Are All Your Eggs In One Basket?
Posted on 29 November 2007 by Sharon
Diversification is one of the secrets of a successful freelance writing career. When you find someone who will offer you work, it can be tempting to milk that lead for all it’s worth and do as much writing as possible for one client. While that may help in the short term, it’s a dangerous long term strategy.
What Happens When A Client Leaves?
That’s because you never know when a particular client’s needs will change or when that client will run out of money. If you have put your eggs in one basket, that leaves you in a financial hole when that source of writing work dries up.
So what’s the answer? To spread it around. Even when you think you’ve got a good thing going with the writing clients you’ve got, be on the lookout for new opportunities. One of those might be lucrative, and you’ll be less vulnerable if a single client stops offering work.
My Writing Clients
I admit that it’s not always easy. When I started freelancing, I took whatever was offered and at one stage got most of my work from a single client. However, once I’d done that for a few months, I had more skills and more clips to show and was able to diversify. My client portfolio now looks like this:
- One major client who provides work for me and my team.
- Three clients who need regular weekly articles.
- A couple of clients whom I’ve worked for in the past, who provide large jobs two or three times a year.
Balancing The Books
I like this balance because it provides a steady income, but leaves room for me to take other jobs when they come up. I supplement the income from writing web content, ebooks and articles with income from blogging and ads on my various blogs. I also make sure to send out a few bids every week, and I keep my eyes peeled for clients who are likely to need recurring work.
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Tags | freelance writing, freelance writing jobs, get paid to write, ghostwriting, writing, writing business, writing career
November 30th, 2007 at 12:01 am
Great post! I’ve been thinking along these lines myself.
November 30th, 2007 at 11:07 pm
It’s funny how many of us have the same thoughts, Laura. I’ll stop by and check out your post.
December 1st, 2007 at 3:05 am
Very informative…
January 8th, 2008 at 8:27 pm
This is a common worry amongst freelancers, Sharon. I have a number of pretty regular gigs and one favorite client who keeps me in gravy jobs. I dread the idea that I could lose that client and find myself torn at times about the risk of relying so heavily on their work. They provide enough as to keep me pretty busy most of the time, making it hard to really do a whole lot else. It’s a tricky situation, and I’m never quite sure if I’m making the right call, but then again, I’m not about to turn down good work…
January 9th, 2008 at 6:41 am
I’m still on the hunt for a few whale clients.
I think it’s an excellent idea to spread the risk out against multiple clients and you can also diversify by having multiple income streams. Writers are able to do more than just write. Where possible it is worth considering the income those other sources can bring in and maximize exposure for everything.
January 9th, 2008 at 8:08 am
I guess the right strategy in your case, Elizabeth is to keep the gravy client while exploring a few new relationships. One of my clients who had promised a large job changed his mind half way through. He promises to get back to it but it hasn’t happened yet. Having a diverse client list meant that I kept on working even when a lucrative job evaporated.
Rebecca, you are so right. One of my goals for this year is to get more income from blogging, instead of doing it just for fun. Then I’ll get to have fun and get paid.