When Freelancing Isn’t Rainbows and Unicorns: What to Do When You Hit a Rough Patch
I should be on top of the world with freelancing right now. I am having my best year income-wise by far, new clients are approaching me for work, and I have more work than I can handle. But instead, the last few weeks have been really rough. Here’s why:
- I have had more drafts returned for revisions than usual.
- Requested revisions have been more extensive than usual.
- For only the second time in 10 years, I ran across an editor whose style and exceptions and were a complete mismatch with mine.
- My email inbox has been more out of control than normal.
- I had to ask for two extensions, which I rarely do.
- I woke up at 3 a.m. feeling worried about work.
- I spent one night writing an e-book about hotel networks in my dreams, which was exhausting, since I had to do the same thing after I woke up.
I’ve been feeling like I’m the only one who ever has drafts heavily edited or feels like they don’t know what a client wants. Yes, I’ve been wondering if all my previous success has been a fluke and maybe I’m really a fraud. So I confided in a writer friend or two and they shared about times when they hit the type of stretch I’m in now. I felt a little better. I told a few more people, and every single one of them shared a frustrating experience that had recently happened to them. I began feeling a lot better.
When we talk about a ‘rough patch’ in freelancing, we are usually referring to the challenge of not finding high paying clients. So today, I want to write more about the type of rough patch I’ve hit, in case it makes someone feel less alone. If I am going to share my successes publicly, then I think its only fair to be honest about the not so fun times as well. According to my informal survey, every writer who has been freelancing for more than a day has their own tales of frustrating experiences to share. While sharing client leads is the top benefit most of us think of coming from freelance friends, I have to say that having someone to celebrate or commiserate with who truly understands is the most important reasons of them all.
Taking a Step Back to See the Whole Picture
During a recent trip to a content marketing conference in Boston, I took advantage of the space away from my family and worked to really figure out what was going on.
- I was burned out. I had taken only 8 days off in the past 6 months, counting the weekends. I didn’t usually work all weekend, but at least a few hours. This meant that I had worked several weeks straight without break. I was simply burned out. And yes, that’s why some of the revisions were happening. To be fair, I typically don’t work very much between 2 and 8 pm on school days because of carpool and soccer practice. And wanting to be available to hang out with my teenagers for the random 7 minute window when they momentarily forget I am the least cool person on the planet and want to hang out. So, I expect to work a little on the weekends to make up for that, but I realized I need to have at least one complete day each weekend with no work. Thank goodness, I have a two week vacation coming up soon. I decided to take a few days off at the beginning and end of my trip as well to help give myself some breathing room. And I realized that keeping my load light the rest of the summer would probably be a smart move for my sanity.
- I had overbooked myself. I turn down a lot of work and refer projects to other writers whenever possible, but even then I had taken on about two too many projects, especially considering my kids were out of school. I simply had to take on less work or I was going to risk losing the clients I already had.
- I had six new clients at the same time. Ah! This was the lightbulb moment and the biggest reason for my burnout. All of these projects were either brand new to me clients or new clients for an agency that I’ve worked with previously. New clients are hard. You have to figure out their expectations. You have to figure the tone. And often you have to learn new subject matter. No matter how long you have been freelancing or writing professionally, it always takes a bit to get the hang of a new client. There is a learning curve and there is no way around it except through it. And six new clients is about four too many at the same time.
Taking a Look at Each Client
After a glass of wine or two, I sat down and thought carefully about each client. I wanted to make sure I wasn’t missing anything that I could fix by just sweeping everything with a wide brush. I realized that three of the six projects were likely just new client blues – figuring out what they want and getting used to each other. Look for a post on how to work through issues that often come up with new clients in an upcoming post.
However, I realized that there were three lessons for me in the other three projects:
- Only take projects that use my strengths. One project was described as rewriting web pages, but I didn’t stop to think that this meant it was more copywriting than content writing. I am an OK copywriter, but it’s not my super power. This meant that this project was taking longer for me to complete than longer and I was exhausted because it was outside my natural skill set. And yes, more revisions because I was outside of my strengths.
- Make sure I understand what a project actually entails before saying yes. Another project ended up being much more administrative than writing. I am not an overly detailed person so keeping track of all of the details involved in this project was time consuming and draining. I also was getting more revision requests because it was not something I enjoyed or was good at.
