KC Morgan's Blog
Posted by KC Morgan
Do you know how to do your self employment taxes? Which form you’re supposed to fill out? What items you’re allowed to claim as end-of-the-year expenses? If you don’t really have an answer, don’t worry - lots of self employed professionals are in the same boat. Find out what you need to know about paying SE taxes.
Self Employment Tax Forms
For the most part, self employed professionals will be working with two types of tax forms: the 1099 and the 1040.
- 1099 Tax Form. This form is often uses by freelancers and independent contractors. Its main purpose is for people who need to claim “miscellaneous income,” such as royalties.
- 1040 Tax Form. Perhaps the most common self employment tax form, the 1040 form is used for professionals who need to file individual income taxes in the US.
Paying Your Self Employment Taxes
If you’ve earned self employment income in the last calendar year, you’re obliged to pay income taxes and self employment taxes on every bit of that money - minus expenses. This last part is the most important. Don’t ever forget to claim your expenses, because you’re only hurting yourself if you do.
Self employed professionals are eligible to receive tax breaks on their income if they’ve paid some of their own money toward maintaining their careers. For instance, if you purchase a health insurance policy it’s a work expense. If you use your car to buy and/or deliver goods, the gas you spent is another work expense. Starting to get the picture? Once you’ve subtracted your expenses, you’ll find that self employment taxes are much more manageable.
Posted by KC Morgan
Through freelance work, many different professionals can become self employed and enjoy the freedom of working at home. Accountants, writers, artists, designers and consultants are just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to self employment possibilities in freelancing.
Freelance Work
Working freelance is a little like working without a net. Following this career path means being in charge of your own destiny. As a freelance self employed professional, you’ll seek out (and land) your own jobs in order to earn. Being successful in this endeavor means following through on promised work, meeting deadlines and establishing a reputation in the industry. It means being on your own, but it also means being your own boss.
Become Self Employed
These days, almost anyone can become self employed in their chosen career path. It’s too easy to make use of VoIP (voice over Internet protocol), Webcams and software which helps people hold meetings no matter how far apart they might be. In fact, many companies would rather save their space and money by hiring employees to complete jobs from home.
Administrative professionals, telemarketers, transcriptions and many other professionals can easily translate their skills into self employment. Through freelancing, almost anyone can earn with work at home.
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Posted by KC Morgan
For many, gambling is an every-now-and-then thrill, a pleasant entertainment best saved for special outings and occasions. But for some, gambling is daily bread and butter…and it can add up to big winnings. But is playing poker to be self-employed at all viable for the every day, average worker?
Self-Employment…with Poker?
It’s true that some rare individuals, a small percentage of the population, learn the craft of playing poker so well they can earn enough money, consistently, to support themselves in full. Professional poker players are, in a sense, self-employed, because they rely upon themselves for their income. Some even manage to gain sponsorships and endorsement deals for their efforts. Poker is considered something of a sporting event, so there is real money to be made in this skill.
Like athletic sports, however, only a small portion of the population can master the art of playing poker professionally. That said, it’s not impossible to achieve self-employment by gambling.
Being Self-Employed
Being successfully self-employed, in any profession, requires a lot of dedication. There’s no room for error when it comes to claiming income and paying the self-employment tax, for instance. Gambling earnings are still earnings, and must be claimed. Also, a bad day at work for a professional poker player could add up to staggering losses - and those staggering wins may not come just because a player wants them to.
Professional gamblers learn how to keep a cool head and study their craft inside and out. Even then, they may not succeed. Being self-employed means being in charge of oneself. Be sure to set some of those earnings aside, don’t forget insurance and retirement plans…and remember that being self-employed isn’t all fun and games, even in professional gambling.
Posted by KC Morgan
You can pore over marketing tips for self employed professionals, and you’ll wind up getting the same message over and over again: you need a strong resume and portfolio if you want to be a contender in the work at home job market. Learn how to promote yourself to find self employment success.
Create a Self Employment Resume
Knowing how to write a self employment resume starts with self-confidence. Remember that if you want to get the job you’ve got to be your own biggest fan. Want to be self employed? Start thinking of yourself as an extremely skillful worker, a PR expert, a highly-successful promoter…because that’s what you’ve got to be to succeed. Your self employment resume will be scrutinized, looked over and glanced at by everyone who requests it, so put forth your best effort. On a single page you’ve got to showcase all your education, experience and skills; take the time to make that page look great.
