Hi Reader,

Happy Friday!

I'm taking on some more questions and topics both for this newsletter and the It's Fine, I'm a Freelancer podcast.

So, if you have a burning question about freelancing (anything goes!), just hit reply and let me know.

P.S. In my latest Instagram post, I shared something a bit tongue-in-cheek about how setting boundaries improved my business. Check it out here. And don't forget to give me a follow for regular tips and tricks!

Here's what I've been up to this week work-wise:

👉 I refreshed 2 pieces for Shopify

👉 I wrote 3 pieces for clients (Salsify, a new influencer marketing tool, and Jukebox Print)

👉 I outlined 2 pieces for a new client

👉 I had 2 new enquiries

👉 I booked a strategy session with a new client

👉 I scheduled some LinkedIn posts for a client

⏱ Approx hours spent on client work this week: ~24

⏱ Approx hours spent on non-client work: ~1.5

💰 Total revenue this week: £3,725for

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Check out my three practical courses that have helped 500+ people get more clients, earn more money, and create better content.

Friday Freelance Tip​​ ✨ ​

You can have a really good month freelancing and it can still be a bit of a warning sign.

You might have a big client, tons of interesting work, a chunky ol' paycheque coming in, and no real need to pitch or chase anyone you.

Some breathing room, nice!

But (and I say this from experience), don't get too comfortable. I've definitely become dependent on some clients in the past and felt absolutely BEREFT if/when they decide to end our contract for whatever reason.

It's a sticky spot to be in, for sure, but it's fixable.

The bit where I steal an idea from finance...

Bear with me, because this analogy is quite useful.

In investing, concentration risk is what happens when too much of your money is sitting in one place. If that one thing does well, great. But if it goes sideways, you have no cushion. The whole point of diversification isn't to find the best possible thing and go all in, it's to make sure no single outcome can wipe you out.

Your clients are your portfolio. And just like in investing, the question isn't just "is this client good?" It's "how exposed am I if this client disappears?".

A rough rule of thumb that a lot of freelancers use: no single client should make up more than about 30% of your income. That number isn't sacred, some people push it to 40%, some are more cautious, but the logic is sound. If one client walks and they represent 30% of your income, you can survive it. It's stressful, but you're not scrambling to pay rent. If they represent 70%, it's a v different conversation.

Here's a quick sense-check you can do right now. Jot down your last three months of income and which client each payment came from. Then work out the percentage each one represents of the total.

But what if you're on a contract?

Look, I know freelancing looks so wildly different for everyone and I don't want to gloss over that.

Some of you are on day-rate contracts, e.g. three days a week with one company, which by definition means that client is going to dominate your income. That's a different situation, and pretending the 30% rule just applies neatly to you would be a bit daft. What matters there is knowing the contract has an end date and having a plan for what comes after, rather than letting it roll on indefinitely while your network goes cold and your pipeline dries up.

For everyone else who's project-based, retainer-based, or a mix, the principle stands. The goal isn't necessarily to have LOADS of clients, it's to have enough of the right clients that no single one of them going quiet takes you with it.

Working out your actual capacity

Before you can diversify, you need to know how much room you actually have in your calendar. Note here that we tend to either overestimate what we can take on (hello, optimistic project timelines) or underestimate it when we're busy and scared of saying no.

There are a few ways to get a clearer picture of where you are:

The block method (this is what I use, and it's simple enough that I've stuck with it for years). I assign every piece of work to a block of time. A block might be a morning, or it might be a full day depending on the project. I know roughly how many blocks I have in a month, and when those blocks are full, I'm at capacity.

When someone asks if I can take something on, I'm not thinking "hmm, is that 6 hours or 8 hours?", I'm thinking "do I have a block spare for this?" It's blunt, but it works.

The time-budget method. Some people prefer to think in hours. Work backwards from how many hours you actually want to work in a month (not how many you could theoretically squeeze in 👀 how many you want to). Then track roughly how many hours your current clients take up. The gap is your capacity. If there is no gap, well, you're over capacity, but you knew that right?

