A lot is happening in the economy right now…and it seems pretty negative. There’s talk of Inflation rates, a looming recession, and industry-wide layoffs. if you’re a freelance writer, you’re probably feeling the heat right now. But are these things to panic about?

Yes and no. Don’t jump ship, but now is the time to make your business adaptable, to specialize, and to double down on what you’re good at.

Don’t approach things with a scarcity mindset

Things may be a bit quieter right now, and it’s easy to slip into a mindset that makes you think it will be that way for a while (or there’s just not enough work out there.)

“Don’t let the headlines be a self-fulfilling prophecy. Don’t see something that says, ‘No one’s hiring freelancers,’ and think, ‘No one’s hiring freelancers, so I guess that’s it for me.’ Look at your business and see how things are going.”

You may see social posts or news articles that report a slowdown in the freelance writing market, but that doesn’t mean you won’t find any work. Depending on your business and the industries you work in, you may even have the opposite experience.

There’s value in leaning into the scarcity, though. If it makes financial sense for you to take a break right now, you should do it. Taking time to appreciate the pause can benefit your mental and emotional health.

When business gets slow, experiment

There are so many paths to explore as a freelance writer—and the freedom to explore those is one of the reasons many of us decided to freelance in the first place.

If business is going slower than you’d like, this might be the perfect opportunity to try that thing you’ve had your eye on. Consider trying out social media posts and email newsletters if you usually write blog posts and ebooks. If you’ve worked in one industry for a while, consider adding strategy or coaching packages to your offerings.

For us, we’ve each experimented with something slightly different than our everyday work—but still within our wheelhouses. Emma’s grown the coaching arm of her business, taken on some larger projects, and scheduled things out further in the future than before. Kaleigh offered one-page website audits with a flat rate to change things up.

“Find new ways to generate revenue rather than depending on just client projects and writing assignments.”

Especially with the rise of the creator economy, you can create a financial buffer by diversifying your income streams. If you have a newsletter, you could consider a newsletter sponsorship; if you have a significant social media following, sponsored posts or whitelisting ads might be something to try.

Diversifying your income stream is a good insurance policy for recessions; it allows you to pivot your business as needed to match the industry’s needs. You never know—you might find something you really enjoy and decide to keep doing, even when the economy recovers.

Be proactive and reach out to potential clients

Right now, getting new projects and clients is an “early bird gets the worm” situation. To get that competitive edge over others, you need to be proactive and get your foot in the door for year-end projects or projects currently slotted for the start of the new year.

This is always good advice, but it’s especially true right now. As budgets become more conservative and approvals for hiring freelance writers comes under scrutiny, reaching out proactively can help keep your workload full.

“One of the benefits of freelancing is that it’s easy to pivot if things come up and you’re not getting as much work as you were in the past. When companies cut back, they rely more on freelancers because they may not have the option of hiring internally.”

As you’re preparing to find new work, ask yourself these questions:

What things can I do to make myself more appealing as a freelance writer for this particular job?
Are there solutions I can bring or simplifications I can add to a process to make myself stand out?
What else can I do to make potential clients more likely to hire me?
Is there a way I can ask current or previous clients to refer me to others?
Is what I’m doing attracting the right kind of clients? If not, how can I get more of the right kind?
Does it make sense to adjust my rates? How much should I increase them by?

Don’t panic

The upcoming recession doesn’t mean you have to panic or your business will suffer. Consider different ways to grow your business—through various industries, offerings, different-sized projects, and so on—and expect to try things out. Recession-proofing your business is possible.

Recession-proofing your freelance writing business