The Seasons of Freelance

If you've been freelancing long enough, you start to recognize the patterns and seasons of things. It gets predictable - in a good way, a way that lets you not panic when clients aren't returning your emails in July. The kind of predictability that makes you laugh because you've been slow for a few weeks, but 9 times out of 10, as soon as you plan a vacation, a big job will drop in your lap. The ups and downs and ebbs and flows of business are something that, if we learn to pay attention to, we can learn to ride along vs. fight against.

As we get into the fall season, here are some tried and true seasons of work.

Event season - this usually coincides with investor pitches, new business, sales meetings, new product launches. This season usually happens twice a year in the fall (hello right now - we see you coming October!) and then again in January and February. This season - especially if you design/edit/write/coordinate for clients that do events or pitches could be very busy for you. Plan and book ahead so you can own your schedule and find the clients that make this season less panic and more just busy.

Production season - this usually is also after the first of the year or if the client has their own fiscal year calendar then it might be after they get their new budgets. This is when shoots happen, edits, go-to-market launches, traveling, sales + related sales materials. If you know your client's calendar, you can help them think ahead and plan for the production or launch seasons. ((for example)) - “I know that Q1/2 is usually when you are producing and launching your brand campaigns. Let me know if I can help you through this busy time…here are some examples of some brand launches I’ve been a part of previously.”

Summer slowdown (aka um…hello, where is the work?) - this is…well the summer, and depending on the state of the economy and business overall this can be much longer than just a month. Typically, this starts up in June and hits Death Valley of email black holes and slow sales cycles around July and then starts to lighten up in August. To prepare for the walk through the “valley of no jobs,” prepare early. In March/April/May start saving - start pushing those invoices and start preparing for that revenue dip. Just think if you plan ahead you could possibly even take the summer off!

The Panic Season/s - this really isn’t a season so much as a quick period of time that pops up throughout the year.

The last 2-3 weeks of December - everyone needs to get things done before the end of the year, but no one is around to do the things and no one wants to but…they must, THEY MUST get done so the budget is there next year. This creates a need to spend. Awesome, enter YOU a skilled freelancer who is cool to work around the cooking, baking, and singing, and makes some extra end-of-the-year dough. Ha, see what I did there?

PTO times - Spring Break, Holidays, summer seasons, end of the year - everyone has PTO to use, and they use it mostly at the same times. This creates a void because work has to get done. Enter the void filler - YOU. When those PTO seasons are coming, suggest that you'd be happy to fill in if they find themselves with everyone OOO.

New business or new product pushes - congrats, the company you are watching in the pubs got some new business or they are launching new products - awesome this creates a large uptick in work and this is your opportunity to notice this, congratulate them on a win, and slide yourself into the picture to help them execute. Go you!

There are many more niche seasons throughout the types of industries and companies. As freelancers, when we pay attention to these patterns, we can help our clients think proactively about staffing up for them. We can help them identify the need and then provide ourselves as a solution. Think of yourselves as a workflow meteorologist of sorts - help your clients prepare for all the changing patterns by offering them the right accessory or freelancer (YOU) to weather any weather.