Running early this morning – I try to schedule doctor’s appointments for as early as I can get them. Today, it’s for 7:30. Amen. I can be back and working by 9:00.
Yesterday was great. I handed in the second of the three articles due this month, and the check arrived already for the one I filed on Thursday. I still have another article due in September, plus the large project to finish by the 31st. I’m wallowing in busy – yes, wallowing, wading, rolling, and relishing in it. I love having work. Work means checks will arrive in the near future. Amen.
Yet one more project came in yesterday, too. I received an email from a long-time colleague, one whom I’d worked with in the past. He’s in another country and needed a project ASAP. I was able to push some things aside and get it done. He’s one of those people you love having in your orbit, so I’m always eager to help when I can.
That’s the good news. The bonus – I’ve already surpassed my monthly target for August and it’s only mid-month. The calendar may not say so, but summer is over in the minds of corporate America.
So with August half over, I’m looking at the holidays. Not Labor Day – Christmas. We all know what it’s like to hit the lull just before Christmas and New Year’s. Every year, I start planning right about now. If you plan ahead, you can avoid the “I can’t buy a thing” feeling or that “Damn, I have to charge it” situation.
Here’s my game plan for the next few weeks and months:
Send out seasonal queries now. In truth you should have done it a month ago, but it’s not too late for some magazines. Get the ideas out ASAP.
Line up work through September. September work equals October/early November checks. Hit the marketing hard now and double your workload if you can. You can rest in December.
Send out magazine ideas in September and October. Companies may slow down from Thanksgiving through New Year’s, but magazines always need copy. Set up a calendar reminder to get them out somewhere around late September or early October.
Shop early. I’ve already picked out a few gifts and as soon as this month’s checks come, I’m buying them.
Schedule projects for the slower period. If you have a client who’s been waffling on that book project or blog, put together your proposal to start work on it in late November/early December. Or time it in October, if the client balks at the timing. The point is to get some earning in prior to the holiday so that after January 1st, you’ll have some money coming in (remember taxes are due January 15th).
What I’ve been doing is looking for clients with ongoing needs; projects that have been budgeted for throughout the year are ideal. I’ve teamed with resume companies, corporate blog owners, and marketing firms to provide press release writing and editing. Those are the kinds of projects that aren’t going away any time soon.
How do you bolster the income during the holidays? What types of clients have been good sources of steady work?
16 responses to “Holiday Shopping”
Don't laugh, but one thing I've done for a couple of years to bolster holiday income is writing customized letters from Santa.
I only to market to people who already know me since I really don't think people should be giving out too much info on their kids. I don't write form letters – they're personalized not just with the child's name, but with anecdotes from the parents, when possible. Like, "I'm so proud of the good grades you got on your spelling test last week, Suzy. Now you know why it's important to read and study…" Santa ALWAYS offers both praise and advice on something they can do to stay on the Good List for next year. (Usually something the parents suggest the child needs to work on.) All letters are sent to Alaska for a North Pole postmark.
It's a lot of fun – especially when a letter is for a kid I know. I stared out by doing them for my niece and nephew back before they could even read. Then their friends, and so on. In my best year I took in almost enough to cover all of the Christmas gifts I bought.
Sadly, as the kids grow up, the client pool dries up a bit when you're doing letters for friends, relatives and friends of friends.
That's so much fun, Paula! Do you do handwritten notes or are they typed? I think that's just such fun – for you and the children.
At some point I want to plan ahead like you, but right now things are more immediate. I'll be going back to my full time job soon as a teacher. I received an email yesterday from an editor who stated she was considering my query so that made me feel good. With the up and down nature of freelancing do you or anyone have budgeting tricks to help with bills?
Holidays! I winced at your headline! And yes, they are coming as they always do.
Working on a book proposal for myself right now instead of clients… and some other of my writing projects… hmmmm
I have dreadful handwriting, so I use a Comic Sans MS font that looks sort of like handwriting.
Santa always signs his letters with a bold red marker, which is also used to address the letters.
One of the things I *don't* miss about the consumer mag world is living 6-12 months in advance. (Like Wade, I've got plenty of semi-emergent stuff to deal with. Like my loyal hound/sole co-worker, I am a creature of the moment.)
