The

Recession-
Proof
Freelancer
A 12-POINT PLAN FOR
THRIVING IN HARD TIMES
(from a freelance writer who’s been there)

BY CAROL TICE M A KE A LIVING

W RIT IN G
makealivingwriting.com
The Recession-Proof Freelancer
A 12-Point Plan for Thriving in Hard Times
(From a Freelance Writer Who’s Been There)

By Carol Tice
 Copyright © 2020 TiceWrites LLC
First edition, April 2020

The information provided in this e-book is for general informational purposes

only. No representations or warranties are expressed or implied about the infor-
mation, products, services, or related graphics contained in this e-book for any
purpose.

No part of this e-book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any

means, electronic or mechanical, without written permission from the author.

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

A Special Offer.................................................................................................................................5

What I Know About Hard Times (An Introduction)........................................................... 6

Being an Unstoppable Force............................................................................................................................................7
The Short Version......................................................................................................................................................................8
Quick Economics 101 ..............................................................................................................................................................9
What Happens to Freelancers in a Recession.......................................................................................................9
Using the Principles in This E-Book............................................................................................................................10

The 12 Traits of a Recession-Proof Freelancer.................................................................... 12

1. Start With the Bedrock .................................................................................................................................................. 12
3. How to Stop Worrying..................................................................................................................................................... 15
5. Don’t Take It Lying Down.............................................................................................................................................. 19
6. Have A Few Baskets......................................................................................................................................................... 21
7. Be a Magnet..........................................................................................................................................................................24
8. It IS Who You Know......................................................................................................................................................... 25
9. I Scratch Your Back…....................................................................................................................................................... 29
10. Choose Your Targets....................................................................................................................................................... 31
11. The Simplest Source of More Freelance Work.............................................................................................. 35
12. The Person Who Makes You Succeed............................................................................................................... 36

Setting Your Freelance Rates in a Recession.................................................................... 38

The 2 Types of Freelance Clients..................................................................................................................................38

Conclusion......................................................................................................................................41

Resources ......................................................................................................................................44

Need More Help Earning as a Freelance Writer?............................................................. 45

About the Author........................................................................................................................46

A Special Offer
Are you a freelance writer who could use more than an e-book to support your
career in these uncertain times?
Perhaps you have questions, need to find better-paying clients, or feel you
need to learn new skills to compete in today’s marketplace. Maybe you’re look-
ing to break into freelance writing.
For all these challenges, I’ve got one big solution — check out my learning and
support platform for freelance writers, Freelance Writers Den.
Since 2011, over 14,000 writers have tapped into our 300+ hours of trainings and
24/7 forums where pro writers answer your questions. Regular membership is
just $25 a month, with no contract or obligation — you can leave anytime.
Ordinarily, the Den is only open for new members twice a year. Given the ex-
traordinary moment we’re in now, I’d like to extend a special invite for you to
join the Den right now, if you could use that level of help, learning and support.
It’s just my thank-you for reading this e-book. You can find the back door here.
Enjoy the e-book!
Carol

5
What I Know About Hard
Times (An Introduction)
If you’re reading this e-book, it’s probably because a rainy day has come.
You’re looking for guidance on how to make it as a freelancer in a recession,
and wondering who to trust for advice. I’m glad you found me!
In case you don’t know me from my Make a Living Writing blog, let me intro-
duce myself: I’m Carol Tice, I live in Seattle, I’m a long-married mom of three
kids, and I’ve been a freelance writer for over 20 years.

Let me cut straight to the good news: You can thrive as a freelancer, even in
the worst of times.
It’s true! If you’re motivated, you can sustain and even grow your freelance
business, right now.
How do I know? Because I first launched my freelance business in the down-
turn of the early ‘90s. I returned to freelancing in 2005, after 12 years as a staffer
— and grew my income from $60,000 per year to $100,000, during the 2008-
’10 recession.
That’s right — as the world crashed and burned around me, with venerable
banks closing their doors, I quietly grew my freelance income 67 percent.
Maybe you remember how tough things were back then, with the finan-
cial-services and real estate sectors in total collapse? If you don’t, our entire
American banking system nearly melted down.
Yet I stuck to my plan, kept pitching, and fulfilled my personal goal of ramping
to six figures.

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While my experience comes from freelancing as a writer, I believe the fun-
damentals of how to freelance and earn well in a downturn are the same, no
matter what skill you offer as a freelancer.
How can you thrive in a recession? Here’s how I did it last time:

Being an Unstoppable Force

When financial markets started crashing at the end of 2008, I remember
thinking, “I wonder if that’s going to affect me.” At first, it didn’t. My client base
stayed stable.
But as we rolled into 2009, clients began to change what they were doing,
or stop marketing altogether — and that sometimes meant no more free-
lance-writing work for me.
Over the course of the next 18 months, I lost every single client I had. One by
one, they changed their strategy, fired my editor, cut back their marketing, or
simply closed their doors.
How did I earn more, while this was happening?
First off, I committed to achieving my income goal, no matter what. I vowed to
be an unstoppable force of nature, who would keep going until I learned how
to feed my family with my writing, despite hard times.
What did I do? Short answer: Marketing, and lots of it.
It turned out to be fortunate that I’d set a goal of seriously ramping up my
income. That meant I was aggressively marketing my freelance-writing ser-
vices already.
When things went crackers, I just did more marketing.
More importantly, I was a student of effective marketing. I was willing to try a
lot of angles. I’d go hard at several kinds of marketing and then analyze which
methods brought in the best clients. So as I went along, I did more of what
worked best and less of what didn’t.
That made me a more efficient marketer. Eventually, I was doing just three
things:
1. Sending well-researched email pitches to top-drawer publications and
medium-to-large businesses
2. Working my LinkedIn network to identify and attract good leads

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 3. In-person networking
Those were the three strategies that my data showed worked best for me, for
connecting with great-paying clients. (Obviously, in-person networking is out
right now, as long as COVID-19 is around — if I were doing this in 2020, I’d have
a different plan...but the same experiment/analyze approach to marketing.)
Hustling hard in ‘09 and ‘10, I kept replacing the clients who’d freaked out and
scaled back. I didn’t replace them with equivalent clients, BTW — I replaced
them with bigger companies and publications that offered better pay.
My vision was that I was moving up in the world, not just treading water. I
stopped taking small, one-off assignments and instead targeted companies
that could make ongoing commitments. That way, I started each month with a
growing sum pre-booked.
By 2011, I’d achieved my goal of becoming a 6-figure freelancer. This post has
a complete teardown of my client list that year, and how I found each client. It
also has my takeaways on all the factors that made my growth happen, despite
the bad economy — check it out if you’d like all the deets.
Big takeaway, if you don’t want to wade through all the fine print: I faced the
reality that answering online job ads from public boards was a waste of time.
This method was time-consuming and the few gigs I got were my worst, low-
est-paying, flakiest clients.
Refocusing my marketing energy away from an ineffective marketing method
is what took the brakes off my income. This allowed me to optimize my mar-
keting and add tens of thousands of dollars a year in earnings, even while the
economy floundered.

