asked.
By diversifying.
As weird as it sounds, you probably already do a bit of diversifying. Client projects all differ, don’t they? Even if you specialize in web content writing, you’re not writing for the same types of clients, right? So diversification isn’t a great mystery. If you make sure to include a mixture in your marketing, it could result in a steadier revenue stream for you.
It starts with creating a winning mixture, and one that will change depending on the time of year. For example, right now I have a mixture of sales pages, newsletters, ghostwritten articles, website content, and magazine articles that I’m working on. I’ve also been working on a course, and soon my annual proofreading project will show up. In June, I was heavy in magazine articles. July I’ll have one or two, but by September those assignments are getting harder to find as the budgets go away. That’s when client projects start into full swing as people buckle down after summer vacation season.
Here’s a little exercise that can help you understand better your best sources of income for each season:
January-March: Budgets are flush with money and clients are looking to start new projects or restart stalled ones. Magazine editors have full freelance budgets again. Hit them up with ideas in December — you’ll be first in line when the budget returns. Also, contact existing clients to see what they need. Another avenue, if you’re an experienced freelancer, is coaching or hosting workshops for would-be and emerging writers. All those New Year’s resolutions are still fresh in their minds. Don’t forget resume writing — people begin looking for new careers right after the holidays.
April-June: Trade shows kick into high gear and exhibitors are going to need a lot of materials. Try approaching them in November-January to get projects lined up for their conference attendance. Magazines still have money. Keep sending ideas. Also, look to connect with more clients in areas where you’ve already completed projects, such as technology sales pages or electronics ad copy. Use your current experience to score future work.
July-August: It’s vacation time, so your best bet is to look at a combination of magazine articles and client projects. Offer to fill in for a client’s vacationing staff. Check with colleges to see if they need help putting together Fall or Spring catalogs. Also, think Christmas — plenty of publications work four-six months out for holiday ideas. And now would be a great time to turn that vacation into a travel article. Study how (obviously), then approach the magazine/publication venue months before your intended departure with your unique angles.
September-November: Say goodbye to those magazine budgets as they dwindle to oblivion for another year. If you’ve been working with magazines for a while, you’ll know which ones keep hiring through December. They’re the ones with bigger budgets or better management of the budget. However, now is the time to turn to clients who are once again returning to projects they hope to have completed by December. Get in touch with existing clients and offer to help or suggest some possible projects. Also, use the time to introduce yourself to new-to-you clients.
December: It’s usually a slow month, but not if you’re helping a company meet a year-end goal. Magazines may have all they need for this year, but get in touch the second week of the month with your ideas for next year. You could have a jump-start on a project that you’ll hand in January 1. Editors are usually quite happy to assign something that will be tacked on to the next year’s budget. Also, schedule some calls with your clients to talk over their wish lists for the following year. Plus offer to create holiday greetings that will go to their customers — emails, newsletters, sales letters with holiday greetings, etc. Offer to start the website project now, when it’s less busy for clients, so that there’s minimal interruption in their online presence. And start thinking about those spring conferences and trade shows. Get the LOIs out to new clients.
How do you create your own diversified earnings stream? What does your mix look like currently? How does that change as the seasons change?
While I specialize in a couple of areas, the topics I cover are pretty well diversified. Now my task is diversifying the types of projects. Feature articles and web content are the main things I've been writing, but I'm broadening it to include custom content and more copy writing.
I didn't realize there was a big trade show season, I'll have to keep that in mind for next year.
Another angle with trade shows is to hit up all of the trade publications before hand, tell them you'll be at a specific show and offer to be their eyes and ears. It works well with trade shows close to home, but one magazine paid me to go to San Francisco – all I had to do was send them a list of hot trends and some story ideas. If you apply for press credentials in advance, you can get in for free.
One time I even sold an article to a writing magazine on how to mine trade shows for article ideas.
Another thing to point out about magazine budgets: they all don't necessarily begin and end with the calendar year. Some of my editors budgets are dwindling now, but they'll be assigning from their new budget well before the first of the year. It all depends on each magazine's fiscal calendar. A lot of budgets probably do follow the Julian calendar, but some don't.
When pitching holiday ideas ahead of time, don't forget about special events – especially for trade publications. Does the industry have a big annual national award? Pitch a piece on some top contenders, and time it to run a month before the award is given. Is there a specific time of year new models are launched? Plan a trade article idea around that, then spin the same idea off for a consumer magazine – what kind of deals can they get on older models as dealers make space for the new ones?
Happy 4th!!
Paula, you can find trade shows almost any time of year. I see a proliferation of them in April, May and June. It seems that the only months you don't see too many are late December/early January. Mind you, I know of one big show the first week of December, and there are some that start up mid-January (in places like Phoenix). It does depend on the industry and venue, but a good many show up in the spring.