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Yesterday I was reading an article in the New York Times about the economy. The article wasn't primarily about freelance writers, but the person who wrote the article (Ben Stein, randomly enough, although I didn't realize it til the end) had this to say about the freelance writing life:
"This is the most insecure existence imaginable. It mandates saving, ingenuity and nonstop work and creativity. Freelancers never have a day off. Never. They know that they can go months without a check. They absolutely have to save. They have to have five different levels of fall-back plans and financial escape hatches."
He was writing about being a freelance scriptwriter in Hollywood. But there are definitely parallels between this and the freelance copywriting life. As a contract worker, I don't worry incessantly about money (I used to, but into my third year as a full-time freelancer, I've finally allowed myself to have faith in the fact that my business is pretty stable).
But that doesn't mean I'm not obsessive about saving. I am. If I don't put money into my savings account every month, I feel like the whole thing could unravel at any minute. And it takes a serious crisis to make me take money out of that account. I also have a separate account for tax savings...I have to put a high percentage of every check I get into that account and never look at it again, or tax season will be a nightmare.
But my contingency plan goes beyond savings. If I start to run out, there's always a freelance writing staffing firm I've been eyeing for a while...they hire mainly writers for on-site projects, so I haven't actively pursued it, but it's there if I feel like I need it. There's an all-out campaign for a full time staff copywriting job at an ad agency--I could do that, if i really needed the stability. I have options.
In this economy, even full-time employees need contingency plans. Full-timers are often completely destroyed by a firing because a). all their eggs are in one basket and b). they haven't thought ahead to when the basket tips over. Stability encourages complacency. As freelancers, we know that relying on one or two clients is an unstable situation and diversifying our client base actually leads to a more stable situation; and you have to have plans on top of plans for when you lose regular clients, because you will.
So what's your contingency plan?
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