The Short Version

If you don’t have time to read the rest of this e-book, know one thing:
You’re just one little old you, and the freelance marketplace is huge
(est. $1 trillion). There are always clients out there, if you’re willing to
hunt for them.
If you want to build or grow your freelance business now, you can. This e-book
offers a proven, step-by-step guide to recession-proofing your freelancing.
In the years since 2011, I’ve advised thousands of freelancers and seen them
drive their incomes up, using the same principles I used in the last recession.
These steps work in good times or bad.

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If you’re feeling helpless and overwhelmed, this book outlines actions that are
within your sphere of control — actions that will enable you to sustain your
income in the months to come.

Quick Economics 101

As I write this, it’s Spring 2020, and COVID-19 has massively disrupted the world
economy — and our freelance lives along with it. There’s a lot of uncertainty
about how long this will last.
Guess what? That’s just like every other recession in history. We never know
how long a recession will last, until it’s over. But hopefully, it helps to remember
that while it may look bleak right now, bad times always end.
While the newly emergent disease that’s triggered the current recession is un-
precedented, it’s normal for our economy to rise and fall.
Since the Great Depression of 1929, there have been 13 other recessions. Whew!
And the economy has bounced back, every time.
What goes down, must come back up. At some point, businesses hire, wages
rise, consumers resume shopping, new companies launch, people go on trips,
new products are invented… and the wheel turns again.
How will you earn in the meanwhile? This e-book outlines a battle plan.

What Happens to Freelancers in a Recession

If you’ve never lived through a recession before as a freelancer, here’s a quick
sketch of the changes you’re likely to see:
• Many (mostly smaller) companies will suddenly change or stop their
marketing
• There will be ‘winner’ and ‘loser’ industries (for instance, finance and
ecommerce are up now, while travel and restaurant are down)
• Strong competitors will increase activity, looking to take market share
from weaker players
• Big companies that lay off staff will seek to fill the gap with freelancers
• Savvy organizations will seek to secure top talent for priority projects
• Highly trained freelancers with strong portfolios will continue to be in

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 demand
• There will be break-in opportunity, as struggling players may be more
open to taking a flier on an affordable newbie
• Some publications will scale back, go digital, or fold; others may grow
• Policies and pay rates will be in flux across the board
• Tiny businesses, solopreneurs, and most startups will experience a high
failure rate and be less attractive freelance clients
• Some freelancers will give up and quit
• Many laid-off newbies will flood the bottom end of the market, com-
monly by joining bid sites such as Upwork and similar platforms
• Opportunities will shrink and rates will plummet on mass, online job
boards and Upwork, where many floundering businesses look for cheap
freelancers
• Flake-outs will increase, as will outright scams
• Companies that serve wealthy clients will sail on as if nothing’s wrong
• The pace of change will accelerate — more clients will come and go,
suddenly start to pay late, ask to renegotiate
As you can see, it’s a time of shifting sands which creates both challenges and
opportunities. This e-book outlines how to turn economic chaos to your advan-
tage and recession-proof your freelance income.

Using the Principles in This E-Book

In each chapter, you’ll be introduced to a key trait freelancers need to thrive in
hard times. Each trait is paired with an action item you can take to build this
trait or habit.
You’ll see I’m asking you to start a diary or journal to track your progress —
highly recommended.
Take notes as you go and create your own recession-proofing action plan
from these key steps.
This is all advice I’ve been giving since 2011. But this e-book marks the first time
I’ve organized it all into a specific, step-by-step system you can use for free-
lance success in hard times.

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The great news: Once you learn how to be a successful freelancer during a
recession, you can be a successful freelancer anytime. The business discipline
you develop in tough times will be with you when good times return — and
you’ll have a huge leg up on competitors who struggled or took a break during
the recession.
Since I began advising other freelancers back in 2008, my mission has been: to
help as many freelancers as possible to quickly build a reliable income. I’m
excited to offer this e-book as a free resource, and to be able to share what I
learned in the last recession, to help freelancers thrive in this one.
I hope this e-book calms your fears, gives you hope, and delivers the tools you
need to ‘recession-proof’ your freelance business. My aim is to help you keep
the freelance lifestyle you love and pay your bills, year after year, no matter
what.

Hugs,

Carol

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The 12 Traits of a Recession-
Proof Freelancer
Over my decades of freelancing, I’ve seen a pattern emerge: The freelancers
who earn well in bad times have some common habits.
These traits are the building blocks of durable success in freelancing.
Here are the traits you’ll want to develop, to recession-proof your freelance
business:

1. Start With the Bedrock

When times get hard, it’s easy to let your health go to heck. You start stress
eating, blow off your exercise regimen, get anxious and short on sleep. In the
recession of 2020, with its widespread isolation requirements, staying healthy is
a serious challenge.
Nonetheless, your first priority is to stay healthy.
If you’re laying a foundation to build a thriving freelance career while the
economy is crashing, good health is the bedrock. It’s going to take energy and
stamina to run a successful freelance biz in a difficult environment.
You need to operate sustainably, so you don’t burn out. Having to take breaks
for ‘recovery time’ really puts a dent in your income.
Obviously, in 2020 we have special health concerns to keep us from contract-
ing COVID-19. I won’t repeat all the basics for avoiding exposure — you’ve read
them 100 times already. All I’ll say is: Take them seriously.
In each chapter of this e-book, I’m going to give you another trait to reces-
sion-proof your business. So here’s the first:

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The recession-proof freelancer stays healthy.
Action items: Create a journal or diary for working the steps in this program.
Start by keeping a food, exercise, and sleep diary. Track what you’re doing and
look for ways to improve. If you see that you’re becoming lethargic, underslept,
or feel worn-out, pay attention!
If you’re working around the clock, or staying up bingeing Netflix and living off
Doritos, you’re not going to have the energy you’ll need to freelance in a suc-
cessful, sustainable way.
If you’re a freelancer who got into this lifestyle partly because you suffer from
health challenges, focus on being as healthy as you can.
Think of yourself as an athlete in training for a big event, and be good to your
body. It’s designed for movement, so develop a plan for regular exercise,
whether it’s biking outdoors or workout videos on Amazon Prime.
As I slogged through the ‘09 downturn, I was biking, going for walks, eating
healthy, and keeping a set bedtime. Caring for my body enabled me to hop on
a lot of great assignments, because I had plenty of energy.

2. Why It’s Called Self-Confidence

So far, we’ve laid the groundwork for you to have a healthy body and work sus-
tainably, as a freelancer. You’re taking care of yourself and not killing yourself
with overwork.
Let’s turn our attention now to another all-important aspect of freelancing in
hard times: the thoughts in your head, and how your mindset influences your
attitude and actions.
Too often, freelancers are full of self-doubt, instead of self-confidence. If this is
you, let’s work on building your self-esteem.
I was fortunate here, in that I always had a strong sense that I bring a valuable
skill to the marketplace. So one editor didn’t like what I wrote? Bah! Didn’t
bother me much. I know how many people struggle with writing, and that I
provide a valuable service.

