As a rule, it is more profitable to have a handful of big and busy clients rather than dozens of smaller ones. You can be more productive and efficient doing repeat business with familiar clients. There is no learning curve and less administrative and marketing overhead.
The more of these big clients in your portfolio, the greater your income. It works that way for every freelancer I know.
So focus 80% of your looking-for-business efforts on clients that need a lot of what you do. And when you get to work with one, bend over backwards and jump through hoops to please them.
If you have one such client, that’s good. Two is better. Three is about right. Instead of a fourth, try to find a bunch of infrequent clients, or small clients who might become big.
Because the one rule about big clients is this: They will go away. Through no fault of yours, things will change somewhere and the run will be over. So cultivate them when you can, and always have others in the wings. Always think about how you’d replace that big client.
Because you will have to. Guaranteed.
April 1, 2017 @ 6:16 pm
Perhaps all that is why I always freelanced “with a net”. That is, I’d been a copy editor; then a proofreader; then a freelance proofreader when the computer typesetter I worked for, facing bankruptcy issues, made all of its employees freelancers without actually informing them. (Don’t worry, there was litigation, and the IRS, NYS Departments of Taxation AND Labor called them to task. But it was enough to get me looking for work with more security.)
So I went to work in NY State’s Unified Court System as a court clerk. My title was actually Court Assistant, but it conferred peace officer status and, although, early on–first living at my parents and then, newly married, with a teenage stepson–I chose not to possess a firearm. But I still had to requalify on the range once a year for the first few years, before they did away with it for those of us who did not carry. Anyhow, a uniform I met during my firearms training kind of took me under his wing, telling me I’d never get rich at that job, but I’d be secure and get tiny raises halfway regularly, even when the overall economy was not doing well. That proved mostly true.
That “uniform,” a court officer, also told me I’d never be too tired at the end of my 9-to-5 that I couldn’t do something else that fulfilled me and do it for money. And he pointed out all the other uniforms and clerks at firearms training who had side businesses. Out of that, I decided to turn my fascination with the new personal computer scene and my experience as a proofreader and copy editor, and being around prepress and print production, into freelance book design work.
So I was able to slowly develop a little bit of a track record, and, finally, a book design practice, complete with email and Internet communications and videoconferencing replacing Having retired from the court job after a bit more than 32 years, I work exclusively as a book designer/layout artist–semi-retired, I call it, since I collect my state pension and social security. And for the last 6 or 7 years, all my clients have been self-publishers. That generally means one-offs, with the exception of one client who’s had a coupla books for me over the past few years.
So I don’t really know from cash cows in terms of repeat business. But I can say that it’s up to the individual to price in a way that makes a project worthwhile. Of course, that’s easier to do when you have the “net” I had, other full-time employment, so I could stick to my guns, so to speak, and walk away from clients who wouldn’t pay my price. Oddly, the single best piece of advice I received as a new freelancer was to raise my rates to be taken more seriously. It worked, tho’ I always wondered if the timing was more that i’d gotten more experienced and my blog and comments on others’ blogs and forums had simply gotten my name around.
Now I’m in the unusual position–for just a coupla more years–of having a limit on what I can earn before there’s a social security penalty for earning over the max they allow without penalty. That’s given me the luxury of being able to work for a little less than I normally would in order to stay under that max (tho’ I’m not totally adverse to just paying the penalty if and when I go over). But because self-publishing has removed the “gatekeepers” that traditional publishers were, theoretically allowing anyone who wants to get published do so, there are an enormous amount more people who try to get editing and production work done for way less than professionals earn. These days, however, I can afford to take the occasional job for less than market rates if it interests me enough. My semi-retirement affords me a certain flexibility I didn’t have when I needed to find cash cows.
April 1, 2017 @ 9:04 pm
Stephen, your situation’s similar to mine (apart from my middle name being Steve & your name being Stephen!). I’m a retired Bexar County (San Antonio), Texas court interpreter & aiming at taking my pension + Social Security at the optimal times to max out the monthly stipends, although I’m qualified to take both now. I’m a US expat who lives and teaches–mostly university-level English, also part-time high school Spanish–in Taipei, Taiwan. I work for multiple employers and started doing so when I was still working here full-time in the military academy system. I’m now teaching part-time for VIPKID, a Chinese company that teaches grades K-5/6 or so Chinese kids English over the Internet. I see VIPKID as the “big client” referred to in the article: https://t.vipkid.com.cn/?refereeId=3495217
I’m building up my stock of students, but at the same time, I’m looking around for another online opportunity where there’s no conflict of interest (my VIPKID contract has restrictions against competing with their target market) + during daytime/morning hours, Taiwan time.I found one company similar to VIPKID–they teach ESL to clients in Latin America–the LATAM evening time is morning over here, but, sadly, the pay was only about $10/hour! BTW, if anybody hears of something like what I’m looking for, I’d love to hear about it. Thanks In Advance!
I figure between 2 major online employers, a tiny bit of steady part-time university work, and a pension or two, things will be cool! I’ll use that cushion to build up some freelance work bit-by-bit (writing, Spanish-to-English translating, etc.).
Interesting reading here this Sunday morning before grabbing a U Bike from the racks outside the apartment and pedaling to church–then some VIPKID work this evening!
Greetings from Asia!
Dan Villarreal
Taipei, Taiwan
April 2, 2017 @ 7:03 am
Wow, Dan! Interesting coinkydink, our both being from our respective state’s court systems. One key diff: I haven’t waited to max out on anything. For one thing, I’m superstitious and don’t believe in assuming anything about my longevity. For another, life’s good when it’s good. And I’ve learned to max out whatever experience I can , when I can.
Then, too, my state pension is perhaps the last generous thing left from my civil service experience, as things have understandably gotten tighter and stingier over the years since I s for social security, they always say to do the math and see how long you need to live to make t which point my superstition kicks in.
As it happens, friends I made in the system who’d been there much longer than I were able to share this bit of info: It works out to be surprisingly more than you expected (me, anyway) when collecting both. So much so that my wife and I managed to get out of our old house, which itself was a downsize from what I thought was my dream house, into a real dream house on a golf course here. Only thing I’d change for the better is being in a state with no winter, which won’t happen, because my wife won’t go south.
But CHina! Again, wow, Dan! WHat made you pick up stakes like that? I’m guessing there may not have had to’ve been a “we” consultation.
April 2, 2017 @ 10:43 am
Hi Stephen, I actually reside in Taipei, Taiwan, but I teach for a Chinese company. I can do so from the comfort of my living room. Just did a shift, in fact. As I teach more hours, more kids get the opportunity to tell Mommy and Daddy that they like Teacher Dan & then I can get more hours, more bonuses, etc.
—
About moving to Taiwan, long story short: I was doing my Ph.D. in Foreign Language Education at The University of Texas at Austin. One of our FLE grads in Taiwan was running the International Office at National Taiwan University of Science and Technology & sent us an email inviting us to teach in a special summer program. I’d never been to Asia before & I took him up on the offer. I prepped by doing some Pimsleur Mandarin Chinese CD lessons & buying a good phrasebook. Fell in love with the country & decided to move here. As you say, no Spousal Support Unit to consult with, so I got to be Steve McQueen: “I live for myself and I answer to nobody.” Works for me! 🙂
Best,
Dan V
Taipei