Getting freelance work in the credit crunch
Posted on Thursday 26th June, 2008 by James Young | One comment
This is something I’ve been thinking about for a little while now. It appears the entire developed world is heading into financial meltdown and businesses (and individuals) are preparing for the worst.
Is there as much work out there this year?
In short, Yes!
I think it’s important to keep your cool this year. Businesses may be cutting back and spending less but don’t underestimate how important media and digital promotion is to businesses. Arguably in harder times, companies should be looking to really put themselves ahead of their competition in order to maintain sales.
I’ve certainly noticed a downturn in the work I’ve been getting this year but actually nowhere near the decrease I’d planned for at the start of the year when the signs were there that this year would be bloody difficult. Companies are still spending and they still need freelancers so it’s important you don’t panic, the work is still there, it’s just going to need a little more effort to win it.
What can I do to ensure I don’t miss out on work?
Another aspect of my client base I’ve noticed this year compared to last year (2007 was about 65% agency contracts and 35% direct clients) is that agency work, while still there, is accounting for (much) less of my overall workload. More of my work is direct, smaller clients who are looking to update or create a new web presence.
If you’re not already thinking about it, a great way to improve your chances of bringing in new work is to look at taking on a greater quantity of smaller jobs instead of looking for one big project.
You’ll be working harder to bring in the money but it does spread the risk a bit more because you’re not going to be worrying about where to find the next £20k job which might take you months, you could spend the time doing several smaller jobs which amount to the same. Companies and businesses are likely to be much more willing to spend a smaller amount of money this year than they are signing off on a large scale, high cost project.
What are you telling your potential clients?
There’s bound to be a lot of aprehension in the clients mind when you’re trying to sell them a new website (or whatever it is you specialise in) here are 5 points to consider discussing when speaking with them.
- They still need to get customers to view their products and services - no visitors = no sales.
- Improving their digital presence will more than likely increase visitor satisfaction with the aim being to convert more online (and offline) sales.
- Visitors are more picky and less willing to part with money so be sure to present them with enough information to stop looking around at competitors and buy with you.
- Get more special offers onto their sites. Don’t over-do it but do bear in mind people can’t resist something on sale, especially when they have less money in their pockets!
- Keep their site fresh. Visitors want to see new content or at least some indication the site is up to date and well maintained and that the information they are seeing is recent and not the price and detail that’s been there for 2 years.
Got any other suggestions?
Don’t be shy, it’s a tough time for everyone so if there’s anything you think might be of help to your fellow freelancers, do feel free to add your suggestions in the comments.
It’s great to hear such positive words about the credit crunch. We work with several small business which seem to be thriving, so in turn have been coming back to us for more work. But as you mention it’s better to spread your work out rather than put all your eggs in one basket.
It’s one of those things where you expect the worst and hope for the best!