Posts filed under 'Toolbox'
Happy 2008, people! While the rest of the world has their collective head in the toilet and is making vague promises to whittle down their thighs and/or credit card debt, I imagine you’re pondering how you can make your creative goals for 2008 stick. Allow me to interrupt your list making a moment to share a little exercise that lit some TNT under one the most immobile arses I know — mine. (I promise this isn’t some lame creative visualization exercise where you daydream yourself into becoming the next J.K. Rowling.)
My suggestion: Write a one-page creativity CV (a.k.a. artist resume). That’s right. Create your writing (or filmmaking or illustration or game animation or clothing design) bio. Don’t bother mentioning what you do from 9 to 5 to pay the bills. Just crank out a page listing all your accomplishments in the creative work you’d be doing full time if money were no object and you weren’t already doing something else most of the week to pay off that heap of bills you racked up over the holidays.
Not sure what an artist resume looks like? Here’s one I really like.
Basically, you’re going to list some or all of these:
- Your education and training
- Your creations (stories, books, films, comics, designs, websites, shareware, etc.)
- Awards and accolades you’ve received
- Public appearances (readings, art exhibits, participation on a panel, etc.)
- Any relevant teaching experience you have
- Stuff you’ve done to give back to your community (judging a local fanfic writing contest, showing elementary school kids how to make dioramas, etc.)
- Professional associations you belong to (Glassblowing Babes of Birmingham, etc.)
Don’t worry if your creativity CV is short. Type it up anyway and hang it on your wall, even if the only thing on the page is the header [Your Name], Writer Extraordinaire. Now tell me you don’t want to spend a little more time this week/month/year working on that manuscript or song lyric you put aside back in October of 2005.
I did this exercise a few weeks back while applying for a fellowship of sorts, which involved creating a one-page writing CV. It also involved staring down a cavernous hole on the page where I had expected to find my creative non-fiction achievements.
Yeah, I’d published piles of reported newspaper, magazine, and web articles over the years. And yeah, my book publishing, public speaking, and teaching credits were starting impress even the most skeptical relatives in my family. But the section of my CV highlighting the humor essays and creative non-fiction stories I’d published over the years — the stuff I really, really thrive on doing — was skimpy at best. I mean, I knew I’d been back-burnering a bunch of stories I’ve been itching to write, but that was somewhere in the far recesses of my denial-happy mind. And staring into the void of the “Stories & Essays” section on my CV pretty much hit me like a tsunami.
So I have been making lists, promises, and even a morsel of headway on a couple of stories I’ve put off for far too long. And that’s what I plan to make more time for in 2008, er, just as soon as I get this next big, totally unrelated deadline off my plate.
What about you?
January 1st, 2008
Sometimes (OK, often) I feel like trolling the web is a lot like trying to make your way through a neon, spinning, ringing, blinging Vegas casino on four hits of acid. Impossible to focus, easy to achieve sensory overload in ten seconds flat.
It’s probably because I didn’t grow up with a silver cursor button in hand, or because I’m not particularly adept at keeping my faux ADD at bay. Regardless, when I’m knee-deep in a bigass writing project, making my way through the links on a page like HRWorld‘s Toolbox Toolbox: 100-Plus In-Depth Resource Collections for Web Workers has the same effect as turning up one of my boyfriend’s Coheed and Cambria albums to 11. All I want to do is smash my speakers (er, monitor), hide under the covers, and swear off everything with a password or plug.
However, if I were to step outside my Luddite self and channel my inner plastic fantastic widget-loving geekosaur I’d probably dig the following selections from HRWorld’s monster toolbox page:
Actually I think I’ll just take a peek at that last one now…
LATER: Curiously, I lost my initial stab at this post on Thursday due to this technical glitch. (If you, too, were blocked from commenting on this site, try again; it should work now.) Then I read this article on how many small businesses say they don’t have time to deal with social networks and the other trimmings of Web 2.0. Then I read this article about the Facebookization of journalism. So now I feel compelled to tell you that I actually got sucked into Facebook by a couple of unrelenting friends last month, though I have yet to complete my profile.