So, please excuse me, while I let Christmas quietly do its annual sneak attack 🙂
Lori it's amazing you have work and checks are coming, that means your writing is greatly appreciated. Maybe you can send towards me some waves of good fortune since I haven't found anything to work for a few months. Your blog seems very generous with topics, and also disarmingly honest, which is, if you ask me, a very rare quality. So lovely to have found you Lori. :). Kisses.
Wade, you're about to leave us? Tell me it's only during the day – you'll still come around, right?
If I had a magic pill that made budgeting simple, I'd be a millionaire. 🙂 What works for me is to see two months out (and anticipate the usual slow periods of July and December) and make sure I'm marketing enough to keep money coming in. Just remember to market every day, even if it's just Twitter or LinkedIn connections. Stay in front of people. The work may not come in that day or that month, but it will come eventually.
Anne, good to hear you're not neglecting the stuff you love. 🙂
Paula, I would expect no less from Santa. 🙂
Jake, I'll let you in on a secret – I've never managed to remember to market the holidays. I suck at it. And it's not that interesting to me personally, so it's probably a good thing I forget. 🙂
unikorna, I'm glad you followed me! I went to your site earlier and I just love it. Waves of good fortune are all yours, dear unikorna. 🙂 Thank you for the compliment.
I have no idea why, but I've never had a big lull during the holidays. Gosh, I've wanted one, but I've had to plan to end work so I could get some time off. Last year, I ended on Dec. 21 and started again after the new year.
However, I do have lulls other times of the year, and I have no idea why they come and go. For instance, I've had major lulls in August, but again, not this year. I just can't plan!
Anyway, thought you'd all like this link: http://gawker.com/5831101/designers-are-furious-at-the-freeloading-huffington-post.
Why I ever read HuffPo — and contributed to Arianna's wealth while she robbed others blind — now eludes me. But never again. When I see a HuffPo link, I go elsewhere for the same copy.
My two main niches always pick up in the months leading up to Christmas (one around Halloween, but strangely continues till about Thanksgiving), and the other picks up about the time the other leaves off. But that money is always a month delayed, so I tend to think of it as reimbursement. 🙂
Mostly I just start Christmas shopping way early and try to finish by Thanksgiving. It hurts a lot less to spend $25 and $40 on Amazon every week or two than it does to pay for everything all at once. And no freaking out at the last minute because you can't think of a gift for Uncle Bobby. 🙂 I actually meant to place an order last night, but forgot and shut down my laptop. Oh well. Maybe tonight.
Gabriella, I was one of the few left on the planet who didn't get into HuffPo at all. Never saw the attraction, and now I'm glad I was out of the loop.
Wow, HuffPo is entirely over-the-top nuts with the latest request. I agree with the poster – pay for someone to design your logo! Don't expect yet more freebies.
Lori, you don't start too early. My mother starts the day after Christmas. If only she could remember where she put the gifts a year later… LOL It could be like a treasure hunt, depending on her memory.
Lori been reading all your blog entry for 2 days now and still reading your past entry… and wishing that I'm good as you..
By the way you have a great nice advice here… Can I request? how bout a guide and advice on how to be a better writer.
Lori been reading all your blog entry for 2 days now and still reading your past entry… and wishing that I'm good as you..
By the way you have a great nice advice here… Can I request? how bout a guide and advice on how to be a better writer.
Hi Jade,
Glad you're here! Actually, I do have a guide. Up there in the left-hand side of my blog there's a link to my latest guide for writers.
You're as good as you perceive yourself to be, Jade. Thank you for the compliment, but I think you're probably just as good (if not better), and you only need to set yourself on the right path.
Stick around. The folks who hang out here give great advice.
I don't have the "normal" feast / famine cycle, and holidays are often pretty busy. I think it's because I like to take time off then. Clients can smell future unavailability and it makes them want twice the usual work on short notice. Seriously, if you want more work, tell clients you're going on vacation. It's like magic. 😉
I've found that one of the best ways to avoid that "waiting for cash" thing around the holidays is to stop waiting around on cash, period. Unless a writer wants to solely work for magazines, it's not necessary.
I bill up front for nearly all projects, and other writers are usually surprised to hear that clients don't freak out about those terms in most cases. So if I spent a little too much when off on Black Friday, I just say "yes" to an extra gig or two afterward and quickly make up the difference.
That's one of the biggest benefits of the query-free style of freelancing. You can adapt almost immediately to budget changes.
Jenn, I've done just that. You're right – they smell it!
Great idea on the billing, too. Never thought to do that on every project. Have you ever had a client refuse?