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While I was slogging through the last downturn, my core thought was:
“Gee, I bet a lot of freelancers are going to struggle or even go bust
during this. But I’m going to be the exception.”
Remember, they call it self-confidence because it comes from within you. It’s
about how you feel about you. Give no other person the power to damage your
self-confidence. Create a positive mantra about how you will successfully navi-
gate hard times, and chances are, you will.
In freelancing, we all bring vital skills to the marketplace. Whether you write,
design, proofread, edit, code — businesses and publications rely on those skills
for their success. They may have staff, but not necessarily the time or skills to
do the particular thing you offer.
What you do has value. Say it again: What I do has value.
You need to embed this idea in your brain and keep it there in hard times. Be-
cause you’re going to hear a lot of ‘no’ answers. And they shouldn’t shake your
unwavering belief that you provide a valuable service, and clients exist who
need it.

The recession-proof freelancer believes in their skills.

Action item: Pay attention to how you talk about your freelance business. Use
your journal to write down things you often say about your freelancing.
Do you present what you do as necessary and valuable to the marketplace, or
are you nervous, unconfident, apologetic, or downplaying your value?
If you have doubts in your head about whether you offer value to the market-
place, you’re in trouble in hard times. You begin to doubt the whole idea that
freelancing is a viable career.
Next thing you know, you’ll be delivering newspapers or bagging groceries. Un-
derstand that surviving a recession is in large part a ‘head’ game.
Replace negative self-talk with positive affirmations. For instance:
“I don’t know what sets me apart from other freelancers who offer
my services.”
becomes
“I’m unique. No one can write/edit/design etc. like I do.”
This may sound silly to you, but over my years coaching hundreds of writers to

14
high incomes, I’ve learned it’s anything but.
Remember, your belief in yourself is contagious. If you’re confident you bring
something valuable to the table, prospective clients will pick up on that — and
conclude you do bring value.
Always look for the upside in your situation and think positive. For instance:
During a recession, many freelancers will freak out and give up.
They’ll go find jobs, or simply stop working.
Good news for you! As a dedicated freelancer, that leaves more
clients for you. Right?
Another positive thought you can wring from negative input:
“Each of the new-prospect meetings I’ve taken that haven’t resulted
in a sale have taught me so much. I’m sure these negotiation and in-
terpersonal skills will pay off at some point with a new client.”
Make a habit of looking for the upside in everything you experience, as you
work your way through this time.
In my family, looking to the positive is a weekly habit — we go around the table
on Friday nights and talk about our highlight of the week. I highly recommend
this tradition of anchoring positive memories, to help you remember and em-
phasize what’s going right (instead of obsessing on what’s wrong).

3. How to Stop Worrying

Now that we’re healthy and self-confident (yes, you are!), we can begin to build
your recession-proof freelance business.
This starts by getting out of ‘worry mode’ and into action.
In recent weeks, I’ve heard these comments:
“My anchor client has put our project on ‘pause’ — and now I’m
worried they’re dropping me!”

15
 AND
“I have an overdue payment now, but I’m scared to contact the client
about it.”
These are people who’re trapped in a cycle of worrying and feeling helpless.
Life is happening to them, and they’re frightened. They’re frozen in place.
This is not how you thrive in hard times. These are freelancers who’ve taken
their clients for granted, assuming they’d always be there.
That was a mistake, because the only constant in life is change. This was always
true, but it was easier to be in denial about it during boom times.
What really worries these freelancers is that their worldview (fantasizing they
won’t have to do marketing, current clients will never drop them) is now con-
fronted by reality.
They’ll have to change what they do to survive. And that feels scary. It’s easier to
sit and quietly freak out and do nothing.
A key mindset shift will prevent your being trapped in this pit of inaction and
worry:

The recession-proof freelancer takes nothing for granted.

Action item: Stop being scared that you will experience turnover or payment
problems from existing clients — and start preparing for it.
Don’t be scared. Be prepared.
As you saw from my own example, in the last downturn, I lost every client, one
by one. I was not shocked, because I was aware that freelance clients will come
and go. So I was able to quickly move into action to completely rebuild my
client base, and more.
When change comes, if you accept it as normal, you CAN cope with it. Review
that list of what typically happens in a downturn, in the introduction of this
e-book.
Assume that as hard times set in, there will be an accelerated pace of change.
There’ll be more surprises — contracts that suddenly end, late checks.
Prepare for this reality. For instance: Are there expenses you can cut, to give you
more leeway? Could you build an emergency fund, to help you deal with the
unexpected? (My videographer husband recently sold $2,000 of camera equip-

16
ment to free up cash.)
Obviously, the top way to prepare is to increase your marketing, so that you
have more leads for new work. More on best ways to do that shortly.
The mindset of someone who’s recession-proofing their business is accept-
ing, calm, and in control. Worrying is fruitless and can lead you into a spiral of
negative thinking. When you catch yourself worrying, ask what proactive step
you could take to change your situation.
If you have a late payment — call the client and ask when you can expect it.
Yes, times are hard. And they’re hard for you, too.
If you’ve done work, continue to expect to be paid, and on time. (Notify them
you assess a small late fee, compounded monthly, and you may find your pay-
ment expedited.) Clients will respect that you’re asking for your payment, if you
do it in a friendly, professional way.
And if they really are trying to stiff you, it’s better you know sooner than later,
for your own cash-flow planning.

4. New Tricks, Anyone?

When hard times hit, it’s time to assess what skills you bring to the market-
place — and how you could level-up to offer more value and command high
rates.
If you’ve been ‘just a blogger,’ cranking out cheap blog posts, learning how to
market yourself as a content strategist could be a good move. Strategists bring
more ideas and planning skills to the table, and knowledge of social media and
SEO.
If you’ve been writing web pages for businesses, perhaps you could earn more
if you learned to write white papers or annual reports. These are higher-paid
types of writing.
Don’t know those things? It’s a great time to learn.
Whether you get started with free resources — or invest in your success with a
learning community like my Freelance Writers Den platform, where you can

17
ask questions of the pros — there are ample opportunities to grow your skills.

The recession-proof freelancer is always learning.

Action item: Assess your skills, and consider what you might want to learn to
add to your value. Use Indeed.com, FlexJobs (a platform I recommend and yes,
affiliate sell), or other job-aggregator sites to explore which job titles have many
open positions.
During the last recession, easily accessible, affordable online learning wasn’t
available like it is now. So I was always on the lookout for difficult client proj-
ects where I could learn a new skill, or get a new type of sample. This meant my
portfolio grew more impressive, making it easier to get better-paid gigs.
When you’re a freelancer who has an ongoing commitment to professional
development, you tend to be protected against downturns. You routinely study
where the marketplace is going and add skills to your toolkit, so demand for
your services remains strong.
These days, there are online classes galore for freelancers. The question to ask
yourself is: Who do you want to learn from?
My big tip: Beware of ‘experts’ who have never freelanced through a previous
downturn.
When you decide to level-up your skills...choose your teacher wisely. Over the
past decade, there’s been a real boom in people proclaiming themselves ex-
perts based on little or no actual success (thanks, Tim Ferriss!).
That worked to some degree in boom times — because who can’t find work
when there’s full employment? But now, you have literally scores of self-pro-
claimed freelancing gurus out there. They’ll be happy to take your money and
give you advice...about something they’ve never personally experienced.
Read ‘About’ pages carefully and ask questions about experience, to make sure
you learn from someone who has real-world insights that are relevant to our
current sitch. As you’re discovering, freelancing in a recession is a whole differ-
ent scene. Lazy approaches you could skate by with in boom times won’t nec-
essarily get you through this.
In sum, if you hear ‘Just get on Upwork, it’s amazing!’... run.

