Diversify, Diversify, Di – You Get the Picture
When you decide to take on a career freelancing from home, it can be tempting to snatch up the first big client that comes your way, think of them as your full time job, and never look back. There's only one problem with that – your freelance writing gigs are contract positions. As in, 1099. As in, pay your own taxes. As in, NOT an employee. So, if the budget gets cut, or their marketing campaign doesn't pan out as planned, or they just decide that today's not your day – suddenly you're left without expected income.
The best way that I've found to manage this is to diversify. It sounds trite, but I'm serious. I try to never let myself drop below four main clients, so that, worst case scenario, I'm losing 1/4 of my income. I also keep a ton of small content mills in my back pocket, so that I can pull them out as needed to make ends meet.
Sometimes, however, life happens. You go through a major life change, you look up, and you realize that you desperately need clients, like, yesterday. In that situation, I'm not above dramatically slashing my rates, seeking out overflow work from other writers, or heading over to eLance or oDesk to place some bids. I have a specific hourly rate that I won't go below, and if the pieces that I'm turning out are lower paying but still hit that rate, I'm golden. Typically, though, I only find myself doing this when I've gotten too wrapped up in one specific client and failed to diversify, or when I've just been slacking and haven't marketed myself enough.
Take the time to market yourself, diversify your client list, and maintain a list of past and current clients that you can draw on as needed. If times get tough, you'll be glad you did.
