The Freelancers Forum VIF - Insider Insights

📆 Keep an Eye on Your Cal

When you have a full client roster for a few months it’s easy to become complacent, then the majority of your projects end and you’re left scrambling to find new clients. To prevent this, we suggest setting aside time each week to market your services, network or even pitch if your projects are near completion. Market your services across multiple channels such as LinkedIn, Instagram, TikTok and a regular newsletter. Here you can provide case studies and showcase the great work you’re doing to prospective clients. In those few hours each week, make sure you’re networking with potential new clients. We like to send LinkedIn connections to companies who have recently had mass layoffs, start-ups/scale-ups and businesses we see often advertising for freelancers. Then when your projects are nearing completion, you can begin your outreach and discovery calls to fill up your roster again. Doing this will allow you to maintain a steady stream of clients and create steady income.

💸 Create Stability

Usually, lots of freelancers will charge an hourly rate, and while there is nothing wrong with that it can leave you vulnerable with the inevitable ebbs and flows of work. Billing by the hour means that one month you’ll get paid X and the other 30% less even though you delivered as usual. We suggest switching to a monthly retainer for some clients. Choose your most punctual paying clients and propose a monthly fee for X deliverables. This will help create stability in your business and ensure a steady cash flow for living expenses.

👉🏼 Diversify Your Income Streams

While it can be exciting to take on just one client full-time, this could leave you in a sticky situation if they were to end the project. If you can, try to have a retainer client and a few other projects going on or multiple retainer clients. That way if one falls off you aren’t left with no income. You could also consider offering a variety of services or products so you can access a diverse client base. For example, if you’re a graphic designer you might sell templates or a social media manager might sell courses or ebooks. This diversity can help stabilize your income.

🧚🏽‍♀️ Pay Yourself a Fixed Salary

Although it can be tempting to #treatyourslef as your income arrives, it’s crucial to pay yourself a fixed salary each month to combat variable workloads. Doing this allows you to cover your expenses each month and allows you to keep a keen eye on how well your business is doing so you can make adjustments. Any extra money from bonuses or extra projects we like to put to work through investments, so we know we have money saved for the future. When you’re paying yourself a salary it is important to have a separate business account and consistently invoice to maintain a steady cash flow. We love tools like Honeybook to help automate our client flows.