Keri, sometimes it's family that's hardest to convince of your efforts. They see you sitting at the computer. No big deal, right? Wrong! There's work happening!

Paula, I agree. There are one or two clients I've had payment issues with, but since I've raised my rates, most of those have disappeared. Though right now I'm sitting wondering where a check that's nearly two months late is…

Ashley, isn't it true? Once you know who your client is, you're going to do much better with the marketing and the workflow. I like what you say about the cyclical projects — I had one client whose project comes at the same time every year. Until I became too expensive for them, I would get in front of them three months before.

Katharine, great point! Burnout isn't something we discuss much. It's a real problem, too. I like how you hit the reset button — a good way to gain a bit of perspective!

I think for me the hardest thing was dealing with burnout. I went into freelancing reading everything on the subject I could get my hands on, so I was prepared for most everything on your list. No one ever wrote anything about getting burnt out, though, and so I was totally unprepared for that. And when you freelance, you can't half-ass it and still draw a paycheck.

My solution was to take a part-time job that would enable me to change gears for a little while. Taking a break restored my desire to freelance again, though, and I've been transitioning back into it. I'm happy to be back, marketing and all!

I've had several months this year where I've had to pull funds out of savings just so I had enough to pay bills while I was waiting for a stack of invoices to be paid. Even regular clients can misplace an invoice or be a couple days behind on payments – and in my experience that is most likely to happen when I have a huge property tax payment or a broken appliance.

Knock on wood, I've finally managed to rebuild savings to a healthier level (yet not quite up where I want it), and I'm expecting a few more payments within the next week.