Fractional Month 2: The Sequel is Always Worse*
What a month it’s been. And I mean that in nearly the worst way.
Last month when I launched this whole newsletter shebang, I was happy to report what I will perhaps braggadociously refer to as a runaway success of a first month as a fractional worker. I’d exceeded my monthly goals, I fostered great relationships with clients; things went well.
Yet, I knew there was volatility in switching over from full-time to freelance. I didn’t really expect all that volatility to hit in one month, but hey, that was November. So, here’s the latest – a reflection on the clusterf— that was November 2023 and a few of the lessons learned along the way.
What Went Well
Let’s start on the positive side. Last month, I wrote about a few retainer clients and one of those has picked up a little in work. I let them know that I had more capacity and they’ve been able to fill in some of those hours, and I genuinely enjoy working with them and the team. I’d also written about a project that was a simple website audit/copy revamp, which has since expanded into helping that company with blog posts, reports, and (potentially) more. Good people and steady work, for which I am very grateful!
When I decided to go fractional, it was for many reasons but chief among them was to spend more time creatively writing. This month, I signed up for a new writing class and I started in on a new feature – a whole nine pages in, but hey that’s some progress?
An old colleague/friend called me a couple of weeks ago with a hospitality project (my favorite!) that she’s working on, so that’s another small gig to throw into the mix. It’s not a huge paycheck, but it’s the work that lights me up most, so I’m not complaining.
Speaking on the low paycheck front, I am helping out my hair stylist with some email and communications work in exchange for cuts/color. My accountant (read: Dad) has told me this isn’t strictly speaking “legal,” but I’m here for the barter of it all. Just don’t tell on me.
Known Problems
This month was bound to be a little less exciting in terms of the finances; I took a whole week off to travel and I am proud to say I didn’t do a lick of work. But what that practically means is that I invoiced just a touch higher than $13,000. If you’re following along, that’s about $10,000 less than the previous month. Again, I’d planned for this (and overworked last month to account for what was bound to be a slower November and December, but little did I know…). While that’s a whole lot less money than October I will say that I’d be happy if I made $13K every month on a steady basis, so in terms of problems, I’m not too upset about this one.
Unforeseen Issues
Oh boy, where do I start? I’ll go in chronological order I think.
Firstly, I had talked about a client last month that came in through a friend of mine, who I was helping revamp a deck. This is a more corporate client, and I probably should have predicted that they needed a little more handholding and detailed explanation of process. I take full responsibility for this. What I don’t take responsibility for is that after sending them along an outline of a deck and then new copy, and providing me no actual feedback, they just decided to not pay me (a first of my career!). Because this came in through a friend, I didn’t pull together an SOW. It was incredibly frustrating, and I am still boiling a little bit with anger as I write this. I pride myself on always doing great work, and I would have gotten this project to where it needed to be if (1) the client had ever provided me feedback and (2) they hadn’t reneged on our financial agreement midway through the process. I made it clear I don’t work on spec, and that should they bring on freelance help in the future, they should make it clear that that is their expectation. So lesson learned: always draft an SOW even if it’s work from a friendly intro.
Next, my main client decided to put marketing efforts on pause for a few months. I probably should have expected this given market volatility and some of the internal dynamics, but I’m going to be honest, this was a tough blow. To go from that level of expected income (not only that, but I had heard from the powers-that-be there that they had actually wanted to up my hours just the week prior, so I was turning down work to account for that), to having that rug yanked out from underneath me was jarring, and I’m still reeling from it. That happened the same day as the above situation, mere hours apart, so yeah it’s been a fun month. The lesson learned here is to add terms to my SOW if it’s that big of a contract (i.e. if you’re planning on taking 30 hours a week of my time, I need a couple of weeks notice to fill in that gap should that work end).
