If you ever found yourself at the end of the project come winter, you know it's hard to get a new client at the end of the year. Don't worry - you didn't suddenly become un-hireable, clients are just focusing more on Christmas party rather than you.

Rain and Drought

When working on a short-term project, I've realised that usually December and June are months when I would rarely get a new client. People are focused on holidays and office parties, and vacations and outdoor sun.

Drought happens. You've got to prepare for this!

This is one of the main reasons you calculate your rate based on ten months per year, instead of twelve, as mentioned in the Breaking Freelance #016 - 💵 Pricing II. 💰 Calculating rates - check it out if you missed that one.

One of the best things I did was acknowledge the situation with an email to my clients and potential customers (and recruiters on some occasions). Just a short "Hey, I know it's the end of the year, I hope you had a great one, and wish you all the best for the holidays. I just wanted to let you know, I will be available from January, let me know if I can help with _________________. All the best, bla bla..."

What if you didn't prepare?

It's not easy to be rational once you find yourself at the end of the rope, as you gain more experience and freelance for longer, you will build resistance to the anxiety of "not knowing where the next money is coming from." You will prepare better, and it will be more comfortable. If it's not, maybe this is not for you.

You can reach out to your existing or previous clients, offer help around their holiday work and build in a "special holiday pricing" to get you over the hump.

There are always people who didn't do something in time, and the deadline is the end of the year, and this is where you can help. But never go with low pricing - instead, present your "holiday work" as an exceptional circumstances thing.

If you do come in at a "special" (lower) price. Make sure you present it as your full-price plus discount. What this will do is anchor your actual price in their mind, so next time the client comes to you, you give them the same price without the discount - and in that case, they can't say "you did it cheaper last time". Because you didn't.

What if it's raining all the time?

Are projects and clients just pouring in all the time? And you can't catch a break? Congratulations! You've made it. Or did you? 🤨

If you feel like you're working all the time, and just can't take a break, this could probably be a sign of you underpricing your work. In this case, take a look at your last 12-18 months - did you get a break? If not, you should.

Always busy is not the best thing you can do. You should find a balance between having enough work and income and not going crazy and never getting some rest. It easy to make this mistake, especially when you're coming out of the period of not having clients.

For your next project, raise your price. And keep doing it until you get a firm NO. It can be scary to "leave the money on the table", but it will give you some breathing room, and better income in the future.

When I transitioned to more prominent clients, I would refer old ones and new ones that were out of scope and budget, to people I knew and trusted, who were at the right skill and price level for those people. So I knew that they are still getting excellent service at the rates they can afford, and I kept the relationship on good terms.

Read you soon!

T.

Tom Kozacinski, sir Freelance-a-lot

Hit reply on this email - I read all of them, and respond over coffee :) for real.

Missed previous emails?

No problem, you can read them in 📜 Breaking Freelance Archive.