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A friend asked me recently how the economy was affecting my writing business.
My answer, surprisingly, was: “so far, not much.”
I have lost a few clients in the past year – but they were my lowest paying clients anyway. A few other low-paying clients have contacted me less frequently.
On the other hand, it seems that there are now more folks in need of hiring a freelance writer than there was a year ago.
I think the reason for that is two-fold:
- Companies who might have hired an in-house person a year ago are now sending their work out, piecemeal, to get done.
- I’ve been pursuing new opportunities a bit more aggressively this year than I did in the past.
I have been reading that there are more people just starting their freelance businesses, but even the added competition hasn’t really hurt – at least not yet.
That may be because many of the people who talk about freelancing never really get started, or it could be because companies are looking for more experienced and stable freelancers. I don’t know.
What has your experience been? Has the economy hurt your freelance writing business?
Contents (c) Copyright 2009, Laura Spencer. All rights reserved.
8 responses so far ↓
1 Matt Keegan // Apr 22, 2009 at
I haven’t lost my main clients, but one client did cut my work in half two months ago. That has hurt me and I have yet to replace his business. On the other hand, I’m working on improving some of my web based advertising income and will launch a few sites over the next two months. Hopefully, these moves will more than make up for what has been lost.
2 Laura Spencer // Apr 22, 2009 at
Thanks for the feedback, Matt. Getting your work cut in half must have been a challenge. I’m sorry to hear that happened to you.
It sounds like you have the situation under control and a plan in place.
3 Fernanda Angelo // Jul 30, 2009 at
Unfortunatelly, down here in Brazil freelancer journalists have been much hurt. In my case, for example, there was a magazine to which I wrote monthly that simply “closed its doors”. Besides, an other media company to which I used to work just cut its freelancer budget. Advertising got very very hard for them to sell.
Anyway, I replaced the lost businesses with some corporate jobs, such as writing texts for websites and folders, and stuff like that. It was hard, but enough. And now, fortunately, things seem to be recovering… Hope I am not wrong.
4 Laura Spencer // Jul 30, 2009 at
Hi Fernando,
I see that you found me here too.
So far, I’ve been fortunate. I’ve had a few gigs that “shut their doors,” but have been able to replace them with other projects.
I have noticed some clients are paying more slowly than previously, though.
5 stefanie // Sep 18, 2009 at
Laura,
I enjoy your blog posts (like the low-balling one a lot). Just wanted to let you know about a guy and company you may want to check out. Erik Vonk (on Twitter he’s @ErikVonk) and the company is B|O|T|H (Back Of The House, http://www.both-usa.com). B|O|T|H is helping freelancers by setting them up as an LLC, then providing full back-office support (legal, tax, billing, collections, bookkeeping, even a solo 401(k) and health plans). Erik’s idea is that freelancers want to concentrate on their work, not on the “busy work” that comes with working independently. You may want to check it out.
6 Freelance Websites // Dec 18, 2009 at
Different surveys on internet say that jobs for freelance writing has increased as compare to pre-recession period i.e. this business has more potential to grow even when some others are going to closed.
If someone has problems, he must try on reliable legitimate online markets where he can get his/her jobs.
7 Rhys Phillips // Apr 28, 2010 at
Our home business was really affected by the Economic recession, we have to cut jobs just to cover up our losses. fortunately, we have already recovered. `
8 Laura Spencer // Apr 30, 2010 at
Rhys Phillips–I’m sorry to hear that. I’m glad that you recovered.