#206: How to Stay Afloat During Turbulent Times, with Michelle Rafter

Today’s guest is Michelle Rafter, who lives in Portland, Oregon. Michelle is the owner of WordCount Editorial Services. She is a former journalist who is now a ghostwriter of books, research reports and articles for CEOs and management consultants. She’s a former newspaper staff writer, wire service columnist and freelance reporter who covered business, enterprise technology and workplace issues. 

Michelle has weathered several economic downturns in her longtime journalism and freelance career. She recently updated her blog post “How to Maintain Your Freelance Business in Bad Times,” so I invited her on the show to go through some of her tips. I also crowdsourced questions from the Deliberate Freelancer community so we could address your questions and concerns about the economy right now and how that may be affecting freelance businesses. 

Another potentially helpful resource: The American Society of Journalists and Authors (ASJA) is hosting a webinar at 1 p.m. E.T. on Monday, May 19, called “What the Trump Administration Could Mean for Freelancers.”

In this episode, we talk about: 

• The turmoil in the U.S. right now and the “tariff economy.” 
• How you can make clients happy by going back to the basics.
• How to be a team player and be flexible with clients, while also sticking to your boundaries. 
• How to be the freelancer that your clients know they can count on, especially when they’re stressed or in a jam. 
• How to break down larger offerings into smaller, more affordable pieces. 
• How to bridge your services to a new service or new niche. 
• “Low key” marketing versus marketing during turbulent times. 
• How to reach out to former clients, as well as following up on past conversations (that maybe didn’t lead to work at that time). 
• Invest wisely when deciding to learn a new skill. 
• The importance of having an “abundance mindset.” 
• The importance of community and reaching out to a fellow freelancer who “gets it.” 

Resources:

Deliberate Freelancer Facebook group

Support Deliberate Freelancer at Buy Me a Coffee

Michelle’s blog post “How to Maintain Your Freelance Business in Bad Times”

ASJA webinar on May 19: “What the Trump Administration Could Mean for Freelancers” (recording available to purchase afterward)

ASJA on-demand webinar: “Canva Tips and Tricks for Freelance Writers”

ASJA on-demand webinar: “Strategies to Sustain Mental Health in a Turbulent Time”

Episode #199 of Deliberate Freelancer: Struggling? How to Get Clients Now, with Rosanna Campbell