As a freelance designer and writer, I found this article on FreelanceSwitch to be very informative.
Remember the good old days before 2008, when freelance writing gigs seemed to just fall out of the trees at you? It’s been a long slog through a tough economy since then, and there’s still no end in sight.
But here’s the thing: you are free to ignore the bad economy and continue to earn a good living.
How do I know? I’ve earned more as a freelance writer each year since 2006. That’s right — straight through the downturn.
While the overall freelance writing market may have shrunk in the crummy economy, if you are that rare freelance writer who is aggressively markets your business, you can still find plenty of work. In the great big world of all freelance writing assignments, there’s enough work left in there for one little ol’ you.
If you know where to look.
How can you use your skills to write your way to a good income despite the lousy economy? Here are my five best strategies:
- Target recession-proof industries. Not every organization has been hurt equally by the downturn. Some — including healthcare, financial services, gambling and other “sin” industries, and the federal government — havekept chugging right along. Identify thriving industries and focus more of your marketing on them. On the publications side, scan publishing-industry blogs for news of which magazines are still thriving.
- Focus on boomtowns. Not every geographic area has been equallydevastated by the recession. Armed with the Internet and your computer, you can market yourself to businesses and publications based anywhere. Focus on thriving markets for better luck finding prospects ready to commission freelance writing assignments.
- Follow layoff notices. When you see a company is down-staffing, that doesn’t mean the work they need done has vanished. It means their remaining staff is stressed to their limits, and shortly they are going to realize they’ve got to do something about it, or more staff will quit as well. Theseshrinking companies will outsource more of the writing work to freelancers. So reach out to their marketing managers and see if they have writing projects they need to assign.
- Spot the startups. During downturns, more people are out of work. Some of them get sick of searching in vain for a job, and they start businesses. If you’re a new writer, reaching out to these owners can be a great way to get those first published writing samples.
- Write your own ebooks. Whether the economy is up or down, you always have the option of writing a quick how-to ebook on a topic you know well, and selling it. It’s a great way to fill any downtime in your schedule. You could sell it on your website as a PDF, on Amazon for the Kindle, or print it up through a print-on-demand publisher such as Lulu or Cafe Press. Each book you create may not sell a lot, but they each create a new income stream for you that can help tide you over between freelance gigs.
Article by Carol Tice
