9 things to do when

client work gets slow

jayclouse.com
Hey 👋 I’m Jay Clouse
I'm the creator of Freelancing School, founder of Unreal Collective, host of Creative
Elements, and author for Linkedin Learning & Lynda.com.

I am obsessed with helping talented, creative people build the lifestyle that they want
for themselves.

Most people start freelancing because we want control. We want control of our time,
control of who we work with, and control of the work that we do.

And most freelancers aspire to creating things for themselves too – not just their
clients.

Unfortunately, a lot of freelancers find themselves overworked and underpaid.

Somewhere in the hustle of getting by, they lose all control and surrender all of their
time to their clients.

The personal projects we are so excited about get neglected.

But it doesn't have to be that way. Over the years, I've helped my clients earn more,
find balance, and create a more controlled lifestyle.

Click here to read my full story

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This is a tough time
for everyone.

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You are not alone!

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But just because the world has
slowed down around you…

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…doesn’t mean you have
to slow down too.

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Let’s make some lemonade.

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Your sales funnel

You’re starting at the top, right?

Awareness

You’re working to find leads who

you first make aware of you and
then you try to interest them in Interest
working with you.

What if you could skip those first Decision

two steps entirely?

This is what referrals do for you à Action

inbound leads for prospects who
know you exist and are already
interested in talking to you.

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Life is easy when you have
high quality, inbound leads.

People coming to YOU for help.

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REMEMBER:
Someone else recommending
your work is much more
powerful than YOU
recommending your work.

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The more advocates
you have for your business,
the easier life will be.

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What is an advocate?

Do you get a lot of word of mouth?

It’s pretty obvious that the words come out of the mouths of people who
already know you. I call these people your advocates.

You already have advocates – friends, family, coworkers, collaborators…they

are just people who know you and willingly say nice things about you.

These advocates can be a total game changer for your work, and they are
completely undervalued and underutilized.

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You need:
EYES and EARS

…an acronym and a philosophy.

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Establish Empower
Your Advocates (to)
AND
Elevator Refer
Speech Sales

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Let’s break that down…

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 1
Establish
Your
Elevator
Speech

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EYES 1

Establish
Your Elevator Speech (or Elevator Pitch)
is a short description of what you do

Goal: In one breath, this should tell

someone who you help and how you
help them
Your
It needs to be MEMORABLE Elevator
The shorter and more specific the
better Speech

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 1

I help [x] do [y]

I help [persona] solve [problem]

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EYES 1
Use the framework:
I help [X] do [Y]
I help [persona] [solve problem]
Establish
Examples:
I help creatives make money freelancing
I help B2B SaaS companies write better
emails
Your
I take photos for destination weddings
I handle post-production for podcasters Elevator
We remember specific terms
Speech
…but our memories are terrible
so keep it short!

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A quick note on specialization… 1
You’re going to resist it.

You’re going to think, “I can do all of the things! How do I choose?”

You have limited capacity. You WON’T do everything for everyone.

And if you try, you’ll do nothing for anyone.

You’ll chase anyone who will pay you to do anything and spend more time than
you’ve ever spent making less than you’ve ever made.

Those who SPECIALIZE are who make a sustainable, long-term living freelancing.

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A quick note on specialization… 1
Being “specialized” means you have a narrow (niche) focus

Example:
“I write emails for B2B SaaS companies” is much more specialized than “I’m a copywriter”

Being specialized makes it easier to be the go-to, NUMBER ONE person for a
segment of customers

…and being the go-to, number one person means you can charge higher rates

Being specialized makes you

much more referable!

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Empower 2
Advocates (to)
Refer
Sales

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 2
Real quick,
let’s talk about Advocates

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...a tenet of evolutionary
psychology is that people are hard
wired to enjoy offering assistance --
as not only a mechanism to receive
assistance themselves, but also to
satisfy the innate human drive for
altruism.
Robin Dreeke
The Code of Trust

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Advocates

You already have advocates

Former clients (if you did good work)
Friends and family
2
People who admire your work

Every day, those people are talking to other people

Often, that conversation will touch on a problem or pain point

As Robin Dreeke noted, your advocate will try to help solve their problem!

You want to be the first person they think of to solve the problem

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Advocates cont.

Example: If someone says, “I need someone to help me write emails,” the

copywriter who says “I help B2B SaaS companies write better emails” will
come to mind.
2
Same if they said, “I run a B2B SaaS company.”

Specialized words are easy to remember and for your advocate to make a
connection

The first person to come to mind will be who gets the referral

Without specializing, it’s hard to be FIRST to mind

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Advocates cont.