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5. Don’t Take It Lying Down
Many freelancers take a fairly passive attitude toward their career. They sign up
on Upwork (or Fiverr, or People Per Hour), or get on with a content mill, or re-
spond to online job ads.
In other words, your job pool is limited to what your chosen online resource
presents to you. You’re not proactively building your client base — more re-
sponding to what the universe sends your way.
You’re like a leaf floating down the river, bumping into whatever the current
takes you past. You’re leaving your career to chance. Hoping to get lucky.
Can you guess how that’s going to go, in a recession?
That’s right — not so well.
There will likely be fewer ads or job postings on your chosen platform. At the
same time, you’ll see many more applicants or bids for each job, as laid-off
workers look into freelancing.
Put this situation into a mathematical formula, and freelancing in hard times
through mass platforms looks like this:
Fewer advertised openings + more applicants =
rock-bottom pay and low success rates
During the long economic boom, I’d often hear of a typical online job ad get-
ting hundreds of responses. Once millions are laid off and have free time on
their hands, how many will each offer get? I shudder to think.
That’s why this next recession-proofing move is so important.

The recession-proof freelancer is proactive.

Action item: Commit to using proactive methods to grow your freelancing
business.
Unless you enjoy sending endless resumes that get no response, and being in
a sad race to the bottom on price in a pool with thousands of other freelancers

19
of your same type...the passive approach to freelancing isn’t good now.
It’s time to take charge of your marketing and learn to reach out and ask for
work.
Why is it so important to be proactive?
Because the vast majority of freelance jobs are never advertised.
The biggest opportunity for freelancers is always in the pent-up market
demand. It’s all the harried marketing managers and overwhelmed editors sit-
ting at their desks, wishing they knew the right freelancer for their project.
When you identify and pitch a prospect who isn’t advertising a position, you
have them all to yourself. No more race to the bottom on price! You’re often the
only freelancer they’re considering.
If you’ve never done proactive marketing before, it can seem intimidating or
even rude to contact someone and ask them if they might hire you.
But it’s not.
It’s. Just. Business.
Have you stopped receiving mail-order catalogs, or marketing emails, since this
recession hit? Yeah, me neither! Still tons of marketing happening.
If you’re a freelancer and you need more clients (or better ones that pay more),
the professional thing to do is proactively market your services.
The huge advantage of proactive marketing? Most freelancers will never do
it.
When you climb out of that river, step into a boat and become a captain who
steers your freelance career where you want to go — instead of being that
helpless, floating leaf — you set yourself apart from the crowd.
You’re also no longer sitting around worrying. Instead, you’re moving forward,
doing things that are within your sphere of control.
We can’t change the economy, but you can take your own freelance career se-
riously and market it like the real business it is. Right?
The next few chapters lay out for you simple ways you can begin doing that —
or, if you’re already marketing, ways you can level-up and make it more effec-
tive.

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6. Have A Few Baskets
You may have heard that in freelancing, the riches are in the niches. And it’s
true.
My joke is that when I meet a high-earning generalist who’s a freelance writer,
I’ll start recommending writers be generalists — but in over a decade spent
talking with thousands of writers, I’ve basically never met one.
Being a generalist makes your life hard, because you must constantly learn
about best practices in new industries, discover who the experts are, master
their jargon, and so on. It’s harder to quickly build valuable expertise that helps
you charge more.
Specializing in a particular industry — finance, healthcare, technology, legal,
retail, etc. — is the easy route to rising rates. Particularly in freelance writing,
where you have to understand industry trends and jargon, your knowledge
quickly becomes valuable and helps you command higher pay.
BUT.
That said, it’s important that you don’t have just one niche.

The recession-proof freelancer diversifies.

Action item: Examine your client list and how you’re marketing your freelance
services. Focus on the 2-3 most lucrative industries for your recession-era mar-
keting.
Why do I recommend freelancers have two or three niches that they aggres-
sively market? It’s because industries have cycles. And in a downturn, a particu-
lar industry may come to a standstill, leaving you high and dry.
You wouldn’t have wanted to be only a real-estate or finance-sector freelancer
around 2009, when the mortgage-finance bubble burst and homes stopped
selling. Right?
By the same token, in 2020, if you’re only a travel, tourism, or restaurant writer,
you’re in deep yogurt.

21
I was in good shape this way in ‘09, because I had legal, finance, insurance, and
other expertise areas that kept me diverse.
Having several niches allows you to quickly pivot into the industries in your
wheelhouse that are still doing well.
Ray of sunshine: In the 2020 recession, the sectors that show strength are ones
that are traditionally better for freelancers than the ones that were unaffected
in the 2009 recession.
Last time, finance and real estate were hardest hit. With finance being one of
the classic triumvirate of best freelancer sectors (along with technology and
healthcare), that seriously sucked.
This time, at least two legs of the main freelance stool are still strong — ze-
ro-interest mortgage refinancing, anyone? The sectors hardest hit are all con-
sumer-focused industries, and these always tended to be less robust freelance
opportunities. This is why my outlook on the marketplace for freelancers is
that it’ll stay stronger this downturn than it did last time.

Winner industries in 2020:

Who is doing well while we all stay indoors? A short list of industries that saw
strong sales in Spring 2020 include:
• Tech (they can easily work from home! And deliver products online)
• Ecommerce, drop-shipping
• Grocer and grocery delivery (obviously!)
• Finance (personal, business, mortgage, investing, you name it)
• Tax (confusing new laws, delayed filing times, more people need help)
• Insurance (lots of claims to process and reopened enrollment)
• Legal cannabis (considered essential, people)
• Gardening (many stores that carry plants are open)
• DIY home improvement
• ‘Happy distractions’ (jigsaw puzzles, online gaming)
• Commercial construction (with residential new construction likely to
resume soon)

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 • Real-estate speculators
• Business consultants
• Business brokers
• Telehealth
• E-learning
• Remote-work tool (Zoom and its competitors)
• Online fitness/workouts
• Marketing automation
• Marketing automation (it’s all online marketing now)
• Youtube-based, influencer-driven businesses
• Self-help/meditation/inspiration
• Temporary staffing
You might think healthcare would make the list, but with all routine care and
elective surgeries postponed, and resources being redirected to COVID-fight-
ing, I’d count this an industry in heavy flux.