Create a Professional Web Site
Want to show off your work and let potential customers know what you’re capable of doing? In self employment, it’s key to create a professional Web site that displays a great online portfolio. This page will show off just what you can do, so present your best work and make the layout simple and attractive. Include a link to your portfolio in every cover letter and job response you send. This single page can help make or break your self employed promotional campaign, so use it to show off all your skills and successes.
Posted by KC Morgan
Even good home-based business ideas can be risky, because starting a new business or new career path always is. If you want to become self employed, however, you could fall prey to one of the many online scams on the subject. Turn to ten legitimate home-based business ideas first, and look for real opportunities.
Become Self Employed
Creating a home-based business can certainly help you become self employed - if it works. When starting any new career path, think about your own personal interests and passions. Loving your job has a way of helping you become more successful at it. Explore Five Ideas for Starting a Home Based Business such as online image consulting, video game testing and cake decorating.
Home-Based Business Ideas
Even the greatest home-based business ideas aren’t guaranteed, and starting any business is no walk in the park. If you want to become self employed with your own business, be ready for lots of hard work and potentially long hours. Launching a business requires no end of marketing and promotion, networking and advertising. Even a good idea can fail, so put everything you can into whatever type of business you create. Look to Five More Home Based Business Ideas That Work for inspiration.
Stay up-to-date on being self employed and home-based business ideas by subscribing to the blog.
Posted by KC Morgan
It may seem like a bit of an old school idea to make money selling cosmetics, but there are many viable work at home opportunities that have been around and in use for decades. The Internet opens up even more possibilities to make money selling products, which makes this path to self employment seem more attractive than ever.
Use Make-Up to Become Self Employed
Why not use make-up to become self employed? There are several companies which provide work at home opportunities to professionals willing to sell products on their own time.
Cosmetics isn’t the only thing which can be sold in this fashion, but it is one of the more well-known and well-used methods for this sort of self employment. Those who are just starting in the field will find many well-established entrepreneurs who can share tips, advice and other valuable bits of information. Explore two opportunities to learn how you can work at home and make money selling cosmetics.
Sell Mary Kay for Self Employment
Mary Kay is a pretty well-known name in the make-up industry, and it’s also known as a good work at home opportunity for industrious professionals. This company is home to the famous pink Cadillac incentive, wherein an entire vehicle is awarded through a lease agreement to top sellers and recruiters in the company.
Avon is a famous name in cosmetics, and a common name in the world of self employment. Many, many work at home professionals have managed to establish a steady income flow with this company. There are lots of ways to sell Avon both online and in person, and this company offers a lot of materials for those who want to get started with these possibilities and more.
Posted by KC Morgan
Using Google to make money begins with free programs like AdSense and Blogger. With these two tools alone, anyone can use a free blog to make money at home. It’s not necessarily a quick and easy road to self employment, because it will take time and hard work, but it is free to try…so why not?
Make Money with Online Content
Even free blogs can help you make money with online content. If you create a free blog through Google’s Blogger, you can very easily take advantage of revenue-generating AdSense. This free program will, at your instigation, place clickable ads on your blog based upon the keywords you use in your posts. Using Google to make money begins to generating a lot of traffic, bringing visitors to your site with well-written and engaging content…but it doesn’t end there.
Increase Google AdSense Revenue
If you’re serious about using Google to make money online, it’s important to know how to increase Google AdSense revenue. After all, it’s always worthwhile to build on success, right? Even free ads can generate a lot of money when you use high-paying keywords and smoothly integrate ads into your site so they blend in and aesthetically please the audience.
Posted by KC Morgan
When the economy is bad, everything starts to fall apart. Professionals get laid off from work, new jobs are scarce and opportunities seem to get as slim as the household budget. Earn with self employment jobs, and add another source of income to help you face a bad economy bravely.
Finding Self Employment Jobs
There are many ways to earn with the Internet, even when a bad economic climate affects the entire job market. Competition for online self employment jobs can be stiff, but often the trick of earning is all about perseverance. Keep trying and try everything! Finding self employment jobs - and getting them - requires patience, time and the sheer stubbornness needed to keep trying. Look for reputable online job boards, read work at home forums and search for ads and opportunities that will yield true self employment income.
Earn with Self Employment Jobs
There are just as many self employment scams as there are jobs - in fact, scams may be greater in number. Avoid them by very simply not giving money away. Why should a job ask you to pay a fee, purchase equipment, buy software? A true self employment job will offer to pay you, for how else could you hope to earn? Don’t be roped into buying kits, products or packages - look for jobs that actually offer revenue, and provide your best effort on any projects assigned to you. Earning with self employment jobs can be a slow process, but in a bad economy it’s well worth it to try.
