What I did when I had zero freelance writing work on my calendar
Last week, I started the week and realized that I had zero work on the calendar. Seriously, like nothing at all due. Unlike many freelancers, I don’t book out months in advance. Instead, I purposely take projects with shorter deadlines. Yes, I know I’m weird, but long deadlines stress me out because I feel like I can never get ahead. And because I tend to book up on a weekly basis, it didn’t hit me until I sat down on Monday morning. I started to panic. I knew work was slow but didn’t realize it was THAT slow.
After my not-at-all-pretty moment of extreme panic, I took a breath and did two things:
First, I emailed all my clients and recent past clients. I quickly sent out 10 emails to people I’ve worked with either regularly or recently, letting them know I had availability. And it worked. Within six hours, I had three new assignments totaling $3000, which would meet my minimum earnings goal for the week. And as the week went on, I got emails from two other clients saying that they had projects for me starting within a week that would total about $4,000.
One project was especially interesting and will hopefully turn into an anchor client. Earlier this year, a writer friend referred me to an agency that had a special project each spring of writing a crapton of profiles. So I jumped in and did a bunch. I emailed the editor last week on a whim, just in case they had something. And by golly, he said that I emailed just as another writer flaked and they had a feature that needed to be done in a week – which is totally my preferred turnaround time.
Second, I made plans away from work. Even with the new assignments, my week was still slow. Instead of continuing to stress about it, I decided that I really needed the time to recharge. So instead of sitting inside and staring at my computer, I made plans. I went on three hikes and two kayaking trips last week, which I enjoyed immensely. Instead of feeling stressed, I felt less anxious and was able to focus on marketing.
This week is still light. But I’m not stressing. I’ve got irons in the fire. And if things don’t pop soon then I will start doing cold marketing outreach next week. But right now, I’m enjoying kayaking and hiking in between my projects during the beautiful Carolina fall.
It’s hard to not have a lot of work. And it’s even harder to admit it out loud. But every writer goes through it. It’s part of the ebb and flow of freelancing. I’m often asked how to level out the feast and famine nature of freelancing, which is really one of the biggest challenges of this business. But I think the answer really isn’t to level it out, but to learn to ride with it.
What do you do when your work calendar is empty?
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Whew, I’m having the same experience this week, after having been quite busy for a while. You’ve made me feel much better! And I’m going to follow your lead and reach out to recent past clients and a few prospects I’ve been pursuing.
Thanks, Jennifer!
I’m so glad it helped you feel better. That’s why I shared. I often say I recently finished a big project which makes me feel less desperate.
Thanks for your honesty, and as always, practical advice, Jennifer. I really needed to read that advice about learning to ride with the feast and famine cycle today as I was feeling a bit stressed about all the juggling and the uncertain nature of freelancing. (It’s also what I love about it, because you never know what will come in.) Totally agree about stepping away from the computer and doing something enjoyable and taking some time out when there’s a lull. It’s amazing how things materialize after putting in a bit of effort and then stepping back and not continuing to just stress and worry. Enjoy the outdoors time!
I’m so glad that you found it helpful! I finally realized that after spending time that I didn’t think moved me forward. So I now ask myself how can I best use this time and it’s usually a balance of marketing and using the time in ways that make me happy.
I also tend to reach out and look for new work. I really like the idea of doing some healthy non-work activities, though. And I like the fact that you said you “made plans” away from work. For me, it’s all to easy to think I’m going to get outside but end up at the computer all day because I’m worried about my empty docket. Actually putting some fun stuff on the calendar sounds like the way to go.
For me I have to make plans that I can’t get out of. I sign up for meetups because you get kicked out if you don’t show up, LOL. Just saying I’m going to do something myself doesn’t work for me. I have to have plans I can’t get out of.
Thanks for this post! I feel lucky because I have an ongoing client that I can basically do as much or as little work for as I’d like, so they are my go-to in moments like the one you described. But I am super impressed you went from nothing lined up to $4,000 worth of work so quickly!
What a great option! That’s the perfect way. Yeah, I have a lot of great clients and contacts, which means I can usually round up a good amount of work with a few emails, but it’s taken over a decade to get to that point.