When and How to Raise Your Freelance Rates

When and How to Raise Your Freelance Rates

by | Mar 2, 2022 | Blog, Resources

Any seasoned freelancer will tell you to raise your rates regularly. As your expertise grows and your offerings evolve, so should your rate. But when do you do it? And how? Below, we’ll walk through the major moments when you should raise your freelance rates, then share some pro tips on how to do it confidently.

When to Raise Your Rates

#1: When You Add New Skills or Offerings (time to repackage!)

Maybe you took a few development classes and you can now not only design beautiful websites, but you can also build them. Or maybe you’ve added content strategy services to your offerings, in addition to writing monthly blog posts for your clients. Whenever you uplevel your current skill set or add new offerings to your business model, it’s time to upsell your current clients and raise your rates for new clients.

This is also the perfect time to repackage your services. Whenever you repackage your services into new offerings, you should consider adjusting your pricing model too. One of the main goals of repackaging your services is to be able to add and sell additional value. Maybe that means up-leveling from hourly rates to project-based, or charging partial payment up-front. The key is to lean into the value of the new package.

#2: When Your Life Gets More Expensive

If you’ve kept your rates unchanged for years but your cost of living has increased, it’s time to raise your rates accordingly. Inflation is a totally valid reason to charge more. Just this past year alone, the inflation rate shot up to 7%, the highest it’s risen in a year since 1982. That adds up for businesses and individuals. As you pay more to live, you should earn more too.

#3: When You Gain More Experience

It may seem obvious, but many freelancers don’t consider the basic passage of time as reason enough to raise their rates. But the longer you work, the more experience you gain. It’s a no-brainer that your rates should increase gradually along with your tenure. One of the most effective ways to raise your rates is to schedule it at regular intervals—and then stick to that schedule. You can let your clients know in advance that you raise your rates every year or so, and write it into your contract so they agree to it up-front.

#4: When You Don’t Get Pushback from Clients

If no one ever questions your rates, it’s too low. I know this one is a little controversial, but remember, companies are saving a ton of money by using a freelancer—they don’t have the overhead of computers, healthcare, taxes, etc. So if all of your new clients blindly accept your rates, you might be undercharging based on the market and the value you provide. Genuinely consider this the next time you’re drafting a proposal or planning for an increase. A little pushback is actually a good sign that you’re charging (closer to) what you deserve.

How to Raise Your Freelance Rates

Many freelancers waffle on raising their rates out of fear of losing their clients or turning away good opportunities. But a little preparation goes a long way. Here are three simple tips for raising your rates without a hitch.

#1: Communicate it to your clients clearly.

Spell out the reasons why your rate is increasing in a way that emphasizes the value you provide to your clients. This is the moment to plug your services, your growing experience, and your relationship with the client. If you need some inspiration, freelance writer Kaitlyn Arford created some amazing email templates for negotiating higher rates. Choose the one that makes sense for your situation and modify it accordingly.

#2: Give your clients plenty of notice.

You’re more likely to get a positive reply from your clients if you let them know that your rates will be increasing well in advance. Two months heads’ up is ideal. This gives them time to rethink their budget if needed and make any necessary changes in order to accommodate.

#3: Add rate increases to your contracts.

For future clients, consider baking a regular rate increase into your contract. You can effectively bypass any client conflict this way, because your clients agree to it upfront. Just be sure to name the intervals your rate will increase at (i.e. quarterly, bi-yearly, annually, etc.) and the amount your rates will increase by (i.e. percentage or flat rate).

Go get paid more, confidently.

As former freelancers ourselves, we know the anxiety of a rate increase all too well. But it’s like a rite of passage for entrepreneurship. It can take time and practice to get comfortable asking for more. So make a practice of it. Keep your email templates on hand. Create reminders for yourself. Pretend you’re paying someone else. Do whatever you need to do to stick to it. We believe in you.

