Happy Hour! *tax edition

Hello friends and fellow freelancers!

I know it's been awhile since I did a Happy Hour post. But it's back & hopefully with some helpful hints on taxes (especially for freelancers!)

1. Did you move? Moving expenses can be written off. Remember this thing? Yeah, like that.

2. Did you change jobs? Have to fly somewhere for an interview? Take a cab? That can be written off.

3. Do not try to write off things like FedEx packages that your cleint reimbursed you for. (We call that cheating.)

4. Printer ink, toner, paper... tracing paper, wireless mouse... write it off!

5. If you're freelancing (hopefully you already know this) put approximatly 30% of your income aside to pay in taxes. It's also good to pay taxes quarterly so you stay on top of your finances and it's not such a blow when you do pay them.

6. Meet a client for coffee or dinner? Write it off! (If it is indeed a business meeting.)

7. Keep business expenses seperate from personal ones by opening seperate accounts. It just keeps things organized.

8. At a photoshoot and can't leave for lunch, order food and write it off.

9. Wireless internet for the home office? My research has shown that this is debatable, but you can certainly write part of it, if not all of it.

10. Books & magazines for knowledge, research, inspiration? Yep, write those off too!

11. Marketing materials. Did you pay someone to build your website? business cards? Write those off!

12. I hate receipts and I've NEVER kept up with them. Until about 7 months ago. Now I have a notebook just for business expenses that I tape them into as soon as I get home. If the receipt isn't specific enough I just write a quick note, "padded envelopes for sending CDs." It takes a few seconds and will save hours of frustrations later. (That's the goal at least!)

I'll stop there and leave you with a few links that have helped me so far:

the IRS

June Walker

Freelancers Union

the Anti 9 to 5 Guide, and here

Beyond the Rhetoric

Freelance Switch

*NOTE: I am NOT a tax expert - nor am I pretending to be. I am simply sharing some of what I am learning & hope it can help some of you. AND if I have posted misinformation please let me know and I will amend it straight away!

Happy Hour // thank you notes

This is the second installment of Happy Hour: the pursuit of a perfect mix of work & play – for life.

Today we will talk about thank you notes. There are certainly grey lines here, but as always this is a forum for suggestion and discussion. First off, make sure you don't leave the interview with out getting their card. It should have all of their contact info. so that you don't have to guess.

Time Frame: In general it's good to hand write a thank you note after an interview and get it in the mail with in the next day or so. If you are like me, after you leave the interview you come up with all of the questions you should have asked while you were there. In this case, I like to email the interviewer as soon as I get home with a gracious, "It was great to meet you, I have a few questions...thank you for your time."

What to say: You should always tailor the note to match the specific job or company. No one likes a canned thank you card, it's a shame when something that should be personal suddenly feels computer generated. So rather than saying:

Ms. Pollard,

Thank you for meeting with me yesterday. I really enjoyed talking to you and hope that you keep me in mind for the job.

Have a good day!
Lindsey

it would be more appropriate to say:

Ms. Pollard,

Thank you for inviting me to your office and introducing me to the Creative Services team. I enjoyed discussing design with you & I appreciate your suggestions for my portfolio.

After meeting with you I am even more interested in the position that you have available because I love print design and working in a small environment. I know that you said that you will be interviewing for a few more weeks but I hope that you keep me in mind.

Have a great week!
Lindsey

This may also be a good place for you to include something about yourself that you haven't had a chance to mention yet. ie: "I 5 years experience in x". Or something as simple as, "I have a passion for helping families in need which is why I have taken an interest in Non-profit XYZ."

Stationery: Think about what kind of company you interviewed with, but also the person you are sending it to. If it's super cooperate, big business, you may want to go with a simple stationery or one with your name or monogram printed on it. If it's a boutique design studio with a fresh aesthetic and funky vibe, you may want to find a card with a lot of personality so they won't want to throw it away. If it's at an animal shelter, maybe find something with a kitty on it – this may sound silly, but that's what they love, & you want to show them that you love kitties too!

Card by a personal favorite, Greenwich Letterpress via their etsy shop.
By Mr. Boddington's Studio.
By Sesame Letterpress.

More articles on the post-interview thank you card here, here, and here.

Happy hunting!

Welcome to Happy Hour!

Remember this? Well, welcome to the first installment of Happy Hour: the pursuit of a perfect mix of work & play – for life.

Just to get things off of the ground I'll start with a few online job boards that I've used as a starting place – you've probably heard of Yahoo!hotjobs & Monster so I'll start with some things that were new to me & that I had some luck on.

Media Bistro // especially useful if you're in NYC, but many listings for large urban areas (use menu at left to filter your search).

How Design // always a consistent flow of design jobs of all kinds in many locations. Read their other articles on things like job search tips, resume & portfolio, etc.

AIGA // also a good resource with lots of variety but if you aren't a member you can't view the whole listing. (annoying) If you are a member you can post portfolio images too. AIGA is also a great place to find articles about the job search, interviewing, etc.

Creative Hotlist // by CommArts Magazine. You can browse jobs, post your resume, contact potential employers though the site. You can search jobs by location or category. Anyone can post a resume for free – I posted mine & got an interview with a big-time magazine (that I happened to be in love with) just because they found my info on Creative Hotlist.

*Best of all, if you are a designer without a website you can pay $35 for 6 months to post portfolio images, your resume & cover letter then use the link to it as your website when contacting people.

LinkedIn // I haven't actually utilized this yet but I've seen lots of professionals use it as a networking tool.

design*sponge // I had my information on the d*s job board for a while but it seems that they have discontinued that section. (I'm not totally sure, it disappeared this week.) It cost $15 for 3 months of listing & I did get a freelance inquiry from it.

Idealist // a great spot to find non-profit jobs, in any field, worldwide! I have heard of many people finding (& getting) great jobs from the listings on this site.

And very important. Salaries. Here is AIGA & Aquent's 2008 design salary calculator it's not perfect but it's very helpful for ball park figures.

The Graphic Artists Guild also puts out the Graphic Artists Guild Handbook: Pricing & Ethical Guidelines which I just ordered my copy of on recommendation of a former professor.

Okay, that should be enough to get you started! Good Luck!

Head First...

Okay, Jonathan told me to do this months ago & I've been toying with the idea since then. In the past week or so I have had a growing sense of conviction...I feel like I have a responsibility to share.

As many of you know, we got married, had the big move from Texas to Brooklyn (the next day)...then I was jobless...and searching...and searching. Then the economy buried itself in a hole. Then I got a job (yay!).

Many people I know are recent graduates & are either yet to land that first "real" job or are in a transition phase – some by choice taking a leap of faith, other's because of company downsizing. Still others have made (or are about to make) a cross-country move to be with their partners, and a few are looking for a supplementary income of some kind. As I write this I can only think of 2 or 3 of my friends that are sitting nicely at their jobs with out fear and with out searching for something else. I know that this has a lot to do with the demographic I'm looking at but these people are living in all areas of the country with completely different professional backgrounds (ie: not all designers or creatives).

What I'm trying to say is – I'm going to do a series of posts sharing my knowledge about the job hunt, how to market yourself & what I've learned along the way. I may even invite a few friends to share their stories of how they got where they are. I'm far from being an expert but I think I've found a few things along the way that some other people could benefit from.

While most of my knowledge is in the design/creative realm, I have some information that will cross platforms. If any of you have something specific that you would like to see, if you have a piece of advice that you would like to share...a story or resources please feel free to e-mail me, I would love to hear about it & share in turn.