The Freelancer’s Guide to Thriving in the Recession How to adapt to the new normal, develop the right mindset, and take the right actions

The Freelancer’s Guide to Thriving 2

Find Opportunities Despite Uncertainty 4 More Anxiety, Less Focus 4

A New Normal 4

Create Your Opportunities 5

Keep Calm and Think Positive 6 Prepare to Thrive 6

Keep Calm and Carry On 6

Use a Growth Mindset 7

7 Ways to Keep Anxiety at Bay 9 1. Accept Uncertainty 9

2. Stick to Your Normal Work Schedule (as Much as Possible) 9

3. Accept and Work Around Disruptions 9

4. Limit Your Exposure to News 9

5. Get Outdoors and Exercise 10

6. Meditate and/or Practice Yoga 10

7. Help Others 10

5 Actions to Take Now for Quick Wins 12 1. Adapt to the New Normal 12

2. Focus on Current Clients 12

3. Follow Up with Interested Clients 13

4. Ask for Referrals 14

5. Touch Base with Your Freelance Friends 14

6 Actions to Prepare for the Future 15 1. Develop a Simple Strategic Plan 15

2. Diversify or Choose a Better Specialty 15

Table of Contents

The Freelancer’s Guide to Thriving 3

3. Create Client-Focused Marketing 16

4. Market Directly to Clients in Current Target Markets 16

5. Market Directly to Clients in New Target Markets 17

6. Build or Strengthen Your Network 17

Get Ready to Thrive 19 More Help is Available 19

The Freelancer’s Guide to Thriving 4

Find Opportunities Despite Uncertainty You can survive—and thrive—despite the recession. But you’ll need to believe in yourself, adapt to the new normal, and take the right actions—starting now.

In just a few weeks, the coronavirus pandemic upended all of our lives.

Clients are postponing or cancelling projects. And few clients are hiring freelancers for new projects.

Many freelancers have already lost a little, some, or a lot of freelance work.

More Anxiety, Less Focus And anxiety is spreading faster than coronavirus. We worry about what will happen to our freelance businesses and our lives when the pandemic ends.

Along with the anxiety that makes it hard to focus, many of us have spouses/significant others and/or kids at home. Our days are disrupted and our loved ones need more of our time.

So focusing on freelancing is harder now.

A New Normal The coronavirus pandemic will end. When it does, things will be different.

There will be a new normal. But no one knows what this will look like.

Experts say the long-term future is bright for freelancers. But the recession has already started. And demand for freelance services will drop in the short-term and medium-term.

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Create Your Opportunities But freelancers will still have opportunities despite the recession.

Many clients need and will continue to need freelance help. And the freelancers who are prepared will be the ones to get these freelance opportunities.

Being prepared starts with having—or developing—the right mindset. Then you need to start taking the right actions.

The right mindset and the right actions will help you thrive even in the recession. This guide will show you what to do.

And I’ve included links to more free content to help you stay strong and take the right actions.

Let’s get started.

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Keep Calm and Think Positive You have 3 choices now:

1. Give in to panic and give up 2. Ride out the recession and hope things get better 3. Think positive and prepare to thrive despite the recession.

If you panic and sit around feeling sorry for yourself, things will only get worse.

If you try to ride out the recession, your freelance business may survive. Then again, it may not—because hope isn’t a strategy.

Prepare to Thrive But if you start doing the right things now, your freelance business can thrive despite the recession. You need to:

• Keep calm • Use a growth mindset • Take the right actions.

Keep Calm and Carry On “Keep calm and carry on” is a great mantra for these uncertain times.

A British civil servant coined this slogan in 1939 to raise morale as England prepared for heavy bombing. Nearly 60 years later, booksellers in the United Kingdom found a poster with the slogan at an auction. They printed and sold copies, starting the worldwide “Keep calm and carry on” craze.

Studies show that a mantra—a word, group of words, or sound—helps people keep calm and makes it easier to cope with life’s unexpected stressors. And the coronavirus pandemic is definitely an unexpected stressor.

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So when you’re feeling stressed, take a deep breath and chant, whisper, or silently say “I’m going to keep calm and carry on.”

Use a Growth Mindset Positive thinking is part of the growth mindset that will help you adapt and thrive in the new normal.

If you have a growth mindset, you believe that you can change your freelance future by learning and doing the right things. So you’ll work harder to reach your goals.

But if you have a fixed mindset, you believe that your future is set in stone. Since you can’t do anything about it, you’ll give up.

You can build a growth mindset. Grit and resilience will help you do this. And you can grow your grit and build your resilience.

Grow your grit Grit is having the perseverance and passion to stick with your long-term goals until you reach them.

Remember how Charlie Brown kept trying to kick that football, even though Lucy pulled it away from him every time? Charlie Brown never gave up. He had grit.

Build your resilience Resilience is the ability to bounce back when things aren’t going well, and to keep trying. People who are resilient meet adversity—like the pandemic—head-on.

