The freelance work cycle often reaches high peaks and deep lows. One moment the freelancer is drowning in work and the other moment there is no work for weeks. This rollercoaster happens because freelancers forget to make client acquisition a regular part of their schedule.
- You have plenty of work and work at multiple projects at the same time. You might have so much to do that you refer projects to friends or you have to hire other freelancers just to get the job done.
- Slowly the workload is getting less. You finish some projects but there is enough left to do.
- Great, all the work is done and you have sent the invoices. There finally is a bit of breathing room, but in the near future there are no projects to work on. During the busy peak the last thing you wanted was more work, therefore acquisition was not part of your daily schedule. As a result you have to promote and market yourself again.
- Your promotion and marketing efforts often don’t pay off immediately. This can lead to uncertainty about your future income and self-doubt about your abilities. It also costs you money, for quite some time now you did not generate any revenue.
- In the best-case scenario your marketing effort paid off. You get plenty new project offers and, of course, they all come at the same time. You might even have to refer some work to friends… Despite the two busy work peaks you only earned an average income because there was plenty downtime.
- Will you forget to do acquisition again because you are very busy? In that case the rollercoaster starts all over and you will continue to earn an average income – with the added stress during quiet times.
- If you decide to make acquisition a planned part of your day you will find that you have less downtime in between jobs, less stress and a significant higher income.