Should You Take On Holiday Work

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Should You Take On Holiday Work?
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• Ah, autumn that whimsical, crisp time of year
  that makes a whole lot of people feel strongly
  about spices, and which kinds of decorations
  should, or should not be out in their favorite
  stores.
• Its a reminder that you have no idea where your
  scarf is, a reminder that Netflix is about to
  release a bucketfull of your favorite shows, and
  a reminder that youve probably still got a lot
  of holiday shopping left to do.
• For a freelancer, however, these delightful
  fall-themed mementos can be a glaring signal for
  a three month stretch of anxiety and/or
  professional drought. While we self-employed
  mavericks enjoy a very special level of freedom,
  we also have to roll through life without certain
  perks like corporate health insurance or holiday
  pay. Our industries tend to suffer from a lack of
  work during this time of (everyone elses)
  relaxation, as well.
• There are plenty of reasons for freelancers to
  have a dip in work during the holidays
  businesses want to focus on wrapping up the year
  rather than paying for new products and services,
  or they want to save that new website until after
  their vacation. Either way it can be a stressful
  time which begs the question Should you take on
  some extra holiday work?

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Evaluate Your Situation Before you can make any
big decisions here, youll have to do some
serious adulting and by that I mean youve got
to look over your finances and see where youre
at. Lets say, worst case scenario, that youre
not going to get ANY new work until after the new
year. Can you survive? If you can survive, will
you have any money left? If youre going to have
to move in with your parents or go into epic
credit card debt to make it through, then the
answer to the extra work question is a resounding
Yeah, probably, man. Hit the (Virtual)
Pavement If it looks like your future involves
giving gifts made of your junk drawers contents,
its probably time to look for some holiday work.
This can be an intimidating prospect, but its by
no means impossible. If you dont want to leave
your desk, you can always browse the wide range
of freelancing sites available online. Its
important to do your research with these,
however, because theres a variety of different
kinds out there. Whether you want to pay a
membership for an exclusive marketplace or simply
browse a job board, you should be able to find an
option that fits your needs.
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Look Some People in the Eyes Another way to get
extra holiday work is to scope out the local need
for your services. Can you find a local business
or two with dated websites, or no website at all?
Round up your business cards, dust off
your elevator pitch, and get out there. You can
also check out your local Chamber of Commerce to
see if they have any networking events going on.
Sometimes, the key to getting quick work is to
look someone in the eye, shake their hand, and
sell it. Check in With the Family If youre
looking for some extra projects, let people know.
Tell your friends and family members that youre
looking for some holiday work (even if you have
to remind them what, exactly, it is that you do).
You never know Aunt Matilda might be more
connected than you think. When you do find that
extra work Remember, you could totally be taking
a vacation, but youre not. Youre working while
other people take relaxing baths in pumpkin spice
lattes and fall asleep watching sporting events
in recliners.
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Holiday work is a fantastic opportunity to raise
your rates. Of course, youll need to make sure
that your potential client is aware of the
holiday rates beforehand, and it should be added
to any contract clause that refers to
payment. Or, you know, dont look for work. If
your household brings in a second income, or if
youre sitting pretty with your finances, it
might be a fantastic idea to take a break. Heres
why Guilt-free Unbillable Hours Obviously, we
freelancers love those billable hours I mean,
whats more satisfying than billing for work and
getting paid? The thing is, though, that a
business cant run smoothly without all of that
behind-the-scenes work like invoicing, calendar
maintenance, and bill paying and none of that
stuff can be billed to anyone. Having a few
months available will allow you to really focus
on your unbillable tasks without the pressure of
work hanging above your head. You can plan ahead,
get caught up on all of those tasks in your to
do pile, and take a good, introspective look at
your processes. What can you improve? What should
you stop doing? How can you be a better
freelancer?
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Nurture Your Creative Side You know that creative
project youve been thinking about? Whether its
a dating site for pet caterpillars or an Oregon
Trail-themed rock opera, a slow holiday season is
the perfect time to tackle it. Your freelance
work is important, but so is honing your craft
and nurturing your creativity. CLICK TO
TWEET Give yourself a creative goal, and see if
you can walk away from this holiday season with a
finished product that will reignite your
professional passion and embellish your
portfolio. Add a Dash of Automation As you focus
on your unbillable tasks during this downtime,
you might give some thought to automation. What
part of your process can you automate that will
save you time and let you focus on the parts of
your work that you actually care about? For
starters, what about your onboarding process? For
an idea of how to speed up this process, check
out our post on using NinjaForms and WPeSignature
to get the automated ball a rollin.
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Spiff Up Your Stuff Have you added any of your
most recent completed projects to your portfolio?
Does your website need a little love? Do all of
your business social media profiles still
reference your MySpace page? Take a look at your
business online presence and evaluate it. Does
it represent the freelancer you are now? If not,
the holidays can be a good time to get yourself
up to speed. Tackle Those Taxes What if, just
once, you could show up on January 1st, fully
prepared for tax season? Can you imagine!? If
you can pick one or two days a week this holiday
season to go through and gather up your tax
information, you could easily be on your way to
experiencing this fantasy scenario without
having to put forth much effort. You could also
use your time this season to research apps and
programs that will make your accounting life
easier and you might be able to snag them at a
holiday discount.
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No matter how you handle the holidays, youve got
to speak up about it. If youre looking for more
work, make sure people know that. Send a holiday
email out to your current clients and tell them
that now is a great time to think about the new
logo they mentioned in May. Similarly, if youre
closing up shop for a few months, let them know
youll be unavailable for any new work until
after the holidays. Your clients will appreciate
communication from you, regardless of
purpose. And, hey, why not send out holiday
thank you cards to those valued clients, while
youre at it? Article Resource
https//www.approveme.com/freelancing/holiday-work
/