- Realize that not every editor is going to me a match for my style. The project where the editor and I were not a match really upset me. And I realized that this one project was probably causing a lot of my burnout and unhappiness as well, more than all of the other issues put together. Because I couldn’t figure out what exactly went wrong (my work for her project was similar in quality and style as work that other similar clients had loved), it really had shaken my confidence. The other time this happened to me a few years ago, it was in large part due to my work not being my best effort, but this time I honestly felt that wasn’t the case (and even got several very honest freelance friends to give me their thoughts). I came to terms that, as much as I tried, I was not able to produce what she wanted and it wasn’t for lack of effort. And no matter how much I dwelled on it and worried about it, I couldn’t figure out why. I was creating the same quality and style for that project that I do for similar clients and audiences, but it still wasn’t working out. The project was over and I knew I would not get to do more work with the client. The only thing left for me to do was to let it go and realize that this type situation was simply going to happen in freelancing from time to time.
Moving Forward
The next morning I had two emails waiting in my email inbox from two of my new clients that I had been struggling with and really working hard to figure out how to deliver what they wanted. Both emails were filled with praise of my most recent work on their projects. I let out a huge sigh and decided that I might not be a fraud after all. OK, I might have also shed a few happy tears, yelled “Whoo Hooo” and danced in my kitchen.
I then sent an email to the last of the six new clients asking for feedback. I quickly got a response back that the both the agency and the client were thrilled with my work – the client was just the type that didn’t know what they wanted until they saw the first draft and they were more than happy to rewrite the parts that they didn’t like. She asked me to just keep doing what I was doing. It was a good reminder that sometimes a client just likes to make revisions.
So all of that is to say that my vacation can’t come soon enough. And I’m going to take these lessons, which I’ve learned the hard way, to heart once I return. The more I freelance, the more I am convinced that the most important decisions you make are the clients that you turn down. When I take projects that use my strengths and are a match for the things that I am good at, I make more money, am less stressed, and have happy clients. Yes, there is something to be said for trying something new and stretching yourself. But next time, I’m going to do that with a single new client (or two) at a time, not six clients.
Have you hit a rough patch? What caused your rough patch? What did you learn? How did you get through it?
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Thanks for being so open and real, Jennifer, about life as a freelancer. I totally related to EVERYTHING you said in this article! I’m a freelance copywriter who writes books on the side. So, I’m not only dealing with clients and their projects. I have my OWN projects to complete. It’s endless.
I, too, struggle to take time off. (My freelance business is my only source of income, so my budget takes a real hit when I don’t work.) I, too, have had editors who rejected my writing style, even though other clients love it. I, too, have moments where I feel completely burned out and overwhelmed.
Thank you for giving me some ideas of how I can manage my workload better. 🙂
Thank you so much for sharing that you have the same challenges and patches. Wow, yeah, adding your own books does make it more complex. Watch for an upcoming post on how to take time off as a freelancer – I try to completely shut down my business once or twice a year for at least two weeks. But is SO HARD to do. I really appreciate you posting.
This is great stuff, Jennifer! Like you, I often get drained by the process of taking on new clients. It never gets any easier to figure them out, and sometimes the relationship simply doesn’t work. But learning about the “inherent mismatch” between you and the client is an emotional whirlwind for every freelancer. Like you, I have become VERY careful about the clients and assignments I accept. You are clearly an outstanding writer and a mature, seasoned professional . . .but no matter how good a writer is, saying “no” on occasion –when there’s a mismatch in either the editorial relationship or the subject-matter of the assignment — is exactly the right move. Keep sharing your insights, JGG, because all of us go through what you go through — sharing helps!
Thank you for sharing! Yes, it is really easy to forget the new client adjustment period and jump in head first. I was so nervous waiting for the first comment and had decided that I was the only person that had felt this way – so thank you for posting and sharing!
Thank you so much for writing this post! I also have just gotten out of a rough patch, mine was the client that never (and I mean never) liked my content. We were doing multiple revisions and then he was still rewriting some.
Some of the issue was a learning curve in identifying the tone and style he wanted for the brand (he wasn’t who I originally worked with at the company who loved my content) but the other issue was just realizing that he was uncomfortable in the role of manager and that I couldn’t get defensive of my content and take his edits personally. I had to alter my mindset when working with him from an expert to a learner and to ask questions instead of giving recommendations. He’s now much more willing to listen to me.
