Protect your income by finding clients outside of your local area.
When I look at the clients I have for my own freelance copywriting business, I see quite a geographical spread.
I don't have any local clients in my home town of Montreal, Quebec.
I have one or two Canadian clients.
I have a couple of European clients.
I don't have any from the Far East right now, but sometimes I do.
And I have a lot of clients spread across various states in the US.
Why don't I just stick with local clients?
In the pre-Internet world, freelancers would typically build a base of clients in their own local area.
It just made life easier to be able to drive across town to visit a client.
But with the Internet and email, there really is no reason to even think about "where" a client is based. Geographical location just doesn't matter.
The only time I even give any thought to the location of a client is when I have to pause and figure out which time zone they are in.
There are two huge benefits to spreading your net worldwide when looking for new clients
Benefit #1: When you don't mind where your business comes from, you have a much broader choice of great clients to work with.
For example, if your niche is focused on companies which sell herbal medicines, you'll be severely limited if you stick only to companies located in the city or area in which you live. When you cast your net nationally and internationally, you'll suddenly find you have hundreds or thousands of prospective companies to which you can promote your services.
Even if your niche is much broader, when you consider the world as your market you have a much larger pool of prospects and you can target and select those companies which really want to work with you and will pay your fees without question.
Benefit #2: You'll be far better protected in times of economic downturn or recession
When the economy takes a hit, a local market can be devastated. But if you have clients from all over the country, and internationally, you'll be better protected.
Bad news on the economy doesn't generally hit every part of the country in the same way. And bad news in the state, province or area in which you live will likely not extend to other countries and continents.
I maximize my opportunities and minimize my risks by targeting prospective clients from all over the world.
As a freelancer I want to work with the best clients. I want to enjoy the work I do and get paid well for it.
If I'm going to be fussy like that, and I am, then I'd better cast my prospecting net very wide. That means globally, and not locally.
And if I want to reduce my risk, which I always do, I'll make sure that I never have all my eggs in one basket geographically.
And finally...
Just a question.
In a world with the Internet and email, why would any freelancer confine his or her efforts just to a local market?
Where's the advantage?
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