The Article Writer Mailbag, Take 14

Q. I’ve hit a dry patch with freelance writing — I have no new projects coming in and my current gigs aren’t meeting my expenses. I’m not ready to throw in the towel just yet, but things are looking bleak. What can I do?

A. Let me first congratulate you for what you’re doing — working for yourself. There aren’t many of us who are braving the freelance world, choosing to go out on our own instead of depending on one employer for our sustenance.

Therein lies the rub. You’ve taken a bold step, have built up your work, and now you’re going through a dry spell.

It is easy to lose confidence in your abilities when the work flow ebbs. I’ve gone through extended times of little or no income and these experiences aren’t particularly fun. However, they do serve one purpose: to help you gauge if freelancing is right for you.

Personally, I have decided to keep on keepin’ on in part because I believe that this where my long term career search will be, not with some company who may or may not keep me around for the long haul. Once you determine what you want, then go for it and don’t look back.

I’ve also discovered that there are a few things that help me when things are slow including:

Marketing: If you’ve been so busy with projects that you haven’t been spending time marketing yourself, look at the slow times as an opportunity to contact past clients, connect with people through business-oriented social media sites such as LinkedIn, and make a point in searching for new customers through job boards, cold calling, etc.

Diversify: The backbone of my business is writing, but I also own several blogs and sites which generate income for me, particularly through advertising. It isn’t a lot of money, but a different source of income certainly helps.

As your business picks up, look for a variety of customers who can provide work for you. If one drops off, it won’t be so devastating in the future. I learned this the hard way when my chief customer in 2005 didn’t need me all that much in 2006 – more than three-quarters of my business dried up almost overnight!

Temp: If your drought is prolonged and you absolutely must work, consider taking a temp position. You aren’t retreating from freelancing, rather you’re finding whatever work you can to help pay bills and to keep yourself busy. Temp jobs can lead to other work, opening up additional windows of opportunity.

I don’t believe that the feast/famine cycle of freelancing has to rule our lives. Through careful planning, we can seek customers who provide steady work and supplement those with customers who have special projects we’re interested in doing. I’ve learned to turn down small jobs in the short run in order to hold off for larger, extended projects even when things are bleak — my patience has been paying off as my current client base is a stable source of income even as small projects come and go.

Customer Service Done Right

Are you a stickler for receiving top notch customer service? Do you routinely “come through” as a provider of exemplary services to your customers? If you answered “yes” to both questions, then chances are you have been greatly disappointed at one time or another regarding the service you received from a salesperson, an internet hosting company, a hair stylist, or any one of thousands of different service providers. Frankly, customer service in many areas — retail, for one — isn’t what it used to be. However, where there is poor customer service there is also a great opportunity. Read on and I will explain.

Service That Goes Beyond Expectations

Let’s say you are in a field that routinely provides so-so service to customers. It could be that customer expectations are low and no one expects top notch service. Maybe most customers are simply “price sensitive” and could care less about how fast or how well you deliver. However, you can bet that there are a percentage of customers out there who appreciate service that goes above and beyond the industry standard. These same customers typically will pay a little extra for service that really serves them. If you can tap into this customer base, you can create a niche, raise your prices, and make more money in the long run.

Providing A Bit More To Make More

Depending on your industry, you could command a price premium of 10-25% over the average provider. That may not sound like a lot, but it could spell the difference between eating hamburger or eating steak. I don’t know about you, but I would prefer eating steak!

Working Hard Pays Off

Naturally, providing a high level of customer service means you will have to break a sweat. You may have to happily redo [its all in the attitude, baby!] or improve on an existing project in order to satisfy a good paying customer. This is what sets you apart from the pack.

Settling For Average

If you are satisfied with the “status quo” then that’s okay too. Just don’t expect to have customers beat down your doors with work.

At least the better customers will not!

This article originally appeared on this blog in April 2006. It was modified slightly and pushed forward for your reading enjoyment.