December can be slow for Freelance Writers
Freelance writers deal with ups and downs throughout the year. In my past experiences, the month of December is one of the worst for business. Although I am not 100 percent sure of why this happens, my guess is that a lot of it has to do with the holidays. Not only did Thanksgiving just end, but Christmas and the New Year pretty much shut the month down a week early. In turn, this means that you only have three weeks or so of good work time; and even that is a stretch in most cases.
Last December I earned just around $4,000. Although it was a disappointing month, it was not as bad as I thought it would be. Luckily, I am doing much better this December, and hope to break the $5k mark with ease.
What are freelance writers to do if work is slow during December? Try the following ideas to stay busy until 2008.
1. If you are not writing, strongly market your services so that you can hit the ground running in 2008. Remember, December may be slow, but you want to make sure that the new year does not start off at the same pace. Personally, I love to have a solid month in January as to set a positive tone for the rest of the year.
2. Update all of your files. This includes everything from payment receipts to contact lists. By doing this now, you can avoid being bogged down next month. The bottom line is that you want to free up all of your time for actual writing related tasks starting January 1.
3. Make a list of both short and long term goals. When doing this you want to set big goals, but not ones that are impossible to reach. If you are constantly failing, it will begin to take a toll on you.
There is a good chance that you are having a slow month; this is common among freelance writers in December. But remember, just because you do not have a lot of work, does not mean that you cannot be productive.Â
