(Grammar cops – that was intentional.)

This is a great community, Lori!

Not going to find that in a content mill!

I like that Jake puts some of the results in graphs. A visual look can make a huge impact, sometimes.

The talent/quality, being a huge value to the clients, really stuck out to me. It's not a new concept, but it's nice to see quality is valued and NOT quantity.

I only get maybe 25% of my work from referrals, but that's almost 100% of the editing side of my business.

They do match calls now and then, and along with calls from other "triple-negative" wowmen, BRCA-positive women, and women diagnosed at a young age, she also takes a lot of calls from self-employed people who have an entirely different set insurance issues. (Hers was terminated after she was diagnosed, but she still got top notch treatment….an is still paying some of it off.)

I'll do what I can to encourage my clients to respond in December to the next survey. I have a few who would be happy to, I'd bet.

Right now, I'd guess about 60 percent of my work is referral. The rest is my pounding the pavement. Much different from last year, where I'd guess about 95 percent, as well. Times they are a-changin'….

You're right – it takes work. You have to build the network organically, and you have to work toward maintaining the network connections.

Cathy, that's a great story! I'm so glad she "took" you with her. Relationships DO matter – more than anything else. If they like you, they'll return. Well, if you do the job correctly, too. 🙂

Damaria, I had much of my work last year via referrals. I know what you mean!

Good lord, Gabriella! That's bad news, but worse is that deductible! How are people supposed to pay for basic care? Sorry you're going through that. 🙁

As for the per-hour rate, as long as you're earning at the level you want, I don't think it's an issue. Also, client comfort zones are different. I charge at that rate A) because I have to in order to survive and B) because my current clients are comfortable with it. I had plenty of clients at a lower rate, but there were plenty of hassles over the price at that level, too.

Cathy, exactly. Glad she caught it early. As for health care costs, it's such a triangular issue. First you have costs, which seem insanely high. Then you realize that doctors pay exhorbitant rates for malpractice – even the doctors who are working hard at doing their jobs right. Then you see how much time and money is involved in getting just one prescription drug to market – pharmaceuticals will pay millions or billions for one drug a year. Why? Because the patent for a new drug is 17 years, but the FDA approval process is 10 years. The companies have to charge more in order to recoup. Lately, they're losing money hand over fist.

I'm preaching to the choir. You know all this. 🙂 I'm just frustrated that we can't find a simple way to make it affordable for everyone. My son is without healthcare insurance and my daughter is about to be. They're employed, but their employers don't offer it. She's part-time, he's full-time.

Sucks like hell.

I don't actively cultivate them (other than trying to do a good job), aside from your bullet point about "Build a referral network." I'd guess 30-50% of my new business annually comes from longtime relationships with graphic designers. I rarely get work from other writers, though I pass along assignments myself when I have overflow.

And, if I can be so bold…I'd really love if every freelancer who takes it would be willing to encourage a few clients to take the client survey in December. I know people are hesitant to make clients do "extra work," but the client version is quite a bit shorter and the insights it provides are arguably more valuable to our businesses than what other FLers have to say.

Think of it in terms of the old Ben Franklin saying, that if you want someone to like you more, ask them to do a favor for you! I even send it to clients I've dumped or who I sent estimates that got rejected.

Finally, for anyone who is wary that I'd want to poach their client names, I am 100% committed to their anonymity…and I've got all the clients I can handle anyway 🙂