Freelance Interview Series – Self Motivation with Michael Keenan

Freelance Interview Series – Self Motivation with Michael Keenan

by | Feb 10, 2022 | Blog, Resources

Michael Keenan is a freelance content writer and SEO strategist and the co-founder of Peak Freelance, a community that helps freelance writers scale their businesses. With over six years of experience as a writer and marketing consultant, Michael knows what it takes to grow a thriving freelance business. We talked to him about his professional journey, his growth goals, and how he structures his days to be successful.

Self Motivation w/ Michael Keenan

1. What was your motivation to start freelancing?

I’m rebellious by nature. Ever since I started working in restaurants at 12, I never got along with my bosses and would often fight with them. In good spirit of course: I questioned why they did things the way they did, fought for equality amongst employees, asked for more money religiously. You know, all things most managers hate, especially in restaurants. I was a young punk trying to shake things up a bit.

My mom taught my brother and me the value of independence at a young age, which aided my rebellious self. I hated school, authority, and anyone that tried to keep me in a box.

I worked, saved, went to college—did the things I was supposed to do. Then I moved to LA, lived out of a backpack, and traveled outside the U.S. I still, however, always ended up working in restaurants and bars when I was settled. I had the chance to work a few office jobs, but I could not bring myself to settle into the 9 to 5. It would crush my spirit.

It was in 2016 when I lived in Portland that I started hanging out with a different group of people: designers, writers, creators (before they were the hot thing), business owners. I had a friend who worked whenever he wanted and made a good living doing it. I came to find out he was a freelance designer, working on projects like The Sims and other enterprise games.

He encouraged me to go freelance, claiming it was my only way to get out of restaurants without working an office job. So I picked up my first gig writing about yoga and meditation off UpWork for $25. It was a tough first few years trying to build a writing business. I had no help or community.

My motivation was fearless independence. I wanted to build a cool life for myself. A life I could be proud of and make good money living. A life that would allow me to do whatever and live wherever, and earn money for myself rather than some C-Suite.

 

2. Do you set business and personal goals for yourself? If so, do you mind sharing?

Always. My focus for the past three years has been relentless business-building. I’ve been pouring all my time, money, and resources into building a freelance business, as well as Peak Freelance, and various investments in art, crypto, real estate, and restaurants. My personal goals align much with my business goals. However, I put them aside until 2022. More on that later.

My business goals have always been income-based. For example, my income goal for 2021 was $250,000 and I pursued that aggressively. I ended up making $307,000 freelance writing in 2021. Hitting that income goal moved me to the next stage of my business for 2022, building systems to replicate my writing style and quality to scale production. You could say my business goals have moved away from income only and toward scaling. My goal for 2022 is to up production without sacrificing quality.

Personal goals are a must for me. Again, I’ve been focusing on investing these past few years. I want to retire at 40, so keep that in mind. I am pursuing that aggressively. I had a lot of fun in 2021 with my business, but I realized there were some things I was missing in my personal life for the sake of income. So this year, my personal goals are:

  • Take my pups hiking once a week during a “work morning”
  • Cook more dinners for my partner and me
  • Learn how to make vapor twitch / downtempo music
  • Ditch my phone past 8 PM
  • Spend more time alone
  • Call my grandma more often

Simple things, but meaningful after going heads down into work for a few years.

My personal goals for the year are to take a step back and take more time for myself to explore other things. I have many curiosities and creative pursuits to be met, so I’d like to see them through in 2022.

 

3. How do you structure your day as a freelancer?

I am a 5AMer. Mostly because I like to be awake when the world is sleeping. I feel more productive than in the afternoon or at night. My days start around 5 and I start hitting the task list I prepared the night before. I usually work for two hours or so then go for a run or exercise around 7. When I come back I check emails and slack for 15-20 minutes, then play with my dogs, do house chores, shower, and have breakfast until 9:30ish. After getting some fuel and refilling my coffee, it’s back to the computer until about 2 PM. I can do a number of things around this time: meetings, writing, editing, planning, interviewing, tasks. Whatever my list tells me to do.

