The January slow down – or how my freelance work dried up

Why freelance work can dry up and what to do about it

I’d been awol for a while.

Did anyone notice?

It had been a mad two months and something had to give.

That something was my blog.

Now, normally I would apologise, but for the sake of all things healthy I wasn’t going to. Sometimes you just need to go with the flow.

I needed to settle down and put two and two together.

What did I do during my break?

produced panto (it went rather well despite a few hiccups along the way),
finished work for the year,
got on with my OU coursework (I was halfway through an English Literature and Creative Writing degree),
set up my new bullet journal (yes, that year I had a fully functional one),
reviewed my business plan,
concentrated on my marketing (a lot),
fielded a few enquiries,
accepted an invitation to speak to a local writing group,
did some research on a personal project,
did some theatre stuff (we’d started rehearsing a new play and sorting out workshops),
did a piece of pro bono work for a local charity I’d been involved with for 20 years,
did some networking,
and did a hell of a lot of brainstorming.

What didn’t I do?

Any paid work so far in January.

I also didn’t panic.

What?

If you know anything about me, you’ll know I’m not a bullshitter. You’ll also know that freelance life doesn’t always run smoothly and that an end of year/start of year assessment is a good thing.

So I thought, especially for all you new freelancers out there, I’d show you how it really can be. And why it’s good to have money in reserve.

abundance of coins — Photo by Csankovszki Tibor on Pexels.com

Why no work?

There are reasons why there’d been no work so far that month:

a mix of prospective clients approaching me for work that’s not in my field ( – that’s fine, I pass the work onto colleagues when I can),
a few who found that their budget didn’t align with my pricing structure,
a few who wanted things done in a very, very short space of time (I’m only human, if I bust a gut to get the work done it won’t be good, so I just don’t do that),
a few booked in advance for a few months time (I like this, I knew I had work coming),
one or two jobs that didn’t come through (this made it into my yearly assessment of how I book jobs in),
some bad marketing choices on my part.

So, you can see it had been a very, very slow month or two.

It was not just me though, it seemed to have been much the same for a lot of freelancers and independent consultants. Perhaps it was just that time of year, but I personally hadn’t seen things that bad for quite a few years.

So what did I do?

Like I said earlier, I didn’t panic. I still had enough to pay the bills, but it’s times like these that make every solo practitioner look closely at their business.

You have to ask yourself:

Is it just slow for me or is it the market in general?
Why didn’t work turn up?
Why didn’t those jobs come through after all, and what could I have done differently?
Have I been marketing effectively?
Is my business plan working?
Do I need to diversify or rein in my offerings
Do people know I exist?

In the no-bullshit, trying to be helpful spirit of things I’ll show you how I answer these for myself.

End of year assessment:

Is it just slow for me or is it the market in general?

Honestly, it was probably a bit of both. Being remote I have to work extra hard to network and let people know I exist, but generally January is not a good time. Looking back at my accounts, January is always slow. This had been the worst January since 2015 though.

Why didn’t work turn up?

I’d say it could be a mix of the wrong time of year for finishing projects that require an editor or writer, and the fact that everyone is reaching the end of their budgets. Especially if clients’ accounts run from January to December. Of course it’s different for every client type.

Or it could have been that the right people actually didn’t know I exist. I’d look at this later.

Why didn’t those jobs come through after all, and what could I have done differently?

Ok, this was something that I needed to address. The jobs that didn’t come through were ones that relied on goodwill and a kind of ‘gentleman’s agreement’. They didn’t come through because the work fell through, and to make it worse I didn’t take a 20–50% up-front non-refundable deposit like a lot of my colleagues. Guess what I started doing from then on?

Had I been marketing effectively?

I guess my answer to this was no. However, it’s something I’d been working on in my CDP so I knew I’d be moving forward. Professional development isn’t all about the skills that help you do your actual work, it’s also the professional development of being an independent contractor.

Was my business plan working?

Actually, yes. But business plans take time – mine’s a yearly plan and the year wasn’t over yet.

Did I need to diversify or rein in my offerings?

As part of my business plan I decided to stop offering a few things and add a few. However, this had nothing to do with the abysmally slow month. From my records for the past few years I knew that my services on offer were fine, and that they are evolving.

Did people know I exist?

Hell, yes. Probably. But perhaps those clients I was aiming at were possibly less aware than I’d like them to have been.

So my end of year/start of year assessment showed that market forces were largely at work, but my marketing could have done with a kickstart. I’m wasn’t panicking yet as I was working on my marketing skills (something I’ve always been bad at for my own business), but if I were a new freelancer I might have just been bouncing off the walls at the moment.

What to do when work dries up?

If you find, like me, that sometimes work dries up or is slow in coming, there are a few things to do.

As we’ve seen, an assessment is a good place to start. Take a look at your business, answer some questions and don’t try to fool yourself. See how other freelancers are doing: is your network finding things tough too?

Try to make sure that you have some cash set aside in case of a dry spell. I know, it’s easier said than done, but it can help dispel the initial panic.

Have a look at some alternative means, such as sending out emails to old contacts or new ones. Have a quick look for freelance jobs on LinkedIn or job sites, and even ask your network if they know of any leads.

It happens to us all.

At the end of the day, dry spells happen to most freelancers. You just have to be prepared for them and make the most of them. Yes, I said make the most of them.

Try to take a positive view of the situation and use the time wisely. Use it to review, redirect and renew.

Review your practices, business plan and marketing strategy

Redirect your energies into what can bring in the money you need

Renew your contacts if you can, or your business goals.

Me? I used that last month positively, and took a deep dive into my business. It can be quite scary to break from the timetable (my business plan review usually takes place around May), but it can also be liberating and an eye-opener.

I hope your January was kind.

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Everyone needs a CTA, so here’s mine. If you fancy working with me, contact me. Don’t be shy, let’s chat about your project.

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