Posted by KC Morgan
When you can’t get work from home jobs, you start to feel a real financial pinch. Many self employed professionals and independent contractors rely solely upon the income they earn from finding their own jobs and offering their skills on a freelance basis. But when the economy is bad and no one is hiring, you’re in a pretty tough spot. Find out how to get work even if you can’t always land the job.
Can’t Get Work from Home Jobs?
Ads for freelancers are running pretty thin these days, and in many cases employers and clients seem willing to pay much less than what they once did. The economic troubles of today are affecting the amount of work you’re doing tomorrow, and it’s putting some self employed professionals in a bind. But even when you can’t get work from home jobs, you might still be able to get work…and get paid.
How to Get Work
Being successfully self employed, and working from home regularly, isn’t just about the skill required to find (and keep) various freelance jobs. As with everything else, working from home is very much about who you know. You should always be keeping records of jobs completed, amounts earned, contact names and information for those who have hired you in the past. When you can’t get work from home jobs, you can break out your list of people who have offered work in the past. It’s time for a little letter-writing when work is slow.
Contact past employers to politely touch base tp ask if any new work is available. Follow up on any and all projects and/or payments that were left incomplete. Shop around among the contacts you’ve established in the past. Sometimes, a single note will jog a memory or create a work at home opportunity. It only costs a little time to try to solicit work from past employers, and in the end it’s worth the expense when a new work from home job may open up as a result.
Posted by KC Morgan
The site known simply as eBay helped take Internet shopping to a whole new level. Entire businesses can exist through this site, a heady idea for those interested in self employment. Seeing the huge amount of stuff that’s available on the site can be utterly mind-boggling, but no less exciting is the sheer amount of opportunity it also presents.
A Simple Self Employment Idea
Sometimes, self employment ideas aren’t original or even your very own. Some ideas have already been thought up by others, and that means you can take advantage. Sites like eBay provide opportunity for entrepreneurs, and there’s no reason why you shouldn’t be one off them. This one-stop Internet shopping zone is much more than online auctions, it’s a fantastic self employment idea that absolutely anyone can learn how to use.
Making Money with eBay
Anyone can make money with eBay. Take this concept a little further, and it might be possible for some to make enough money with eBay to launch their own self employed career. Not all self employment ideas have to be one’s own, after all. The secret of making money with eBay is all in salesmanship. Can you sell something to others? Can you drum up excitement, assess a public need, learn how to play your auctions so that you get the most profit from them?
For those who want to keep things simple, it’s a great idea to use eBay for self employment. Find stuff to sell, create auctions and pay attention to the activity that transpires. Don’t forget to include shipping costs and deliver the promised products in a timely fashion. With sites like eBay, reputation is everything. It’s simply a great self employment idea to take advantage of this Web site, which is really a free-for-all for those who want to make money (or do a little shopping) over the Internet.
Posted by KC Morgan
Do you have to pay the self employment tax? What is the self employment tax? Even professionals who don’t own their own businesses or earn their money through paying clients may be subject this required annual fee. Whether you consider yourself technically self employed or not, you should learn if you’re liable to pay a special tax on your yearly earnings.
The Self Employment Tax
So, who does have to pay the self employment tax? In the United States, the rules are pretty clear. Answer the following series of questions to find out whether or not you’re liable for this tax burden:
- Do you own and/or operate any kind of business?
- Are you in a partnership that owns or operates any kind of business?
- Do you earn money as an independent contractor?
- Do you earn money as a church employee?
- In any way have you made money through a Web site, online or as part of any job that could be construed as self employment?
If you answered yes to any of these questions, then yes you must pay the self employment tax. This tax is 15.3% of your total self employment earnings, provided you’ve earned more than $400 in the calendar year. If you are a church employee and earned more than $108.28 in a single year, you must pay a self employment tax on this income.
Keep track of all self employed earnings that are subject to this tax, and keep records of all business-related expenses. Remember that these expenses can be claimed to help alleviate some of that tax burden, reducing the amount you’ll be required to pay.
Posted by KC Morgan
Social networking sites are the hottest online trend, and for good reason. Not only can you find a mildly entertaining way to kill the time, look up former classmates and possibly touch base with friends and family, you can also use these sites to stretch your professional muscles and potentially forge new contacts. If you’re self employed, you should absolutely be using social networking to find new work.