Remember: you already have advocates

Former clients (if you did good work)
Friends and family
2
People who admire your work

They will become productive advocates if they are given the tools

By using the same, specific Elevator Speech around your advocates, you
help them refer people to you

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EARS

Once you’ve Established Your Elevator

Speech, begin sharing it with advocates
Empower 2
Advocates (to)
Memorize it. Use the same phrase every
time.
I help creatives make money freelancing

Over time, it’ll stick in their minds

IF it is short and specific
Refer
As you create more advocates, the
more likely it is that one of them is
Sales
referring you at any given time

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ok…NOW let’s get on with it!

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 1

Reach out to your advocates

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Reach out to your advocates 1
There is a lot of talk about social distancing. Physical distancing is incredibly
important right now in order to #FlattenTheCurve, but we need to continue
social connection while maintaining physical distance.

This is a great time to reconnect with friends, family, coworkers, and

other advocates. Reach out – have a conversation over the phone or schedule a
video call.

Be empathetic. Talk to them about their situation – see if there’s any way that
you can help.

If they ask you how you’re doing, be upfront with them. Let them know how the
situation has impacted you, and what would make things easier on you. Is it
finding a client who needs help with ___? Is it pure emotional support? Social
connection? Accountability?

Do your part to help others, and others will likely do what they can to help you
too. But only if they know HOW they can help.

Click here to read more about leveraging advocates for referrals

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 2
Reach out to former and
existing clients

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Reach out to former and existing clients
With all the bad news you’re seeing, you might assume that business is coming to a
standstill and everyone is putting their money into a vault so no one can touch it.

But that’s not the case. Business is continuing for a LOT of people (albeit virtually) and they
will still have very real needs. And those needs may actually be even more difficult for
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them to fill in house.

If you offer services virtually, you may be at an advantage. It’s worth reaching out to and
checking in with your existing, former, and potential clients to see if they could use a hand.

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Hey [client],

How are you holding up amidst COVID-19? I was thinking about you and the work we did together
(get specific) in [month]. I wanted to let you know that I’m grateful for the opportunity and the work
we do together, and I’d love to help support you through this difficult time.

I’m looking ahead to the second quarter, and wanted to touch base with you sooner than later. I’ve had
a great year, and I’m already booking my calendar into April and May.

Are you available to catch up over the phone and talk about your plans? I’m available to help with [this
type of work], and this may be a great time to do it.

Best,
Jay

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Make specific offers 3

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Make specific offers
Since you’re going to be reaching out to potential clients, you should prepare a specific
offer that you can make proactively.

Making an offer means coming to the table with a defined outcome, scope, price, and so
on.

It’s the difference between asking:

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 “Do you have any copywriting needs?”

vs

“I am going to work with a limited number of clients this month

to write some case studies. Are you interested in that?”

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Why does that work?

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Why does that work?

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1. Scarcity
2. Urgency

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Make specific offers
Since you’re going to be reaching out to potential clients, you should prepare a specific
offer that you can make proactively.

Making an offer means coming to the table with a defined outcome, scope, price, and so
on.

It’s the difference between asking:

Offers help a client visualize exactly what the outcome of working with you will look like. It
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lays everything out for them, and all they need to do is say “yes” to get started.

Click here to read more about crafting offers

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Revisit your budget

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Revisit your budget
Ideally, you can continue to sign new clients and life will go on. But, it’s also a good idea to
revisit your budget and see what you may be able to cut out for the foreseeable future.

If you don’t already have a budget in place, now is the time to get a handle on one!

Figure out exactly what you are spending money on every month, and how much you’re
spending. That will help you to identify the line items you can cut back on or cut out
entirely.

Saving $100 a month is just as effective as an additional $1200 client project over the
next year.

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jayclouse.com
jayclouse.com
Get your own house in order

5
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Get your own house in order
Have you ever heard the phrase, “The cobbler’s kids have no shoes?” or “the blacksmith’s
home has wooden knives?”

A lot of us do incredible, beautiful work – for others. But when it comes to our own company or
brand, we fall short.

If you’re a brand designer, maybe this is the time to work on your own brand.

If you’re a copywriter, maybe this is the time to look over your own copy.

If you’re a website developer, maybe this is the time to look at your own website.

I’ve made a ton of updates to my personal website and the Freelancing School website –
updates I’ve been intending to do for months!

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jayclouse.com
jayclouse.com
jayclouse.com
Get your own house in order
Have you ever heard the phrase, “The cobbler’s kids have no shoes?” or “the blacksmith’s
home has wooden knives?”