We eat lunch later here in México. So at 2 PM, I break for lunch until 3:30 – 4. Then I work from 4 to 6, which is usually the most boring and tedious tasks. Because I don’t like using my brain in the afternoon, no writing takes place during these hours unless I’m desperate and trying to hit a deadline (which fortunately doesn’t happen much anymore).

Then I’m free. The rest of the night is spent walking the dogs, reading, watching Netflix, or going out to an event or friend’s house.

 

4. What do you do when you’re feeling uninspired or unmotivated?

I reconnect with nature. That’s really the only thing that works for me. I get so bored sitting at the computer all day, every day. So when I am not motivated, I head for the outdoors. It can be a long hike, a weekend trip, or even taking the dogs to the park. Depends on my mood.

Sometimes I just like to sit outside, listen to the birds sing, and feel the wind on my face. A little bit of sunshine can do great things when I’m uninspired or unmotivated. Maybe I’m a plant.

Another way I get inspired is by going to an art gallery or museum. It’s like a brain massage and can get the juices flowing again after looking at words for too long.

 

5. Do you find email and social media to be inspiring or distracting as a freelancer?

I keep my phone on Do Not Disturb all day and shut off email notifications. I find email so distracting. I really hate it. So I check it maybe twice a day. I 1,000% prefer to answer a Slack or WhatsApp message quickly. All my important decisions are made there.

I keep all Twitter and LinkedIn notifications off on my phone also, not because I hate it—just because I’ve found it works better for me. I don’t have Instagram, Facebook, TikTok, or Snapchat. So I don’t have to deal with those notifications either.

 

Keep up with Michael on Twitter or check out Peak Freelance to dive into their expert interview series, job board, and more – all aimed at helping you become a more successful freelancer.

Top Freelance Communities to Join for Support

Top Freelance Communities to Join for Support

by | Feb 6, 2022 | Blog, Resources

Freelancing can be a lonely venture. But it doesn’t have to be. The deeper we get into our own freelance journey, the more flourishing communities we discover that cater to every type of freelancer imaginable. We all need places to feel seen and supported, and to connect with people who just get it. Here are some of the top freelance communities out there.

We all need places to feel seen and supported.

Freelancers Union

Nothing spells solidarity like a trade union. If you’re looking for a community that is centered on advocacy and education, join Freelancers Union. They’ve been fighting for independent workers since 1995, working to give freelancers a louder voice in politics and access to many of the perks and benefits we miss out on by working for ourselves. Join their spark events, contribute to the community blog, or just sign up for free resources. You’ll get access to exclusive discounts, valuable resources, and the largest community of freelancers on earth. Bonus: It’s entirely free to join.

#FreelanceTwitter

Miss the water cooler? We’ve got the hashtag for you. Twitter is bustling with freelancers trading tips and supporting one another. Follow #FreelanceTwitter to join in the conversation and find cool freelance friends. You can also check out our list of must-follow Twitter freelancers to fill your feed with brilliance.

Peak Freelance

The Peak Freelance Slack is open to the public, but All-Access Peak Freelance members get access to pro channels, like #AMA, which features twice-a-month Ask Me Anythings with freelancers, content managers, and more. The #jobs channel gives you a live stream of the best freelance writing jobs out there, sourced by members. And #resources is the place to find handpicked tools.

Freelancing Females

The 60k-strong Freelancing Females Facebook group is a blessing for freelancers (not just self-identified women). The group was created as a place to post jobs, ask questions, and share knowledge about freelancing. It’s grown tremendously and now services as a major support system for people at all stages of their freelance journey. The Freelancing Females site also offers a job board and resources to help you along the way.

Superpath

Superpath helps content marketers all over learn and advance their careers. They offer a Slack community that brings kind, inclusive, “good vibes” energy to their members, encouraging meaningful conversations, resource-sharing, and supportive connections to help freelance content marketers thrive together.

Groove

Groove is a community of solopreneurs energizing each other to accomplish great things. You can join up to 3 other solopreneurs for a 50-min mobile focus session whenever you’d like. It’s like walking into a virtual coffee shop and everyone there is an awesome solopreneur paving their own path.