The energy method. A bit less conventional but still quite useful, especially if you do different kinds of work. Not all client work takes the same amount out of you. One client might be technically light but emotionally heavy (lots of back and forth, unclear briefs, slow approvals). Another might be demanding but satisfying. Tracking energy, not just time, can help you avoid that thing where you're technically not overbooked but you're completely spent.

Whatever method you use, the key is to have some system, even a rough one.

Stopping clients from assuming they own you

One of the side effects of having one client take up a lot of your time is that they start to act like you're on their payroll. The response times shorten. The "could you just quickly..." messages start. The assumption that you're available on a Friday afternoon at 4pm sets in.

Some of this is accidental. If you're always available, why would they assume otherwise? And some of it is just human nature. But you can manage it without having a difficult conversation, and without lying.

A few things that help:

Let your processes do the talking. If you have a set turnaround time and you stick to it consistently, clients calibrate to it. You don't have to announce that you have other clients because your behaviour shows it. Responding to every email within the hour trains people to expect that.

Be matter-of-fact about your schedule. "I can get that to you by Thursday" is a complete sentence. You don't owe an explanation for why not Tuesday. I've totally been guilty of this in the past, but I'm now v comfortable giving my deadline without over-explaining it (honestly, such a good skill to have!).

Reference your pipeline without making a thing of it. Things like "I've got a couple of projects wrapping up this month, so I should have room for that in [timeframe]" signal that you're a person with a business. I always use this kind of phrasing when booking a new client to set those expectations early.

The spreadsheet, for those who want it

If you want to do this more formally, here's a simple template you can copy. It has three tabs: one for logging your clients and what percentage of last month's income each one represented, one for tracking your capacity blocks (or hours, depending on your method), and one for a rough 90-day pipeline view so you can see if a gap is coming up.

As always, happy freelancing 🙂

Lizzie ✨

This week, we have Belinda Fischer sharing her finances with us.

Where are you based? Germany.

How long have you been freelancing? 7 years (March 2019).

What do you do? German marketing translator for tech and travel.

What's your revenue? My revenue in 2026 so far (29 May 2026) is €35,174.78.

This person freelances full time and this was their highest earning year.

How much did you take as a salary?

My business expenses in 2026 so far have been €2,909.90 for things like website hosting, paying a web developer for regular updates, professional memberships and training, and travelling to a client conference. I also had to replace my old laptop (RIP), which set me back €1,1760.

Because I'm self-employed, I also pay for health insurance, which is steep here in Germany (currently €882/month for me). Same with taxes (about 30% of your gross income)! Since my partner and I recently bought our first apartment, we've also had to invest in renovations, so there hasn't been much left to pay myself, but it covers the essentials.

Last year (2025), I made €51,957.07 in revenue and took about €25k as a salary (revenue minus health insurance, business expenses, and taxes).

How much did you pay in taxes?

30% of my gross income.

What are your business expenses?

It's different every month, but I'd say around €300 (website, training, tech, business travel). I spent Nearly €1.2k on subcontractors.
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Do you contribute to a pension or invest?

A little bit, but only as of summer 2025. I pay €100 into a private pension fund held by Helvetia (a Swiss insurance company).

As of 2026, I try to put a little money aside in WISE "jars": one for taxes (those bills creep up on you!), one for "travel" and soon also one for "renovations". Fingers crossed I can keep that up!

Any personal money-management or cash flow tip you'd like to share with others?

I'd never done this until becoming a homeowner in 2026, but: Pay yourself first! As soon as you get paid by your clients, make sure your non-negotiables are covered (mortgage/rent, tax, pension contributions, savings/investments). Out of sight, out of mind. Then you only spend what you can see in your bank account, and your everyday habits adapt so you don't live beyond your means. 🙏

We need more Freelance Money Diaries entries! I'm forever grateful to anyone who shares their finances with us (you can do it totally anonymously!).

Click the button below to do yours!

As always, happy freelancing :)

Lizzie ✨

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