When it Rains it Pours (Writing Gigs that is!)
I’m sure most freelance writers have heard that writing jobs can come in waves – you’ll have very busy times and you’ll undoubtedly have slow times as well. There are lots of reasons for this – some types of writing (or niches) are simply more seasonal, the economy can influence buying behaviors of freelance writing work, etc.
When it starts to rain writing gigs for me, it really does pour – sometimes so much so that I need to take a step back, remind myself to breathe, and jump in without succumbing to pressure. Do you ever have times like this?
Last week I took off most of the week to focus on my e-book (which is very much closer to finish because of that). This week I left relatively light to finish things up, but it doesn’t look like that’s going to happen. Since yesterday afternoon I’ve been bombarded with guaranteed gigs and inquiries from past clients and new clients alike. So right now my brain is in that harsh place similar to waking up early on a Monday morning, although fully conscious.
It’s nothing I can’t handle. I’m keeping the blogging light today (just here, JennSays.com, and maybe one other post tonight if I find the time). And I just ordered Chinese for lunch so I don’t have to take the time to cook something (and frankly I was just in the mood for some general tso’s).
However, it got me thinking – as much as sometimes the rush periods can feel hectic, they’re usually somewhat predictable. Here are a few things I can generally count on:
- I will always get bombarded with orders if I dare to take time off (either for a break or to focus on my own projects).
- I will usually get slammed with inquiries after 5pm on Friday and straight through Saturday, once I’ve quit for the weekend (and I’ve gotten pretty good at really “quitting” for the weekend at 5pm Friday nowadays).
- I will get hit with orders from regulars wanting something quickly within hours of starting a long, time-consuming project.
Really, it’s not so bad when you know to expect it, right? So tell me – when you get a big influx of orders and / or inquiries about your services, does anything in particular seem to set the pattern off (whether there seems to be a rhyme or reason to it or not)? I love being busy, so I’ll take it any way I can get it – I’m just curious if others find these quirky patterns in their work loads, or if they experience something more unpredictable.
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- Freelance Friday – October 24, 2008
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One Comment on “When it Rains it Pours (Writing Gigs that is!)”
While it’s definitely true that planning a vacation or taking time off almost always guarantees more work (they seem to know, somehow), but I also found that being sick is a great way to generate work. After a relatively slow summer, I came down with a nasty cold that lasted over a week. And, within those 9 days, I had inquiries for quotes and projects from both new and regular clients.
I think realistically what set off this influx of work was the fact that during the slow weeks I self-promoted my butt off, and then it all came rolling in. At least it goes to show that the promos work!