Christmas as a contractor or freelancer can be a time of mixed emotions. Yes, it’s a relief to have some downtime and spend a few days with loved ones. But as clients go quiet on us, paid jobs dry up until January and offices and sites across the UK close for the Christmas period, it can also provoke anxiety.
Perhaps you’ve been canny this year and scheduled in some ongoing work to tide you over the quiet spell. Or perhaps you are planning on switching off the computer, sending the phone to voicemail and taking some well-deserved time off to scoff mince pies and wear novelty jumpers. But if not, how can contractors and freelancers make the Christmas period a productive one?
Here we take a look at some jobs you can do to make best use of this time.
Identify potential new revenue streams
Spend some time researching new clients that you might approach in the new year. Depending on your industry, you could look at LinkedIn, local business directories, industry databases and publications or social media to try and identify new leads. Get their contact details all ready and plan introductions, draft emails or make notes ahead of a phone call.
Have a look at what your competitors are doing. Are they reaching any new markets or offering any new services that you could offer too?
Put together a marketing plan
Get out your coloured pens and a giant yearly wall-chart and make a month-by-month (or even week-by-week) marketing plan for 2019. What will be the key messages that you want to get out to new and existing clients? And what’s the best way of getting them across? Are there any new marketing techniques that you want to try out?
Plan out blog posts, social media campaigns, print advertising, and telephone campaigns well in advance. This will make sure your efforts are strategic and focused.
Update your CV and your website
If it’s been a while since you updated them, there’s a good chance your CV and website are putting off, rather than attracting, new clients.
If the last thing you have on there is a job that you completed for your uncle in 2014 when you were just setting up, then it might look like you haven’t worked since then. And it’s certainly not selling the extra skills and experience that you have gained through years of freelancing or contracting.
Make sure you include up-to-date details of your experience, testimonies from current clients, any relevant training and qualifications and a quick overview of your key skills and services. Website trends move fast, so delete anything that looks dated such as busy backgrounds, flashing text or hit counters.
Sort out your insurance
A quick and easy task to do over the Christmas break is to pick up the phone to Kingsbridge and sort out your business insurance for next year by calling 01242 808740. We offer one simple, comprehensive and compliant package that suits almost all contractors and freelancers.
Over the Christmas period, our lines will be open every weekday except Christmas Day, Boxing Day, and New Year’s Day, or you can get a quote online, anytime.
