Let’s dig up a truly overused cliché: You reap what you sow. Starting a business is like starting a garden. Setting up your work environment is like using a plow and fertilizer to condition the soil. Seed (cover the town with promotional material), feed (reconfirm and recontact until you become a familiar face), and weed it (head off the competition) until your garden is lush and reaps a bounty of rewards. Leave it untended, ignore your clients, and pretty soon some nasty weeds will take over. Lay a good foundation when you create your work space, and both your creativity and client list will grow.
3. Supplying Your Own Employee Benefits
Health Insurance for Freelancers
My worst nightmare became reality when I hurt my back. I had been freelancing for about three years, but still hadn’t accumulated enough regular work to buy health insurance. Besides, I had jobs with design studios and small companies at various times during my career that didn’t provide employee benefits, so it wasn’t something I missed. It’s a common occurrence in the commercial art industry; margins are so tight, many employers simply cannot meet the rent, pay the salaries, and offer a competitive benefit package. Freelance teaches you a deep appreciation for employee benefits, but perhaps not enough to give up freedom (yes, put on your best Mel Gibson blue face, thank you).
A client, who also happened to be a nurse, took pity on me; actually, I think she was more interested in getting her projects completed. She got me in to see a well known back doctor who examined my films. “Yes, I think I can help you ... in fact, I can relieve that pain in less than five minutes, but not today. You come and see me when you have health insurance.” He patted me on the back as he pushed me out of his office, bent over, limping, tears in my eyes from the pain shooting down my right leg to my toes.
Eventually, I went to the public hospital and waited for more than 12 hours to see a doctor. During that time, an orderly demanded my gurney because he needed it for a more serious injury until I promised to lie on the floor if he took it.
If you can spare yourself the economic inequities of not getting proper health care, here are some important tips about finding employee benefits for yourself. If worst comes to worst and you don’t have enough regular work to support a health plan, free clinics still exist. You can find a free clinic in your area here: http://findahealthcenter.hrsa.gov by typing in your address. In most cases, clinics are free or charge a small fee, sometimes on a sliding scale. You may not get the help you need, but chances are they will be able to refer you to someone who can help. Community-based organizations have vast connections in all areas of human need. Don’t be proud.
First, decide what’s most important to you. If you want to keep costs low and are relatively young and healthy, choose coverage with a low monthly payment and a high deductible. Or just buy major medical; you’ll want just enough to cover you in case of emergencies. If you want a plan that reduces the cost of doctor’s visits, prescriptions, and has a low deductible, don’t be shocked at the cost. You will get more complete coverage with a stable company like Humana who also offer codicils (little amendments they attach to bigger things like vision and dental). That can be a handy thing if you have a sweet tooth like me.
Here are a few places to start looking; take some time to sit down and appraise your needs, your family’s needs and existing conditions or potential hereditary diseases. Remember that prices are limited by legislation, so determining factors like deductibles and coverage limits will be key to finding a monthly payment you can live with. A good thing is that all health care costs are 100 percent deductible on your income taxes, so it’s not all bad. Verify this information here: http://www.irs.gov/businesses/article/0,,id=181005,00.HTML.
You don’t have to make any more bad investments to have a decent tax write-off (you fat cat, you). Remember, if the monthly cost is too good to be true, you’ve either got a super high deductible or the coverage is extremely limited. Pay close attention to what’s covered and what’s not; especially pre-existing conditions or stuff hidden in your genes. You might not have it yet, but if Mom and Dad both had it, chances are good that it’s in your future, too.
A few ways to keep costs down:
• If you don’t go to the doctor more than once a year, consider carrying only major medical for emergencies.
• Check with design trade and professional associations to see if they have a group plan. Even joining a group like the National Business Association of America will help provide group rates around $500 per month for a family of four with $10 co-pays. Rates will be lower and coverage will be guaranteed on pre-existing conditions if you are part of a group. Now here’s something an AIGA membership should offer our community, but doesn’t.
• Shop online. Insurance companies pay fewer broker fees when you deal direct.
• Find out if you’re eligible to use a medical savings account (MSA).
The US Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) makes certain allowances for the self-employed. This lets you enjoy benefits from a higher deductible insurance policy (with reduced premiums) and use pre-tax dollars to pay for expenses up to your deductible limit.
If you can’t find health insurance in the US because of a pre-existing condition, the HIPAA may help you obtain it. This site will help you find out if you live in one of 34 states who have some form of risk pool: http://www.healthinsurance.org/risk_pools. You can also find additional information here: http://www.selfemployedcountry.org/main.HTML
It’s pretty hard to find a deal, but I’ve located some good places to start looking.
• https://www.mostchoice.com/health-insurance.cfm
• https://www.insureme.com
• http://www.insurancevalues.com
• https://www.ehealthinsurance.com
• http://www.alliedquotes.com
• http://www.healthinsurancefinders.com
If worst comes to worst and you find yourself in a hospital emergency room without insurance, remember (even if they don’t) that you are a human being and have a right to your dignity. Spit back if necessary, but don’t give up your gurney.
1. Judith Martin, Miss Manners’ Guide to Excruiciatingly Correct Behavior. (New York: Warner Books, 1983), 509
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Take A Personal And Portfolio Inventory
The marketplace for creative services is like a big fishbowl. There’s only so much food in the bowl and everybody has to eat. You will be competing with some pretty big fish, so take a careful look at your experience and the competition before you decide who to tackle.
For various reasons, clients in the bank business like to see samples of bank brochures while clients in the grocery business want to see food brochures. This stems from the perception that their industry is particular and requires a sensitive eye. It can be hard to communicate to these clients that design is the careful manipulation of white space, whether you’re moving copy that supports pictures of suits at a conference table or pickles in a jar. Even fewer clients realize the real art in scripting a phrase that moves an unwilling purchaser or grabs the attention of a customer for their product or service.
Will you be the right freelancer to handle the challenges and tight cornering at high speeds required by this client? Depending on how fluid you can be in adapting to clients’ needs, you might be. One ad campaign I developed for an emerging medical products manufacturer said just that, “We adjust to our customer’s needs like water adjusts to the shape of its container.” If you can communicate this attitude when you meet a potential client, you’ve just discovered one of the secrets of landing the job. As a freelance designer,
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