Workfrom

If you’re looking for all sorts of remote worker connections, the Workfrom Slack is the spot. This virtual coworking community hosts daily and weekly events to connect folks who work from home, from the coffee shop, or from anywhere, really. You pay once to join and gain access to a whole bunch of other great perks.

Freelance Academy

Freelance Academy offers courses, workshops, and community connections to help freelancers successfully grow their businesses. Their content is super supportive no matter where you’re at with your business. And a lot of it is free! You can also join their Freelance Growth Bite newsletter to get helpful content in your inbox.

Being Freelance

The Being Freelance Facebook group is a hot spot for freelancers all over the world. They host live streams, Q&As, and all sorts of community events for folks to connect and learn together. This group is an extension of the Being Freelance podcast and content site.

The Freelance Content Marketing Writer

The Freelance Content Marketing Writer Facebook group connects freelance writers, digital marketers, and journalists. The creator, ​​Jennifer Goforth Gregory, shares regular tips on making it as a freelancer. And the group is focused on helping writers earn a reasonable hourly wage and rally for each other as they go.

#FreelanceChat

Another hot hashtag to follow, #FreelanceChat features a weekly Thursday forum on Twitter, where host Michelle Garrett prompts freelancers with one question to kick things off.

Indy Hall

The Indy Hall online community is an incredible spot for freelancers to connect all over the world and jumpstart their freelance careers together. With daily micro-challenges, weekly members-only events, and a bustling Discord channel, they’ve helped thousands of freelancers stay connected and happy as they navigate their independent journeys.

Female Freelance Writers

If you’re looking for a supportive international community of writers, Female Freelance Writers is the jam. This Facebook group has over 9,000 members worldwide, and their mission is to offer compassionate support to women who write, sharing resources and promote each other’s work.

#WOMENXWORK

Looking for a weekly place to connect with other freelancing women and chat about your day-to-day? #WOMENXWORK starts the conversation every Wednesday evening on Twitter. Tune in for weekly questions that prompt deep-dives into freelance lifestyle, business management, and more.

Being Freelance

Being Freelance began as a freelance-focussed podcast until it transformed into a community full of courses and other resources for those kicking off their freelance journeys. The Being Freelance community has a home in Circle, where members are able to connect with one another on the platform to ask questions, celebrate wins, and more.

Fresh Starts Registry

Fresh Starts Registry is your one-stop shop for beginning again. They offer monthly office hours, workshops on important topics, many great perks, and more. You can even sign up for their Fresh Business Network to get access to their public-facing directory to sell your freelance services. Did we mention they even have home office bundles?

Pollen

Pollen is a professional development membership to help independent consultants build successful businesses through educational sprints, access to experts in residence, a vetted community, and a toolkit of practical resources. Join Pollen today to learn the strategies and tactics that will take your consulting business to the next level.

 

Remember: You don’t have to go it alone. You may be a solopreneur, but your social life as a freelancer can be full of connection and collaboration. One of the coolest parts of running your business is the opportunity to build relationships with other people who are also charting their own paths. You get to opt into the communities that resonate, cultivating spaces that make your freelance journey a whole lot more fun. Get out there!

Freelance Interview Series – Hiring Freelancers With Jimmy Daly

Freelance Interview Series – Hiring Freelancers With Jimmy Daly

by | Jan 21, 2022 | Blog, Resources

Jimmy Daly is the co-founder of Superpath, a digital community that helps over 5,000 content marketers and creators connect and grow their careers together. Before founding Superpath, Jimmy spent over five years managing content marketing programs at companies like Animalz, QuickBooks, and Vero. He has a wide range of experience working with freelancers—and a bit of experience as a freelancer himself.

We interviewed Jimmy to find out what the freelance hiring process is like on the other side. He gave us the scoop and shared his best tips on how to navigate it more smoothly and build trust with your clients as a freelancer.

