I’m going to admit it: Business is a little slow for me right now.

This is partially my fault. My focus is on my daughter until she goes to preschool, so I am not able to work more than part-time. But still, when I put my feelers out for work, it’s unusually quiet. It’s odd. I’ve never seen anything like it before. I’ve always been the person who has something fall into her lap. But lately, I have to work a lot harder for not as much work.

I’ve been able to keep my head held high, and I’m starting to get the whispers of new work. But in the meantime, I’m just keeping myself in a position where I’m able to go to town when that work does happen. Because I’m at my very best when I’m a little overbooked and so it’s best that I keep myself at that pace.

So how do I do it?

Pro bono work

Pro bono work is so sticky that I usually don’t do it. That’s because I know too many social media professionals that got too focused on pro bono work thinking that it would lead to paid work. It didn’t and they ended up going back in-house. It can be such a slippery slope that usually leaves both ends of the pro bono relationship unhappy.

The pro bono work I’ve taken on during this slow period has been projects that have a definitive end point. I’m not taking on anything that requires any ongoing work from me. That stops me from having any guilt when I exit. The exit was already pre-planned. And it gives some guidelines to pro bono clients as to what I am and what I am not doing.

Lastly, I’m not counting on it to bring me any clients (even though it looks like it has). I’m counting on it to fulfill me and keep me busy. Plus I stay on top of the latest trends which helps. There are lots of wins when deciding to do this, but you have to remember that you will eventually have to move on with paid work. So keep it small and simple.

Marketing for your business

When there’s not much else to do, the best thing you can do is throw yourself into marketing yourself and your business. Get people talking about you. As a social media professional, you need to turn your skills onto yourself.

I struggle with this because in the end, my best prospects come from referrals. But the fact of the matter is that I need to remind people to refer prospects to me, and a good way to do that is by creating content. So even though this is not generally a primary way to get clients, it does result in clients.

For this, I tend to focus on keeping the schedule. Keeping a schedule and routine is so important, because work tends to be a muscle. If you don’t work it, then you will lose it. If you don’t keep working, you will lose your ability to do it. So I keep up that muscle by doing as much as I can for my own business.

However, this could be a great time to get more innovative. What is something you’ve always wanted to try for a client but no one let you? Give it a try now. Modify it if you need to, but see what happens when you do it on a small scale. That might show you some holes you can work on before you propose it to a client again. And brainstorming is also a great muscle you need to keep in shape, so be sure to think up some new tactics to try.

Meet new people

The more I stay in my house and stay away from people, the weirder I get and the less effective my content becomes. So of course when my workload gets low, I tend to do exactly what is going to work against me. Thank God for my daughter who almost forces me to get out of my house. Otherwise, I’d probably see no one.

But just getting out of your house isn’t good enough. If you’re really working on business development, then the right people in your network already know you’re looking for work. You need to cast your net wider and go further. You need to meet new people.

In my case, I decided to get more involved in my neighborhood. Where I saw holes, I have been trying to fill them, just like I do with content. And as I’ve been doing that, I have been put in situations where I am meeting lots of new people. It’s super uncomfortable for me, but it’s led to finding out about opportunities. Have those opportunities led to new business? Not quite yet. But this is a far cry from where I was before I did this, and I had no new opportunities. The hope opportunities bring is enough to keep me going.

Do what you need to do

In the end, it can feel devastating when you’re experiencing a lull in business. Even if everyone else is feeling that same lull, it feels like you’re doing everything wrong and you’ll never be successful again. It’s the worst mental situation to be in when you need to be presenting as a successful business person who can do anything.

So do whatever it takes to get your mental health in check. Don’t judge what you’re doing during this period. In fact, don’t judge yourself at all. Just get your head straight so you are ready when that new business does come along. Because the one thing you don’t want to have happen is that new business comes and you’re not in a mental place to take it. That might be even more devastating than the lull itself.

How do you stay motivated during a slow business period? How do keep feeling like yourself?