If you need more work right now…

This week I'm giving you a special remix.

Many of you have been emailing or messaging me and telling me you’re looking for that next big, pivotal opportunity.

Or you’re looking for bread-and-butter projects to help you stay afloat.

The common thread? Needing more projects.

No surprises there. To stay in business, we all need more... business.

One very slight mindset shift can help. If you’re a freelancer or consultant and you don’t have enough work right, business development is your job. Not the creative work, or research and advisory, or problem solving, but generating leads.

We can’t sit back and wait for dream clients to come to us. And if things are scary lean, we can’t rely on referrals to magically appear in our inboxes or DMs.

As a mentor once told me, we’ve got to go get in the way of opportunity.

Don’t wait for things to happen. Make them happen.

This can be fun if you let it.

The challenge, of course, is not knowing which of the things will produce an opportunity the way striking steel and flint makes sparks and can eventually start a fire.

It’s the repetitive motion that matters, the Morning Marketing Habit. The dental hygiene of creative entrepreneurship.

If you don’t have enough work right now, what are you going to do about that?

I’d recommend that you do the following:

1. Read this LinkedIn post about warm pitches. Does anyone come to mind? Reach for your courage. Send that warm pitch. Or five.
2. Read my "15 Ways To Get Clients Fast" post. Jot down ideas as you go.
3. Read this “How to Find Clients As a Freelancer” post. Jot down ideas as you go.
4. Pick 5 dream clients to go after and become an Opportunity Hound.
5. Organize your list of ideas into three buckets: 5-Minute Tasks, 30-Minute Tasks, Longer Projects.
6. Knock out all the 5-minute ideas immediately—e.g., reach out to clients from last year and say hi.
7. Organize the remaining ideas into an actionable plan and schedule (e.g., no less than 1 hour per day spent on business development).
8. Make yourself vulnerable by asking people for help.

We always have agency. Remember that.

When you can see the muddy bottom of your bank account and there’s not a cloud in the sky, it’s easy to slip into anxiety and future tripping rather than do what you can.

Friend, today, do what you can.

I’m rooting for you.

P.S. Sidenote: If you need to overcome your fear of self-promotion, listen to C.J. Hayden and Melanie Padgett Powers talk about that on Deliberate Freelancer.

Do you want help with that?

On March 29, I helped a brand manager who was freaking out about his dwindling savings. He didn't have enough cash or enough projects.

Art wanted a plan for drumming up projects quickly. (I gave him a little encouragement, too.)

Or, maybe you're in good shape, financially, like the web developer and no-code process designer I helped. Maybe the problem is so much opportunity.

Arne wanted help creating a business roadmap with key business-building projects (e.g., new pricing, new messaging, new strategy offer) in the right order.

He knew he had to stay focused and start and finish one thing at a time while he also juggled multiple client projects.

To book a Clarity Session like the one I did with Art, go here.

To book a Custom Business Roadmap engagement like Arne's, go here.

About Austin L. Church

Hi, I'm Austin L. Church, a writer, marketing consultant, and business coach.

I started freelancing in 2009 after finishing my M.A. in Literature and getting laid off from a marketing agency. Freelancing led to a portfolio of mobile apps, tech startup, children's book, branding studio, and consulting practice.

Over the last 15 years, I've made north of $1.8 million as a creative entrepreneur, and looking back, I see so many missed opportunities.

That's why I'm so passionate about stacking up specific advantages and teaching freelancers, consultants, and creators how to do the same.

I want more of us to find our income-lifestyle sweet spot.

You can learn more at FreelanceCake.com.