One More Way to Diversify

Besides having multiple industries you market to, there’s one other important
way to stay diversified as a freelancer: You need multiple clients.
Too many freelancers latch onto one, big client and hang on for dear life. Then
one day, it’s over, and… disaster. I call it One Client Syndrome.
This was always a terrible way to freelance, even in good times, for a couple key
reasons. First, freelancers with a single client aren’t really freelancing. Your situ-
ation is worse than it was when you had a day job.
One boss still controls 100% of your income and could fire you at any time —
except as a freelancer, you have none of the protections you’d have as a laid-off
employee. You’ve no sick/vacation/personal days, 401(k) deposits, severance
pay, unemployment insurance… nothing.
As Yoda says, “Now, matters are worse.”
The other big problem with single-client ‘freelancing’: the IRS defines freelanc-
ing as a contractor having multiple clients. So freelancers with a single client

23
risk being reclassified as an employee (with all their business write-offs disal-
lowed).
With the accelerated turnover rate you’ll see in a recession, it’s more important
than ever to stay diverse with multiple clients. That way, hopefully, your income
will stay fairly stable, even as clients come and go.

B2B vs B2C
You’ve probably heard a lot about whether to focus your freelancing on busi-
ness-to-consumer publications and/or businesses, or on business-to-business
ones.
Historically, B2B has always commanded better pay, as you’re generally writ-
ing for a more sophisticated audience and need to understand more complex
products or services. Fewer freelancers have the relevant experience or ability,
and that tends to keep rates strong.
In a downturn, the advantages of B2B only increase.
This is not to say that if you get a great offer outside your niche, you shouldn’t
hop on it — if you need the work, you totally should! I’m talking about niching
for marketing purposes.
What you spend time promoting to your prospects needs to be focused, to
make it simple for the public to understand, and to help you build expertise.
Given how things have changed in the economy, consider if you’re pitching the
right types of services or projects to the right kinds of clients. If not...it’s time to
change your approach! If you were struggling with finding clients before, now’s
the time to think about where there’s still money in the economy… and head
over there.
Once you know which 2-3 industries you’re going to specialize in, and how
you’re going to promote your freelancing, you’re ready to start telling the
world.

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7. Be a Magnet
Most successful freelancers have a secret: They get some (or all) of their clients
without having to do much marketing.
How? By creating compelling online sites that attract prospects and sell for
them, while they sleep.
It’s hard to do marketing round-the-clock, so having an online presence that
draws clients and convinces them to hire you is highly desirable. That’s why:

The recession-proof freelancer attracts quality leads.

Action item: Create an online presence that spotlights your strengths as a free-
lancer.
The top two places I recommend you do this are:
1) LinkedIn
2) Your own freelancer website
Why LinkedIn? With over 600 million members, LinkedIn has become THE
place good prospects go to search for freelance talent. Many of my coaching
students are getting a ton of inbound leads on LinkedIn. (Here’s a quick train-
ing on how to set up your LinkedIn profile to impress.)
If LinkedIn is so great, why do you need your own freelancer website, too?
In a world where many freelancers have no online presence — or just a profile
on Upwork or the like — having your own site says you’re a serious, successful
professional. It doesn’t cost a ton to have a simple website, and prospects are
reassured you’re for real when they find yours. (Check out these examples for
ideas.)
Also, your own site is the best place to have your portfolio — as opposed to a
freelancer-portfolio platform where prospects can easily flip through others’
samples, too. Once you’ve got ‘em on your own website, you’ve got them all to
yourself.

25
I committed early to having a writer website — put my first one up in ‘08, with
help from a high-school design student. (If you want a recommendation for a
platform, WordPress is what I’ve used, and I’ve also seen good work done on
SquareSpace.)
Once you have sites to send people to, you’re ready for the next important step
in recession-proofing your freelance biz.

8. It IS Who You Know

Often, freelancers tell me they’re struggling to get good clients, “because I
don’t have any connections.”
Bulletin: You can build a network from scratch! And then, you know people.
What’s more, people you’ve just met can be part of your marketing network,
and can help you find gigs.
The secret is to build your network as big as humanly possible. The more
people know what sort of freelance work you’re looking to do, the better. To
thrive in hard times, you need a bigger network than ever, since there may be
fewer jobs.
In the world of marketing, having a large network makes your life easy. Con-
necting with people is a lot easier than cold pitching and asking strangers to
flat-out hire you, right?
That’s why:

The recession-proof freelancer builds their network.

Action item: Start building up your network! Networking is purely a numbers
game. The more people you know, the more likely someone needs a freelancer
of your type — or more often, knows someone who needs you. (More on that in
the next chapter.)
You may be thinking, “How can I do networking, when currently we’re forbid-
den to congregate, or even go out of our homes?” I hear you.

26
That’s why it rocks that virtual networking is huge now. Specifically, think of
LinkedIn as your headquarters for virtual networking. Ever since Google+ died
in Spring 2019, LinkedIn has been THE place for serious business networking
online. LinkedIn Groups are buzzing with people sharing ideas, asking ques-
tions, and meeting new people they can add to their network.
The more LinkedIn connections you have, the more likely you’ll appear in
searches for freelancers in your industry.
That’s because every LinkedIn search lists the searcher’s connections at the
top of search results. It’s simple math.
When I was networking back in the ‘09 recession, I had just a few hundred
LinkedIn connections — and still got found and hired by three Fortune 500
companies in my town, including Costco. I had a fairly small pool of past editors
who knew me, but was able to steadily grow my contacts and impress them
with my writer website.
This recession ‘round, I’ve built my network much bigger, and get a steady
stream of inbound leads. With over 5,600 connections now, I appear in hun-
dreds of searches for a freelance writer each month:

How can you get more connections on LinkedIn? Here are a few proven,
fast-acting techniques:
• Import contacts. Make sure everyone you’ve got in your desktop con-
tacts is also a LinkedIn connection — the platform makes it easy to
import your contacts en masse.
• Look for LIONs. That stands for “LinkedIn Open Networkers.” These

27
 people accept all inbound connection requests. LIONs often have huge
networks. This will help you, because once you get a new connection,
you can do this next thing:
• Friendsurf. Flip through your new contact’s list of connections, to find
more people you can invite into your network. LinkedIn’s invite tool will
let you send them invites ‘because we have a connection in common,’ so
it’s easy.
• Join LinkedIn groups. Ideally, find groups where marketers in your in-
dustry gather. Ask and answer questions, participate, be useful. Then,
ask members to connect ‘because we’re in a group together’ (another
invite option).
• Check their recommendations. Click on ‘My network,’ and you’ll see
LinkedIn features profiles of people you may know, may have worked
with, and such. Send out more invites!

Big tip: Write a custom message and don’t just click ‘invite.’ You’ll get a lot
more people accepting your connection request.
Of course, once we’re all allowed out of doors, we can build in-person networks,
too. But for now, digital networking is where it’s at for growing the pool of
people who know we freelance.
One final big reason to build a big network: It helps you avoid falling for
scams.
Be sure to include some people in your network who are freelancers of your

28
same type. You need some freelancers who can be your sounding board when
you see work offers that raise red flags. (Spoiler alert: If an offer seems too good
to be true, it usually is.)
All the classic freelancer scams have come roaring back as the economy
tanked -- the rubber deposit check, the fake bank transfer that steals your
account data, con artists who say they have tons of rush work but ghost you
when it’s time to pay -- you name it, they’re out there. Use your network to help
you vet offers and steer clear of ripoffs.
Once you’ve grown your network, what’s next? Getting them to help you.

