When pursuing a freelance career, people tend to focus on all the benefits and pros it offers. Let’s face it, the idea of being your own boss and being in control of what path your career takes can be pretty attractive. And while there are certainly a whole host of great reasons to freelance, it’s also important to be realistic about how things will play out.
There will be those times where you are absolutely loaded up with work and clients, and then there will be the inevitable slow periods where work is much harder to come by, which will make it very hard to make money during those times.
So, what can you do if you’re currently going through a slow period and you aren’t making enough money to pay the bills? It doesn’t mean it is time to pack it in and give up on freelancing; instead, here are some ideas that can help you get through the slow time and hopefully back on track.
Consider Investing in the Stock Market
The stock market can be an interesting way to go about making a little or even a lot of extra money during those slow times. If you’re new to trading, then it’s a good idea to team up with a high leverage forex broker who knows all the ins and outs and can guide you through the process.
InvestinGoal has a helpful blog that takes an in-depth look at the top high leverage Forex brokers in 2018 for those who happen to be EU residents. The blog provides a brief overview of the investor, the type of trading, regulations, the leverage ratio, the instruments it trades in, and more. Even if you aren’t an EU resident, the blog can help you to identify what kind of information you should be asking and researching regarding high leverage Forex brokers.
Re-Configure Your Budget
Sometimes you may think you don’t have much cash flow when in fact it is just a matter of re-configuring your budget. Look for any areas in which you can make cuts so that you can use that money elsewhere.
The typical areas you can cut back on areentertainment spending, dining out, your clothing budget, and even your grocery bill. This is also a great time to look at any plans you are on like your cell phone, TV, and internet and see if cheaper plans exist. You can call your service provider and let them know you’re trying to save money and see what they have to offer.
Sell Items You Don’t Need or Want
Another tip is to sell any items you don’t want or need. One of the easiest ways to do this is to use a local online buy and sell group. Also, you might want to look into the benefits of all those social media sites you belong to. Facebook has marketing and trading pages in your local area and they also give you the ability to market your products worldwide. It doesn’t matter what you are selling, there is someone out there who has a need if the price is right. You have heard the old expression, “One man’s trash is another man’s treasure.” And, so it is with selling all those things you had thought to use one day and are just lying about gathering dust. They may be worthless to you, but those items may be just what someone else has been longing for at an affordable price.
Develop and Monetise a Website
As a freelancer, you may already have a website that you use to attract clientele. Perhaps you have even invested in a copywriter or marketing group to add content to your site or on third-party sites to build rank with the search engines and drive traffic to your site. The more you can provide information on your site, the easier it will be to monetisethat site. Content is still king, so keep that in mind.
You could place Google ads on your site or you could sell blog space to other companies who are looking to build backlinks to their own websites. If you use your downtimeintelligently by building your own website, you can begin to bring in residual income to tide you over whilst work is slow.
Work on Finding New Clients
This is also a great time to spend on marketing your business and finding new clients so that hopefully you will have less and less slow periods. As mentioned above, one of the ways to canvas for new customers is with your website. However, there is something to be said for good old-fashioned networking. Why not find a conference, workshop or convention in your industry or a related field that you can attend. Always keep business cards and other handouts ready so that you can literally pick up and go to network.
Start Putting Money Aside During Peak Periods
While this doesn’t exactly help now that you are in a slow period, once things do pick up, it’s always a good idea to put a little bit away each week/month. This can act as your cushion when you do go through those slow periods.
Each of these tips can help you to make it through a slow period.
