It’s such a weird time, right?

Just over a month ago, we could freely go outside, go to the pub or a restaurant, and meet with friends and family we didn’t live with.

Now, we can’t do those things.

But things seem to have balanced out to a new normal, and I’m trying to take the time to work on new, exciting projects, and flesh out ideas I’ve had for YEARS but haven’t had the time to fully settle into.

I’ve still got a lot of client work too, thankfully.

Two of my regular clients have put our contracts on hold for now, but the rest are gallantly pushing forward as normal (well, as normal as you can be at the moment).

But I know that a lot of freelancers have lost the majority – if not all – of their work and are really struggling to get by. I can’t imagine how terrifying it must be to lose all of your work in the space of a month and I’m not going to pretend that I do.

At the start of this whole thing I was really racking my brains to think of ways I could help those of you who were struggling without coming across as patronising or like I was trying to take advantage of the situation.

I can offer you a listening ear until the cows come home (shoot me an email if you just want to chat!), but I also wanted to offer something practical.

I know that when I’m struggling, it’s nice to have a focus to take my mind off things and to feel like I’m actively working towards something.

Things to Do For Your Freelance Business When Client Work is Low

1. Send pitches

Companies are still hiring freelancers.

There is still a need! It might feel like every brand has shut up shop for the foreseeable future, but there are still some clients in dire need of help – some that need help more so now than before.

The only thing you need to do differently is make sure what you’re offering still matches the needs of your clients.

For example, if you create in-house menus for restaurants, you might need to switch things up a bit to align with their current needs (what about an online menu or a landing page instead?).

You also want to be empathic.

So many businesses are scared and sad, so acknowledge this. Acknowledge that we’re in the middle of a crisis and that they must be feeling some kind of way and be proactive in offering them a solution that fits their current needs.

2. Redo Your Website

Now is the perfect time to do those things to your website that you’ve been talking about for ages 😉 I know that, for me, tweaking my website, adding new portfolio items and testimonials, and playing around with the branding is a great way to take my mind off things and pass a few hours (literally, the hours whizz by).

You don’t have to do a complete overhaul here, but you might be able to:

• Add in new portfolio items from your most recent work
• Upload some more client testimonials for added social proof
• Create a new logo (use a tool like Canva to whip up something quickly)
• Tweak your website headline so it better reflects your niche and who you serve
• Write a couple of blog posts to attract new clients and keep content fresh

3. Learn a New Skill

Have you seen how many people are doing online courses during this time?

It’s an insane amount of people, and for good reason. There are tons of amazing online courses that teach you everything from coding skills to painting.

Now is a great time to set your mind to something you’ve never done before or want to improve.

You can choose a skill that complements your business too – for example, if you’re a content writer, why not take a copywriting course or a fiction writing course that helps you work on your writing skill?

Skillshare is a good place to start – they’ve got thousands of courses in pretty much every category you can think of.

4. Pivot Your Niche

How long did you spend choosing a niche? Probably a long time, right?

You wanted to get it right. You wanted to choose something that had loads of potential clients and that you’d enjoy writing about for years to come. But now you might find that your niche isn’t serving you as well as it was before, especially if it’s an industry that is suffering badly with the pandemic.

Pivoting your niche doesn’t have to mean changing it up completely.

In fact, there are ways you can still write for the kinds of brands you want to about the topics you love without having to do a complete one-eighty.

There’s one sector that’s thriving really well – the tech sector.

And every single industry uses technology in some way, from farmers and agricultural businesses to fitness brands and fashion houses.

The key is to identify where the brands in your current niche are using technology and what they’re using them for. For example, if you usually write for local fashion stores, what about switching that up to writing for the apps they used to organise delivery, shipping, or user generated content?

This article lays out exactly why now is the perfect time to go into tech writing if you want more information.

5. Catch Up With Past Clients

This is a great time to be human. When I say “catch up with past clients” here, I don’t mean reaching out to them asking for work.

Instead, check in with them and see how they’re doing during the pandemic.

When they reply, you can open up a two-way dialogue about their needs and whether there’s any way you and your services can help them out.

Again, acknowledge the pandemic and the feelings they might be having. But, most importantly, just be human and treat it like you are reaching out to a friend you haven’t spoken to in a while.

6. Network Online

Literally everyone is kicking about online at the moment. But, more importantly, they’re kicking about online looking for connections. The Facebook groups I’m in have had a surge in active members, and there are tons of people reaching out to link up, share skills, and do all sorts of other things we didn’t do before.

This is the perfect time to make new connections with fellow freelancers, potential clients, and just generally expand your network.

Here are some ways you can do that:

• Join Facebook groups and get active in them
• Check out your local Meetup groups – they might be running virtual versions of their events
• Sign up for free workshops, online summits, and other virtual trainings that can help boost your career and put you in touch with like-minded freelancers
• Create a mastermind group with other freelancers and have regularly online video chats to share your progress and future goals

7. Grow Your Following

If you have social media accounts and an email list, you can work on growing these. I’ve seen a lot of freelancers become more active on Twitter and Instagram during the pandemic, and they’ve been posting lots of useful stuff for their clients and followers.

It’s the same with your email list.

Put together some really useful content ideas and share them with your email list – remember, these people might not be clients right now, but there’s a chance they might be in the future with the right amount of nurturing and value.

8. Streamline Your Processes

Nothing says “good client experience” like a set of well-oiled processes.

Now is a great time to work on your onboarding process for new clients – will you have a discovery call with them or send out a questionnaire? What happens after that? Will you send across a proposal or will you send them a handbook with what they can expect from working with you?

Your processes are the things that help you save time in your business, keep you on track, and ensure your clients know what they’re getting themselves into.

You might decide to:

• Streamline your onboarding process by creating a set of steps that every new client will go through
• Optimise your communication with clients by setting up an account on a communication tool rather than using email threads
• Re-work your contracts so they better reflect the current needs of your business
• Dig into tools and software that you can use for creating work, sharing work with clients, and invoicing

9. Non-Work Related Stuff

Finally, take a break from your business every now and again.

This is so important I can’t stress it enough.

Working on your business is great and can help you feel like you’re moving forward in tricky times, but it’s also important to take some time away from it to do other things you enjoy, like speaking with friends and family, taking part in one of your hobbies, or just going for some fresh air.

You’ll then come back to your business feeling more invigorated and inspired – trust me. It took me a long time to realise that I didn’t need to be working 24/7 during this pandemic, and that actually that was doing my business a disservice.

So how are you getting on? Are you doing any of these things for your business while client work is low? Or is there something else you’re doing that you can share here with us?