A couple of weeks ago I started writing a new article about what I wish I had known before becoming a full time freelancer. That I would spend as much as my time on admin and accounting than I do out at shoots, that I would have to learn new skills such as digital marketing and basic bookkeeping. That working from home is not as much fun as you think it would be and how to juggle your time between being out on a shoot and at home catching up on the backlog of other jobs you have to do.
All of this seems so minor now since COVID-19 was declared a worldwide pandemic. Now I am working out how much burn time I really have, what is the worst-case scenario and how long can I survive with no money coming in. I am also trying to plan for the positive, when the market bounces back I want to be there at the front of people eyes ready to land those all-important jobs. I am also trying to spend time with my family, my poor kids that cannot go out to play like they are used to and I definitely have a new found respect for their teachers!
Here are some area’s I have been focusing on to get through this; I would love to hear other people’s thoughts and strategies;
Use this time to catch up on all work that might have been put on the back burner. Re-edit some old images to see if you can produce a better result.
Plan! Create your social media content for the next few months, get everything scheduled and ready to go so this is something you will not have to do when work does come back again
Enhance website and portfolio, I have tried to go through my entire portfolio and website content, looking at each gallery and asking myself is there really the best 10 images I have for this category, could any of these images be edited better. It is also a great chance to self-critic and try and improve on areas that might not be your strong points.
Cut costs, all non-essential expenses have been cut, this unfortunately means I have taken down all my ads but this is a decision for the just the lockdown period only
Re-organise and clean all of my equipment, in general, I have taken this chance to have a clear out of all of my belonging and a bit of spring-clean
Learn! YouTube is a fantastic resource of training videos, I am polishing my Photoshop skills trying to discover new tricks and processes to improve and speed up my editing skills
And probably most importantly BREATHE! This will be over eventually, the extra time I have spent with my kids is invaluable and whilst the world will be a difference place at the end of all this our actions now can help make sure it is a better one.