Thanks for being willing to share this side of freelancing! It’s definitely not all rainbows and unicorns!
That is so awesome that you worked through it and got to the other side. Tone is honestly the biggest reason I run into issues with a client and I’ve started addressing that up front before I write a single word by asking for examples of what they like and what they dislike.
You also made a really good point about the client being new as a manager and being uncomfortable. Often times the issues we are running into have NOTHING to do with us, but as writers blaming ourselves is the first place we go. One of the new clients I talked about in this post got off to a rough start because one of my contacts went out on maternity leave early so I was writing based on tone/style/content guidance from here but someone else was reviewing it. And the person filling it wasn’t totally up to speed and was not overly confident either. Once I figured it out, things got A LOT better.
I really appreciate you sharing! It made me feel less alone as well!
Jennifer, I cannot thank you enough for your honesty. I’m an experienced freelancer who went through a financial rough patch at the start of the year, and then another rough patch because I felt like an incompetent nincompoop. I’m feeling better, but it’s very tempting to think of yourself as a fraud even if you’re great at your game. Thanks so much for sharing what you did.
OMG, nincompoop – that’s exactly how the client whose editor and I were a mismatch made me feel. That’s my new favorite word.
You know, we all go through financial rough patches as well. A friend recently hit one and finally decided to share it with other freelancers and when she did she learned that everyone she talked to had hit a similar patch and she got a ton of referrals for work. I hit one myself last year https://www.jennifergregorywriter.com/2016/03/14/how-i-landed-50k-in-new-content-marketing-gigs-in-45-days/ but even then I only shared once it was a success story, not during the time I had NO PAYING work on my calendar.
I really appreciate you sharing. My kids are going to hate you, though, since I plan on using the word nincompoop in every possible sentence :>)
Thank for addressing this. I frequently find that when I over-extend myself, stuff comes back more frequently. And, yes, when thy happens, I immediately doubt myself… nice to know that I’m not alone! JoAnn
Thank you so much for sharing that this happens to you! It is so great to know that I’m not alone. For me there is a narrow middle ground. I don’t do my best work when I’m slow either because I procrastinate. I guess find that perfect balance of enough but not too much is one of the challenges of freelancing.
I spoke with a woman at ASJA about these issues and how concerns like dealing with rough patches and how to navigate situations that are clearly a wrong fit should be sessions.
And yes, I’ve been going through my own rough patches similar to yours lately. Lots of new clients all at once — and the stress that comes with first articles — family emergencies, lots of travel and having to fit deadlines into a shorter time frame, and what I realized was a very bad fit after a second article for a new client (I knew it on the first go-round, but gave it a second shot). You aren’t alone!
That would be a great session. You should propose it. You could do it as a panel with someone who hit a rough patch financially, one who it for reasons like I described here and one who experienced a life emergency that impacted freelancing. Every single writer hits all of these different types of rough patches at some time.
Yeah, I really need to listen to my gut more. One of the projects I would have turned down if I had listened. However, the mismatch project was one that had no red flags at all, which I think is what made it worse.
Love your willingness to share the challenges as well as the triumphs, Jennifer, as you’re right, we ALL have them. Like you, I encountered troubles when I accepted assignments outside my areas of expertise and when I bit off more than I can chew. I’ve become much more comfortable with saying ‘no’ when I realize that the client’s needs are just not a good match for my skills or when I know I’m at capacity.
Glad that you’re heading off on vacation! Have fun!!
Thanks for sharing you’ve had the same experience. I’ve gotten MUCH better at staying within my area of expertise and honestly rarely venture outside. Both of these were with the type of writing so that’s something I need to pay more attention to.
Yes, I CAN’T wait for vacation. I am trying to take 3 weeks off work for the most part.
