#53: How to Avoid Freelancing Dry Spells with Lizzie Davey

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In this episode of the Boss Responses podcast, Treasa Edmond and her guest co-host Lizzie dive into the ever-relevant topic of the feast and famine cycle, something every freelancer and business owner faces at some point. They look at the challenge of managing fluctuating workloads and offer practical advice on how to maintain consistency by properly managing deadlines. Lizzie and Treasa share insights on how knowing your limits, setting realistic goals, and cultivating community connections can help sustain a healthy freelance business. They also explore the benefits of securing repeat clients and the importance of never stopping your marketing efforts. Tune in for a conversation filled with actionable tips to help you navigate your freelance journey!

About Our Guest
Lizzie Davey is a Brighton-based copywriter and content strategist with a love for tea, gin, and a knack for taking brands to new heights. With 10 years of experience in marketing, SaaS, and ecommerce, she's helped some of the biggest names in the industry attract and convert their ideal audience. Known for her conversational tone and actionable advice, Lizzie’s content is anything but fluffy. Fun fact: she’s an identical twin, has done the world’s highest bungy jump, and even used to race donkeys!

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Episode Transcript

Treasa Edmond (00:00):
Hi, welcome back to the Boss Responses podcast.
Today, my guest host of the week, Lizzie Davey, and I are going
to talk about what to dowhenever you're having a hard
time finding consistent work andare often experiencing the
dreaded dry spell.
We're going to talk strategiesand methods that we recommend
for building a steady pipelineof clients and projects.

(00:22):
Let's go ahead and get into it.
If you're a freelancer,business owner or anyone who
deals with clients, you're inthe right place.
I'm your host, teresa Edmond.
I've been dealing with clientsand running my business for
nearly two decades and in thattime, I've dealt with my share
of doubt, imposter syndrome andnot knowing what to say when a

(00:43):
client asked a question I wasn'tready for.
I created this podcast toempower you with the boss
responses you need to grow yourbusiness.
Each week, my guest co-host andI will bring you five episodes
packed with practical insights.
Monday through Thursday, weanswer your questions, and
Fridays, we dive deep to explorehow our co-hosts embrace their

(01:06):
role as the boss of theirbusiness.
Welcome to Boss Responses.
We are back for day three withLizzie Davey.
Lizzie, the question today is Ihave had a hard time finding
consistent work and oftenexperience dry spells.
I went through this phase and Ihated it.
When I run out of projects orthings get slow, I start

(01:29):
reaching out to potentialclients, but it always takes a
while to build back up to a fullproject load.
What strategies or methods doyou recommend for building a
steady pipeline of clients andprojects?

Lizzie Davey (01:41):
I love this question because I have faced
those drive spells.
I think it's something thatevery freelancer goes through
and it's completely normal.
The first few times Iexperienced it it was kind of
like oh crap, I've got no workon my schedule.
And then like a mad scramble tofind work, to fill up my
schedule, find new clients andthe question asker said it takes

(02:02):
ages to build back up a fullproject load and then obviously
to get paid because that'safterwards.
So it can be really stressful.
So what I would recommend, andwhat I do now, is I'm constantly
marketing in the background.
So even when I'm really reallybusy, I'm still doing.
I'm doing passive marketing.
So I think there's two kinds ofmarketing freelancers.
There's active marketing andpassive marketing.

(02:24):
Active marketing is when you'repitching people, so when you
actively need work, asking forreferrals, really putting
yourself out there.
And then the passive marketingis building your network,
growing your visibility and justkeeping your name out there so
that people are seeing your nameover and over again, so that
when you do have one of thesedry spells, you've already got a

(02:45):
warm network to tap into.
Because I think one of thethings that we do when we get
very busy and I know that I'mguilty of this and I'm trying to
do it less is we put a completepause on all of our promotional
efforts.
So, yeah, I've got a full loadof client work.
I've got no time to be findingclients to pitch or to be
posting on LinkedIn.
I've got no time for be findingclients to pitch or to be
posting on LinkedIn.
I've got no time for that.

(03:05):
And then those contracts endand, oh, I haven't got any work
because I haven't been nurturingthose leads, I haven't been
putting myself out there.
So I think, even when we'rereally, really busy, we need to
schedule in that time in ourweek, I think every week, every
day, if possible, to do a littlebit of promotion, some of that
passive marketing.
What about you, teresa?

(03:25):
What would you do in thissituation?

Treasa Edmond (03:27):
I agree with all of that and I used to do the
same thing.
I would market, market, market.
I'd fill up my rosters, I'dfocus on the client work and
then I'd be like panic mode Ineed more clients.
Or if a project ended early,that was a problem.
And I do what you and I don'thave to do as much of the active

(03:48):
because most of my clients areinbound, which is wonderful.
Get to that point, that's justgreat.
I still never stop marketing andtelling people that I accept
referrals and it's part of myprocess with every client

(04:12):
enjoyed working with me.
And if you know of anyone whouses these types of services, I
do have some availability in myschedule for new clients.
I say that even if I don't haveimmediate availability.
I think the thing that reallyhelped me the most is when I
started scheduling work out, soI would get a potential client
in and I would tell them I haveavailability now and we can go
ahead and do the project.
Or I would tell them I actuallyam booked up until the second

(04:35):
week in July, but I candefinitely add your project to
the schedule at that time and Iwas surprised People would wait,
especially for the biggerprojects and now I book
ghostwriting projects, sometimesa year out, and it's wonderful.
One of the kind of hiddenbenefits of that is people are

(04:55):
like, oh, she's in demand andpeople like working with people
who are in demand, and then theywould start referring people to
me, already knowing that I wasbooked out six months or
whatever.
So I would have a constantstring of projects coming in
that way.
That created a whole differentproblem and that I could not get

(05:19):
behind on projects.
So scope creep was not allowed.
I got really serious with myboundaries about the same time I
started doing that.
But yeah, I loved it and I dothat.
Do you book out or do you juststick with the current?

