What Freelance Writers Should Do When They’re Desperate
This is a guest post by Carol Tice.
Have you ever felt like you were just going to explode if you couldn’t get a writing assignment right away?
It happens even to seasoned freelance writers. The work dries up and all of a sudden you really, really need a new gig.
To sum up, you’re desperate.
The problem? Once you’re desperate, you tend to start doing desperate things.
You drop your rates. Or you don’t do any marketing because you’re too depressed.
Your pitches take on a sort of pleading tone that only attracts loser clients.
The good ones can see the little beads of flop sweat on your forehead — and they bolt.
As you send off queries, you find yourself thinking, “This better be the pitch that saves me.”
You can’t get a good gig with this attitude
Prospects can smell your desperation stink a mile off, and they stay away. So the situation only gets worse. And you get more desperate.
How can you overcome desperation and find great new clients?
To answer that, let me tell you a story. It’s about the founding of the biggest smoothie chain in America, Jamba Juice.
What does a smoothie store have to do with your freelance writing career? Stay with me here, and you’ll see.
The company’s first smoothie store in San Luis Obispo, Calif., opened in the spring of 1990. The founders were all excited for the hot summer to come, figuring they’d sell loads of smoothies.
Then they realized the horrible truth. They were near the Cal-Poly campus, and in the summer, all of their customers went home!
Sales plummeted. They had rent to pay. They needed to somehow survive until the fall.
Despite the gaffe, they believed they had a great idea and that the store would eventually be successful. They weren’t about to give up.
So do you know what they did?
They started a marketing campaign. They sold reusable mugs for smoothies with the store’s name — it was originally Juice Club — on it. Soon, the town was full of bicyclists and joggers who were walking billboards for the store, going around with these mugs clipped to their backpacks.
They also contacted the college and got added as a tour stop for the new-student tour given to arriving students. This assured them that at least in the fall, they’d see some new customers.
They dug into their pockets. One founder used money from a rental unit he had to help pay the bills. They also went into debt with family and friends to tide them over. It wasn’t ideal, but it kept the doors open. (I know another shoe-store entrepreneur who got a job as a bar-back for a year at one point, until business picked back up.) They were not going to let the store go under.
Most importantly of all…
They kept up their friendly, positive attitude. Despite the stress of what was going on financially, they trained staff to maintain the high level of friendly customer service they’d always delivered.
In essence, they faked it. Customers never knew the store was in trouble. They had a great experience and spread the word, bringing new customers and helping grow the business.
In the fall, those tour buses arrived from the college, and business exploded.
What’s the secret of overcoming desperation?
Keep your panic to yourself.
Market harder…and understand it may take a while to pay off.
Believe that you’re going to make it.
Take a side gig or borrow if you have to.
Whatever you do, never let them see that flop sweat break out on your forehead.
What do you do when you’re desperate for gigs? Leave a comment and tell us about it.
–Carol Tice helps writers grow their earnings at the Make a Living Writing blog, named one of the Top 10 Blogs for Writers 2011. She’s also Den Mother at the Freelance Writers Den, the new community for writer’s who’re serious about growing their income — fast.
Don’t be desperate. Learn what you need to raise your rates and get the support you need in the Freelance Writers Den. Your host, Linda Formichelli, joins me in there as the Other Den Mother starting in November.
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Oct 26, 2011 Advice, Money, Motivation
I agree — it’s important to NEVER PANIC!! Always better to spend some time thinking — take a walk to get away from your desk (and that blank computer screen) and come up with a plan!!
I’ll drink to that!
Whenever I’m looking for work, I never say, “Oh, god, help me! I need work, please give me something!” I always lead in with something upbeat and positive, then say, “My calendar’s opening up soon and I’m looking for great assignments to fill it back in. May I write for your magazine?” It’s paid off big time.
I do the same thing! I let the editor know that I just got through a busy period and now have some openings in my schedule. Which is actually true, but I don’t tell the editor, “Eek! I finished a bunch of work and now I have nothing!”
That’s a brilliant way to say it!
I live in a constant state of panic that the freelance writing well will run dry. So even when I am at my busiest, I take time each week to forge new connections, cold call and prospect. If we can preemptively anticipate the slow spots, it’s less likely that they will materialize. Preventative medicine is the best remedy.
It’s sort of amazing, isn’t it? Each month we need to find some work…and somehow we do, if we’re marketing consistently.
But it’s so easy to get into the panic cycle and start making mistakes with your business that lead to even more panic! We’ve got to keep that smile on, keep marketing, and keep faking it until we have the work we need.