Oh man, this post was timely for me after I spent a stressful week doing major rewrites for a new client…Who had multiple editors commenting on the doc and I basically had to rewrite it twice. In my case, there were several things I could point to that were less than ideal: first, it was for a joint content project between two HUGE companies, but through an agency. The people at the agency have been super nice and fine to work with, but because there are so many “cooks in the kitchen” on this project, I have not been able to speak directly with the editors or pick their brains to find out exactly what it is they want. Instead, I get sort of vague assignments, I write, and then they don’t like it, and I have to rewrite. Ugh. Secondly, while it’s sort of in my tech specialty area, it’s focused on healthcare tech, which is decidedly outside my niche. (I should’ve referred the job to you! Except you said you’re trying to cut back. :)) So I had to go learn all this stuff from the ground up because I have no background in healthcare and don’t know any of the lingo. Even though it’s a good per-word rate, it’s ended up being way too stressful and time-consuming to make up for it. Not to mention, I have a 6-month-old son at home and they were wanting really quick turnaround times…and I can pretty much only work during his nap times at this point, so it’s not like I can drop everything and finish a project immediately like I used to. Unless I stay up all night, which is not a good idea for mama’s sanity. 😉
And I can completely relate to the return of those “I’m a fraud” fears. So not fun.
Anyway, I’m headed out on vacation later this week too, and it’ll be good to clear my head (even though the stress of traveling with a baby will be enough to keep me on my toes). Thanks so much for sharing the bumps along with the wins – you know we can all relate!
Jessica, OMG that sounds like a nightmare of a project – without the six month old added to the equation. I’m so glad you shared your experience.
There is no way I could have freelanced with a baby at home. I’m in awe. Could you get a high school kid or even middle school kid to hang out with her while you are home for a few hours a week?
Have fun on a well deserved vacation. I traveled a ton with my kids when babies and as long as you are able to go with the flow then it’s worth it. You have to let go of your expectations though. I took a 2 year old to Hawaii :>) so I’m either brave or stupid :>) probably both.
It’s like the Facebook effect, isn’t it– we share the good news with people, but not the more difficult news. As a result, our audience thinks everything is always rosy for us (but they know it’s not for them), AND, we feel isolated because we haven’t shared our struggles. Thank you for sharing this, Jennifer– you may never know how many people were able to fully inhale again after realizing they weren’t alone in their rough patch.
And, thanks for reinforcing the concept of working in your area of strength. I’m slightly outside of mine with one project right now, as I’m relaunching my business, but I’m laying down the law on new projects!
You are totally right! It’s just like Facebook. All freelancers want to be successful and competent and all that. But when we don’t share the hard moments we aren’t doing ourselves or each other any favors. I have felt SO MUCH better since I made this post. And I do have to admit that during the 23 minutes that it took for someone to make a comment – I might have refreshed this blog a million times out of fear that the response would be crickets because I’m the only one.
Yeah, it’s hard to stay in your strength. I think it’s important both in terms of niche and in terms of type of writing and in terms of type of client. I think I’ll add the last two to my list of blog post ideas!
This blog post was just what I needed to read today after a minor setback. Thank you so much for sharing, Jennifer!
I’m so glad that it helped you and came at the right time. I appreciate you sharing that you had a minor set back.
I had the exact same experience last month! After a burst of marketing, I got a bunch of new clients (yay!)… but then I had to actually complete work for all of those new clients in a short timespan. One of them required extensive revisions on a project, and though the others didn’t, I had that uncertain feeling you have with new clients… Will they like my work? Will I have to completely redo it? Where on earth would I find the time if they all want rewrites? I’ve now made a rule for myself… only 1 or 2 new clients at a time!
Thanks for your honesty and insights.
Nothing is more discouraging to a freelancer than heavy revisions. Even if you disagree with the editor, they make YOU feel terrible. I’ve been where you are too, Jennifer. One thing I’ve learned is to pay closer attention to assignments, and if something doesn’t quite seem to make sense, clarify it with the editor before you get started instead of assuming it will all fit together in the end, then having to rewrite it when it doesn’t work the way they wanted.
New clients often don’t know what they want until they have something to work with. The only good news is, they usually figure it out pretty quickly once they get something. Everyone wants the project to work. But every once in a while, an editor is just a bad fit, and you have to accept it and move on. That’s happened to me, too. I now have a borderline case where on the one hand, I don’t want to give up the income, but on the other, I know I need to get rid of the stress. I decided before the last assignment from that person that one more stressful experience would be the last, but as it happened, that one went well. I’m hoping things have turned a corner. But if not, I’ve promised myself I’ll make a change.