Social Media: Just for Friend-Finding?
Social networking sites like MySpace aren’t just for people seeking friendship and romantic connections. Believe it or not, you can use these sites to form professional relationships as well. Sites like LinkedIn offer all the bells and whistles of social media, but they provide something more: they allow you to find other professionals, and people who could be in a position to give you a job. If you can join a group or create a contact that might advance your career, isn’t social networking worth a little bit of your time?
Use Online Networking for Self-Promotion
Sure, forging contacts and finding helpful groups of other like-minded individuals can be valuable, but there’s even more to online networking that the obvious. Facebook, MySpace and others also give you a priceless opportunity to do something extremely important in self employment: they allow you to self-promote. You can include feeds, links and other resources on your profile that direct others toward your work, which could help you showcase your skills to a much broader audience. Some sites even allow you to find jobs, a compelling draw for any freelance professional.
Posted by KC Morgan
Even if you’ve formally retired from your job, enjoyed a celebration and been given your grand farewell, you may not be quite ready to put working ways behind you. Not ready to settle into the life of leisure that follows your official retirement? You might want to try working at home to fill up some of that spare time.
Why Work at Home?
It’s tough to go from full-time work to full-time freedom, and not everyone finds the transition tolerable. Many retired professionals find part-time work, but with work at home you don’t have to leave the house to earn extra income and keep your job skills sharp. Not ready to leave your working ways behind? With work at home jobs, you won’t have to.
Not Ready to Retire!
Retired professionals still have a lot to offer to the work force. A variety of skills, strong work ethic and strong self-discipline are the keys of being successful with work at home jobs. This means that retired professionals stand to find success with self employment. Not ready to retire? Who stays you can’t earn money and spend your time on your own terms, even after you turn this important corner in your professional life?
Jobs You Can Do at Home
There are many, many jobs you can do at home, no matter your age. Being a self-starter and hard-worker alone can make you an excellent candidate for many work at home positions. The hardest part of making it happen, in fact, is usually finding people to pay you for your work. Look to online job boards to explore available positions. Find jobs you can do at home to make work at home happen:
Posted by KC Morgan
There are many places to look if you want to know where to find self employment jobs, but there are many other places you may have overlooked in the past. Learn how to find new ways to discover new work at home opportunities.
Find Self Employment Jobs
Want to know where to find self employment jobs? Sure, Internet job boards provide a lot of opportunities…but sometimes, they still don’t provide enough. There are other places that might give you the steady gigs you’re seeking.
There are many online companies which specialize in hiring work at home employees to tackle the clerical and calling work needed by many large firms. Using these administrative sites, you might find steady self employment and the extra income you’ve been seeking.
Blogging Sites with Multiple Writers
You’ll find a bevy of blogging sites on the Internet, which strive to bring readers fresh content several times a day by hiring multiple bloggers. Based off page clicks, real income can be earned if you can write words that compel others to visit your pages. Seek out blogging sites that employ many writers and send an email to the powers-that-be to see if they could use your services. You never know where you’ll find self employment jobs, but blogging sites are a good place to start.
Suite101 is always looking for writers who know how sweet the written word can be. If you want to know where to find self employment jobs, you’re already in the right place! Submit an application, share your opinion and earn a little money as a result.
Posted by KC Morgan
Do you know where to find self employment jobs? A lot of looking on the Internet for job boards and sites that are specific to your career can still add up to a lot of nothing if you aren’t getting the responses you want. Anyone can work at home - the trick is, finding someone who’ll pay you for it.
Find Self Employment Jobs
Okay, so you’ve looked all over the Internet. You reply to tons of ads on the job boards, you’ve got a good resume, your cover letter is attention-getting…and you still aren’t getting any self employment jobs. So what gives? Learn where to find work at home opportunities in some places you might normally overlook.
Believe it or not, your local unemployment office may have work at home opportunities you know nothing about. You can always sign up and register on the site to take advantage of job listings, and you should. This often-untapped resource just might provide your next steady gig.
With secret shopping, you might find a way to pick up a few extra bucks while you’re doing normal errands. Self employment opportunities abound in this field, but be careful to work with reputable companies and double-check employers before accepting assignments. It’s a simple manner to look up a company name before you accept a job with them; often, other self employed professionals provide information as to the employer's credibility on forums and other online venues.
Want to know more places to find self employment jobs? Check back for the second installment of this two-part series.
