#148: How to Line Up January Work Now

Deliberate Freelancer

If you’re like me, you’ve learned the hard way that if you don’t plan for January right now, you might have a very slow start to the new year.

A lot of places shut down between Christmas and New Year’s Day, which can make that a great time of year to take off from your freelance business — but it can also be a great time to catch up on work or work on your business,

But those last two weeks of the year are not usually a good time to reach out to clients. I highly encourage you to do that outreach now to ensure some income come January.

I’ve said before that my best way to get new clients is through referrals. And while referrals work well for getting new clients, the easiest way for me to get new projects from existing clients is simply to email clients.

In this episode, I share my very basic formula and some suggested email language for January outreach. I focus first on a top-tier group, my favorite clients to work with, and then a larger, broader group. I track it via a spreadsheet.

Another thing I’ve been doing more of is posting on LinkedIn when I have availability for work. See the link below under Resources for an example.

Start your LinkedIn post by clearly focusing on your target audience or call to action, because as people scroll through their feeds they only see the first couple of lines of a LinkedIn post and you want to catch their attention.

Another way to potentially line up work for January is to send a holiday card — this reminds clients you’re out there and available. Email cards are easy, but a paper, snail mail card with a handwritten personalized note will stand out.

Biz Bite: Do a software and tools audit

The Bookshelf: “The Kaiju Preservation Society” by John Scalzi

Resources:

• Join me for the ASJA webinar on Dec. 13 “How to Host a Solo Business Retreat and Gear Up for 2023.”
• Join the Deliberate Freelancer Facebook group.
• Support Deliberate Freelancer at Buy Me a Coffee.
• Melanie’s LinkedIn marketing post