What’s on the iPod: Changing by The Airborne Toxic Event
Wow, another month bites the dust, eh? This one flew by for me. I had a week off at the beginning, thanks to the Vancouver conference and vacation. I expected a lower total as a result. Good thing – it was low.
Maybe part of it is chasing nonsense I have no time to chase. I’d contacted a client last week who owes me a payment. I’d heard from him three weeks ago when he’d mentioned that he’d not looked at my project and that he’d have to tell me what the total word count was for the invoice. Fine, but three weeks and no word? Unacceptable.
So I sent him a quick note stating I wanted to know before the 31st so I could prepare the invoice. I’m not hopeful, for the response I got back was a group email (which was surprising – didn’t know I was one of many) outlining changes to the company’s business, but in no way addressed the issue at hand, which was lack of payment. If I hear nothing today, I may withdraw the project. I’m too far into my career to put up with payment-dodging games. I’d slap a late fee on him, but my guess is he’ll not open that email, either. I’ve had it with him, and I’ve only begun to see the games.
Well, I’ve put it off long enough. Let’s get to the ugly truth:
Queries:
The ones I sent were LOIs to clients I’m courting. I sent out a handful, and I sent about 30 follow-up notes to conference contacts. I intend to work those again this week to see if I can get something contracted for June.
Job postings:
Zero. That’s why I’m still sane. I didn’t chase the job offers – I created them instead.
Referrals:
I did get a few – one in Twitter and oddly enough, one at the trade show. I was glad for both, though I’m not sure either will come to anything.
Existing clients:
Still working with three regular clients, and all three have given me the bulk of my work this month. These are clients who pay on time and are great to work for, which is just a bonus.
New clients:
Should I count her as new? A regular client handed me a special project, and I was able to make her happy (amen) and collect a nice additional fee. Fantastic!
Earnings:
I’m on target with weekly goals, but missing a week really hurt. I’m off my target by a thousand and change. Still, the week at the conference has such potential to pay off (with talks already happening with various attendees) that I won’t regret it.
Bottom line:
With summer’s lean months here, I have to pump up the marketing and get more projects in the pipeline. My goal is to get July booked so that the usual August drought doesn’t hurt so much. I have some magazine queries to get out, and I have a few more ideas for a potential client, and I hope to secure his buy-in to at least one of them.
How was business for you in May?
19 responses to “Monthly Assessment: May 2011”
I'm trying this with my name/url-last week Blogger wouldn't let me do that-fingers crossed.
May was one of those bizarre months with lots of new work, but little action. It started out with a ton of jobs scheduled – then one client put a project on hold & took a 2-week vacation, another has re-scheduled a case study interview for this AM for the 4th time, and I got a new client that is government so it takes 3-4 weeks for the signoff process for the deposit. Good news, one client renewed a monthly project for the rest of the year.
It looks like this means June will be very busy.
May was a less than stellar month for me as well – how much of that was due to interruptions caused by traveling, end-of-the-year school activities and working on personal projects I can't say…
Surprisingly I received a rush of projects within the last two weeks that kept me quite busy. Still, I know how slow the summer months can be, so I really need to put more time and energy into marketing.
Busy, but not as lucrative as I would have liked. A lot of that had to do with finishing up the edits for the book, and its release date made earlier by a month, so time I would have used to pursue other earnings was used for promo instead.
I have two weeks off before my next class starts, and I plan to make the most of it, writing-wise, on the next book, which is late.
I've wrapped up and talked about changing the career vision on GOALS, DREAMS, AND RESOLUTIONS:
http://goalsdreamsresolutions.wordpress.com/2011/05/31/may-wrap-up-2/
May was OK. A magazine I have been courting finally gave me a meaty assignment and a former colleague I've been discussing sub-contracting with sent me two great assignments. In terms of earnings though, it's teh 31st and most of the new business money has not come in yet, so i'm only going to see the impact of the new business in my June earnings. I'm fairly happy with the business though, because work has remained steady.
Cathy – you're in! Yay! If anyone else has troubles getting Blogger to behave, let me know. I can't fix it, but I can post your comments for you.
Kim, I'm hoping for such a rush! I've got so much in the pipeline, but nothing coming through. You KNOW it's coming all at once, right? 🙂
Devon, I'm with you. Preparations take a ton of time away from the steady work, which hits the bottom line. Hopefully, it will all come to fruition for you soon. And thanks for the link to the GDR site. 🙂
Damaria, congrats on that assignment! Let us know where we can see the final product. It's odd, but doesn't it suck that you know you've earned it but the checks take soooo long in coming…?
May used to be my slowest month. The past two years, however, that's changed. I had a pretty good month, with mostly ongoing clients and a few referrals. I don't think I inquired about a single job (although there are a few I bookmarked for when time allows) but some of the projects I put out a resume for months ago have been producing interested parties now. This is a perfect example of why every freelancer should be marketing regularly–exactly as you advocate, Lori. I suspect you'll be fine this summer once you ramp those efforts back up. ;o)
Oh, I forgot to mention that I too spent some time this month chasing a 90-day-late client. Small project; first–and last–time I worked with him. His excuse two months ago was that his father had a heart attack AND his sister committed suicide. I know this sounds heartless of me, but really, what are the odds??! Then I find out that he's started up a new company. Too full of grief to pay his bills, but not too full of it to keep settting the business world on fire. I've been told he'll take care of it this week. We'll see.