Hiring Freelancers with Jimmy Daly

1. What criteria do you use to determine if you should hire a freelancer vs a full-time employee? 

What I’ve found in my work at Superpath—and before that at Animalz—is that this is not always the question that companies are trying to assess. Sometimes they’re trying to decide if they should hire a full-time content person or an agency. But the most common scenario I find is that companies bring on a content manager or a content lead and then let that person figure out how to actually execute the work.

The content leader then goes out and assesses: Should we bring on a content creator in-house? Should we bring on a freelancer or a couple of freelancers? Or should we hire an agency? And then usually they end up with a mix of those three things. So if you’re deciding between hiring a freelancer or a full-time employee, I would say don’t hire freelancers to write until you have someone that can manage those freelancers.

I’ve seen quite a few arrangements go badly when a marketing director hires freelance writers and just isn’t able to give them enough guidance for them to be successful. So let the in-house content person figure out how to run the process, how to create content briefs, who’s going to do the work, etc. Let someone who really has expertise in that area and time focus on it.

2. When you start looking for a new freelancer, where do you go to find them?

Personally, I go to our Slack community, because there are lots of freelancers participating and I’ve had quite a bit of success finding good folks there. If you work in content marketing or you’re a freelance writer, the community is a valuable place to hang out because it’s easy to make those connections.

Before I had that, I relied on LinkedIn and Twitter. Generally, networking with people is a good way to find freelancers. I have used job boards to hire freelancers as well, with mixed results. You just run into the same problem that you do when you’re hiring anyone: You’re likely to get a bunch of applications and then you have to sort through them and vet them. It’s a little cumbersome. The networking approach is nice because you can just rely on word of mouth. It’s a great way to validate whether or not a person has a track record of doing good work.

This is part of the reason we’re launching a marketplace at Superpath. We’re connecting companies to freelancers and we’re doing the vetting for you. We’re also running everything through a process that we’ve tested and know for a fact generates good content on a regular basis. So we can take some of that off your plate—finding the people, vetting them, and making sure the processes are sound.

3. Give us an example of a way you’ve improved your process of working with freelancers over time?

At one point I had a team of 15 freelancers, and I learned pretty quickly that if you don’t set very, very, very clear expectations and give the writer everything you could possibly give them, you will likely be frustrated with the end result. Without those clear expectations, and without a great deal of context, the freelancer is forced to go out and figure it all out on their own. It doesn’t mean they can’t create good work. It just means it may not meet your expectations.

So we started off with these very basic outlines that I would send freelancers, and over time those developed into very robust content briefs. As that process improved, it significantly reduced the number of revisions and back-and-forths. In the beginning, I would get a lot of articles back where I was like, Oh my gosh, I’m supposed to publish this in two days. It has to be totally ripped apart.

After a few months, that just wasn’t happening anymore. You get to know freelancers, you work better together, and you get through that learning curve. But a good process makes those relationships work so much more smoothly.

4. If you could give freelancers looking for a new gig advice, what would you tell them?

Tip #1: Pick relevant work samples and offer context.

I’m on the hunt for freelancers right now for our marketplace. I’m collecting writing samples, and so many people just send me a link to a portfolio with a dozen things. That’s not helpful to me at all. So I changed the copy in our intake form to say: Send me three links to published pieces but don’t send me a portfolio. Show me your best work. Show me where it’s been published.
Also, give me some context. Who else was involved in this? I find that some freelancers want their portfolios to speak for itself. I disagree because I don’t know who else was involved with the projects in your portfolio. I don’t know if you came up with this amazing idea on your own and did the heavy lifting, or if you were handed an awesome idea. Be honest with your context, it’ll make the relationship go a lot smoother.

Tip #2: Diversify your income.

This is actually coming from my own experience as a freelancer, which was a disaster. I left a job to pursue freelancing and realized quickly that it was not for me. The takeaway for me was that freelancers should aim to create a few different sources of income. I found myself just selling my time constantly. I was writing so much trying to earn the same amount of money that I was earning at the job I had just left.

