by Jacqueline Dooley
I used to think, naively, that choosing self-employment over traditional employment afforded me more freedom. I reasoned that by breaking away from the social and economic dependency I faced as an employee, I’d somehow become more relevant, more worthy of existence within this vast, mindless machine of unrestrained capitalism.
I was wrong. While I now have a greater earning potential than I ever did as an employee and an almost limitless flexibility with my schedule, I’m more vulnerable than ever before. And, if possible, I’m a lot less relevant – if you’re the U.S. government, that is.
U.S. Federal and State laws exist to protect employees, not freelancers. Labor laws in New York state regulate many things such as how often employees get paid, and what, if anything, gets deducted from an employee’s pay. As a freelance consultant, I’m not considered an employee, and therefore I’m not protected by the laws of the state. Sure I can sue a client for breaching a contract or violating a nondisclosure agreement, but this is at my own expense.
In addition, I face the very real possibility of IRS audits and increased accountability for every dollar earned. It makes me wonder exactly where my tax dollars are going, and why I seem to be excluded from the usual and customary protection the U.S. affords the majority of wage earning employees.
Is this fair? The revenue I generate for myself and, therefore, the government, exists because of services and deliverables I’ve created. To put it bluntly, my job wouldn’t exist if I didn’t exist and neither would my tax dollars.
I’m paying for my own healthcare. I’m paying for my child’s private school education. I’m paying federal income tax and local state tax for public schools, and service for everything from transportation to law enforcement. All I ask in return is to have the same protection as any full-time employee would.
I’m not complaining. I’m genuinely perplexed. I think self-employment is a vast new frontier, a new route towards freedom and prosperity for Americans the likes of which hasn’t existed for 100 years. But our government needs to recognize it, and nurture this growth.
I want to see subsidized healthcare for self-employed individuals in my lifetime and more protection for lost wages due to illness and injury. Above all, I hope the cost and accountability of being self employed won’t prove to be my undoing.
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This article was published in the Poughkeepsie Journal on Saturday, 12/29/07 via the title, “Regulations Taxing on Freelancers”
by Jacqueline Dooley
As 2007 draws to a close, I’m tempted to write an article devoted exclusively to my business resolutions for the coming year. But the marketer in me is curious about how realistic I was in setting my goals for 2007 back in December of 2006. If I’m not held accountable for sticking with my resolutions, after all, then who is?
Last year my main proclamation for 2007 was more of an anti-resolution. My goal was to avoid rapid growth of my business and try to stay exactly the same in terms of client load for the upcoming year.
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This article was originally published in the Poughkeepsie Journal on Saturday, December 29th, 2007.
I succeeded on both accounts. I drastically reduced my workload at the end of April 2007 and enjoyed lots of time with my children over the summer. I read many books, took many naps and allowed myself to regroup for the first time since I opened up shop in September 2002. Recharging was great, but it came at the expense of financial stability. I didn’t plan very well (or at all) for the reduced income and as a result spent the summer completely broke (but happy!)
It took me all of August and most of September to build up my workload again, and I’m very happy to say that I’m moving into the new year with some amazing new clients and prospects.
In fact, as I move towards 2008, there’s only one client on my roster that I’ve carried over from as far back as 2006. All other clients signed on with me starting in March 2007 or later. This doesn’t mean I didn’t stick with my resolution of avoiding rapid growth and heavy workload.
On the contrary, my workload is extremely manageable this year compared with last. What I didn’t realize is that suppression of growth doesn’t have to mean lack of change. So if 2007 was the year of honing down my workload to a more bearable level (after the initial pain of honing down too much), then I proclaim 2008 the year of the new client.
This year I resolve to work smarter and earn more while working less. I see my business as the path to freedom for myself and my family, and intend to try out new ideas and push the possibilities, the promise and the potential of self-employment in 2008.
Breaking away from conformity, from the confines of cubicles and rigid rules, was the biggest reason I became self-employed. I like to do things my own way and I guess the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree, because my 6-year-old daughter is a lot like me.
