Late last month, Copyblogger published a post called Where Have All the Freelance Writing Jobs Gone? Frankly, I’m not really feeling the heat of the economic chaos yet. Any dips in income have more to do with my personal life than the number of customers. I’m a pretty lucky chick, all things considered.

That being said, you can bet my clients are getting nervous. I know at least one “Beth Budget” has dried up completely, and other clients are really thinking twice about how much work they farm out. Everyone’s kind of hunkering down, and I need to stop thinking about the work I have today and start projecting into the future.

One of the best ideas from the Copyblogger article came from the 2008-2009 Freelance Writing Jobs Report by Yuwanda Black from InkwellEditorial.com. She outlined great markets for freelance writers and concluded with a very helpful list of tips on how to recession proof your freelance business.

Yuwanda suggested that freelancers examine their rates during this tough economy, so that’s what I did. In the last week, I’ve offered a retainer package to a number of my clients, promising up to a certain number of hours of work a month for a flat fee, which represents about a 25 percent reduction in my rates.

Four of my clients have taken me up on this offer, each with commitments of 3 months. This allows them to know they can count on help when they need it from someone who knows their business. And I’m excited because I don’t always have to be prospecting regular clients and new leads. I can depend on a certain amount of income and work a month, so I can rest a little easier that everything won’t dry up next week.

Did I have to do this? No. Like I said, I’m fortunate enough that I have clients who count on me and steady work for the foreseeable future. But this allows me to not have to wonder as much if I’ll have income after I finish the next project.