How to Stay Busy as a Freelancer During the Holiday Slump

As the holidays dawn upon us, most freelancers--heck, most businesses--tend to slow down. For the self-employed, it's a great time to gear up for a new year. Here are some tips for making the most out of the holiday slowdown.

Instructions

Difficulty: Moderately Easy

Things You’ll Need:

• Computer
• Marketing Collateral

1. Review your print marketing materials. Is the content of your brochure or the design of your business card really working for you? Do you need a new one? It's a great time to make sure that your marketing materials reflect your business. Take time to review and improve them now, before work starts picking up again!
   
   You can even get ahead by mailing out brochures to targeted businesses. After all, it’s great to have marketing materials but putting them to work for you makes them even more valuable. Now is a great time to work on your marketing--examining your materials and getting them out there!
2. Assess your website. As my leading marketing tool, I don’t always update my website as much as I want to. Similar to the way I examine my print tools, I review my site for content and design. During the rest of the year, I know I get too busy to devote time to my online presence, which is why I take advantage of the slump.
   
   If you don’t have a blog, you may want to add one to your site. Otherwise, even if you just proofread them, it’s good to devote time to your online marketing tools.
3. Organize electronically. It's a great idea to organize your online address books and email addresses. You can even clean up your bookmarks. These are little things that I always want to do when I'm super busy, but never seem to have the time to fix. While your clients are on their holiday breaks--and after you've taken yours--ease into the new year by getting prepared!
   
   However you organize your electronic data, make sure you coordinate it and take the time to back it up. Now is as good a time as ever. Unless you’re into fancy systems that do things automatically, taking time to manually organize things while you have it is a must-do.
4. Stock up on supplies. Hit your local office supply store and stock up on those items that always seem to run out when you need them most: ink, stamps, light bulbs, batteries...the list goes on. Make the best use of your time by getting your office ready for another successful year. Just like kids in September during Back to School, you need to stock up too.

Tips & Warnings

• Start the year off right with a functional planner.
• Set some goals, so you can stay focused all year. Display them where you work.
• Start to look at your taxes for the year.
• Unless you want or need the break, don't slack off during this valuable time to get your business ahead of the ball!