A lot of us do incredible, beautiful work – for others. But when it comes to our own company or
brand, we fall short.

If you’re a brand designer, maybe this is the time to work on your own brand.

If you’re a copywriter, maybe this is the time to look over your own copy.

If you’re a website developer, maybe this is the time to look at your own website.

I’ve made a ton of updates to my personal website and the Freelancing School website –
updates I’ve been intending to do for months!

Need some ideas to get you started?

Click here to check out some amazing free GrowthTools action guides

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 6

Learn a new skill

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Learn a new skill 6
This may be the best opportunity you’ve had in a while to develop a new skill. What have
you been meaning to learn, but “just haven’t had the time?”

This can give you another skill to leverage with new clients.

Value comes at the INTERSECTION of skills.

Maybe it’s a new development language. Maybe it’s how to build in Squarespace,
Wordpress, or Webflow.

For LinkedIn Premium users, there are a ton of courses available on LinkedIn Learning.
YouTube has a ton of free content, and most courses are pretty affordable.

In light of COVID-19, I’ve cut the price for all Freelancing School courses in half.

If you’re looking to dive deeper on how to better market or sell your client services
(including a deeper dive on budgets, offers, and more) I’d love for you to join.

Click here to check out Freelancing School

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 7
Start that side project

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Start that side project
Speaking of not having enough time, this is a great time to get started on that creative or
side project that you’ve been putting off.

Have you been wanting to start a blog, email list, podcast, book, album, or anything else?
This is the perfect time.
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Build your portfolio with your OWN work.

You’d be surprised how often you get hired because of your passion projects, and not
because of your client work.

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Be the client you
want to see in the world 8

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Be the client you want to see in the world
We’re all hoping that our clients and potential clients keep us in mind and treat us well.
Don’t forget that you may also be someone’s client – and so it’s on you to honor that
hope too.

If others are depending on you, be the client that YOU aspire to work with. We all need
to do our part.

And if you’ve been considering investing in or supporting another creator for a while
now, this is a great time to do so. Even a simple act of support goes a long way (thanks,
Matt!) 8

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jayclouse.com
Keep an eye open for assistance

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Keep an eye open for assistance
We don’t know how long this crisis will last, and there are many
moving parts. New opportunities are popping up constantly. Some of
them are government-sponsored (changes to unemployment), some
of them are community and volunteer driven, and some of them are
driven by private companies.

ConvertKit announced a Creator Fund, which has reached nearly

$150K as of this writing. If you’re a creative seeking assistance, they
are offering up to $500 for as many individuals as they can help on an
as-needed basis.

jayclouse.com
jayclouse.com
Keep an eye open for assistance
We don’t know how long this crisis will last, and there are many
moving parts. New opportunities are popping up constantly. Some of
them are government-sponsored (changes to unemployment), some
of them are community and volunteer driven, and some of them are
driven by private companies.

ConvertKit announced a Creator Fund, which has reached nearly

$150K as of this writing. If you’re a creative seeking assistance, they
are offering up to $500 for as many individuals as they can help on an
as-needed basis.

Click here to apply for the Creator Fund

Click here to apply for the Freelance Co-Op Emergency Fund

If you are looking for referrals, fill out this short questionnaire and
I'll keep you in mind for the people who look to me for help finding
freelancers to help.
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Conclusion

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Conclusion

We didn’t ask for these lemons, but here they are. And we have a choice:
we can complain about our lemons and do nothing, or we can try to make
lemonade.

It won’t be easy, and I don’t expect you to be happy about it. But the only
way through is forward, so let’s keep going!

jayclouse.com
 Take Action

Dial in your Elevator Speech

Reach out to 10 of your advocates and schedule a time to talk
Make sure your own social media and website messaging is aligned
Send 5 outreach emails to potential clients
Start beefing up your own portfolio

jayclouse.com
 Take Action

Dial in your Elevator Speech

Reach out to 10 of your advocates and schedule a time to talk
Make sure your own social media and website messaging is aligned
Send 5 outreach emails to potential clients
Start beefing up your own portfolio

Check out GrowthTools for ideas from their action guides

Alex has made the recordings from her closed-door Copy Posse Launch Pad
Coaching Program available at a discount
Enroll in my free 5-day sales course on Freelancing School
Consider the advanced Freelancing School courses on sales and marketing,
currently half price in response to COVID-19

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 Connect with me

jay@jayclouse.com jayclouse.com
@jayclouse freelancing.school

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