So I shouldn’t be surprised that she isn’t embracing the rigid structure of the elementary school where she’s sentenced to six hours a day of intense reading and writing exercises in order to comply with state mandates brought into being by Bush’s No Child Left Behind Act. Nor should I be surprised by my own response to the relentless pace of her first grade teacher. My reaction is basically to take a good hard look at her education and tackle it like I do any new project – head on.
No Child Left Behind ties school funding to student performance. Performance is gauged by annual testing which begins for students starting in third grade ( age 8 ). Getting students up to speed for these tests is hard work and starts as early as kindergarten. By first grade, play time is over. The vast part of the school day is devoted to reading, writing and math.
A generation of test takers
I’m not opposed to accountability, and I don’t profess to be an expert on the education system or No Child Left Behind. I am, however, an expert on my daughter. The near-obsessive focus on getting her reading and writing skills up to speed by third grade means her days are filled with a lot of desk work and very little play. This translates to a combination of boredom and stress. While she seems to like her teacher and her friends, she’s also well on her way to hating school.
Her first grade class only gets about a half hour of “free play” one day a week. This is a lot to ask from a six-year-old. It’d be a lot to ask of most adults, so how can we expect six-year-olds to sit quietly with no down time for hours on end, day after day?
The same drive that keeps me pushing myself and my business further each year is now on high alert when it comes to my child’s education. I’ve begun researching alternatives – including private and home schooling.
Both options imply an expense and commitment that I can’t really digest right now, because they’re so overwhelming. But leaving my child in a school that’s more focused on test scores than test takers, seems a much larger sacrifice.
Recommended Reading
Let’s face it, working motherhood is demanding, hectic and often thankless. It’s a good thing there are a host of gadgets and goodies available to soothe us stressed out moms and make us smile when it’s time to open gifts. Here are a few of my top recommendations for the holiday season and beyond.
Kindle: Amazon’s New Wireless Reading Device
The Kindle, a new wireless reading device from Amazon.com which retails for $399, is my top pick. There are more than 90,000 books available for the Kindle, all of which can be loaded wirelessly onto the device in under one minute once purchased. And it’s not just about books! The Kindle also provides access to top newspapers, magazines and hundreds of blogs. The best part? This gadget holds over 200 book titles at once, weighs less than a pound and stays charged for over 24 hours! Alas, as of 12/4/07, they were temporarily out of stock. I don’t care. I still want one.
Mommytrackd.com, a great Web site targeted to working moms, offers a handful of cool gifts aimed at helping working moms stay organized. Products like the “Gee, I’ve Got It All,” note pad start just $5.00 and make great stocking stuffers. My personal favorite is the Doorganizer - a little bag that hangs from a door knob and provides pockets for storing keys, cell phones and other small gadgets that tend to disappear the second you walk through the door.
And speaking of gadgets, the iPod Shuffle is one of the cutest, coolest little gadgets I’m hoping to unwrap this season. I already own a full-sized iPod, but the Shuffle is so tiny
and travel friendly, I’m not averse to the overlap of owning (gasp!) two MP3 players just for the flexibility giving my already overstuffed briefcase a little break from all the large electronic equipment I typically lug around.
A Child’s Work: The Importance of Fantasy Play
by Vivian Gussin Paley which provides an intriguing look at the importance of play in preschoolers and kindergartners. I was glued to this book the minute I started reading it and love how Paley uses the childrens’ own words to describe their play. Paley’s rich, direct writing style breaks everything down into clear explanations that demonstrate the importance of imaginative play for building problem solving and social skills.
Happy Shopping!
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This article was originally published in the Poughkeepsie Journal on Saturday, December 8, 2007.
Salary.com’s 2006/2007 Employee Job Satisfaction and Retention survey reported that over 60% of people plan on looking for a new job over in next few months. It’s really no surprise to me that so many people are unhappy with their jobs.
