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Getting Consistent Freelance Work
Strategic Planning – Getting Freelance Work (9/04) (5 min’ read)
I asked strategists:
‘What actions will optimize chances of consistent freelance work?’
Given that the number of strategists freelancing is significantly up in 2025, knowing the answer to this is more important than ever.
Invest in your network before you need it : The most sustainable freelance careers are built on relationships – keeping in touch with peers, former colleagues, and clients.
Differentiate/Be clear about your value : In a crowded market, it is critical for freelancers to define what they uniquely bring – Own a specialty: Create an interesting POV about a strategy-related topic. Create your own set of ‘thinking tools’. Clarity builds confidence, both for the freelancer and for those considering them.
Be Creative – Inquire whether a posted job can be turned into a permalancer role; Lay the groundwork for the next project with your client before you finish the current one.
Targeting – Consider an opportunity hypothesis for a category/industry, then look for relatively weak brands who may be open to learning/developing your work.
– Lay the groundwork for the next project with your client before you finish the current one.
Line up your ducks – Be ready to provide supporting information: Having a solid line up of references/cases. I’ve always collected them wherever I’ve been
Communicate availability: If people don’t hear from you they will hear from others and if they know you/rate you, they may just assume you’re busy.
The power of on-going contact – Maintain saliency by gently contacting your connections every 6 months. Key here is how often you connect (don’t overdo it) and the tone with which you communicate.
Make outreach worth ‘their’ time – Provide material or ideas that help the person (in some way) that you’re communicating with.
Actively market/’tell your story’ both one-to-one and through social media.
Ensure you build your personal brand and get recognition for the freelance work you do, don’t let it be invisible work you do in secret for a brand/agency/client.
Reputation – Ultimately, your reputation sells. Do amazing work/Be easy to work with.
Adapt/Re-tool – DO NOT REST ON LAURELS. While you will always need to prove that you moved the needle for others, in order to get something new, doing the same old thing without demonstrating you can integrate new things (in today’s case, things like ML and AI), nobody is going to care.
Reality check – Many of the above might seem fairly obvious but for some reason, habit, fear, sloth, being too busy, being too afraid to back ourselves, many of the above actions aren’t consistently taken. So perhaps in order to get consistent work, ensure you’re properly motivated (perhaps because of the work you’re targeting) and if you are, you will more consistently take the steps to get the work.
All success,
Activate to view larger image,
I asked strategists:
‘What actions will optimize chances of consistent freelance work?’
Given that the number of strategists freelancing is significantly up in 2025, knowing the answer to this is more important than ever.
Invest in your network before you need it : The most sustainable freelance careers are built on relationships – keeping in touch with peers, former colleagues, and clients.
Differentiate/Be clear about your value : In a crowded market, it is critical for freelancers to define what they uniquely bring – Own a specialty: Create an interesting POV about a strategy-related topic. Create your own set of ‘thinking tools’. Clarity builds confidence, both for the freelancer and for those considering them.
Be Creative – Inquire whether a posted job can be turned into a permalancer role; Lay the groundwork for the next project with your client before you finish the current one.
Targeting – Consider an opportunity hypothesis for a category/industry, then look for relatively weak brands who may be open to learning/developing your work.
– Lay the groundwork for the next project with your client before you finish the current one.
Line up your ducks – Be ready to provide supporting information: Having a solid line up of references/cases. I’ve always collected them wherever I’ve been
Communicate availability: If people don’t hear from you they will hear from others and if they know you/rate you, they may just assume you’re busy.
The power of on-going contact – Maintain saliency by gently contacting your connections every 6 months. Key here is how often you connect (don’t overdo it) and the tone with which you communicate.
Make outreach worth ‘their’ time – Provide material or ideas that help the person (in some way) that you’re communicating with.
Actively market/’tell your story’ both one-to-one and through social media.
Ensure you build your personal brand and get recognition for the freelance work you do, don’t let it be invisible work you do in secret for a brand/agency/client.
Reputation – Ultimately, your reputation sells. Do amazing work/Be easy to work with.
Adapt/Re-tool – DO NOT REST ON LAURELS. While you will always need to prove that you moved the needle for others, in order to get something new, doing the same old thing without demonstrating you can integrate new things (in today’s case, things like ML and AI), nobody is going to care.
Reality check – Many of the above might seem fairly obvious but for some reason, habit, fear, sloth, being too busy, being too afraid to back ourselves, many of the above actions aren’t consistently taken. So perhaps in order to get consistent work, ensure you’re properly motivated (perhaps because of the work you’re targeting) and if you are, you will more consistently take the steps to get the work.
All success,
Activate to view larger image,