Posted by KC Morgan
What do you love to do in your free time? With a little creative thinking, some self-promotion and no small amount of gumption, it might just be possible to turn your favorite hobby into a money-making career. Learn how to move your skills to the right medium to create income, and turn a hobby into a career through self employment.
Sell Your Skills Online
Are you a rabid TV watcher? Great at finding hilarious YouTube videos that your friends enjoy? Do you make crafts, paint pictures, have a great eye for spotting bargains? Almost anything can be turned into a career, if you know how to do it. The skills you have could easily translate into self employment, if you learn how to sell and apply those skills to the online world. The Internet opens the door for plenty of opportunities - so take advantage!
From Hobby to Career
Create your own Web site, blog or eBay profile and start creating an income for yourself by using the skills you already possess. For instance, TV watchers could easily write on the subject of their favorite shows. Lots of Internet surfers enjoy reading about what they watch on the tube, too. Any products or crafts you make could be sold through eBay or your very own selling site. Why not turn your hobby into a career? After all, you’re spending time on it anyway…so start making some money with it.
Posted by KC Morgan
Can you be self employed? Hasn’t everyone toyed with the idea of working at home, being an independent contractor, earning through freelance jobs? Learn how to find out if you’ve got what it takes to create your own career.
Self Evaluation for Self Employment
Self evaluation is the first step in finding out whether or not you’re actually cut out for the job of self employment. Can you stand sitting in a single room of your house - all alone - for many hours on end? Are you disciplined enough to get tasks done, even when jobs start to seem tedious and repetitive? Even those with a strong work ethic may find they aren’t ready for self employment. It’s important to maintain a working schedule, to be able to handle pressure and to be capable of working all alone while still getting the job done.
Tools You Need to Work at Home
No one can work at home or be self employed successfully without having a few tools in place, and that doesn’t always mean having a great home computer and a good long distance telephone plan. It means having a strong resume and a good grasp of how to sell yourself. At all times, you have to be your own biggest promoter. Believing in yourself - and getting others to believe in you - is one of the biggest hurdles in maintaining self employment.
Can You Be Self Employed?
Being self employed means being a self-starter, and being able to deal with the daily frustration of searching for new jobs and being rejected. Everyone who tries to work for themselves has to be prepared to hear “no” many times over. It can be disheartening, but all the more rewarding when an employer eventually says yes.
Posted by KC Morgan
There are lots of ways to create a self employment career, and it’s worth exploring them all. Take a closer look at three different possibilities that might become self employment opportunities. One of them might even become a full-fledged career.
Create a Courier Service
Have a functioning vehicle and a will to travel? Operating as a one-person courier service can become quite a lucrative self employment career for some. Place ads online and in local papers, contact local businesses and let them know about your services and start spreading the word that you can offer reliable, speedy and secure services for professionals who need to transfer documents and other valuables quickly.
Become a Personal Image Consultant
Have a great sense of style to share with the rest of the world? Many professionals and public figures make use of image consultants who help them put together outfits, answer interview questions and present their best face to the rest of the world.
Start Making Salable Products
Good with your hands? There are plenty of professionals who use artistic and craftsmanship skills to create salable products. If you’ve got something to offer, you can create a self employment career by creating a Web site and an eBay presence. Drum up excitement for your goods by buying a booth at local craft fairs and doing self-marketing to make your presence known.
Posted by KC Morgan
The truth is, home based jobs can be a little boring. It isn’t easy to sit at home all day, to scour the Internet for available self employment opportunities, to continue staying motivated and upbeat when, essentially, you’re completely alone. Feeling fed up with home based jobs? You might feel like you aren’t cut out for self employment, but don’t write off your independent contractor status just yet.
The Daily Grind of Home Based Jobs
Work at home isn’t easy. Sure you’re at home, but you’ve still got to work. There are deadlines, employers, responsibilities, maybe even boring or uninspiring assignments. There are distractions and long hours. The self employed don’t get holiday pay or vacations, help from co-workers or unemployment benefits. When you spend hour after hour, day after day, doing jobs that seem the same, jobs at home suddenly become extremely unglamorous. Feeling fed up with home based jobs? You probably aren’t alone…metaphorically, anyway.
Improve Your At Home Work Day
What if you find out you don’t like self employment? When work at home jobs seem boring, you might be looking for the wrong jobs. Consider trying something new, and respond to any at home job offers that sound interesting. You never know until you try, and when you work at home you’ve got plenty of time to find out what you like. There are lots of work at home opportunities out there, so why not explore every one? You might find that your at home work day just needs a little variety to feel more exciting, and that self employment isn’t so bad after all.