May wasn't half bad for me. Amazingly, the late-payer paid up in full. (Naturally, he "forgot" to pay for my longest article when he said he was all caught up. Not so fast, buckeroo. I mentioned the long article, he remembered it and I had that check within the week. I think he assumes freelancers don't track their workflow.)
Queries/LOIs: I sent four queries, which led to two assignments. Sent eight LOIs. One guy replied saying they don't use many freelancers, but would keep me in mind. A week later he e-mailed asking if I was interested in a full-time job. No specifics. I mentioned I live half a continent away, so the commute would be rough, but he said the mystery job could be done remotely. He asked me to send my resume to his boss. She e-mailed back to say she received it, and they would be doing interviews in a week or so. That was a week or so ago. I haven't heard anything, and still don't know what the job might have entailed…but I will stay in touch.
Postings: Zero.
Existing Clients: Turned in two columns, two blog posts (re-signed for another 6 months on the blog), turned in three articles and two resumes. Also received a feature assignment from another one of my regulars.
New Clients: On LinkedIn a former editor of mine said she was seeking writers. Not my area of specialty, but I guess the tangential clips I sent her, combined with the fact that we'd worked together oh-so-long-ago resulted in a big assignment for a women's health website. It's one long main article, a slightly shorter sidebar article, and two related sidebar lists. The only problem has been that the experts I need to speak with are pressed for time since a major symposium starts this week. (Hah! I found an expert in the city everyone else is traveling to, and since she doesn't have to spend a day in the air, she's available later today for an interview!) My editor said if her bosses like my work, this could become a regular gig.
Earnings were way up, but remember, thats only because Mr. Late Payer finally paid me for several articles.
Bottom line: The next week will be incredibly busy as I juggle interviews, research and writing for seven things all due by June 10. But busy is good!
Well, it's technically not freelance since I don't have clients, but this has been my best month earnings-wise so far! Fingers crossed that it only continues to grow.
Hello, Lori!
Thanks for giving us your May dirt. Mine's just as mediocre, or if I do a little accounting magic, it moves up to acceptable.
If I use my standard method of accounting–I count income in the month I send the invoice–my May was abysmal. I had a 10-day vacay in there, but it's still pitiful.
If I use a little accounting slight of hand–taking an article I invoiced for in April and counting it in May since that's when I finalized the article after the editor's picky, picky queries–then my May is acceptable, and my April remains good, too.
But really, what does it matter? I know I have to step up my game.
I didn't contact any new clients, and I have to get cracking on that. I did reconnect with existing clients, and they're providing me with steady income.
I had a phone conference with one potential client, and we left it like they were going to hire me but just needed to check with their budget people. I haven't heard word one since.
However, I'm not giving up on that client, since I first emailed her in December, and she didn't respond at all. Then she contacted me in April and said she's ready to give me the work. So perhaps she just needs email etiquette training, and I'll hear from her when she's ready. Fingers crossed.
Bottom line: I knew May would be weak because of my vacation. But really, woman, get your behind in gear!
Kathy, he actually used his father's dying and sister's suicide as an excuse? That's pathetic! I would believe him with a ton of skepticism except for the fact that he'd started a new business venture in that same time. Now it's just disgusting behavior by an amateur. You're smart to write him off.
Paula, I'm still wondering how you're going to juggle all those interviews and the repairman. 🙂
WordVixen, that's pretty darn good! You'll have to tell us how you manage to earn money without clients – I'm impressed and confused at the same time. LOL
Gabriella, exactly! Let's both get our behinds in gear! I'll watch your back, you watch mine, okay? 🙂
Yeppers, he sure did use them as an excuse. He told me that in light of all he was going through, paying my invoice was the last thing on his mind. I'm sure it was … but not because he was grieving.
Deal!
He'd be grieving if he'd said that to me, but for a different reason (I'm somewhat violent with those who act like dolts).
Gabriella, :)).
May was full of work from 2 repeat clients – I am grateful for repeat business but I am concerned. What if they go on a hunger strike? Eek. This is why June is going to be a month of aggressive marketing for me. You never know what's around the corner!
Kagem, I don't blame you for being nervous. Two regular clients seems like enough, but if one or both disappear….
Go get 'em with the marketing! You're smart to plan well in advance.
*lol* I'm into internet marketing now. Started out just wanting to be a novelist, fell in with a lot of freelancers, started to pursue that but had panic attacks at the thought of trying to satisfy a perfect stranger with my work, fell in with a lot of internet marketers, realized that the keyword articles that I was going to be writing for other people would be much better served on my own sites, and… eventually, ended up in the IM camp. I'm not full time yet, but it's growing! Google's Panda update has been very favorable to my actually-useful posts rather than people who are backlinking fiends.
I do occasionally freelance for friends (other IMers), but the bulk of my non-day-job income is IM now- which is why my blog's tagline is "Tales of an ex-freelance wannabe…". 🙂
Funny- just yesterday I came across an old post where you'd given me a suggestion for an ebook to write. I'm thinking about it again. It fits right into my plans for one of my niche sites, which, if I can get the traffic up there, I'd have a great platform to market it from!
Dang girl! I have to talk to you offline about this! Sounds like a great gig!
Sure thing! I love it, because I'm one of those people that's hyper-focused for a week or two, and then lose interest entirely for months. IM is perfect for people like me, though it does seem to work better for people who are focused all the time. 🙂