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MORE FREE CONTENT Learn how to grow your grit and build your resilience.

4 Easy Ways for Freelancers to Develop the Growth Mindset

The Superhero Power You Need to Know About: Grit

How to Boost Resilience When Things Go Wrong

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7 Ways to Keep Anxiety at Bay We’re all under more stress now. But you can keep stress from turning into anxiety. Here’s how.

1. Accept Uncertainty Freelancing is going to be different. Uncertainty is the new normal.

The sooner you accept this, the better off you’ll be.

2. Stick to Your Normal Work Schedule (as Much as Possible) Wake up and get to your desk at the same time you usually do, if you can. Work about the same number of hours, if you can. Stay as close to your normal schedule as you can.

3. Accept and Work Around Disruptions But it’s not business as usual for many of us. With spouses/significant others and kids at home, we need to make time for our families while still finding ways to work.

Work in smaller chunks of time if you have to.

When you have a deadline, telephone interview, or meeting, let your family know not to disturb you. Tune out noise by using earbuds. Listen to calming music. Shut your office door.

4. Limit Your Exposure to News While we do need to stay updated about coronavirus, staying glued to the news will increase your anxiety and decrease your ability to focus.

Limit your exposure to the news. Pick a few trustworthy sources to follow and watch or read once or twice a day. Ignore the rest. To track what’s happening locally, visit the website of your state department of health.

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5. Get Outdoors and Exercise Recent studies show that being in nature helps reduce stress and anxiety. Walking and other physical activity (outdoors or indoors) provide the same benefits while also keeping our bodies strong and healthy.

Getting outdoors to walk, garden, or run is a great way to work off stress and feel less cooped up.

6. Meditate and/or Practice Yoga Many studies show that both meditation and yoga decrease stress and relieve anxiety.

Just 10 minutes of meditation will help you feel better.

Yoga can improve your health, heal aches and pains, and boost your immune system. An hour a week of practicing yoga is enough to feel better.

Lots of great apps and web-based resources make it easy for you to meditate and/or practice yoga. Many are free or low cost.

7. Help Others Reduce your stress and/or anxiety by helping others. When you do this, you focus on them instead of your problems.

Help older friends and relatives learn how to grocery shop online, or go to the store for them. Keep friends and family members connected through video chats. Find other ways to help the people you know.

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MORE FREE CONTENT Learn what 11 successful freelancers are doing.

11 Ways to Keep Anxiety at Bay and Focus on Freelancing

Meditation and Yoga Resources

App: Insight Timer (free version): Big selection of meditations, which you can filter by time (e.g., less than

5 minutes) and benefit (e.g., stress or anxiety)

38 Health Benefits of Yoga, YogaJournal.com

YogaJournal.com: Yoga pose instruction, sequences, free video classes,

guided meditations, and more

App: Yoga Studio (paid version; about $70 per year): Classes for all levels.

Focus areas include yoga for immunity and sleep.

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5 Actions to Take Now for Quick Wins Quick wins make you feel good and fuel your momentum to keep going. Here are 5 actions to take now that can give you quick wins.

1. Adapt to the New Normal If you want your freelance business to survive, then you need to adapt to uncertainty. And you’ll need to continue to adapt as the new normal evolves.

Once you survive, then you can start to thrive.

Make this promise to yourself:

“I will adapt, survive, and thrive.”

Write this on a sticky note and post it in your office at eye level. When you’ve done this, you have your first quick win.

2. Focus on Current Clients Some clients need as much or more freelance help as before the coronavirus pandemic started. Their other freelancers and their employees may be doing less work, leaving a gap to be filled. And content planned months ago may no longer be relevant, leaving another gap to be filled.

Review your client list. Look for clients that are less affected than others by the recession. Even if you’re not sure of this, it never hurts to ask.

3 types of freelance work Here are 3 types of work you can ask about:

1. More of the freelance work you’re already doing for the client.

2. New work on unmet needs: For example, if all or part of a client’s website needs to be improved or updated, offer to work on this. If your client isn’t doing something that their competitors are

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doing, such as white papers to promote their services or products, suggest doing this for them.

3. Work you don’t usually do: Ask your clients what you can do to help them during this difficult time. Mention any other services that you could provide but don’t usually offer, such as project management.

3. Follow Up with Interested Clients You probably have a list of clients who said they wanted to work with you but haven’t hired you yet. I call these interested clients.

These interested clients are likely to hire you when they need freelance help—if they think of you first.

Make sure that interested clients think of you instead of another freelancer by following up with them now and every few months.

What to say when you follow up Your first follow-up can be an email to express care and concern. Ask the contact person how he/she is doing, and how the company is doing in these difficult times. Briefly mention that you’d be happy to help the client if they need freelance help now.

On your other follow-ups, don’t mention your freelance services. Just send your contact person a link to useful content or comment on news about the company or your contact person.

Sign up for e-newsletters in your industry(ies) for useful content that you can share, like blog posts, reports, and podcasts. Also check your LinkedIn feed for shareable content.

