As great as freelancing is, it’s a career. And every career has its ups and downs. Its highs and lows. Its “I’m the greatest” moments followed immediately by “I’m a fraud and I’ll never make another client happy again” moments.
Feel like sharing a disappointing outcome in your freelance journey?
Beyond the experiences above, I've had very exciting projects fall through at the last minute--or just had potential clients vanish after an initial meeting to discuss the project. I've had clients upset about issues I could not possibly have anticipated or mitigated.
Can I ask how you started working with agencies? I’ve heard a few people talk about this and I’m very interested, but I have no clue how to bridge the gap between lil me and an agency that might want to work with me.
Hi Adrianna, there are a few agencies I work with. Some have come to me through colleagues (former freelance writers who took an in-house job with them and knew me, so they recommended me for work). Others (the vast majority) found me on LinkedIn. They had a need for writers who specialized in a specific field (law or finance) or who lived in a region (Canada) that their clients needed help in. They found my content and messaged me on LinkedIn.
You can also send letters of intent to agencies (make sure you follow anti-spam laws in your country). Find the person responsible for hiring freelancers (often the creative director, content director, or editorial director) and send them the email (or connect with them on LinkedIn). Keep in mind, that many agencies specialize and they'll want freelancers who fit that niche. If you are a generalist, find agencies in industries you have experience in. It's a lot more difficult to work with an agency if you don't have some specialization because they likely have in-house writers who can do the non-specialist writing--they reach out to freelancers for expertise.
The letter of intent concept is brand-new to me, but I appreciate it a lot. (I know you brought this up in your deep-dive too - thank you!) I think I'm going to try this out, just to see if it can help expand my reach :) I love working 1:1 with clients but it certainly has its pitfalls, and maybe working with an agency would help to balance the scales.
OOh, an important note: My brain being mush these days, I mislabeled the letter. The LOI is a letter of introduction, not a letter of intent, in case you're looking it up online.
I remember when the global financial crash hit the public sector in the UK in 2010 and I lost £30k of business in a week, that was a tough year! It's the opportunity cost as well of course. However, my brother/then business partner and I got through it taking lots of smaller contracts to keep us going.
Thanks for sharing that, Helen. That would be very hard to take. At the start of Covid, I lost almost all of my clients because they were all in the legal industry and stopped marketing when Covid hit. That hurt a lot. I managed to find more clients, but it was a stressful few months, for sure.
Feel like sharing a disappointing outcome in your freelance journey?
Beyond the experiences above, I've had very exciting projects fall through at the last minute--or just had potential clients vanish after an initial meeting to discuss the project. I've had clients upset about issues I could not possibly have anticipated or mitigated.
Can I ask how you started working with agencies? I’ve heard a few people talk about this and I’m very interested, but I have no clue how to bridge the gap between lil me and an agency that might want to work with me.
Hi Adrianna, there are a few agencies I work with. Some have come to me through colleagues (former freelance writers who took an in-house job with them and knew me, so they recommended me for work). Others (the vast majority) found me on LinkedIn. They had a need for writers who specialized in a specific field (law or finance) or who lived in a region (Canada) that their clients needed help in. They found my content and messaged me on LinkedIn.
You can also send letters of intent to agencies (make sure you follow anti-spam laws in your country). Find the person responsible for hiring freelancers (often the creative director, content director, or editorial director) and send them the email (or connect with them on LinkedIn). Keep in mind, that many agencies specialize and they'll want freelancers who fit that niche. If you are a generalist, find agencies in industries you have experience in. It's a lot more difficult to work with an agency if you don't have some specialization because they likely have in-house writers who can do the non-specialist writing--they reach out to freelancers for expertise.
The letter of intent concept is brand-new to me, but I appreciate it a lot. (I know you brought this up in your deep-dive too - thank you!) I think I'm going to try this out, just to see if it can help expand my reach :) I love working 1:1 with clients but it certainly has its pitfalls, and maybe working with an agency would help to balance the scales.
If you feel up to it, let me know how it goes for you!
OOh, an important note: My brain being mush these days, I mislabeled the letter. The LOI is a letter of introduction, not a letter of intent, in case you're looking it up online.
Okay, this makes a lot more sense! I was like "Oooh, fancy!" lol.
I remember when the global financial crash hit the public sector in the UK in 2010 and I lost £30k of business in a week, that was a tough year! It's the opportunity cost as well of course. However, my brother/then business partner and I got through it taking lots of smaller contracts to keep us going.
Thanks for sharing that, Helen. That would be very hard to take. At the start of Covid, I lost almost all of my clients because they were all in the legal industry and stopped marketing when Covid hit. That hurt a lot. I managed to find more clients, but it was a stressful few months, for sure.