December 9th, 2007
I usually regard blog tagging as a nuisance, kind of like those chain emails you get that tell you to pass some “inspirational” note on to 397 of your closest friends or little Molly who lives under a freeway ramp with only her three-legged ferret for company will meet a horrific fate, which will of course be all your fault. But last month I was tagged for an incredibly useful meme by Marci Alboher, author of One Person/Multiple Careers. Marci was working on a list of her fave female bloggers and kindly requested that I do the same. Easy!
As a bonus, also check out The Women Entrepreneurs Toolbox: 100 Networking Resources, Guides and Links. You won’t be disappointed. (And I’m not just saying this because I’m on the list.)
Rather than tag a few people to continue this meme madness, everyone reading this should consider themselves tagged. Add your top picks to the comments below, to your own blog, or anywhere that suits your fancy. I encourage you to suggest some of the lesser-known blogs you adore, too. Instead of just recommending the same top-read blogs time after time, let’s spread the link love around, shall we?
September 11th, 2007
Found a new site that has some excellent resources for women looking to work far, far away: Expat Women. Especially useful: the forums. Especially juicy: the real-life confessions on topics like trailing partners and cheating spouses.
April 19th, 2007
There’s a new blog in town that’s all freelancing, all the time. It’s called FreelanceSwitch, and it looks like the site’s going to offer up some serious resources for we self-employed types in the coming months. Check it out.
April 18th, 2007
Since we’ve all got tax returns on the brain, I figured it was time for another tax-related post. Earlier this month, a friend of a friend of a friend told me she had a freelance web designer pal who deducts the time he spends tricking out his website as a tax write-off — after all, it’s advertising and marketing for his business, right? Basically the web designer pal of this friend of a friend of a friend would multiply his hourly rate (let’s say it’s $75 US) by the amount of hours spent spiffing up his site or blog (let’s say it’s 10 hours a month), thereby claiming $750 in business expenses for the month on his annual tax return.
I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: I’m not a tax professional. But my gut told me this guy’s “marketing” write-off was a big fat no-go. (If not, I would have tried that tactic myself long ago.) My Friend the CPA confirmed as much, as did my friend of a friend of a friend’s Bookkeeper Pal. So we are not taking a cue from my friend of a friend of a friend’s web designer pal, who sounds like he needs to sit down with H&R Block — and quick.
In other words, we self-employed types can’t claim as business expenses the non-billable hours we spend marketing ourselves, sending out invoices, researching new clients, and the like. However, we can deduct some or all of the printing costs we incur for said marketing materials, money spent hiring a web designer, printer paper used to print our invoices on, dinners splurged on in an effort to woo new clients, magazine subscriptions purchased to stay abreast of industry trends, Internet connection used to research new clients, and so on.
But I’m not here to single out one freelancer’s ill-informed move. In fact, I’d now like to share with you some of the boneheaded tax write-offs yours truly has attempted to claim on income tax returns past (only to have her accountant laugh in her face):
- Gas used to drive to a year-long, onsite temp gig — aka contract job, or permatemp assignment. (That’s like trying to claim the gas you use to get to your employee job, a big no-no.)
- Groceries. (Since I’m not a chef or caterer, the IRS doesn’t care what I whip up for lunch each day.)
- Drycleaning. (This only works if you’re a model or an actress or perhaps a magician’s assistant.)
Resources you can use:
- If you’re not sure what constitutes a legitimate write-off, check out the IRS page on business expenses.
- For some fantastic freelance tax FAQs, check out these tips and resources compiled by Debbie Ridpath Ohi of Will Write for Chocolate. (Full disclosure: Debbie includes this page from my blog.)
- Do talk to an accounting professional. Really. Because you don’t want to mess with the IRS. And you shouldn’t take my word as gospel because — repeat after me, class — I’m not an accredited tax professional.
March 25th, 2007
Ready to make the leap from slush pile to paid scribe? Jill Rothenberg, my fabulous (former) Seal Press editor, just announced that she’ll be teaching an online class on writing a winning nonfiction book proposal through Media Bistro this spring. I can’t say enough about how brilliant and hiliarious and savvy about all things publishing Jill is. I pretty much cried when she left Seal, even though I was excited that she did it to become a fellow freelancer.
