Freelancer’s Guide to Surviving a Recession

It’s no joke. a recession is a terrible time for freelancers. Designers and writers everywhere are struggling to make ends meet. Art departments in full are fired at the first sign of one. Here are a few tips to help you through this tough time.

Cut Back on Expenses

You have to make some sacrifices if you want to keep a roof over your head. Trade in bottled water for tap. Eat in instead of eating out. You may want to get used to the taste of ramen noodles. Consider cutting back the speed of your Internet if you can or cut down a few TV channels. Do you really need your World of Warcraft account? Cancel it until you can afford it.

Always Look for Work

Be persistent. You should be searching the standard websites everyday for freelance work in your field. Don’t consider the Internet your only source either. You can look in the local newspaper for jobs or hit the streets with business cards.

Add Social Networking to Your Resume

It’s common sense to make sure your resume is up to date and the best it can be. But even with the best resume, being well connected will still increase your odds of finding or landing a job. Keep a personal website. Use Twitter and Myspace but keep in mind, social networking can be a double edged sword. what you put up can and will be saved and archived and easily found by potential employers. If you don’t want your boss to find out any embarrassing content or photos, make two accounts, one for business and one for play. Remember, Never tie your real name to your “play” account.

Don’t Undermine Your Industry

I can’t stress this enough. If you hop on CraigsList and accept creating a professional website for $15, you send a message to everyone else out here that freelance graphic designers are slave labor. Not only is that clearly not enough to survive on, you’ve drove down the cost of everyone else’s work as well. You will receive the backlash of the community and could be blackballed or harassed by your peers.

Find a Stable Job

If you can’t find work, forget freelancing for a while. Freelancing may provide flexible work hours and high pay but it’s not stable. Even if you can’t find a full time job in your field, a part time job at the local grocery store will bring in some sort of income. You want to keep your house right? You can always accept freelance jobs on the side to keep you seasoned in your field.