Had an interesting conversation with a fellow freelancer today — a freelancer to emulate. She’s built a highly successful, very lucrative business and has kept it going through decades of ups and downs. You name it, she’s dealt with it — health issues, recession, clients disappearing, life in upheaval, pandemics …. Inevitably, this freelancer has emerged from each challenge with her business intact and, well, thriving.
Recently, she had a downturn in her client work where budgets and personnel shifts left her with income gaps. She did what I’ve been trying to get every freelancer to do in those situations — she pounded the virtual pavement, made new contacts, got in touch with previous contacts, and marketed until she had at least six more new clients in talks with her.
All within two or three months.
I told her, “Honey, that’s a blog post.”
She said what I knew to be fact: “Sure, sure. But would it be an ACTIONABLE blog post?” Because she knows what I know — there are freelancers who would kill the messenger instead of hearing the message.
We’ve heard it before, haven’t we? There are writers who say, “Yea, but you were lucky” or “Yea, but you’re just bragging about your connections.” They don’t see that freelancers like my friend have decades of work behind that long list of connections and all those clients who actually value the skills she brings to the table.
I know that the majority of you who read this blog get it. You’re smart. You see that advice that fits you, experiences like my freelance friend’s are golden opportunities to empower your own efforts and grow that freelance writing business. You also know that there’s a faction of freelancers who will make excuses and wait for opportunities to find them.
Still, there’s hope that one of those freelancers is ready to make a positive change. That’s why this blog exists, really — to share strategies and ideas that could make life a little bit easier.
For those of us who are looking for a way to replace quickly those clients and projects that have disappeared, here are some changes to try to make that gap less likely or easier to overcome.
Plan six months to a year out.
My friend is a freelancer who looks months ahead. She starts talking about her first quarter of 2026 right about now. In January, she and I were having conversations about June/July work. In fact, a few of those six new clients came from putting in the marketing work a few months before the gap occurred.
The more you plan ahead, the less likely you’ll be idle (and broke) in the future. Like I’ve always said, market every day. Yep, every day. Fewer surprises happen when you are able to replace missing income quickly. That’s what constant marketing can do for you.
Count only what’s contracted.
Many of you know this one from experience. If a new client says they’re hiring you, until that agreement shows up or that first project, it’s not a done deal. I’d say I’m still waiting for that guy from the tech company to funnel work my way, but since our last conversation about it was 2011, I’m not. In fact, I wasn’t waiting for him at all because he’d talked about it so many times with nothing happening that I stopped listening.
The agreement makes it real. Until then, it’s just talk.
Broadcast your availability wisely.
You have a network. Now is the time to get in touch with those people. Let them know you have availability and are wondering if they know of any opportunities. Tell your closest contacts in that network what you’re looking for. Ask for referrals. Scour their social media accounts and see what they’re working on, then approach them with ideas. Reconnect with some of those “maybe” clients that never quite got things off the ground. Now may be a better time for them.
That’s it. Those are three actionable things you can do today. And tomorrow. Nothing works better than consistent effort. Marketing and building your network are things any successful freelancer should be working on every day. The better the foundation, the easier it is to be flexible when clients and projects disappear.
And if you’re sitting there thinking, “Well sure, you have all those connections so of course it works for you.” Honey. I was once you. I didn’t have connections until I made them. It’s as simple as reaching out and getting to know someone. I go over it here and here.
Your turn.
How do you fill those sudden gaps and disappearing clients?
That part about her pounding the pavement and landing six new clients in two to three months really hit home. I’m in a similar slump right now with client budgets drying up, and her example is making me rethink just passively waiting for things to turn around. Did she mention anything about how she kept her sanity while doing all that outreach?
She did. And I can tell you from personal experience, it’s what I did, too. She kept digging for work. She didn’t reach out to three people and sit back and wait. She’s also not one to do this. She reached out to former clients, clients who were currently not handing her a project, and existing clients who might need one more thing.
You can also try reaching out and asking if they know anyone who needs some help. I managed to get a few clients that way over the years.
The biggest thing I can recommend is that you always market. Always. If you need help on how to do that, look on this blog for the Marketing tags.
Make sure you’re looking months out at what work is headed your way. If you don’t see anything, act now. The more you have on your desk, the better it will be when there is a lull in your workload.