Words on the Page

1 Habit Pro Freelancers Have

Posted on by lwidmer

It’s been an interesting, COVID-filled few weeks. You read that right. I have COVID. I contracted it from my mother, who’d fallen and broken some bones, ended up in a rehab facility, and contracted it from someone there. We’re both mending, but this post isn’t about that. It’s about the expectations you set with your…

Freelance Game Plan: April

Posted on by lwidmer

So you’re sitting there with a few gaps in your workweek. Nice, but how big is that gap? And how long do you think it will last? That long, huh? It’s the start of the second quarter of 2021. If you’ve been waiting for something to gel, it’s time to stop waiting. Seriously. It’s not…

The Six-figure Freelance Mindset Gap

Posted on by lwidmer

I had an email conversation with a writer friend last week when one of those “a-ha!” moments occurred. In conversation with someone on LinkedIn, she was delving into why places like Upwork, Fiverr and other bidding sites are not a great starting point for anyone looking to make a living freelance writing, how they don’t…

The Fallacy of the Easy Freelance Living

Posted on by lwidmer

Honey, stand back, for I’m about to launch. I had a video forwarded to me by someone who thought it was interesting. In the video, which is 10 minutes long, a freelancer flaunts their easy lifestyle while talking about how they make — are you sitting down? — nearly $400,000 a year on a freelance…

Your Freelance Identity Crisis

Posted on by lwidmer

Saw this on LinkedIn the other day (details altered to spare the guilty): Jane Doe, Expert in Business Consulting and Grant Writing – Speaker and Author Founder of Rapunzel Business Consulting LLC Client-focused business consulting and grant writing for nonprofits and small businesses. I free up your time so you can spend it with family….

3 Freelancing Trouble Zones (and how to find better clients)

Posted on by lwidmer

Having been ’round this freelance writing block a few times (yesterday was the 15th anniversary of this very blog), I’ve come to spot things that, on the surface, may not seem obvious. But once you look under the surface, even just a little, you start to build a healthier level of skepticism. And believe me,…

Freelancer’s Intro to Inbound Marketing

Posted on by lwidmer

It’s always a good day when Jennifer Mattern shows up on the blog. Jenn, who runs All Freelance Writing and Freelance Writing Pros, is one of the most business-savvy freelancers I know. She’s a no-BS blogger who tells you what you need to hear, but does so with the intent of helping you improve your…

The Sentence That Can Save Your Freelance Writing Bacon

Posted on by lwidmer

We see a lot, we freelancers. We see countless job postings promising “Make money freelance writing!” that turn into some pretty questionable terms just after the initial “We want you, freelance writer!” call to action. They do want us. However, they want freelance writers who are willing to compromise on quite a lot in order…

Spotting Lousy Freelance Client Prospects

Posted on by lwidmer

At first, the excitement is almost palpable — a new client prospect has reached out. You respond quickly (but not too quickly — don’t want to seem too eager). They write back. The dialogue has begun. Maybe it moves to the phone at that point. If so, you talk about project needs, your background, their…

Freelance Game Plan: March

Posted on by lwidmer

Rabbit! First of a new month, eh? I decided in January to offer up one post per month in which we can focus on something really actionable. January was all about finding clients. February, how emulating success freelancers can score you some serious street cred. So what can we do this month to boost your…

Sharon Hurley Hall

This is a great way to think of it, Lori. Right now I’ve got 12 clients on my books. Two provide regular monthly work. Another one has an annual budget for my work split over different projects as they arise. One buys a block of time in advance to use for whatever comes up. I’ve got one who turns up with a large project roughly quarterly. Of the other 7, I’ll work with 2 or 3 of them in a given month, though I’m never quite sure which ones. And I keep marketing, because it’s easier to turn down work than not to have enough.

1. lwidmer
  
  That last sentence, Sharon — “And I keep marketing, because it’s easier to turn down work than not have enough” — that’s where the success lies, isn’t it?
Devon Ellington

I have too many one-and-dones, and an “anchor” that needs to change, because of continuous scope creep. I’ve got a third regular client where we’re finding our feet, a fourth one where the work is about weekly or every other week (and pays monthly, on the same day as I invoice). Another semi-annual client, and an annual one. I’m working my way to the eight. I love Diane’s model.

1. lwidmer
  
  I love it, too. She’d found it elsewhere, but her breakdown is brilliant.
  
  This whole octopus idea is perfect because it’s the closest we freelancers will get to a guaranteed revenue stream.
Gabriella

This is fantastic.

I just counted, and I have six regular clients. They go like this:

One for which I do a set of monthly articles–been my client since 2008!!!!
One for which I do the entire every-other-month magazine–been my client since 2010
One for which I do two weekly enewsletters–Been my client since 2005, but these two newsletters arose in about 2014 and 2015
One for which I do two quarterly magazines–been my client for years, but these two magazines arose in 2015

This is a ton of work, and last year I turned down significant work beyond these clients because I simply couldn’t fit it in.

