Hello,

Welcome to this month’s Q&A. I have to admit I am enjoying these. You all are asking some great, practical questions, which are getting me to think.

Today’s question comes from Reed, who asks,

I am glad to hear you have enough work most of the time. I remember when I began freelancing. It took about three years for me to feel like I was consistently getting enough work.

I also hear you on how stressful lulls between projects can be. Even if we can reasonably assume that more work will arrive in the near future, the uncertainty about when that work will arrive and where it will come from is stressful. Especially if there are also bills to pay or another reason for needing the work.

I’m not certain if I am the best person to answer, to be honest. It has been several years since I’ve experienced a significant unexpected lull. I do experience times when work slows down, or the volume of queries drops, or projects are delayed, but I almost always have proofs for at least one project on my desktop. If anything, I wouldn’t mind a few lulls now and again to catch up on other tasks. If I want time off, I need to book it in advance and tell my clients that I am not available.

So, my problem right now is more like the flip side to yours. Maybe you’ll find this encouraging, in that as your business grows, lulls should decrease in frequency and length.

But still, what to do about the lulls now?

My first suggestion is to take advantage of these lulls to do something else. As the adage goes, what opportunity does this enable? You can’t directly control when clients offer you work, but you can decide how to use your time. Do you have business admin or business development projects waiting to be completed? Are there chores around the house that need to be done? Or do you want to take the day off? Perhaps keep a to-do list of non-urgent tasks specifically for these lulls, to take your mind off worrying and to continue to move your life or business forward.

My second suggestion, to help reduce the frequency and duration of these lulls, is to work on widening your client base. Part of what keeps my schedule full, I think, is that about a dozen different publishers regularly either hire me directly or refer me to authors. Further, about half my work is indexing scholarly books and about half is trade. This matters because every publisher, as well as scholarly versus trade more broadly, follow somewhat different schedules. With a diverse client base, I don’t expect work from every publisher all the time. Some publishers only send me 2-3 books per year, which is nowhere near enough for a full schedule. But cumulatively, the projects add up. I can be reasonably certain that a project will arrive, even if I don’t know from where. So perhaps look at who your clients typically are, and see if you can both find a few new regular clients and find different clients than who you are currently working with. Aim for diversity.

Lastly, be proactive drumming up new work. I’m not sure how comfortable you are marketing; it is definitely not my favorite task. But instead of waiting for work to come along, it’s acceptable to check in with past clients and say, “I’m available!” You never know what that may lead to. Or, as I mentioned, try reaching out to new potential clients, to widen your client base and as one of the tasks you can do during a lull.

Lulls between projects can certainly be stressful. They also pass. And as freelancers, we also need time to work on our own businesses. While client work pays the bills, business development keeps the business alive and healthy. So while working towards reducing the frequency and duration of lulls, also try seeing these lulls as an opportunity.

And keep going. Sounds like you are in a good place, Reed. I hope your indexing business continues to grow. Thank you for your question.

Yours in freelancing,

Stephen