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Find news to comment on through:

• Google Alerts • The company’s Newsroom page • LinkedIn updates or tweets.

4. Ask for Referrals Referrals are the #1 source of the best clients for freelancers. The reason is simple: Clients want to do business with people they know—or people recommended by people they know.

Make a list of current clients and colleagues you already have strong relationships with. Politely ask them for referrals. When you ask freelance friends and other colleagues for referrals, also ask how you can help them.

5. Touch Base with Your Freelance Friends Freelance friends are always a great source of referrals. Some of them may have or know of clients who need more help right now.

And your freelance friends can also share how they’re coping with the recession and help you feel less lonely or stressed out.

MORE FREE CONTENT Learn more about networking and follow up.

The Ultimate Guide to Networking for Freelancers

How to be First in Line for Freelance Work

Why Other Freelancers Should Be Your Best Friends

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6 Actions to Prepare for the Future Once you’ve got some quick wins, you’re ready to do the more intense work where it takes longer to see results. Here are 6 actions to help you prepare to thrive despite the recession.

1. Develop a Simple Strategic Plan If you want to thrive, you need to know where your freelance business is now and what changes you need to make.

Answer these 4 questions and you’ll have a strategic plan to guide you:

1. What was going right before the coronavirus pandemic? 2. What has already changed? 3. What do I expect to change over the next 6 months? 4. What do I need to do to thrive despite the recession?

FREE TOOL Simple Strategic Plan for Surviving the Recession

See the link at the end of this section.

2. Diversify or Choose a Better Specialty Your specialty is the industry(ies) you work in and the type of clients you work with (target markets). The projects you do can also be part of your specialty, but industries and target markets matter more.

To thrive despite the recession, you may need to diversify your freelance business by adding new industries, new types of clients, and/or new types of projects.

If you don’t have a strong specialty, you’ll need to choose a new specialty.

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A strong specialty:

• Has clients who can afford to pay you what you’re worth • Offers lots of freelance opportunities, even in a recession • Makes it easy for you to find and reach prospects through professional

associations.

The Simple Strategic Plan for Surviving a Recession has more information about specialties.

3. Create Client-Focused Marketing There’s going to be more competition for freelance work. And the freelancers who have the best marketing will get most of the work.

The best marketing, especially your LinkedIn profile and website, shows that you understand the needs of your clients and can help clients meet their needs.

Since most freelancers don’t do client-focused marketing, you’ll rise above the competition if you do.

FREE TOOL Ultimate Guide to the Freelance Success You Deserve

See the link at the end of this section.

4. Market Directly to Clients in Current Target Markets If your industry(ies) and target markets are still doing well, do a direct email campaign. A direct email campaign is a 3-step process:

1. Develop your prospect list(s) 2. Send the direct emails 3. Follow up.

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Choose one or two target markets and develop a list of about 100 clients in each. Try to find companies that are responding to the pandemic, not reacting.

Direct email is writing a customized email for each client that focuses on helping that client meet his/her needs. The focus of direct email is on helping prospective clients solve their problems, not trying to sell your services.

FREE TOOL Direct Email Swipe File

Tips on writing direct emails, templates, and examples

See the link at the end of this section.

5. Market Directly to Clients in New Target Markets If you’ve chosen a new industry(ies) or new target markets to work in, choose one or two target markets for a direct email campaign. Follow the directions in action 4. But you’ll probably need to do more direct emails to attract clients since these are new target markets for you.

FREE TOOL Direct Email Swipe File

See the link at the end of this section.

6. Build or Strengthen Your Network Networking can be more important than anything else in finding high-paying freelance work and building a stable, successful freelance business.

That’s because clients want to do business with freelancers they know and trust—or freelancers that someone they know and trust referred to them.

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Along with getting more referrals and meeting more clients, building a trusting, strategic network will give you practical advice and support from other freelancers.

Professional associations are the best way for freelancers to build a trusting, strategic network.

And networking doesn’t have to be scary. It’s about getting to know people, not about “selling yourself.” And when you give more than you take, networking is easier and more effective.

FREE TOOL The Ultimate Guide to Networking for Freelancers

See the link below.

MORE FREE CONTENT Learn how to develop a stable, successful freelance business.

Simple Strategic Plan for Surviving the Recession

The Ultimate Guide to the Freelance Success You Deserve

Want to Worry Less and Make More Money? Be a Specialist

Direct Email Swipe File

Why You Need to Use Direct Email: What 4 Freelancers Say

The Ultimate Guide to Networking for Freelancers

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Get Ready to Thrive I don’t know what the future holds. No one does.

But I do know that freelancers who prepare for the recession will be able to thrive. Preparing will take a growth mindset and hard work.

You can do it!

More Help is Available And if you would like help getting ready to thrive, I’m here for you. Just email themightymarketer@comcast.net and write “Yes, I want to thrive” in the subject line.

Lori De Milto Freelancer writer and founder, The Mighty Marketer

Copyright 2020 The Mighty Marketer