Here’s what worries me: One of those leaves, and it’s a huge hit. In fact, for the client for which I do two newsletters, I have a call today with a consultant who is evaluating the publications for the whole organization; I’m being interviewed as a key player. It has been running through my mind: They could decide those two newsletters aren’t needed anymore.

So my life is weird. I can’t add more clients. I just don’t have time. However, if one left, dang, it would be a bite.

I’d go back to hustling for those one-off writing assignments. I’d probably recover. But that would be a good amount of hustling.

What to do to protect my business? I don’t rightly know.

lwidmer

Gabriella, you are in a tough spot. The only thing I can think would work to keep that from happening is to have a magazine article or a few one-and-done projects every few months just to keep things even. And if all the clients stay put, you now have a bit of a financial cushion.

But I hear you. It’s the time it takes, isn’t it? It’s never great when one or two clients make up the bulk of your work. They disappear — you’re scrambling.

David Geer

I won’t tell you how many clients I have, but twenty over the course of a year could be enough, though thirty is much better. Some will be one-offs, some will be two or three times a year, some will be more often up to one or more projects a month. But I need at least 8 to 12 projects a month, 16 are better, and I can handle 20 if I must. Those are the numbers I like to be writing all the time.

1. lwidmer
  
  That’s a lot of clients, David! Hey, everyone’s mix is going to be different based on the projects they’re handling. I think last month I may have taken on 10 or more projects, but they were a mix of short and long ones. Twenty wouldn’t work for me because of the complexity of some of the projects.
  
  Keeping that many clients happy is a juggling act, I’d bet!
Paula Hendrickson

A year ago, I was close to having my own octopus: Arms 1 & 2 being long-time clients that have frequent but sporadic assignments; 3 being a weekly column; 4 being a regional quarterly that I wrote features and shorts for in almost every issue; 5 & 6 being sister publications owned by a company that earned most of its revenue from promoting live events; and 7 being a grad student paying me to edit her assignments and papers.

Then the pandemic hit.

By mid-March, number 4 temporarily ceased publication; it resumed by autumn, but editors were doing everything in-house until last month when they finally assigned a few profiles while stressing that it was only because they were for a big, special issue. I soon realized 5&6 had taken everything in-house, but didn’t get official confirmation until late spring. That left only 4 “arms.”

At some point, number 3 went from being weekly to bi-weekly (less often at points when the publisher didn’t have enough ad revenue to pay freelancers).

Yep. Down to 3-1/2 arms.

I’ve been marketing all along. I had two potential clients totally ghost me AFTER sending me contracts and W9s to sign.

Thanks to Sharon connecting us, as of January I have a new client who has contracted me to write monthly blog posts.

That brings me up to 4-1/2 arms, plus random pieces here and there – like a client I wrote one article for in October and am about to do a second one in April (it’s a low-payer in a niche where I’d like to build more credits, so while I get something aside from money out of writing for it, I can’t afford to make it a frequent client at just $75 per article).

I guess that means my octopus is looking more like a starfish, but at least starfish are good at regrowing their arms.

1. lwidmer
  
  Well Paula, starfish are resilient, too. If that’s any consolation!
  
  Yea, that’s really low — I’d not make them a frequent client, either. If they offered more higher-paying projects throughout the year it might justify working with them, but I suspect at those rates, that’s just a pipe dream.
  
  I know you — you’ve got the talent. There have to be markets out there willing to pay you what you’re worth because $75 per article isn’t even close.
2. Paula Hendrickson
  
  Luckily, my main clients pay 75¢-$1+ per word—even the regional one would pay way more than $75 for a similar length article. Bear in mind that I chose to do the $75 article in order to build my reputation in a different field, so it was a strategic thing.
3. lwidmer
  
  Good strategy!
Gabriella

Paula, I’m sorry you’ve been hit by the pandemic. It looks like you’re stabilizing, but I know that must be hard.

That brings up another issue: I haven’t applied for a PPP loan, but a friend who investigates white-collar crime for banks reached out to me and told me that the admin has really opened up PPP loans to smaller businesses, and she really encouraged me to apply. I haven’t done it yet. Not sure I will.

But here’s what she said: As of last week, the SBA has a fast lane for the self-employed. Using the greater from returns in 2019 or 2020, if your line 31 is 100,000 or more, you can apply now. The maximum is $20,832. Basically 100,000÷12 months times 2.5. It’s mostly forgivable by filling out the correct forms. “There’s $284 billion in PPP available. Billion with a B so there’s money for lots of businesses.”

1. lwidmer
  
  Gabriella, thank you for this! I’m sure plenty of folks reading here could use that info.
  
  It’s so odd that if you make six figures, this is available to you. I would think people below that threshold would need it more. Strange!
The No-nonsense Freelance Negotiation Tactic | Words on the Page

[…] biggest clients unexpectedly within two weeks of each other? I think optimal is eight clients (the Octopus method). But definitely more than four. The more clients you have, the less it’s going to hurt when […]