Had I pursued freelancing for a longer period of time, I would have started by building out courses, eBooks, coaching… There are so many different ways that you can earn revenue beyond writing. I would encourage freelancers to think about building some of those out from the very beginning, especially as they develop expertise in certain areas. Be thinking early on about how you can diversify what you offer. That will create a buffer that makes it easier for you to be very picky about the projects you work on.

Check out the latest on Superpath’s new marketplace here or follow Jimmy on Twitter to follow along. 

What is Work-Life Harmony? (and how you can achieve it!)

What is Work-Life Harmony? (and how you can achieve it!)

by | Jan 18, 2022 | Blog, Resources

This guest post is contributed by Afoma Umesi. Afoma Umesi is a freelance B2B writer and editor for marketing and productivity Saas brands. When she’s not working, you’ll find her cooking, procrastinating on Twitter, or immersed in a good book. Say hi on Twitter.

Work-life balance can seem impossible to achieve as a freelancer. After all, you are your business. Your freelance business depends on your skills, time, energy, and marketing. How could you possibly also balance a social life, rest, physical activity, and just living?

There’s no one-size-fits-all formula. Many even argue that a “work-life harmony” approach is more feasible and beneficial than grasping at the elusive “balance.”

Work-life harmony means that work and life fit into each other in a complementary way.

Work-life harmony means that work and life fit into each other in a complementary way. Instead of a “balance” where each facet of your life receives equal attention every day, work-life harmony involves meeting your needs as they come up. It requires a flexible mindset, contrary to the rigid distinction between work and life that work-life balance entails.

If, for example, you have small children and run a business in a pandemic, work-life harmony may be less oppressive and more achievable for you. But if you have fewer responsibilities, you might be able to find a more structured sense of balance.

I practice a mix of work-life balance and work-life harmony (and I recommend it if your circumstances allow). Here are five tips that keep me sane and centered while running a freelance business.

Get enough rest

I’m a firm believer in Amy Poehler’s hallowed words “Sleep helps you win at life.” Most people need a minimum of seven hours of sleep per night — yes, you too. After years of sleeping five-hour nights (thanks, med school), I was sure I only needed five or six hours to get by. But getting seven hours of rest consistently in the past year has been a game-changer. I feel more awake at my desk, less prone to meltdowns, more able to handle curveballs, and less crabby to my friends and partner after a hectic day.

Practice deep work

Starting the day well-rested works wonders, but only if you use it well. Focus on the task at hand. Don’t waste your best hours scrolling mindlessly on social media or searching for jobs (when you’re already overloaded with work) on LinkedIn. In the last six months, I’ve worked between 20-30 hours every week while managing a freelance business and single-handedly creating content for an affiliate website. My only hack is focusing on tasks. You complete work quicker when you’re giving it your full attention, even if it’s for focus sprints, like with the Pomodoro technique.

Use a to-do list

Having trouble focusing? Try a to-do list. I used to be a pen-and-paper girl, but I’m a digital to-do list convert. Find a to-do list app you can use on your laptop and mobile devices. I’ve found a mobile app helpful for adding tasks that pop into my head during non-working hours. If you want an effective to-do list, keep your list to 3-5 items. You’ll feel satisfied when you tick all of them off, and managing your workload realistically will save you from burnout.

Set daily boundaries with work

While vacations or breaks during your workday are helpful for maintaining balance, setting boundaries goes a step further. Good boundaries with work allow you to have mental time-off from work every day. For example, some people stop working at a particular time daily and designate their evenings as work-free periods during which they don’t check email or think about work. Two boundaries I’ve set are deleting my work email from my phone and setting my Slack notifications to ping within working hours only.

Be flexible

This tip is for work-life harmony adherents — and people with a myriad of life responsibilities that don’t always fit neatly into work and life buckets. In busy seasons, I find myself in this category, torn between life responsibilities and pressing errands that fracture my workday into hours working from multiple locations and devices. I like to remind myself that losing balance occasionally is part of living a balanced life. Give yourself grace and allow yourself to fit work in wherever you can. The catch? Be present when you’re not working. Try not to fret about work while you’re fixing quick dinners or running errands. Then when you’re at your desk for one or two hours, focus on your work.

