The internet does an interesting thing. When people look up freelancing, they get sent to all these guides that guarantee they will be successful if they do this or that. The thing is, most freelancers live with a level of income variability, especially in the beginning. I know I did and do.
The Wibble Wobble
Freelancing is a balancing act. There’s the time it takes to do the work, pricing considerations, and more that go into the figuring. That’s just planning how to run the business, though it does affect income variability.
Then there’s the multiple boss issue. It’s rare for freelancers to only have one client, and that often leads to competing time demands. Each of these bosses must be pleased with the work as well, or the freelance must find more bosses to make up that shortfall.
Another factor is how the freelancer chooses to take orders and deal with their bosses. On the one hand, the fees are less with direct invoicing. However, then there is chasing the bosses for payment. On the other hand is using a platform and losing a percentage for the platform’s services.
Balancing this is part of running a freelance business. Each choice contributes to how the final shape happens, and changes can upset the balance. That’s where the income variability happens.
Working to Handle Income Variability
I’m a freelance writer, so this section is a little specific. One of the ways to mitigate some of the income variability is by diversifying what gets done. The skills for SEO blog writing transfer wonderfully to building informational sites or optimizing print on demand listings. These take time, however.
Another part of the equation is how long it takes to get new income going. Most freelancers must develop systems that work whenever they need to find and bring on a new client. On one end, it saves time. On the other, it can take a lot of effort and tweaking to perform reliably.
COVID-19 really spotlighted how little it takes to upset the income variability equation. It hit everyone to varying degrees, and most companies looked for places to cut costs. Often, that was the freelancer doing something they saw as nonessential.
How Income Variability Went with Me
Silver Magpie Writing has existed for two years at the point of this blog. However, it took almost a year to consistently make money and not lose it to the business backend tools immediately. During that year, I tutored part-time to make it all work. Gradually, I started bringing on more clients, and things evened out.
The other factor was finally getting enough reviews on one of the ordering platforms that it began recommending me as part of the algorithm. That was a relief since the system let other people find me without my needing to actively expend more time.
Once the time freed up, I was able to start genuinely diversifying my income sources. I’d been adding things to a print on demand website previously. I started building my own websites as well. COVID-19 accelerated this building.
I still have significant income variability, but I can also consistently pay myself enough to handle everyday expenses. That’s just part of how I have to run Silver Magpie Writing.