Working with Hands from Uber Works

SoundGirls.org: 2020 brought a variety of topics concerning gig workers in the US to light. From addressing unemployment for independent contractors to the House of Representatives introducing the P.R.O Act, Covid-19 is changing the conversation for the classification of gig workers. Florida introduced Uber Work, Uber’s new on-demand staffing business, in December 2019 to launch in its second city ever, Miami.

What Freelancers Should Know About the New 1099-NEC Tax Form

twocents.lifehacker.com: If you made money from freelancing or gig economy work in 2020, you will receive a new tax form by February 1, 2021—Form 1099-NEC. This replaces Form 1099-MISC, which companies have to send when you earn $600 or more. Although there are still limited details about Form 1099-NEC, you can find the latest version (currently a draft) and future filing instructions here.

The Job Is to Be Invisible, Not to Disappear Entirely

AMERICAN THEATRE: “I really don’t want to be onstage,” Steve Eiman said to their sixth-grade English teacher during their first theatre experience, a rendition of A Midsummer Night’s Dream. “Can I have the role with the least amount of lines?”

And so a theatre technician was born.

Now 26, Steve Eiman is a freelance, non-union general technician who works steadily in collegiate theatre, Off-Broadway, and Off-Off-Broadway. Or, to be more precise, who was working steadily in those realms until COVID-19 hit.

Congress's $2 Trillion Stimulus Package Offers Many Benefits for Artists and Freelancers. Here’s a Primer on How to Claim Yours

news.artnet.com: Many Americans will be receiving $1,200 checks from the government as part of the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act (the CARES Act). But many still don’t understand everything that the bill, which passed unanimously in the Senate on March 25, might mean for them—particularly those who have non-traditional means of income, such as many artists.

The COVID-19 Schedule for the Freelance Sound Designer Mom

SoundGirls.org: Yes, it’s another article about life in the Corona Virus quarantine. My world, along with all of yours, has been completely turned upside down, and I just wanted to share what I’ve been doing to cope, rest, learn, and thrive. I want to remind readers that this is just my personal experience, and no one should feel like there is something they HAVE to be doing while sitting at home every day in quarantine.

Performance Reviews For Stage Managers and Freelancers?

www.theatreartlife.com: As a freelancer, which most all stage managers are, we do not have a process of performance review. We get a job, we do the job and if we did a good job, we get hired again.

If, for whatever reason, the employer/director/producer/PSM didn’t like the job we did, we simply don’t get rehired. It’s usually that simple.

You Might Need a Permit to Work From Home

lifehacker.com: Last fall, I moved to a new city—and this spring, I learned that I needed a home occupation permit to freelance from my apartment.

Home occupation rules vary by city, and most freelancers are probably unaware that they even exist; I’ve moved more than once since I started working as a freelance writer, and I knew that I needed to look up business licenses and so on, but I never thought about getting the city’s permission to work from home. I mean, isn’t that what most of us are doing these days, whether we’re full-time freelancing or running a side hustle?

Tax Tips for Freelance Creatives: Debunking Common Myths

99U: Does the thought of doing your taxes make you want to cry? For many in the design industry, including myself, the answer is a resounding yes. But a solid grasp of figures and finances is the equivalent to building the strong foundation to a building. If you can shore up the money part of your business, you can spend more time doing what you really love—the creative part of the job.

The Self-Employed Artist Trying to Survive in the Free Market

www.huffingtonpost.com: An article I wrote last year entitled "What Do Opera Singers Actually Get Paid" has been making the rounds again on social media lately. The questions and problems posed by this article are ongoing, so seeing the article resurface gave me the impetus to want to continue the discussion. That, and the fact that I just re-binge-watched Mozart in the Jungle after it won big at the Golden Globes. Having lived for years in the artist filled apartment building featured prominently in the memoir by the oboist and author Blair Tindall on which the series was based, I had always been fascinated with both the book and the series. In re-watching, I was particularly appreciative of the fact that the series creators chose to focus on the huge challenges of donors and arts funding (they even frequently feature the ubiquitous donor parties and dinners), versus the amount of dedication and the sheer practice hours musicians spend on their craft.

The right way to end an email to a client

InVision Blog: I’d gone through a few droughts as a freelancer, but this stretch was particularly dry. Each time I thought I had a client, they’d slip out of my grasp like sand through an hourglass.

The magnitude of every new client meeting ballooned greater and greater. Before each meeting, I went in knowing one thing: I need this job.

It’s the nature of being a freelancer. By definition, the work ends.

Commitment and You

Dimmer Beach: If you commit to a gig for a company, you do it. When you commit to a gig, you are restricting your freedom of certain actions, as you will miss out on things, maybe even other gigs. It happens. It will happen to you, I promise you that.
Now, if you have read some of my other posts, or lived in the production world for any length of time, you know it isn’t quite that simple or black and white. So, let me expound upon that for you.

16+ Essential Skills Freelancers Really Need to Succeed

FreelanceFolder: If you are going to succeed as a freelancer, you’ll need more than one skill set. Naturally, if you’re a freelance web designer, you need good design skills. If you’re a freelance writer, you need good writing skills. If you’re a freelance programmer, you need to be good at programming. But that’s not all there is. Successful freelancing requires more than a single skill set. Freelancers and would-be freelancers must be competent in many areas.

The Many Pitfalls of Freelancing

Lifehack: Freelancing is a dream of many aspiring artists, writers and professionals, but while working for yourself comes with many rewards, it also carries plenty of pitfalls that can really drag you down if you aren’t prepared for them. For me, the biggest challenge is getting used to having to take my own taxes out of my paychecks, which will amount to around 25% of most freelancers paychecks. But for others, the number one issue involved with freelancing is maintaining the self-discipline necessary when you don’t have someone telling you when to work and what to do.

What Do Recruiters Look For On LinkedIn?

Lifehack: If you aren’t using LinkedIn as part of your job search, you may want to start cracking! According to a recent infographic, 89 percent of recruiters have used LinkedIn to fill a position at some point, and 97 percent of all HR and staffing professionals use LinkedIn for their recruiting efforts. In addition, the use of the site in recruiting is expected to rise this year.

TCG Circle: Recently, I left gainful employment in arts administration to become an independent theatre artist and musician. I am certain that there are people who do this-earn a living by making theatre and music as their primary vocation. I want to be one of them. So, I saved a little money and took a flying leap. I left my day job. I took a trip to Asia that I had wanted to take for years. Now, here I am, poised to become the independent artist I have also spent years dreaming about. I am ready to do the work and share the information with all of the dreamers and those who just know they will make it. I am my own case study in progress.