But don’t take my word for it. Read the course description and her impressive bio yourself. (I didn’t know this, but she worked on Blood Diamonds: Tracing the Path of the World’s Most Deadly Stones — you know, the book made into that bigass Leonardo Di movie.)
February 24th, 2007
Design*Sponge is offering independent designers a collection of handy-dandy business tip sheets on publicizing your work, dealing with the legal crap that comes up, setting prices, selling wholesale, selling online, manufacturing, packaging, and on and on and on. No charge. Just click and download. (Thanks to Boss Lady for pointing out this tiptastic treasure trove.)
February 24th, 2007
Kristen Fischer writes: “Lately I’m hearing tons of plusses and minuses about becoming an LLC. I’m a freelance writer and want to stay solo. Is this a good option for me? Why or why not?”
Great question, Kristen. Whenever I have a legal question, I turn to my free lawyer, Nolo.com. According to Nolo’s article on limited liability companies (LLCs), “If you’re concerned about being held personally liable for debts of your business, then an LLC may be just the thing for you.” Meaning if you’re worried about screwing up a job for a client who’s sue-happy or if you’re worried about incurring business debts that would jeopardize your home, car, or anything else of value you own, you might want to consider an LLC.
I write for a Colossal Software Corporation that would normally require me to be an LLC (that’s just their rule for those they outsource work to), but I bypass this requirement by working for a creative agency that acts as a middleman between me and the CSC. And since I have extremely limited business expenses — and therefore, less risk of business debt — and I’m pretty sure I’m not in danger of pissing off my editors and clients to the point of suing me, I’m not an LLC. I’m just a sole proprietor, like you. Forming an LLC can cost several hundred dollars and introduces a whole new level of administrative chores to business ownership (all of which you can read about here). For that reason, I have yet to go there.
For those who don’t go the LLC route and are still worried about losing their shirt, Nolo has this to say: “A good liability insurance policy can shield your personal assets when limited liability protection does not. For instance, if you are a massage therapist and you accidentally injure a client’s back, your liability insurance policy should cover you.”
The bottom line is I can’t tell you what to do. Nolo can’t tell you what to do. Even this highly lauded career coach can’t tell you what to do. Your expenses, income, personal assets, and the level of riskiness of your work should all factor into whether you go the LLC route.
When I’m weighing a decision like this, I always talk to my accountant first. Yes, he’s a numbers guy, but he also knows a thing or two about business structures — particularly how changing mine will affect my taxes (and how much said change will cost me). And since I don’t have a lawyer to help me weigh such decisions, I’m likely to ring up one recommended by a writer pal and try to glean as much information as I can on the phone before s/he starts the meter (and I have to fork over $200+ an hour). Or I turn to my favorite free(ish) legal resources for creative types. Or I pester those kind folks at SCORE, who are so good at handing out free and sliding-scale business advice.
A couple more links that can help:
Good luck!
If you have a question you want the Cubicle Expat to answer, send it my way. Let me know if you want me to use your name and link to your site.
February 13th, 2007
More lists I’ve been digging in recent weeks:
Five signs your job sucks: Okay, this MSN article is a bit more obvious. (Item #1: You dread going to work.) But in case you’ve been living in denial, this list of telltale signs it’s time to resign may be just the wake-up call you need.
Why you didn’t get that sweet gig: Late in 2006, mediabistro.com ran an illuminating series on why your cover letter sucked, why your resume sucked, and why you blew the interview. A few hints: Emoticons have no place in your cover letters, accountinghottie@gmail.com is not an appropriate e-dress for business, and answering your cell phone during the interview is a no-no.
Work-life balance books: At the start of the year, Miami Herald columnist Cindy Krischer Goodman (no relation) ran this list of books on juggling your job with your life. Among them: My Reality Check Bounced, a guide for overworked twentysomethings, and This Is How We Do It, a juggling guide for working moms written by the CEO of Working Mother magazine.
February 3rd, 2007
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