7 Places I look for work when I lose a client

And a $250,000/year role I found for you

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Diana Kelly Levey
September 17, 2025 • Estimated Reading Time: 10 minutes

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Losing an anchor client royally stinks. Any freelancer who’s been at this for a few years and secured a steady anchor client understands that eventually, they disappear.

It happens for a number of reasons: budgets, editors leaving, change in management, new processes and tool implementation (yes, AI), or the client is struggling to see the ROI.

I recently had a contract end with a steady client that was about 25% of my monthly income. It’s nice when you have a steady paycheck and don’t have to scramble for “all the work” that hits your bank account each month and can plan for a certain income and workload. Now that I’ve been at this for nearly 20 years, I don’t take it personally.

I usually feel a little bummed when this happens but I know it’s part of the industry — and it happened before AI was a possible factor to blame.

So I ramp up my marketing efforts and take these steps to find more work.

  1. I go back to previous clients. I look at my invoices from earlier in the year and check in with the clients and editors I haven’t connected with in a few months. I let them know I’m available next month through the end of the year if they need help.

  2. I look at my time-tracking software. I use Togg.l which helps me track all of my hours — including the no-pay ones like writing this newsletter — and I see which clients I worked with in the past two years I may have forgotten about. I reach out.

  3. I’ll look on LinkedIn. I use certain search terms to look for jobs within posts. I’ll also look at “MY Network” and “Catch Up” to see where people have changed jobs, got a promotion, or had a noteworthy update. It reminds me of people I connected with whom I might want to say hi to. (Here are LinkedIn messages I write that help me take the conversation off the platform and get freelance work.)

  4. I scan my inbox. I usually keep a folder of “potential clients” which includes brands mentioned in emails and business newsletters that I might want to approach for content marketing work.

  5. I check out apps. I look at the apps I’m using for fun, work, life/parenting etc. I see if they have blogs, newsletters and website content. I put them down as potential clients.

  6. I use Google alerts. I look for specific industry updates on mergers and acquisitions within my niches and consider them as potential clients.

  7. I scan social media groups. I look in a few media groups, writing groups, and business groups I’m in to see if someone is looking for a writer in my niche with my skills.

If you’re looking for websites to check out that list freelance jobs, content jobs, writing jobs or creative work of any kind, check out this list of 50 places.

No matter what, try to remain positive. A good marketing plan that’s ramped up when you’re down a client will pay off dividends down the line.

And check out these sites that list remote work.

Diana

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