Look at you — you’ve made it to December. You worked a long, hard year and you’ve come to the end of it hopefully in a better place than where you started.
And now it’s winding down.
Just for a moment, look over your shoulder. Look back through each month and see not where you failed to meet a goal or had some issue that you couldn’t resolve, but see what you’ve done. Even that thing that nearly broke you didn’t. You’re still here. That says plenty about who you are as a freelancer.
If you’ve been following along with these Freelance Game Plan posts, you’re probably hoping this last one will be the one that puts you over the top, that redefines your business and gets you to that place you’ve been dreaming of — your writer’s Valhalla.
If so, you’re about to be disappointed.
That’s because a post can help, can give you something that will work, but it cannot do the work for you. That, my friend, is all up to you. And guess what? You can do it.
Yes, you really can.
I know because I did. I was that same struggling writer with those same doubts making those same mistakes. If I can get beyond all that, you can, too.
Today’s post will give you one more thing that may help. But it’s also going to go over where we’ve been. Maybe one of them is right for you. Or maybe more. It’s up to you to decide what fits and how you apply what you read here. If you don’t like it as presented, tweak it. Make it fit. Just make sure once you do, you follow through.
In fact, that’s today’s Freelance Game plan strategy:
Follow through.
Consider this the writer’s version of lather, rinse, repeat. That thing you are trying — tweets, LinkedIn articles, networking — is better when you do it more than once.
That’s your challenge for this month: Follow through on everything you do to market or network. It could look like so:
- Emailed queries
- Phone calls
- Idea pitches to clients
- Late invoices
- Sharing tweets
- Interacting with prospects on LinkedIn
- Updating the blog
- Finishing that manuscript
Or whatever you’ve started. Just follow through. Make a chart, get a piece of paper, open a Word document. List that thing you need to follow through with. Then make a column of dates — four dates for the five weeks in December (bonus this month — you have five weeks). Every week, do that thing you need to follow through on. Put a big X or a DONE next to that date. Pat yourself on the back — you’ve just followed through on something you’d started.
If you’re ambitious (please, be ambitious), make a list for all the things you need to follow through on. Repeat.
[bctt tweet=”Your #freelancewriting success could be boosted with one thing: following up.” username=”LoriWidmer”]
That’s one way to improve. But we’ve gone over eleven other ways this year. Let’s recap. (These are all clickable links, by the way.)
January: Finding Clients
Yes, you can find clients any time of year. Even now, when everyone is in holiday mode. Maybe especially now. January comes and companies hit the ground running with projects. Wouldn’t it be great to be on board with them before January?
February: Compete with Other Writers
Admittedly one of my stranger ideas, but it works. Don’t compete for clients — compete for results. Find that one writer to emulate, then use them as your template to better earnings and business dealings.
March: Embrace the Octopus
Okay, maybe this one was a bit stranger, but in defense, it’s a great idea (and borrowed from Diane Parkin Wordsworth). To avoid the “Holy shit” financial crunch that comes when a client or two disappears, shoot for eight (as in eight arms of an octopus). The more clients you have, both regular and occasional, the better you’ll weather those times when contacts leave companies and budgets dry up.
April: Testimonials and What They Teach You
This is a twofold assignment: Get testimonials from your clients, and then read them to understand why they continue to hire you. Right there is your sales pitch for the next client.
May: Market a Mini Niche
When work dries up, try marketing your niche. Don’t have one? Bet you do — just look into your past projects. They’re right there, waiting to be discovered.
June: Plan Ahead
Any time of the year is the right time to review where you are, where you want to go, and how you will get there. The best time to plan is now, and here’s how you can do it.
July: Build a Freelance Network
You get by with a little help from your friends. And strangers are just friends you haven’t met. (I promise that’s the last of the sayings). Building a network can serve as a pipeline to steady work and better name recognition, which is important if you’re a solo business owner. The trick to building a great network is to stop selling. Really.
August: Giving Yourself a Raise
This was singularly my biggest mistake this year (more on that in another post). When you raise your price, you get more for your effort, you communicate your value (and you are oozing with value), and you trim that client list to a pretty sweet list of favorites.
September: Simple Freelance Systems
This is a favorite post of mine because it gives you a way to create order around chaos. That’s important when you’re busy and when you’re idle, as well. Feeling organized gives a sense of accomplishment. So do tools that make your life infinitely easier.
October: Create a New Routine
Building a better freelance writing business starts with a good foundation. Here’s how to create a routine that can actually improve your business outcome.
November: Planning Your Next Year
Set earnings goals, find an accountability partner, juice up your marketing, and find new direction. Also, you can pretend today is November, or March is November. Any time you want to plan ahead is the right time.
Writers, what changes did you make this year? How did that impact your business?
This year was a year of recovery and reflection for me. I normally build a pretty detailed plan, but at the end of 2020, like the rest of the world, I was exhausted and didn’t attempt to plan.
Amazingly, I increased my earnings by a surprising percentage (I earned about $19,000 more in 2021 than I did in 2020 — and 2020 was better than 2019). It makes me wonder if I should ditch the planning permanently. (Not really. Planning is important, and writing things out helps me detangle things.)
The other change I made was to not send LOIs. I think I probably sent a total of about 10 all year. Usually, I am for 25 per week. I’m also not sure what this means, given that I found nearly all of the clients on my list through LOIs.
My changes were confusing!
That’s a nice increase, Dava! And no one would blame you for not wanting to plan after last year. It was exhausting, wasn’t it?
I don’t think I sent one LOI this year. I was afraid someone else would say “Yes, I need a writer.” I was just inundated for the last two years. It’s why I’m taking this month off, in fact. I need a break.
Not too confusing! You sound like you’re on top of everything, actually. It’s inspiring!