Hold your nerve

Things have been a little slow for me of late.  Dispiritingly so.  Looking down my list of 'active' clients a month ago I luxuriated in the notion that I'd be battling to stay afloat amongst a tidal wave of work, that I'd spend springtime wishing there were more hours in the day.

Four weeks later the picture is dull, approaching gloomy.

There's enough work on for me to know that the bills will be paid and that life will go on as planned (no small feat in a city as expensive as London) but that tidal wave of work that the freelancer in me prays for stays away.

From experience I know that there isn't much little rhyme or reason that can be attributed to a drop-off in enthusiasm across a range of clients, especially when they operate in different time zones.  And whilst its often tempting to look at my ever-shortening 'WIP' file, read about the impending global economic meltdown and use that to explain the dearth of work, I know this is lazy thinking.

Each client, so enthusiastic in February, will have a different reason for pulling back in April.  The key supporter with a change in roles.  The product launch postponed.  The announcement, unanticipated, of a global restructuring.  The boss who simply had to be at the next meeting taking maternity leave.  Good reasons all, and none to do with me, my product, or anything I can even remotely influence.

Because I work in a world where I charge a considerable amount for a relatively small number of projects, the temptation to read to much in the entrails of another 'thanks-but-not-until-Q3-at-soonest' email is always there.  The trick is to hold my nerve.  That and keep broadening my client base.

An email hits my in-box: one of the aforementioned clients wants to meet on Friday.  I feel validated again.