Continuing our series on how an economic crisis might affect freelancers and contractors, Freelance Advisor and Web Marketing Consultant Leif Kendall gives us five freelancing tips for surviving in a recession.

Before I tell you how to literally work your way through a recession, or a credit crunch, or whatever we’re experiencing, I would like to confess that I’ve not freelanced through any past financial quagmires.

As with all Freelance Advisor blog posts, half the value is in readers’ contributions. Your comments add to the resource. So please comment (using the form below) if you have any top tips for surviving hard times.

Tip 1: Find more clients

Spreading your risk is crucial. You may have two great clients that throw tonnes of work your way, but if one or both of them go under then you’re screwed. Find more clients ASAP.

Tip 2: Make the most of what you’ve got

Are you good to your clients? You better be. As more people are made redundant, more potential freelancers enter the job market. If you want to avoid being swept away by these fresh freelancers, build strong relationships with your clients and look for new, better ways to help them.

Do you have a website? Actually, having a website isn’t enough. Do you have a website that people find, and people use to contact you through? If your website is a worthless heap of e-junk, consider optimising it. All websites can be put to work. Your website could become a valuable tool in the fight for survival.

Tip 3: Diversify

If you can offer clients new services, do. Expand your range. Publicise your new services. Create new identities. Growth doesn’t have to mean cost.

Tip 4: Meet people

Do you network? Make the most of every networking opportunity. Always have a business card to hand.

Tip 5: Control your costs, track your earnings

Book-keeping might sound dull, but without book-keeping you can’t have profit. Be reluctant to spend money unless the purchase brings a tangible benefit.

By Leif Kendall, freelance copywriter and web marketing consultant

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Related:

• Three reasons why freelancers are safer during a recession
• The growth in the Freelancer Marketplace – Fact or Fiction
• And if you really want to make yourself feel better (and/or rub it in) then the Broker’s With Hands On Their Faces Blog is well worth a few minutes of your attention.