 

Work-life balance is challenging to attain, but it is possible. A key fact to remember is that you can’t fulfill all your responsibilities equally every single day, but you can maintain harmony over periods. Build time into your schedule for adequate physical and mental rest, reduce distractions while you work, use a to-do list, and be flexible on days when things go off the rails. You’re doing your best.

 

Freelance Interview Series – Parental Leave With Kat Boogaard

Freelance Interview Series – Parental Leave With Kat Boogaard

by | Jan 11, 2022 | Blog, Resources

Kat Boogaard is a freelance writer who specializes in creating digital content around careers, productivity, entrepreneurship, and self-development. With years of experience as a solopreneur, Kat is highly in tune with the ins and outs of freelancing. Outside of her client work, she creates incredible resources to help other freelancers grow their businesses and manages a weekly newsletter where she shares project leads, tips, and tools for freelancing smarter.

In April 2020, in the thick of the pandemic, Kat had her first child. She’d been planning her freelance maternity leave for months—creating detailed checklists, readying her clients, and ensuring all her projects could wrap up in advance of her due date. Nothing prepares you to navigate a pandemic with a newborn, but Kat’s careful preparation made a world of difference, and today she’s sharing her hard-earned wisdom on how to handle maternity leave as a freelancer.

Parental Leave with Kat Boogaard

1. How did you approach your maternity leave with your clients? For freelancers with retainer-based clients, there is a fear that they will lose clients if they take 3 months off. Was that a concern for you?

 

I feel fortunate that I work with the majority of my clients on a steady, recurring basis—like one blog post per week or two blog posts per month, for example. With that said, I don’t actually have any “retainer-based” clients in the true sense of the word. Even those regular and steady clients pay me project rates.

Both times I’ve planned my maternity leave, I’ve taken a similar approach. I look at my list of current clients and break them into two groups:

Group A: Clients that work with me on a regular schedule.Group B: Clients that occasionally send me projects on a sporadic schedule.

For clients in “Group B,” figuring out how to handle my leave was pretty easy. I simply sent them an email telling them the dates I’d be taking maternity leave, that I’d be unavailable to contribute content during that time, and that I’d reconnect with them when I returned. That hasn’t been a big deal, as those clients don’t rely on me steadily anyway.But, for clients in “Group A,” I send them an email that spells out some options: They can either press “pause” on receiving content from me during my leave and I’ll resume when I return, or they can opt to have me work ahead on content to cover my own leave. I give them a firm timeline of when I’d need advanced assignments and work closely with them to make sure we both get what we need.

Fair warning: The bulk of my clients opt to work ahead (which I understand), and it makes for a wild few months before I sign off. But, it’s worth it to know that I’m approaching my leave as strategically as possible—and earning a big chunk of money before I sign off for a few months.

As far as the fear of losing clients, I think that’s always there for any freelancer. The first time I took leave, I really worried that all of my best clients would replace me or drop me while I was out and those fears were compounded by the fact that my leave lined up exactly with the early days of the pandemic.But, that didn’t happen. And in fact, my business bounced back from my leave even stronger than it was before. So, I have some newfound confidence as I approach my parental leave this time!

2. How did you decide on the amount of time you’d take off for leave?

 

This was a big struggle for me the first time around. Obviously, I had never had a baby before and had no clue what to expect. I remember originally thinking that I’d take two or three weeks off before getting back to work and I laugh hysterically at the thought now. I can’t even imagine.

I ended up taking about two and a half months off for my first leave and am planning to take about the same amount of time off this time (likely a little closer to a full three months).

I think three months is often looked at as the “standard” for most people who take parental leave. But, when I was figuring out how much time I’d need the first time, I actually crowdsourced opinions on Twitter. As you’d expect, people’s opinions and experiences ran the gamut—some took weeks and others took an entire year or more.

