Smoothing out the freelance rollercoaster

How to schedule projects, manage an even workload, and make consistent income from freelancing.

Is your freelance career a constant rollercoaster of ups and downs in work and income? Does the feast or famine cycle stress you out so much you consider running back to the certainty of a boring 9–5?

It doesn’t have to be that way. My freelance design business hasn’t been a rollercoaster for many years — in fact, it feels more secure than being an employee — and I’d like to share why.

There are many aspects that contribute to a successful freelance schedule. I will discuss:

1. How to obtain new clients and book their projects well in advance so you have certainty in your schedule.
2. How many projects you should work on at once, and how to divide your attention between them to create an optimal, balanced workload each week.
3. How to anticipate delays, manage feedback cycles, and motivate your clients to keep project momentum going.
4. How to build a freelance business that offers more long-term security than you may have from full-time employment.

Attracting new clients

I’ve written extensively on this already, discussing what are the best kinds of clients, how to land your dream clients, how to talk to potential clients, and how building a strong reputation helped me earn $15,000 a month from freelance design.

Are you working for cost-clients or value-clients?

Every independent contractor will have their own favourite ways to advertise themselves and attract new clients. My favourite way is to do as little marketing as possible. As silly as it sounds, that’s a very realistic goal and valid strategy for gaining freelance work. Let me explain.

The best freelance clients are ones who trust your skills and respect your experience. The easiest way to gain that trust is to get clients who have been referred to you by someone they…