A couple of weeks ago I addressed how I no longer accept certain projects because they make me miserable. I’m much happier that I made that decision and have been able to focus on projects I enjoy.
But it’s not just the type of projects I maintain that contribute to my overall happiness. It’s the industry I’m in which continues to amaze and surprise me, the people I work with and meet each and every day, the ability to work remotely, the fact that I’m constantly reinventing my job and the incredible opportunities that cross my path.
So, in the spirit of Thanksgiving, here’s that list again with a bit more gratitude.
I’m thankful for:
- My clients – I have a fresh roster of interesting clients all of whom are enthusiastic about working with me now and moving forward in 2008.
- My industry – I stumbled into online marketing in 1997 when I barely understood the implications of banners and search engines. Now, nearly 11 years later, I’m still learning new things and I’m very grateful to be in the thick of it.
- My Colleagues – I have as diverse and interesting a group of colleagues as anyone can want. I work with people in Manhattan, San Jose, Seattle, Florida and England. I’d never have met any of these people if I was stuck at one company full-time.
- My House – I’d be remiss in saying that I wasn’t grateful for my home, which is also my office. I’m thankful that I can make a decent living right here where my kids play, and my husband bakes and the trees look so gorgeous in the fall.
- My Flexibility – I’m taking most of Thanksgiving week off and plan to take a week off in December for the holidays. I’m doing this without apology and without asking permission – and for that I am extremely thankful.
- And finally, I love the constant flow of new opportunities that comes from being self employed. The projects and clients that have crossed my path in the years since I’ve been on my own keep me enthusiastic, inspired and, above all, thankful.
As a mom and a marketer (in that order) I’m acutely aware that the holiday marketing train left the station a full three weeks before Thanksgiving. This is earlier than usual as reported by CBS in a piece titled “Deep Discounts Arriving Early This Year” which states that popular discount stores are offering promotions much earlier than the typical “Black Friday” sales that crop up after Thanksgiving.
The most ubiquitous bid for my attention comes in the mail, in the form of catalogs and store coupons that tempt, plead and cajole me into opening my wallet. This year, amidst all the mailbox clutter, one catalog in particular stood out. The American Girl doll’s holiday book arrived sometime before Halloween. At fully twice the size of all the other catalogs, its glossy pages are filled with picture-perfect dolls, outfits and accessories my children can’t resist.
My daughter Ana got an American girl doll from her grandmother for her birthday in May. Since she already owns one, I assumed I was off the hook for the holidays. Wrong! The items Ana circled in the catalog added up to about $500. I’m not averse to buying the kid an outfit or an accessory, but the $65 plastic horse and the $175 doll trunk she circled blew me away.
I work hard and I fully intend to buy a couple of big ticket items for my kids this holiday season. Still, I don’t intend to spend my money at American Girl Place this year. While I love the idea of American Girl dolls, I think they set a bad example. Priced out of the comfort zone of many families, I believe (and this is my opinion) that they promote unrealistic ideals of beauty and wealth. I wonder how many little girls are excluded from the “privilege” of owning one of these dolls because of their high cost.
As both a mom and a marketer, I’m unnerved by the aggressive marketing and psychological tactics Mattel (who owns the brand) uses to “hook” children as young as three into the buying cycle. I’m confident that their strategy is deliberate and the appeal of these dolls lies with the brand name, and the need for little girls to fit in with their peers. This seems underhanded since the dolls cost so much.
Add to this that American Girl dolls are manufactured in China, and the whole phenomenon feels phony. Ultimately I’ve decided to spend my hard earned money elsewhere this year. The challenge is getting my six-year-old to understand why.
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Gifts I recommend for little girls (and boys) under 12, but over 3:
As a sole proprietor in New York state I don’t have many options for comprehensive health coverage. I currently get discounted health insurance through a local chamber of commerce, an option available to all businesses including self-employed individuals.