Lizzie Davey (05:29):
Yeah, I try and book out, so most of my clients
are reoccurring anyway.
I don't call it a retainerbecause we're not signed into a
set amount each month, usuallybecause that's my choice and I
don't like that level ofcommitment.
But we do have like we will havea six month working
relationship with a certainamount of pieces per month that

(05:49):
we decide at like a month monthin advance.
So I'm usually booked up maybetwo to three months in advance,
definitely, and then I have mycore client base and then I have
gaps in that where I can fillin ad hoc projects, new clients.
So I often start filling thosegaps in two months in advance,
because I often find it takes alittle while to get contracts

(06:10):
going as well.
Yeah, so a client will get intouch and I'll be like, hey, we
need a writer, and I'm like,cool, let's get going.
I'll, we'll have a discoverycall, I'll send all the
contracts and documents and thena month has passed and then,
yeah, so it takes time to set upa proper working relationship.
But, yeah, I am booking outmore in advance than I used to

(06:31):
and it gives me comfort knowingthat I've still got work in a
few months time.

Treasa Edmond (06:36):
It really does, and it also helps with cash flow
.
You have a general idea ofwhat's coming in the next couple
of months and I think that'salso important.
A lot of what we do for ourbusiness is for peace of mind
and we need to realize that alot of those systems really help
with that and we need torealize that a lot of those
systems really help with that.
I really like what you saidabout the ad hoc projects,
because I intentionally leaveroom in my schedule for last

(06:58):
minute projects.
I also hold a block of myschedule.
I like retainers.

Lizzie Davey (07:04):
Do you?

Treasa Edmond (07:05):
Yeah, and it locks you in with a client, but
I am so careful with who Ichoose as a client that I feel
pretty safe with that.
What I like about them, though,is my retainers are all paid at
the beginning of the month, soI don't have to do that thing
where I wait for 30 days or 60days or 90 days or whatever
their weird payment process is.
That's one of the reasons I dothat, because I don't like that

(07:28):
not knowing I'm really I'm notscatterbrained.
I am incredibly focused on whatI'm doing in that moment, and
if I finished a project for aclient, in my mind I finished a
project for the client, so Iwill forget to chase down
payment, unless I have a systemset up that reminds me hey,
check to see if I've receivedthe payment on it.
Now I use Bonsai, and it remindsme.

(07:50):
It'll say I have an outstandinginvoice.
It'll tell me that it's sent areminder to the client already,
which is wonderful.
Standing invoice It'll tell methat it's sent a reminder to the
client already, which iswonderful, but I learned that I
couldn't do that, so I switchedto retainers.
So if I had the payment upfront, then it was done, and
then I could just do the workand relax and enjoy life, and
that's where that went.
Do you have a kind of setpayment system that you have set

(08:11):
up, where they have to paywithin 30 days or whatever?

Lizzie Davey (08:14):
Yeah, so my payment terms are net 30 and I
invoice on the last day of themonth, or as opposed to the last
day of the month, and I've gotit automated to go out and then
it will also automate remindersthroughout the month so that
they pay Automations are awesome, so one thing that we're seeing
here is a trend.

Treasa Edmond (08:33):
It takes sometimes 30 days to onboard a
client, to get them even towhere we can start the project,
and then very often we have 30days after that month is
complete before payment comes in.
So if you are entering a dryspell, if you have not been
marketing for clients and youreach the end of a project, it

(08:54):
could be three months beforeyour next payment comes in.

Lizzie Davey (08:58):
Yeah, and that's a major thing.
It's scary when you think aboutit like that.

Treasa Edmond (09:02):
Yeah, so don't experience stress pills so
consistently market that.
I think that's the lesson here.
It's not just something youshould do, it's something you
must do if you want to keep yourbusiness running smoothly
absolutely yeah, I always try.

Lizzie Davey (09:18):
Even now.
I've got so many clients andI'm booked up until september,
but I'm still taking time out ofmy week to post on linkedin and
to check in with potentialleads, keeping people warm, like
researching potential newclients, still taking referrals,
still taking discovery calls,still doing all of that even
though my calendar is chockerfor the next couple of months.

Treasa Edmond (09:41):
I'm so proud of you.
I think that's great, all right.
So dry spells the best way tonot have them is to just never
stop marketing, and that'sinbound and outbound.
Just keep the clients comingand start scheduling out.
Don't be afraid to tell aclient they have to wait.
Some of them actually reallylike that.

(10:02):
All right, come back tomorrowfor day four with Lizzie.