Ask any freelance trainer and they will tell you one of the main problems they come up against is feast and famine syndrome. You know, that situation when you are either staring at your blank diary wondering how you are going to pay the mortgage this month whilst keeping half an eye on the job ads or feeling desperately stressed out because you are training 5 days a week and can’t cope with the workload. People often describe this scenario as something that just happens to them, almost as if it’s an inevitable part of being self employed and that there’s nothing you can really do about it. But there are things you can do to avoid it.

The most important action you can take is to develop the right mindset about marketing. Marketing is an ongoing activity, something you should do every day, not just an afterthought when you are not out delivering training.

Make sure that you plan marketing activity into your daily and weekly schedules. Make one phone call a day to a business contact just to ask how they are, send a couple of emails to stay in touch with people, book yourself onto a networking event and stay committed to attending even if something else comes up. Invest time in your marketing and be disciplined about staying in touch with your network.

It will pay dividends in the end.