VOLUME 25, ISSUE 3 – MARCH 2026
THIS MONTH’S MENU:
I. Being Booked Isn’t the Same as Being Secure
II. Walking Away from a “Good” Client
III. Are You Like Discount Tire? (from Peter Bowerman)
I. Being Booked Isn’t the Same as Being Secure
Having a fully-booked calendar as a freelancer isn’t the same thing as having a stable business.
Many freelancers talk about the “feast-famine cycle” as if it’s inevitable.
It’s not.
I haven’t experienced even a brief famine cycle in around 20 years. That’s not because I chase work more aggressively. I don’t chase it at all.
While a booked schedule in the moment can look like stability, it’s not. It can be fleeting. A client can disappear. Budgets can change. Results from direct marketing can fluctuate, leaving you with un-booked time.
Security and sustainability come from consistency. A booked calendar right now doesn’t guarantee that.
Two Steps Toward More Security
First, focus on attracting work and prospects rather than only pursuing them.
That’s the foundation of my “query-free freelancing” approach that combines inbound marketing and PR to attract a steady stream of warm leads.
When you build a professional platform that brings qualified prospects to you, your pipeline rarely, if ever, runs dry.
Second, build a waiting list.
When you have consistent demand, prospects are bound to reach out when you’re already full-booked. You might be tempted to squeeze them in.
Instead of risking burn-out by doing that, a waiting list turns that excess demand into future stability.
Waiting lists give you:
- a buffer if other projects end early or unexpectedly;
- a pool of warm leads ready to move forward;
- the ability to be more selective about what you take on without risking income gaps.
If someone needs work completed immediately, refer them out. I’ve had more than a few come back for other projects later.
These referrals show you’re prioritizing the prospect’s needs even if you can’t fill them in the moment. And it helps you build relationships with trusted colleagues who get those referrals.
When you have prospects ready and willing to wait, cancellations don’t result in crises. A slower period of direct marketing (still a great way to target ideal projects and dream clients) won’t slow down earnings.
That’s what real security looks like. And it offers you more freedom to make better long-term decisions about your business, like the example we’ll talk about in the next segment.
II. Walking Away from a “Good” Client
Walking away from a bad client can be easy. But what about walking away from a “good” one?
That’s something I did back in 2012 with a client I’d worked with for five years.
Consistent, relatively easy work. Rates that paid well in excess of my hourly target at the time ($150 / hr then; this gig paid a little over $200 / hr on average). Great relationship with the CEO.
At that point, the regular blogging gig paid around $37k / year. And they hired me for larger one-off projects as well, meaning this one client was bringing me closer to $50k / year. The gig only took a few hours per week, aside from those extra one-off projects.
It wasn’t a client I’d normally consider leaving.
Then things changed.
The company brought in a new SEO lead. That led to a shift in content strategy. It was your typical “SEO spam” nonsense, and it wasn’t something I wanted to be associated with.
Having extensive experience in that area, and helping clients recover from the messes it creates, meant I also knew it wouldn’t work long-term.
This is where freelance writers sometimes get stuck. They might recognize a problem and know they don’t want to be involved with it, but walking away can feel too risky.
In this case, it wasn’t.
Thankfully, I had other work scheduled. This wasn’t my only long-term regular client. I had regular inbound interest. And I had a waiting list (see the previous segment in this newsletter).
That made this a much easier decision for me than it otherwise might have been.
I stepped away. Nothing emotional or dramatic. I gave them some time to find a replacement and helped them do so (the writer I referred also wrote for them for years). Then I left.
I stayed on good terms with the CEO. And I reached out to prospects on my waiting list and almost immediately filled the time that used to be dedicated to this client.
It worked out for all. (And I have to admit, I took a bit of quiet joy when the spam SEO strategy failed, led to penalties, and had to be cleaned up… by someone else. They’re all good now.)
This goes back to what we talked about regarding the difference of being booked vs running a secure and sustainable business.
When you have that stability or security in place, you don’t have to rationalize work that doesn’t meet your professional or ethical standards.
You can make decisions, quickly, based on what’s right for you and your business in the long-term rather than focusing on what keeps money flowing in this month.
III. Are You Like Discount Tire?
In this guest segment, Well-Fed Writer founder, Peter Bowerman, shares a positive customer service experience with Discount Tire, and what freelance commercial writers can take from it.
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I recently bought a car (used of course; never buy new). Got such a good deal on the car, that the seller wouldn’t replace the two front low-tread tires.
Next stop, Discount Tire (a.k.a. America’s Tire), a company I’d used in the past on my old car. These guys are Exhibit A on how to deliver superior customer service.
For starters, they offer free tire pressure checks, with its own special lane, and you’re in and out in a few minutes.
And, free flat repair, and get this: both pressure checks and flat repair are free for ANYONE, customer or not. Sure, the flat-repair service, statistically, will yield a certain percentage of unrepairable flats, and hence new tire sales, but still…
Customers also receive free tire rotation, which makes it easy to get the most life out of your tires. Bottom line, they make it very easy to keep coming back.
When you check in for service, everyone’s friendly and engaging, and you get a text linking you to the status of your car, telling you where the car is in the process, along with the estimated completion time.
I know I sound like an ad for them, but they really do embody core customer service principles any business—yes, copywriters, too—can practice to give you an edge:
- Being friendly
- Delivering more than expected
- Offering free “value-adds”
- Providing excellent communication throughout the process
- Offering a predictable superior experience
In my three-plus decade career, I saw, again and again, that it wasn’t always the most brilliant writer who got steady work, but the person who makes it easy to do business with, by virtue of punctuality, reliability, friendly disposition, and an ability to roll with the punches.