4 Things to Do Now to Prevent a Slow January
It took me 10 years of starting off my year behind my income goal (not to mention having almost no work in January 2016) to learn my lesson. But this year, I finally got it right. I made over 10K (which is my minimum goal for each month) in January 2017 and that led up to my highest income month ever the following month.
The difference – I actively worked in the fall of 2016 to make sure that I had deadlines on my calendar for January 2016. If you wait until January to try to scramble for work, you are already behind. But by actively marketing with January in mind, you can eliminate or at the very least take advantage of the trend for slower Januarys.
For many years, I thought the slowdown was just me. And of course I immediately decided I was a fraud and should find a new career. Then I heard from other freelancers that they often found that January was their slowest month of the year. In an effort to figure out why, I talked to agencies and business owners about the beginning of the year from their perspectives. I learned that businesses are often regrouping internally after many employees are out and kicking off projects from their side, so they aren’t ready for writers. And agencies are often waiting for their clients (businesses) to get their act together, so agencies are often dry. So while it doesn’t fix the problem, at least now I know there is a legitimate business reason for my lower bank account in January.
Even if you think you have plenty of work and are in good shape, I highly recommend that you still plan for January. Every year I lose at least one client unexpectedly and through no fault of my own because of projects ending or budgets shifting. And one year, I lost three clients in the same week.
So this week, I wanted to repost the tips that I shared last year since they worked for me. I also wanted to add a new one (see #1).
- Identify new niches or new potential clients – It’s easy to think of the obvious markets, but I have found that many writers overlook many potential clients by not starting their search from the perspective of the audience that they understand. If you haven’t already done so, I highly recommend finding a few hours and following my three step method for identifying new clients. This way you can pursue new clients now as well as have a list ready to use if you have extra time in January
- Market yourself to new clients– Clients that are looking for content marketing now will likely still have a need in early 2018. But the biggest difference is that many writers send out LOI’s in January because they are slow so your LOI will be one of many. But my ancedotal opinion is that less writers focus heavy on marketing in late November. Since it can often take months to land a new client, now is a great time to start sending LOIs, following up on LOIs sent earlier in the year and touching base with clients you worked with in the past.
- Talk to current clients about January – If a current client hires you for work through the end of the year, proactively ask to toss January in so that your client doesn’t have to worry about it over the holidays. Or if you create an editorial calendar for a client, go ahead and fill it out through the end of January. And as the holidays get closer (don’t worry, I will remind you), try to have a specific conversation with a client about January work so you can hit the ground running.
- Keep a list of personal projects to do in January– It’s important to do projects for our own brand like writing an e-book or starting a blog. But it’s hard to turn down work in order to do these projects during the year. So throughout the next few months, start preparing to have more time in January to work on these projects and get ready to crank down if (or when) you have the time.
How was your January 2017? Did any of my tips from last year help? Are you doing anything this fall to ramp up your marketing?
Worried about AI writing tools? Take control of your freelancing career. Learn how to use AI to improve your productivity. The course contains the recent info and was updated May 2023.
Register now for a 14-module self led class at the intro price of $125.
Great reminders, Jennifer. Your “massive effort” is my key takeaway from this year’s ideas (although just one of many great ones!).
Moral of the story?
Keep on marketing.
Keep on marketing.
Keep on marketing.
Yep, you’ve pretty much summed it up.
Add in be persistant, have a niche, build your business based on your strengths and find the right clients for you and you’ve pretty much summed up four years of my work blogging.
I’m in my first full year of building my freelance business (still working full-time, in house), so this list is quite helpful as I set my sights on 2018. Is there a word for the January slump? #freelancehangover?
One of the ways I handle lulls is by seeking work on bidding sites—I can typically pick up one-off projects and jobs to paper over the drier times. Sometimes, these clients become long-term relationships. This, of course, requires effort now to keep my profile in good standing and in clear view of potential clients.
Thanks so much for chiming in. I’m not usually a huge fan of bidding sites because the rates are usually very low. And I think that all writers should be aiming to earn at least $100 an hour. I totally know that there are times when you may have to take less to pay bills, but that should be the exception not the rule, in my opinion.
Are you able to find high paying jobs on bidding sites? If so, any tips that you can share?
Love your work, Jennifer! Always learn something from your posts or they prove a timely reminder-nudge for me.
Thank you for sharing
Aww, thank you! So glad you find my posts useful.
I LOVE the idea of pitching in November for January! (One of the reasons why I didn’t pitch this time last year was because of the impending holidays. This would definitely take the pressure off those who would potentially hire writers.) I also really like the idea of focusing on your own projects in January (although I’m still trying to figure out exactly what my blog should be about on my own writer website!) Thanks for all of your great tips! Ypur blog is one of my top resources as a freelancer!
Aww, you made my day. You can go several ways on your blog – it can be about writing or it can be about your niche or something else you care about. I personally think that writing about your niche is the best strategy because you are in essense content marketing for yourself. This way potential clients will come to your site to get information and then hopefully hire you. Think about SEO when picking your blog topic. I have the #1 keyword on Google for Content Marketing Writer because of this blog. However, blogging is a lot of work and you shouldn’t pick something just because you think you should. You are only going to keep it up if you enjoy it.
Thanks so much for your ideas!I That’s a good point about SEO, as well. I will hopefully make a decision soon between what I really love writing about (business topics /entrepreneurship) & what I “should” be blogging about (insert trending topics) 😉
I think you should write about what you WANT to write about since its related to your niche. You are only going to keep it up if you enjoy it. Don’t pick something because you should. It really won’t work.
I think you’re 100% right. Thanks Jennifer!
This is great advice, Jennifer! I’m a freelance editorial project manager and my business plan revolves around acquiring several annual anchor clients. I take a similar approach to renewing contracts and lining up work for the following year.
For contracts that begin in January and expire in December, I generally start my renegotiation effort in mid-August with emails to contract clients that remind them that it’s almost time to discuss next year’s work goals. That email sets the stage and plants the seed about what they might need me for when our current contract expires.
In September I set up phone calls, video chats, or in-person meetings with my clients to review what we’ve accomplished this year and talk about goals for the following year. I really try to focus the discussion on the ground we’ve covered and what positive outcomes the client has experienced because of it. I remind the client of all our “wins” and make it clear that I’d love to work with them again in the new year.
The result of that call/meeting is that I usually get a sense of if the client will likely sign another contract and what the scope will be. If the client doesn’t need me for the following year, or if the scope is less than it was previously, I still have time to seek out new projects.
I think lining up work for the following year in early Q4 can make a huge difference when it comes to January receivables.
PS—Your tip #3 is gold! Every freelancer should do that!
LOVE LOVE LOVE this plan. I like how you start back in August. Thank you for sharing.
And I’m glad you like #3 – that’s on of my favorites. I added Jan onto an editorial calendar yesterday.
Timely blog post with some great ideas! Thanks, Jennifer.
So glad you found it helpful!
Thanks Jennifer!
Online teaching is another way for writers to address the January writing doldrums. Especially since many people will have New Year’s resolutions and your online class might address their issue. So I’m developing a class outline now and I to film the class soon, upload it in the new few weeks, start marketing in December and hopefully eager new students will enroll come January 1 if not before.
Online teaching could be a way of repackaging content you already write about for a new audience.