Great post, Carol. Negativity really gets you nowhere. Why sit there wringing your hands when you could be on the phone finding a new client?!?!
It’s like watching my 10-year-old son fret about his math homework. In the time it takes him to moan about how difficult it is, he could have done it already!
Instead of staring at the low checkbook balance, make some calls. Get on LinkedIn and ask your contacts for referrals. Start telling the universe, in an upbeat way, that you’re looking for more clients. Everyone I know who does it is blown away by what happens.
Oooh Ooh…i quite agree with you…panicking is the worst thing to do..i do exactly what you said…i market myself harder, i believe, i conceal any emotions rather i control any feelings of desperation. Rejection by an editor is the worst, i mean when an editor goes dead silent…no reason for it…no communication at all. I have learnt that rejection is normal and it is bound to come at any time, I don’t withdraw my pitches from such an editor…i might need them later, so i don’t burn bridges…i just pose, step back, breath in and out..evaluate…look ahead…and move on to market myself harder for other 1001 markets out there. THE WORST A WRITER CAN DO IS TO FEEL NOT GOOD ENOUGH/BELOW STANDARD BECAUSE AN EDITOR REJECTED THEIR WORK.!
Thanks for this post (and the great comments). I just sent out a couple of emails to my regular editors telling them that I’m available at the moment. Fingers crossed now (and on to those pitches)
Good job! Getting work from existing contacts is one of the best ways to market.
Well, the usual advice is not to put all eggs into one basket. On the other hand this means you divide your attention between “jobs”, like the aspiring writer who drives a taxi to make ends meet. However – try to combine the two and … like why doesn’t the taxi driver let himself get inspired by all the events that happen him while doing this menial job?
Hi Carol! Great post! I actually diversify my client base so I have a few clients with ongoing projects like ad and marketing agencies (where I try to get retainers)to provide a cushion. I also get very intimate with my clients and their industries so I can take note of trends, make suggestions, and identify opportunities for additional work. Of course, I only pitch my ideas if they are beneficial to my clients, but it helps to create an atmosphere of trust, become more engaged in their businesses, and, in turn, my clients come to appreciate me as a communications partner(read: top choice).
Sheba, your message was stuck in my spam filter too! So sorry.
I love how you get to know your clients and their industries. That’s the SMART way to work!
I agree with all of you. Finding and landing a writing gig often takes more time than you think. Case in point: one year, I contacted over 40 companies and ultimately landed three temporary gigs. Another quick way that worked for me was cold calling ten companies, asking them if they needed help with copywriting and copyediting.
I’m so sorry for the delay…your message was caught in my spam filter!
That’s great that you’re not afraid to market. I did the same several years ago…contacted 24 trades and got 8 assignments! The writers who market the hardest are the ones who get the lucre.
While I’m at the very beginning stages of my freelance writing career, I have been running a website design business from my home going on 6 years now, and you’re so right–never show your panic! There was a time when I was first starting out where I faked my way through phone calls and meetings; I even acted like everything was leprachauns and rainbows on the day I received an eviction notice if my rent wasn’t paid within the week. The fact is, if you’re insecure, then your potential clients will end up insecure with your ability to deliver, and your panic will have won. You have to go after what you want, no matter what, because really what else is there? Do what you have to do, and it will work out.
Great insights, Krissy!
I’ve been watching The X Factor, and it actually relates to this topic! The competition has no age limit, and some of the contestants have been trying to make it in the music business for a while. The judges will ask these contestants: “Why do you think you haven’t made it yet?” That is, the judges figure there’s something about these older contestants that has prevented them from forging good careers for themselves.
If you *don’t* keep your panic to yourself, you are going to have potential editors/clients wondering: “Why is this writer panicking? Is this writer unreliable or incompetent or what?” And you *don’t* want editors/clients thinking that.
Too funny, I didn’t know that about X Factor! Yes, you NEVER want to come off as someone who’s not making it, even if you have to fake it.
Ooh, this is definitely helpful. I’ve been in a bit of a panic lately because I was hoping to get a couple of extra gigs, but I’m trying to come across as someone who’s cool and merely curious about any possible writing projects.
[...] two weeks. Despite knowing that focusing purely on work and losing momentum on marketing can create desperate dry spells, I had assignments coming in and graduate papers due. Necessity mandated work only, and marketing [...]
I can relate to being freelance through myself being a consultant, I have found it beneficial to have that confident exterior that almost says to the client “yeah I would like the job, but there’s many other clients who will snap me up if you don’t hire me” (without saying those words of course!).