9. I Scratch Your Back…

Once you have a network, you’re ready to start networking.
The best way to do this is not to ask your network to hire you. If you do that,
you get into that awkward situation where you’re basically saying, “Hey total
stranger — I know we’ve just met, but give me a job!”
Instead, ask your network if they’d be willing to refer you, if they hear of anyone
who needs your type of freelancer. It’s a lot less annoying.
With hundreds of people keeping an ear out for someone who needs you, your
odds of finding a new client are greatly increased, versus just little you howling
into the wilderness that you need work. Right?
That’s why:

The recession-proof freelancer asks for referrals.

Action item: Ask your network to refer you.
Is it really OK to ask people to send you clients, even in dark times such as
these? Yes, it is.
In fact, people love being asked for referrals. It makes them feel accomplished
and useful.

29
The subtext to the referral request is:
“I think you’re smart and well-connected, and might know someone
who could help me.”
Their internal reaction is usually along the lines of:
“Dang, you’re so right! I am all that. I totally know people — thanks
for noticing.”
What’s the magic that makes the referral request well-received? Begin by
asking if you can help them. This is a mutual exchange of equals, where each
can help the other, not a desperate plea for work.
A sample script to adapt to your own situation:
Thanks for your recent connection! I’d love to learn more about your
business and how I can help you grow. Let me know who your ideal
client is, or if you need to fill any positions. Happy to keep an eye out
for you or refer you to relevant people from my network.
As for me, I’m a [TYPE OF FREELANCER/NICHES OF SPECIALTY — e.g.,
a freelance health and finance writer] — if you hear of anyone who’s
looking for a freelancer like me, I’d appreciate your referral.
Simple and professional, yes?
And here’s the real magic: If the person you just asked for a referral needs a
freelancer like you themselves, they’ll tell you.
“Oh — but I need a freelance developer!” they’ll exclaim.
Now you have an active lead, and you didn’t have to ask them to hire you. Isn’t
that beautiful?
This is soft-sell marketing — and you’ll be surprised how many leads it can get
you.
Early in the ‘09 recession, I got acquainted with referrals at my first in-person
networking meeting, at a small local Chamber of Commerce event. A pro net-
worker stormed over to me in her power suit with a drink in her hand, intro-
duced herself, and chirped, “Who’s your ideal client?”
I realized I didn’t know — and that I needed to have a ready answer for that
question! Getting clarity on what I wanted helped me get referrals in the years
that followed.
Create a short “me” speech about who you are, what you do and who you help,

30
and have it ready to use in whatever virtual, online, or in-person networking
you may do. One sentence is great, as in:
I help finance and legal businesses earn more with informational
content.
Once you’ve nailed the “me” speech and got your whole network out looking
for you, and your websites are impressing people 24/7, you can move on to the
meat of your recession-proofing plan.

10. Choose Your Targets

You’ve got a lot of the important building blocks of a recession-proof freelance
career at this point: inbound sites, a referral network, the right attitude.
What’s the missing piece? Develop a list of good prospects and actively
target them.
No more leaf floating downstream. This is where you take serious control of
your freelancing and make sure you have a constant flow of leads.
Many leads means you can say ‘no’ to lowballers. You can drop clients who are
a butt-pain. You are busy, booked up, in-demand — and you can continue rais-
ing your rates. This is exactly what I did in 2009.
The TV show The Biggest Loser was running in ‘09, and I was always looking at
my client list and trying to identify who I most wanted to drop. That kept me
motivated to do proactive marketing to better prospects who would pay more,
allowing me to cut ‘the biggest loser.’
How do you get into this power position? Simple:

The recession-proof freelancer does consistent, volume

marketing.
Action item: Commit to making marketing a regular habit.
As with any other type of small business, successful freelancing takes a com-

31
mitment to active marketing, especially in hard times.
Think of your favorite clothing boutique or small retail store. Would you expect
them to stay in business if they never sponsored a Chamber event, or the Little
League jerseys, or advertised in the newspaper, or built an email list and noti-
fied them of sales?
You wouldn’t. You’d expect them to go bust.
I got news: Your freelance business isn’t any different.
All the businesses that thrive in hard times do consistent, frequent, proactive
marketing. Not sitting and waiting and hoping business comes in the door.
How much marketing should you do? I like to start newbie marketers out with
a commitment to do 100 pieces of marketing a month.
I know. Jaw drop! Happens every time.
But that’s not an unreasonable amount of marketing activity, to make sure you
have leads to replace any clients that fade away during a recession. My expe-
rience is that freelancers who do 100 marketing reach-outs per month rarely
lack for clients, even in tough times.
It’s a no-fail level of marketing activity — IF you know what you’re doing.
The three keys to effective marketing are knowing:
• What to say
• Who to say it to
• How often to say it
You already know the answer to #3 there — at least 100 times a month. Let’s
tackle the other two basics you need to know:
Who to say it to: In a recession, remember: Bigger is better. Solopreneurs and
super-small businesses are going to struggle. If you’ve been mining this area,
start targeting $1 million-$5 million businesses, and move up fast from there.
Ideally, good recession clients are at least $10 million in revenue or 100 employ-
ees. (Hint: Check their LinkedIn company page for how many employees are
linked to it for a quick headcount.)

The best types of clients in bad times

A quick primer on what you’re looking for in a prospect: There are several cat-

32
egories of clients that remain strong for freelancers when the economy goes
south. My favorites include:
• Companies that recently raised venture capital
• Fast-growing companies
• Mid-market (roughly $10 million - $100 million revenue) companies
• Big companies that have recently done mass layoffs
• Companies that serve the wealthy
• Largest or most-buzzed-about companies in a sector
• Companies in industries less affected by the current downturn
As I tackled building my business in ‘09, I had an edge in identifying prospects,
because my previous staff-writing job was covering business. I knew there are
lists of fastest-growing companies, biggest public and private companies, and
more, because the business journal I’d worked for created those lists.
See the Resources section at the end of this e-book for a guide to techniques
that help you quickly find free lists of good prospects, based on the principles
outlined above. There’s also a handout on how to find an email address for the
contact person you’re targeting.
Trust me: The list you want is free, and someone has already created it. It’s just
a question of searching it up.
I realize that many freelancers are unused to pitching this big. You’ve been
living off online ads or project offers from bitty online startups that paid pen-
nies, due to their failing business models.
Now that the s*t has hit the fan, you’ll want to steer away from that neighbor-
hood and look at better-funded, bigger companies. These are more likely to
have the resources to stay afloat and a survival plan for getting through this.
You may feel ‘unqualified’ to freelance in the big leagues, but here’s the secret:
There’s really not much more you need to know.
In reality, freelancing for bigger, more successful companies is usually easier
than working for shaky startups! They have an actual game plan, a clue what
their priorities are, and the money to pay a pro freelancer. What it mostly takes
is setting your sights on them and going after their business.
In early April, JP Morgan Chase president Jamie Dimon noted in his annual
shareholder letter that the big companies they have as clients will be offered

33
$150 billion in credit lines from the bank, during this crisis.
The question to ask yourself is: Who are these companies? They will have the
cash to keep on going.
Smart, successful companies have access to capital and will ramp up market-
ing, to try to take market share from weaker players in the chaos. These are
your prime targets.
What to say? Check out the Resources chapter — got a handout with tem-
plates for many different situations.
I know, it sounds overwhelming. But you can mass-produce this fairly easily —
take a quick look at a prospect’s site for 1-3 minutes, find something you can
say about what they’re doing and where you could help, and build your pitch.
Anything you do 100 times a month quickly becomes easy, and routine.
Commit to building up your marketing muscles and going after bigger, better
clients that could sustain you through hard times. This marketing discipline will
help you stay in control of your destiny.

