I saw a meme once that was titled “The cycle of Freelancing” and it went something like this:
Month 1: I’m so busy!
Month 2: I’m so busy!
Month 3: I’m so busy I can’t handle it!
Month 4: I am never going to get a job again.
Month 5: I am so busy!
Etc. I went from having 17 clients and being totally overwhelmed in work from all three of my jobs- VA, teaching,and consulting/writing, to now having only 1 client who gives me very little work. I have applied for 11 contract jobs, and got one this morning- a measly $40. As much as I would like to, I could never support us on just freelancing and teaching..it’s too unstable, and even though the combined salary between those two jobs approximates my VA salary, that doesn’t count the health insurance and retirement income I get from working at the VA. We’d need to have a 2-income family in order for me to rely just on teaching and freelancing.
In any case, freelancing is slow right now. I’m hoping that now that the holidays are over, I can start getting more work. My preferred ratio is full-time VA, 1 course teaching, and about 10 clients in various stages of need. That’s about what I can handle.