However, one thing I took away from that input was that the best thing I could do was plan for more time than I thought I’d need. That’s what encouraged and inspired me to up my plans from two weeks to over two months. I doubted I’d take the whole time at first, but I did and I needed every second of it!

3. How did you plan financially for your time off? Most freelancers express nervousness about the lack of income during parental leave.

 

This was another big concern for me. I’m fortunate that my husband has a traditional full-time job that’s steady and comes with a great income. But, that doesn’t mean that my income is nothin’ but frosting for us.

Most people who don’t understand freelance life are usually surprised to learn that my husband and I are pretty much equal earners for our family. I guess I technically earn more, but he carries our benefits which are obviously huge.Because I contribute financially to our family in a pretty significant way (and am happy and proud to!), it’s not necessarily realistic for me to not earn anything for a three-month span of time—even longer, when you consider that it takes a while to get back into the work groove, deliver work to clients, actually invoice for it, and then receive those payments in your bank account.

That’s exactly why I extended the option to “work ahead” to many of my clients. That not only allows me to “cover” my own leave so they don’t need to find a replacement or alternative arrangements while I’m out (they just publish the backlog of work I submitted ahead of time), but it also gives me the chance to rake in way more income in those last couple of months before my leave.

I stash that money in a dedicated savings account so that we can draw from that as my “income” during the course of my leave. My husband and I are super honest and upfront communicators about money, so we sat down together with a spreadsheet (he’s an actuary, so he loves a good spreadsheet) to come up with a savings goal for how much we’d need for us to feel comfortable during my time off.

It gives us both some much-needed peace of mind! Bringing a new baby home is stressful enough, so we do everything we can to work out the financial logistics ahead of time.

4. How did you feel on your return from leave? Did you ease into things or go back into freelancing full time after your time months off?

 

The first time I took leave, I was almost ready to go back. I probably could’ve gone for another week or two of time off, but all in all, I feel like the time I took off was pretty satisfactory.

I was excited to get back into the swing of things! Granted, my “work-life” was still a little bizarre at that point. I went back to work in July of 2020, which meant my husband and I were both sharing our home office and kept our baby in that same office between us (since we weren’t yet comfortable sending him to daycare in those early months of the pandemic). Even with those bizarre circumstances, I jumped right back in full force. I wanted my clients to know that I was coming back swinging and I was also eager to start bringing in some income again.

This time around, I think I’ll resist the urge to shout, “I’M BAAAAAACK! GIVE ME WORK!!!” from the mountaintops and take a slightly slower, more deliberate approach to fill my plate again. We’ll see how that goes!

5. What additional advice do you have for freelancers who are taking maternity & paternity leave?

 

Oh gosh, there are so many things I could say. But, here are a few important nuggets I want to remind people of:

Plan early. I notified my clients about my pregnancy right around the same time I shared the news publicly with everyone else. Shortly after, I sent an email announcing my intentions for my leave—despite the fact that it was still months away. All of my clients appreciate the clear communication and advanced planning, and it saves us all from a frantic scramble.

Don’t apologize. Taking an extended break from work can sometimes inspire some feelings of guilt or shame, and I think that’s especially true when you’re a freelancer who feels obligated to serve your clients above all else. But, welcoming a new member to your family (however it happens) is a huge deal, and you deserve to enjoy that time completely guilt-free. Don’t apologize for taking the time you need, whatever that looks like for you.

Roll with the punches. I planned my first maternity leave to the letter. Detailed timelines, canned email responses—you name it, I had it queued up and ready to go. And then? I had my son an entire month early at the start of a global pandemic. Two things I definitely didn’t see coming. There’s a lot to be said for careful planning (hey, I’m a planner to my very core). But you also need to recognize that babies have their own plans and schedules, and you’re going to need to be willing to release your grip on those carefully-crafted plans and remain a little flexible.

Read Kat’s full post on her maternity leave here or follow her on Twitter to follow along with her daily wisdom and advice for freelancers.