So how much does it cost to insure my family? Even with my Chamber membership, I pay over $12,000 per year. Again, this is a discounted rate. If I were to go directly to the insurance company it would cost me more than twice that.
In addition to my exorbitant monthly premium, I pay the typical doctors’ office co-payments, prescription drug co-payments, any out of network services and dental care for myself and my husband. My insurance plan (like most) doesn’t cover over-the-counter drugs or miscellaneous services (like speech therapy for my 3-year-old).
This is a big deal. I think it’s important to write about this issue, because it is an overwhelming obstacle for self-employed individuals. Between health insurance and taxes, fully 40% of my income is gone before I’ve even paid a single bill.
Besides getting benefits through a Chamber of Commerce, or paying an insurance company directly, I really have no options for health insurance. I’m not eligible for Healthy NY due to my income level. Even if my income was low enough, I’d need to go without insurance for up to 12 months before I could enroll.
My next best option for reducing the high monthly cost of insurance is to switch my plan from an HMO to a high deductible PPO. This cuts my monthly premium in half, but requires me to put money into a health savings account. It would mean I’d need to pay for all medical expenses out of pocket (through the health savings account) until an annual deductible of about $5,000 was met, at which point the insurance company would pay a certain percentage of my medical costs.
Am I missing something?
Politicians like Rudy Giuliani denounce universal healthcare as “socialized medicine” that limits free market competition. In a recent radio ad, Giuliani said, “You and I should be making the decisions about what kind of health care we get with our doctors, not with a government bureaucrat.”
Can he be serious? Doesn’t he realize that the 43.6 million Americans who don’t have health insurance have absolutely no decision-making power whatsoever? And those of us that are struggling to stay insured are hardly better off. My insurance does not cover out of network providers. That pretty much limits my healthcare “choices” to “stay in network and get reimbursed” or “starve.”
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This article was first published in the Poughkeepsie Journal on Saturday, November 3, 2007.
I spent the first five years of my online marketing career focused exclusively on one industry vertical - pharmaceuticals. Working with big name drug manufacturers was very exciting for me at first, but dealing with the strict rules and guidelines of prescription drug ads and focusing campaign strategies on sick, very sick or dying people quickly damped my enthusiasm and curbed my creativity.
When I worked full-time at an agency, I didn’t have the luxury of choosing my projects or clients. That added up to one soul sapping prescription drug campaign after the other. Direct-to-consumer pharmaceutical spending reached over 2.4 billion dollars in 2006. This meant there was no shortage of work for me even after I got laid off in 2002. At that point I leveraged my pharmaceutical experience out of necessity, thus some of my earliest clients were in the healthcare and pharmaceutical industry.
In 2005 I’d been self-employed for three years and had a variety of non-pharmaceutical projects under my belt. Things looked good, but I needed more money. So I caved and accepted a full-time position at an agency with a large pharmaceutical account. I ended up managing 70 hours per week of pharmaceutical projects covering everything from endometriosis to throat cancer.
For months I told myself I could handle the work, and that it wasn’t really that bad. But the truth was I hated waking up and going to work each morning, even though I worked from home four days a week.
The final straw came when a colleague of mine referred to cancer sufferers as “low-hanging fruit.” At that point I gave my notice to the agency and made the decision to stop working on pharmaceutical projects completely. It still took another year to completely eliminate all pharmaceutical-related work.
I’m happy to say that as of May 2007, I haven’t peddled a single drug. My client roster includes a major publishing house, a small magazine, an e-commerce site selling a diverse assortment of consumer goods, a major daily newspaper, and a smattering of small agency clients that call on me for ad hoc assignments in a variety of industries.
Sometimes living my dream means I can walk away from something I hate and, in doing so, discover something I love. That’s a big part of what self-employment means for me.
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This article was originally published in the Poughkeepsie Journal under the title, “Confession of an ex-drug seller”
Back in June 2007, an MSNBC survey revealed that half of Americans did not plan to take a vacation over the summer, and those that did intend to take a break, would spend less time away from work than a year ago. MSNBC reveals several reasons for this vacation deficiency which include financial reasons, crowded flights and flight delays and rising gasoline prices.