How to Do Marketing in Hard Times

What will your methods be, for reaching your target prospects? That’s up to
you.
The best kind of marketing is the kind you’re willing to do.
So: If you’d rather be shot than call people on the phone, cold calling won’t be a
good marketing method for you. Because you’ll try to force yourself to do it, but
you really won’t. Not in the volume needed to recession-proof your biz.
But if you like fast answers, cold calling could be your jam.
Other popular methods that reliably get results include:
• Pay for LinkedIn Premium and pitch prospects you spot in ‘Who’s
Viewed My Profile?’
• Send Letters of Introduction (LOIs) or query letters via email
• Create an opt-in newsletter and market to your leads
• In-person or virtual networking events
• Hold free or cheap classes (perhaps virtually) that sell your services
• Offer short, free consults to close sales

34
 • Send direct-mail pitch packages (once folks are back in the office)
• Pitch freelance fill-in work to companies with full-time job openings
There are many ways to skin the marketing cat, but these are all ones I’ve seen
work over and over. For me, networking, pitch emails, and working LinkedIn all
became regular routines each week. The more you make marketing a habit,
the easier it gets to stick to it.

11. The Simplest Source of More Freelance Work

This final facet of recession-proofing your business is so simple, yet mostly
overlooked: Once you get a client, be looking for opportunities to book more
business with them.
It’s always easier to grow an existing relationship with a client who already likes
what you do than it is to go out and find a new one, right? So be sure to max-
imize the client work you’ve got. It’s a major success strategy for keeping you
solvent during a downturn.

The recession-proof freelancer grows client relationships.

Action item: Up-sell existing clients. Always be thinking about angles you could
pitch your clients that would lead to additional work.
Once you get a client, don’t sit back and wait for them to assign you projects.
That was a bad strategy in good times — don’t know how many bloggers have
told me they’re sitting on their hands, ‘waiting to be assigned topics,’ while
they slowly starve. #justno
Instead, constantly look for ways to increase your income from existing cli-
ents. This was one of my most productive avenues to earning more, during the
downturn of ‘09.
Among the strategies that worked for me:
• Grew my blogging role by taking over topic development

35
 • Studied top competitors and pitched competitive marketing features
• Pitched a new weekly blog-post feature (added $400/month of income)
• Learned the organizational chart and discovered new divisions, publica-
tions, or departments to pitch
• Asked for introductions to other editors or marketing managers in differ-
ent divisions
• Inquired about upcoming marketing plans, special sections, new initia-
tives — and scored more assignments
• Looked for add-on work, such as developing a free product for blog sub-
scribers to go with my blog-post writing
Don’t ever assume what you have now is all your client could assign you. Or
that you should sit back and wait for them to tell you there’s more work. Don’t
rest on your laurels and assume this client will continue to find you valuable —
make sure they are constantly reminded of your value, by actively sharing
your ideas for future projects.
Stay proactive. Don’t be afraid to propose new ideas — clients will be im-
pressed that you care enough about their business to think about how to help
them grow revenue.

12. The Person Who Makes You Succeed

Now you have all the basic building blocks of recession-proofing your business.
You know what proven actions will carry you through hard times and let you
keep growing your freelance income.
There’s only one question left:
What’s going to make you take all these actions? And not just procrastinate,
sit around, and wait for the downturn train to run you over?
The answer is accountability.

36
The recession-proof freelancer is accountable.
Action item: Find an accountability buddy you can call once a week, to keep
you on track with your goals.
How do you find accountability as a freelancer? You find a person or group of
people who will hold your feet to the fire and make sure you DO your needed
action steps.
Ideally, they’re someone you can call or touch base with weekly, to review your
goals and your progress and make sure you stay on track.
Your accountability partner helps you break down big goals like, “Eek! I need to
do 100 pieces of marketing this month,” into more digestible, weekly subgoals.
In my Freelance Writers Den community site, we have an ‘accountability bud-
dies’ forum, where you can advertise for a partner. We encourage all our mem-
bers to find another writer they can check in with weekly.
Ideally, that freelancer might have similar clients to yours, or live in the same
town, where you could meet up in person. But it’s not essential. The main thing
is that you commit to each others’ success and don’t let your partner slack off
on their goals.
I wish I could report that freelancers are highly self-motivated people who get
off their butts and make it happen, all alone, in a vacuum. But that’s not reality.
Many of us come out of Corporate America, and are used to having a boss mo-
tivate us to do tasks. It can be a hard transition to being that boss yourself.
Your accountability buddy fills the gap and gives you someone you’ve told
what you’ll do — someone who will hold you to it. Over the years, I’ve seen that
freelancers with an accountability buddy are successful far more often than
those who try to go it alone.
Don’t skip this final step. Find a freelancer buddy to make sure you take
action and stay successful, no matter what the economy throws at us.
So there you have it – the key traits you need to have and activities you need to
do to recession-proof your business. With these building blocks, you’re a giant
leap ahead.
P.S. Want a downloadable quick-reference for these 12 key steps for reces-
sion-proofing your freelance business? See the end of this e-book — got you
covered!

37
Setting Your Freelance Rates in
a Recession
I can’t end this e-book without discussing one of the toughest topics in a down
economy: what to charge.
The first questions I was asked, the minute Coronavirus came to America and
the stock market started to sink, were all about rates.
Questions like:
“Should I offer my existing clients a discount now? I could cut my
rate 20%...”
and
“I’ve been asked for a proposal, and they told me they’ve paid $4 a
word for this type of writing in the past. I was thinking about bidding
$2.50 a word — but maybe I should bid $1? What do you think…”
Let’s tackle this right now: You’re not going to thrive in a recession by cutting
your rates. You can only grow your business by continuing to charge profes-
sional rates, and in fact continuing to charge more over time.
For sure, don’t go around volunteering to work for less, from clients who hav-
en’t even asked you to!
If you don’t understand the recession-driven marketplace, you’ll be tempted
to lower your rates, down and down, until your freelancing no longer pays your
bills. To price well, you first need to understand the different client types you’ll
encounter, and which kind will continue to offer pro rates during a downturn.

