I used to have a mental trick for getting work. It required minimal effort and zero cost. All I had to do was to make an attempt at doing some marketing. It could be a flyer, an email circular or maybe just a letter. Invariably, before the task was complete the phone would ring and I could abandon it. But now that work is scarce, I don’t feel so confident. I haven’t attempted any marketing for a while, maybe I should. They say it’s the thing to do in a downturn. Anyway, it was probably a statistical illusion; the work would have come in anyway.
I imagine most freelancers are superstitious to some extent. After all, a call from out of the blue seems like divine intervention. It follows there must be a way to draw these enlightening bolts in our direction. By writing this, I fear I may be breaking the spell. But what the heck. Maybe it will work for you.
Actually, it gets worse. I invented a deity some years ago. To tell the truth, I discovered her. Remember those periods when you were really busy and didn’t know how you were going to get it all done? You may be in one now. Remember when a client changed the schedule and there was a fatal clash of dates? This time you’re really screwed. And then at the last minute the phone would ring (in those days it would be a call and not an email) and one or other of the conflicting clients would change a date and your bacon would be saved.
This happened consistently enough to get the feeling that someone up there was looking out for me, so I gave her a name, Schedula – the patron saint of diaries. I would speak to Schedula, ask for favours, put my trust in her – me a rampant atheist, how strange is that? But it seemed to work. Job followed job in logical succession. Schedula always seemed to work her magic.
To be honest, I have neglected Schedula over the last few years and I haven’t used my marketing feint either. Perhaps that’s the problem. It’s nothing to do with the recession. I have unplugged my psyche from universal space time. My work antennae have stopped transmitting. I am no longer visible on the right wave lengths. But that’s going to change. Schedula, forgive me. I have forsaken you. I am open for business, rearing to go.
I discovered something else a bit spooky. I can bring other people luck. A friend would call to complain how quiet things were and bingo, a few days later their phone would be off the hook. It happened again quite recently. Try it if you like; call if you need work. I will only cost you the price of a phone call. I’m not some rip-off medium. Anyway, it would be nice to hear from you. But hurry, I could be getting busy quite soon.
July 25, 2010
I learned ‘serendipity’ from you and it’s worked for me. I’m sure the temporary downturn is due to the fact that your boys are all successfully launched, your addition looks brilliant and you just had an amazing trip to Turkey – you need to create a ‘need’ for something to come in!