Shirking the statistics, I began planning my own family vacation back in June, while simultaneously cutting back my work hours over the summer so I could spend more time with my kids. Our big vacation blast was to take place at Florida’s Disney World in October 2007.
Things don’t always go as planned. As it turned out, cutting back my hours over the summer meant we didn’t have enough spare cash for the big vacation extravaganza. Luckily my 6-year-old took the news well (much to my shock) and my 3-year-old is too young to realize what she missed.
I’m actually not surprised that this trip never got further than my imagination. I rarely ever take vacations for a variety of reasons (mainly lack of time and lack of money.) But avoiding time off is bad for business - and it really took me a long time to realize this. Working nonstop for two years straight contributed to a very bad bought of burnout.
Even though a trip to Florida is not in my immediate future, I’m not ready to give up on my family vacation yet. Since I don’t plan on taking a full week off from work until December, I’ve begun planning a series of three-day weekends to incorporate some special and fun events to enjoy with my family.
The first event of the Dooley vacation tour will take place in Saugerties at the Garlic Festival. My kids have never been to the festival, but my husband and I used to go every year when we lived in Saugerties. We also got married in Saugerties, and plan to show the girls the park where we had our ceremony.
Then on Sunday, September 30th we’ll all travel into Manhattan to walk for an organization called Forward Face which helps support families of children with born or acquired facial differences. My daughter Emily was born with cleft lip and palate and this is our second year attending the walk.
After our three-mile walk along the Hudson River, we plan to pay a visit to F.A.O. Schwartz and let the girls pick out a toy. While this is not a totally free activity, it’s a lot less money than the four plane tickets, one week hotel stay and theme park tickets would’ve cost us. Anyway, who needs Disney World when you live two hours from Manhattan?
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This article was originally published in The Poughkeepsie Journal on September 22, 2007.
One of my favorite working parent blogs is The Wall Street Journal’s, The Juggle which covers a number of issues that parents face as they try to juggle work and family.
In a post dated August 23, 2007 titled, “Health Takes a Backseat to Babies, Work,” Mark Gongloff posted about how taking care of himself has been difficult since his twin boys were born a year ago. Mr. Gongloff’s post addresses the difficulty of fitting exercise and a healthy diet into a full-time work schedule when you have kids and the consequences he suffered as a result of neglecting his health (namely, he threw out his back).
Although I feel bad for the guy, it’s comforting to know that I’m not the only one who has developed less than stellar self-care habits since the kids have come along. Between sleep deprivation, poor eating habits and an innate aversion to going to the dentist, it’s a wonder I’ve survived the last three years with my health (and all of my teeth) still intact.
This summer when work slowed down for me, I decided to focus on getting my health back on track. I joined a gym, went to the dentist after years of avoidance and caught up on all my routine doctors’ visits. I’ve dubbed this new method of staying healthy the, “I’m-not-25-anymore” approach. I’m determined to keep it up now that my schedule is picking up and my two girls are back to school.
Naturally, this is easier said than done. Going to the gym in the morning means I don’t actually sit down to work until about 10:30 a.m. I could conceivably workout earlier since the gym opens at the absurd hour of 5:30 a.m., but that would mean missing the kids’ morning routine which seems counterintuitive. One of the main benefits of working from home is being able to spend time with my kids in the morning.
Still, I have to admit that spending time on my own health has a positive impact on both the work and home front and that’s worth getting a late start in the morning. I feel better about myself, more confident in social situations and have more energy overall. Plus, I’ve discovered that going to the gym is an enjoyable activity that doesn’t involve slaving over my computer or wiping any runny noses (other than my own). You can’t beat that!
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This article was originally published in the Poughkeepsie Journal on Saturday, September 15, 2007 with the title, “Gym time worth the inconvenience.”
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