Backup Plans

As freelance writers, our income depends solely on ourselves. What happens when the unexpected occurs, as it often does with freelancing/self-employed careers? I recently had a similar discussion with Felicia from NoJobForMom. As she pointed out, freelance writers need a solid backup plan? I learned this little lesson about 11 months ago.

                                                                       
At that time, I was writing for several places, including different private clients. About 1/3 of my income came from one of these clients. Suddenly after several months of prompt payments, the client stopped paying....after he received a large sum of articles. This left me seriously short for the month. I had no choice but to cut my losses and move on but in the meantime I still had to meet those ends! I won't go into all that right now. Let's just say I wrote around the clock for days, barely making anything on a per word rate. That mad writing dash to make ends meet taught me not to limit that much of my income to one place. I learned a solid, reliable backup plan is a must, if I want to succeed as a freelance writer.

The freelance writing word is full of what ifs, maybes, sometimes, coulds, woulds and shoulds. Your blog/site could get a Google drop kick, taking your page views and add clicks with it. Revenue earning websites could shut down. Private clients could refuse to pay. Paypal transactions could fail. Upfront paying sites could shutdown. Your computer could crash. There are so many variables in the freelance writing world that I couldn't begin to name them all. 

I learned the importance of a backup plan first hand. I have shared my weekly writing plan. It is pretty much just a specific amount of active and passive articles contributed weekly to take care of my finances while building a decent residual income. My backup plan is a little different than this. It has several different factors of supplementing the different aspects of my career whenever those 'what ifs' hit. Here's how mine works.
 

Part A: This is my savings. 25% of my weekly income goes automatically into a savings account.  Then, when the once per month residual payments come in, another 25% is added to my savings account. This way I  have emergency money in case things get tight. If I don't need it, I continuously build a decent savings.

Part B: I decided some months back that having at least one contracted, top-paying writing gig in print form would be a good idea in case an internet disaster strikes. I sent out twenty or so query letters to magazines and landed a column with a one year contract, paying $1.10 per word. I write the 750 word article only once  per month, based on my own experience as a single mom. I know I will receive $825 around the fifth of each month for a full year, as long as I abide by the contract. This literally takes me about twenty minutes to write, edit and proofread. 
            I subscribe to sites like Elance and oDesk where I can find thousands of print writing jobs. Of course, they have large amounts of online work, too.  Private clients have the highest rate of skipping out on payments but I require a signed contract to provide services. So far this has worked out for me. I can apply to jobs just by clicking a button because all of my professional information is saved to my profile. If any of my active income sources become unavailable, I can grab a few private client type jobs to compensate my monthly earnings.
            I also freelance for two local newsletters and the local paper. They always have something that needs covering and a simple phone call can get me a decent paying writing gig to help with any gaps in my pay. I do not have to work every month for these print sources. I volunteered a few times to get exposure where I was offered regular job. I declined but asked to be kept in mind for future assignments. Sometimes they call me, offering topics that they feel I would cover well and other times, I contact them. With three simple calls, I can put the word out that I need work and usually get several paying assignments for each source.
             

Of course, this backup plan isn't going to be much help to freelance writers who focus entirely on internet work. I enjoy writing for both print and web.With all the 'ifs' associated with online writing, I chose to put my eggs in offline baskets, too. Some months, I am a little overwhelmed because I feel it necessary to contribute to the offline sources regularly to keep myself in good standing. However, except for the one contracted writer position, I am under no obligation to write for these offline sources. 

Another thing I have implemented is the 20% rule. No more than 20% of my active income can come from one place. Replacing 1/5 of my income is much easier than replacing all of my earnings or writing around the clock to keep the money coming!