The 2 Types of Freelance Clients

In the big picture, there are only two types of freelance clients:
There are value clients, and there are commodity clients.
Commodity clients don’t care much about the quality of what we produce.
“Slap it together fast, I just want to put a bunch of ads on that” is usually the
philosophy.
I know writers creating 4 short celebrity-gossip posts an hour, with assigned

38
keywords to try to rank well on Google, for $15 apiece. This is a classic commodi-
ty-client scenario.
Commodity clients deal in volume. They want you to spin up 100 microsites, or
write 20 posts a week. The quality of what you create isn’t very important.
Key thing to know: This business model is rarely successful, because Google
now penalizes junk content in its rankings. So pay is always low.
In a recession, steer clear of commodity clients. Many of them will have finan-
cial trouble or flat-out go bust. Commodity rates will be driven to the floor by
stiff competition from newbies who’re ignorant of pro rates and don’t yet un-
derstand what you need to charge to survive as a freelancer.
Good recession-era clients are value clients.
Value clients care about quality.
They understand that what freelancers deliver is critically important to the
survival of their business in hard times. Value clients know what we do helps
them earn more money. They understand that we deserve to be well-paid for
building their revenue.
A typical response I hear when I ask about budget in a first meeting with a
value client:
“We haven’t thought about price, really. What matters to us is get-
ting the right writer for this.”
When the right expertise is critical, price is not the client’s primary concern.
If you think it’s impossible to command pro rates in hard times, I’ll just say that
as I write this in late March 2020 (sitting in my Seattle home in isolation week
3), I’m looking at an email from a financial-services client I sent a proposal to a
few weeks ago, proposing top-dollar rates for a set of critically important writ-
ten content.
They accepted my bid — $1,875 for writing 4 blog posts. Another recent new
prospect responded positively and set up a meeting, after I noted my blog-post
rates begin at $300 apiece.
Value clients tend to be bigger, more successful businesses that sell a real
product or service. They’re not looking to earn ad-pennies on a website.
In hard times, they’re looking to seize opportunity while weaker competitors
stumble. My own coaching clients also got many new clients in March 2020, as
everything came unglued.

39
Value clients tend to be in highly lucrative niches — in a recession, niches that
are still doing fairly well. To hold out for value clients and keep your rates up,
you have to remain confident that the prospect you’re talking to is not the only
fish in the sea.
And they’re not. The more dire prediction I’ve heard for this recession is that we
may temporarily lose 25 percent of U.S. Gross Domestic Product.
That’s a lot — but the important takeaway for us? That means 75 percent of
business is still going.
If U.S. GDP was roughly $21,000 billion in value before the crash… that means
there would still be $15,750 billion of economic activity. In the worst-case sce-
nario.
That’s a lot of business still going on, yes? Millions and millions of companies
still operating, and still needing help from freelancers.
Remember, cutting rates doesn’t just hurt you, but the entire freelance sector.
Learn to write value proposals that sell your unique skills and emphasize how
your customer will thrive due to your efforts, and you can continue to earn pro-
fessional rates.

40
Conclusion
So there it is — the lessons I learned in the last recession, and the key traits that
help freelancers thrive in hard times.
You can do this! If I could come over to your house and hug you and give you a
homemade chocolate-chip cookie, I would.
I know how scary this can feel, especially if it’s your first time experiencing a
bad economy.
You’re probably thinking: Can it really be this simple? Cultivate these 12 traits,
and I’ll be able to earn well, even while the world goes topsy-turvy?
It is, and you can. My own downturn experience, and my experience over the
past decade-plus, coaching literally thousands of freelancers to take these
same basic steps, has taught me that these actions produce reliable results.
You can do this. Step by step.
To help you keep these important action steps in mind, here’s a handy poster
of the 12 key traits to recession-proof your freelancing:

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 The 12 Traits of
R E C E S S I O N - P R O O F
F R E E L A N C E R S
W O N D E R I N G W H AT I T TA K E S TO T H R I V E I N H A R D T I M E S ?
HERE’S A LIST OF THE KEY TRAITS YOU NEED

The recession-proof freelancer:

1 healthy
Stays
2 s k ills
Believes in their

3 granted
Takes nothing for
4 learning
I s always

5 Is proactive 6 Diversifies

7 quality leads
Attracts
8 networkBuilds their

9 referrals
Asks for
10 Does consistent,
volume marketing

11 relationships
Grows client
12 Is accountable 42

MAKEALIVINGWRITING.COM
Keep that on your desktop or post it on your wall, to help you remember what’s
important, and what you need to do to stay on track.
I hope this e-book has given you hope and practical ideas for helping your
freelance business thrive in this recession — and on into the future, when good
times return.
For more help, be sure to check out the final sections of this e-book for addi-
tional useful resources.

43
Resources
Here are three free resources I mentioned in the chapters of this book. While
they were written with freelance writers in mind, these resources will do just as
well for finding other types of freelance jobs:

18 Free Resources for Finding Better Freelance Writing Clients

8 Ways to Get Editors’ Emails

Find Your First Freelance Writing Client With These 7 Pitch Templates

44
Need More Help Earning as a
Freelance Writer?
Are you a freelance writer who could use more than an e-book to support your
career in these uncertain times?
Perhaps you have questions, need to find better-paying clients, or feel you
need to learn new skills to compete in today’s marketplace. Maybe you’re look-
ing to break into freelance writing.
For all these challenges, I’ve got one big solution — check out my learning and
support platform for freelance writers, Freelance Writers Den.
Since 2011, over 14,000 writers have tapped into our 300+ hours of trainings and
24/7 forums where pro writers answer your questions. Regular membership is
just $25 a month, with no contract or obligation — you can leave anytime.
Ordinarily, the Den is only open for new members twice a year. Given the ex-
traordinary moment we’re in now, I’d like to extend a special invite for you to
join the Den right now, if you could use that level of help, learning and support.
It’s just my thank-you for reading this e-book. You can find the back door here.

45
About the Author
Hey there! I’m Carol. I live in Seattle with my husband of 30+ years, the two kids
that are still at home, and Rex the wonder dog.

I’ve earned a full-time living from writing since the mid-90s. I write the
award-winning Make a Living Writing blog, which was named to Writer’s Di-
gest’s Top 101 Best Websites for Writers 2014-16, and is a three-time winner of
Write to Done’s Top 10 Blogs for Writers contest. Since 2012, my income has
come primarily from my blog.
I’m a longtime freelance writer and, since 2008, a passionate advocate for fair
writer pay. I’ve authored or co-authored two print books and twelve e-books
for entrepreneurs and freelance writers, including The Pocket Small Business
Owner’s Guide to Starting Your Business on a Shoestring (Allworth Press 2013)
and 100+ Freelance Writing Questions Answered.
In 2011, I founded Freelance Writers Den, the community where writers learn
how to grow their freelance income—fast. It now has over 1,200 members and
our forums have answered over 80,000 freelancer questions. My small-group
mastermind program for mid-career writers, Den 2X Income Accelerator,
launched in Spring 2015. Learn more about me at my Writer Site - www.car-
oltice.com

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