It feels wrong to put this last because it’s where most of my energy has gone, but I chose to go chronologically for a reason, which is to say, the less important things can go first. On Thanksgiving Day, his 95th birthday, my grandpa passed away. I am gutted and I am grieving, and it has taken so much time and energy in a way that there was no planning for. Beyond funerals and shiva, and hours spent checking in on my grandma who lost her partner of nearly 74 years, there’s just unexpected waves of tears and emptiness, and the inability to actually do anything. So I will say that although I lost a lot of work this month, I’ve been grateful that the slower workload has allowed me more space to be with my family and also just be. And I’m grateful that my own particular skillset with words can be useful beyond making other people money. I wrote my grandpa a letter a couple of days before his birthday, when he was still somewhat lucid, which I read at his funeral. If you’re curious to know about this wonderful man who I loved so much, you can read that here.
New Business Activities
Without the flurry of work, and in little fits and spurts between familial obligations and grieving, I’ve been focused on new business. I have it in my mind that I’m not going to go hard on trying to drum up new business until the new year, because I have big doubts that anyone is trying to secure consistent freelance help in December. With that in mind, I’ve allowed myself time to get my act together.
The first thing I did was build a website and set up a domain around my fractional offering. I got advice from a friend that establishing a business name outside of my own could allow the same services to read as more premium, so that’s exactly what I did! Not only that, but it also gives me a dedicated entity under which I can showcase frequent collaborators, like my good friend Abby who I love working with on the design front, or my partner John who I have tapped to build a whole lot of internet things at this point. You can find us at Supporting Cast. Check out our services! Tell your friends!
I had a meeting last week with my accountant (read: Dad) to talk about setting up an S-Corp. I’m going to do that this week in fact, so we’ll have lots to discuss in our newsletter next month. The benefit of an S-Corp is that I’ll take a lower salary on payroll and I can pay myself out in distributions, rather than simply invoicing to my personal account and paying quarterly estimates, to balance out when I do my yearly taxes. Again, more to come there as I set that up (likely via LegalZoom this week).
I’m still in a little bit of a cocoon-by-choice, as I’m navigating the grief of this month and trying to show up fully for my grandma and my mom. That said, I am reaching out to friends who I loved working with and clients I’ve enjoyed in the past to meet up for a coffee/virtual coffee/drinks. I caught up with a fellow content freelancer last month who I adore, and we talked about what we want for ourselves next. She’s focusing more on the product/GTM side whereas I love focusing more on the brand/content side. We agreed to refer each other work if the opportunity presents itself; it’s exactly these friendly, symbiotic relationships I want to foster – those that happen organically because we like each other rather than the ever-so-schlocky cliche of networking. And related, if you need some product/GTM help, I know of a great someone!
What’s Keeping Me Up At Night
Well, money in. I’m nervous about the big cut this month, and next month will be worse. I had two weeks working for my main client in November; December is looking to be a much drier month, particularly as most businesses are closed for a week or two. I’ve got money in savings to account for this, but I wasn’t expecting to dip into that so quickly.
Health insurance back-and-forths. As of last week, John and I are officially domestic partners, so I’m jumping on his health insurance, but what does this mean for my PCP? Therapist? Dentist? Sigh, this shouldn’t have to be so difficult.
The balance between creative and work. I know this month is going to be slower, so do I just give into it and really go full tilt on the creative writing, or do I spend a bulk of my time setting myself up from a new biz POV to hit the ground running in January? My sense is it’s somewhere in the middle, I’m just not sure where. And also, what does new biz look like for me? I’m not interested in the cold call approach, so how can I put myself out there in a way that feels authentic to myself and my work?
As a parting note…
This month was a lot. Here’s hoping for less surprises in December. That said, for the first time in a while, I have capacity! Let me know if there’s any words-related things you or anyone you know needs before the holidays or after.
If you found this newsletter to be valuable, forward it to a friend. I’m doing this as a labor of love and a touch of lunacy, but if this is something you’d pay for via a Substack or otherwise, consider making a donation to La Más.
Lastly, there’s an asterisk in the subject line of this email because there are a few notable exceptions where the sequel isn’t worse than the original. Unfortunately, my second month is not one of them, but these movies are: The Godfather Part II, Sister Act 2: Back in the Habit (not as good of a movie, but Lauryn Hill makes it a tie I think), and, my most controversial take, Grease 2.