Holiday survival guide for freelancers

The notorious, “holiday slump” can really suck the joy out of the moments you should be enjoying friends, family, and some spiked eggnog. You don’t have to be in the game long to experience the drought first hand.

If you’ve been hoping for the best and beating down that panicky feeling every year, let this be the moment you decide you’re not going to live that way anymore.

Make a savings account just for the slump

If you can’t seem to save enough in your primary savings account or you feel that this time of year is especially hard for you, open an account specifically for the holiday slump.

Do some budgeting (do the math, don’t guesstimate) and determine an amount that needs to be automatically deposited into this account every week, two weeks, month, or whatever works for you.

The goal is obvious–save enough that you’d be okay if you didn’t have any work for several months.The outcome may not be as obvious. If you have enough saved, you’re going to stress less, which will allow you to be more productive, which will allow you to make more money in the future.

The downtime can be a blessing if you prepare for it.

Be proactive

Use your skills creatively to develop a course for websites like Udemy, write an eBook, etc. Once you’ve decided what you want to do, plan out how you’re going to execute. Should you draft a marketing plan during the slump and develop your course throughout the year or vice versa?

This is an opportune time to work on something that could generate some passive income for you during future lulls.

Remember that cushion I was talking about? Well, this is a great time to spend a little bit of that on yourself to hone your craft or cultivate new skills. For example, if you focus heavily on development, maybe you dip your toe into design.

You can choose skills that complement your main skill, or try something totally new that might allow you to make money in a new niche.

Signing up for a service like Broadway Leads can be helpful for developers during the slow months as well. You can get a steady stream of leads and network with people you wouldn’t have known about otherwise.

Make an exception

You might prefer shorter gigs, but when the end of the year draws closer, you might need to secure a project that’s longer than you normally would accept. So when July or August hits, you might consider a 6-month project.

If you really struggle, you may need to think about getting a part-time or seasonal job. Or think of a way you can use your skills a little differently. Maybe you can find some aspiring devs or struggling students to tutor.

Network

Towards the end of the year is a good time to send thank you notes to clients you enjoyed working with. Let them know you’d love to work with them again on future projects.

If they liked your work, they’ll probably remember you, but people get busy so correspondence from you will jolt their memory.

In addition to reaching out to past or current clients, you’ll want to reach out to prospects as well. It’s true that a lot of people are lightening their workload during this time, but there’s still work to be done. And, the beginning of the new year gets people motivated to start new initiatives, so you could get in on the action at the beginning of the year.