My So-Called Freelance Life - Michelle Goodman [17]
But you’d be wise to wait till your business gets a little further along before going through the expense and trouble of forming such a legal entity. You’re better off staying a sole proprietor, which, according to the law, is the type of business entity you automatically became the day you declared yourself a freelancer, no paperwork required. (As a sole proprietor, you and your business are indistinguishable in the government’s eyes—you share the same tax return, and if your business has debts, so do you.)
Before you go messing with your business structure, you want to see if this freelance thing sticks, or if you desperately miss your old boss. You want to see what clients you gravitate toward, whether they require you form such a legal entity (many won’t), and how vulnerable you do or don’t feel having your personal assets dangling in the breeze. (Hint: If you’re not worried about getting sued or reneging on your debts, you probably don’t need to up the business-entity ante.) Besides, at several hundred dollars an hour, you may want to stave off consulting with a legal professional for as long as humanly possible.
I have worked with a couple of Fortune 500 clients that would only outsource to freelancers who’d formed a corporation or an LLC. Because I decided to move my business in another direction (less corporate work, more journalism and creative writing), I decided to skip the fancy legal structure. I’ve still had the opportunity to work with those Fortune 500s, but I’ve done so through a creative agency (often a business of one who decided to incorporate)—in other words, by getting hired as a subcontractor. Don’t worry, though, we’ll talk about this kind of work in Chapter 7.
If you have a lot of personal assets (house, savings, Heavyweight Boxing Championship belt) and you work in a highly competitive, volatile industry (web, high-tech, the insurance industry itself), professional liability insurance can’t hurt (different from personal liability insurance). Not only can it help protect you from a lawsuit-happy client, it’s often cheaper and easier than forming an LLC. We’ll talk about insurance a bit more in Chapter 15. Meanwhile, if you’re dying to cram your brain with additional details about corporate structures, see Nolo. com, a fantastic clearinghouse of free legal information that even your dog can understand.
So that’s it, killer. Tackle the to-do’s covered in this chapter (and back-burner the bells and whistles you don’t need right away), and you’ll be in business—literally.
Okay, who’s ready to step in that ring and wrestle some alligators?
Chapter 5
Put Your Best Bunny-Slippered Foot Forward
Why you absolutely, unequivocally need a web portfolio and how to make one
“What we need is a nationwide network of information superhighways, linking
scientists, business people, educators, and students by fiber-optic cable.”
—Al Gore, The Futurist, 1991
I love the web, and not just because it’s the best place to find photos of half-bald, half-sober celebrities prone to wardrobe malfunctions. I love the web because it’s the best place I know for enticing new clients without even having to lace my shoes.
It doesn’t matter if you’ve been working for yourself one day or one decade, or if you have an annual budget of $100 or $100,000. Join the online party and there’s always a place for you at the table, right alongside all those start-up billionaires, best-selling authors, oft-quoted artists, Etsy Showcasers, eBay PowerSellers, Top 100 bloggers, most-viewed YouTubers, and anyone else who’s slept, clawed, or bootstrapped their way into the public eye.
I know you don’t need me to convince you that getting yourself a website (or updating the one you haven’t changed since 2003) is good for business. You know it makes your business look more hip, happening, and, well, businesslike. You know it makes it