Posted by KC Morgan
Want to be self employed? You may be much closer to being an independent contractor than you think. What’s the key to finding success on your own? Use the skills you already possess to earn money - just go freelance!
Who Can be a Freelance Professional?
No doubt you’ve heard of freelance writers more than once. You might even know a few freelance photographers. But freelancing isn’t restricted to professionals in the periodicals game alone - in fact, many different kinds of workers can use their skills to carve out a freelance career. Painters, construction workers, consultants, people with products to sell - all of them, and many more, could become freelance professionals. What does it take to make this kind of career work?
Be Self Employed
Want to be a successfully self employed freelancer? Unfortunately, it’s much easier to say than to do. Those who want to create a career as an independent contractor have a major goal to tackle: find work. Advertise your skills and services, search job boards for opportunities and get your name out there to get freelance employment. Create a Web site and a portfolio of the kind of work you do, create a strong resume and create strong business contacts to establish yourself as a freelance professional. It takes time to build reputation and experience, but in the end being a freelance professional can be a very rewarding career.
Posted by KC Morgan
Being a full-time mom is more like having two jobs. You’ve already got your hands full, so how can you find the time to maintain a popular blog online? Starting and maintaining a blog might take less time than you think. Staying at home, mom? Make your blog your new home-based business.
How to Start a Blog
Need to know how to start a blog? Creating a Web log is as easy as finding a site which will provide you with the space you need to record all your blog posts. Look to sites like WordPress and Blogger to make use of free Web space where you can create your own custom blog.
How to Run a Blog
In fact, finding a blog and getting it started is the easy part - no doubt you already have some ideas about how your blog should look. Having something to say in your blog, well that’s an altogether different matter. The good news is, you can blog on any topic you desire and you’ll probably still get readers. Create keyword-focused posts that revolve around a single theme - motherhood, for instance - to create a blog that’s cohesive and interesting to read.
Blogging as a Stay at Home Mom
Blog posts are traditionally short, casual and personal in tone. Many, many bloggers are not professional writers, and in fact the polished style of journalists doesn’t lend itself very well to the casual nature of blogs. If you’ve got word to share, then you can blog. Blogging as a stay at home mom is a great way to be productive, to earn a little extra income, and it’s a great outlet when the kids are making you climb the walls.
Posted by KC Morgan
There are legitimate home based business opportunities out there, though sometimes it seems a whole lot easier to find the scams instead. Looking for work at home, a way to make money, full-time self employment? When it comes to opportunities, sometimes (in self employment, a lot of the time) you have to create your own.
Home Based Businesses
Work at home? Make money through these efforts? Then you can say you’re managing, running or working in your own home based business. You don’t have to own a building to own a business. In fact, all you really need is to get someone to give you money to do what you love to do.
Sure, that sounds simple enough. But finding and creating home based business opportunities may not always be so cut and dry.
Legitimate Business Opportunities
If you start looking online for business opportunities of any kind, you’ll find at least ten thousand companies claiming to have the answer. They might offer products you can sell, Web sites you can build, envelopes you can stuff or calls you can make. They might offer lots of things - but until they legitimately offer to pay you money for your efforts, don’t consider it a job.
Think you’ve found a great opportunity? Don’t just accept things at face value - do your research. Look up the job, the company itself, anything else you can find, and find out what others have to say. Look for legitimate work opportunities that will provide you with payment for products and services. This will help you create your own sort of home based business - yourself.
Create your own legitimate home based business opportunities by establishing a personal Web site to further your self employment efforts, an eBay account that will allow you to sell your products, a resume that will help you find work at home jobs. A legitimate opportunity is the one that will pay you for your efforts, instead of you paying them.
Posted by KC Morgan
Do independent contractors get unemployment benefits? Self employment is a lonely road to walk, and sometimes the business and the work just isn’t there. Are you just completely out of luck and on your own, or can you get self employment assistance in the form of unemployment income?
Unemployment Benefits
Who qualifies for unemployment benefits? In the United States, only those who have contributed to the system of unemployment can potentially benefit from the system itself. Basically, this means that only those who have put money into unemployment are eligible to take it back out of state funds. People who have been continuously employed through a legal employer for six months are automatically eligible for unemployment benefits, depending upon the circumstances of their departure from the job.
Do independent contractors get unemployment benefits? Only if they pay into the system - something that is not done through the normal course of paying self employment taxes and working as an independent contractor. This does not mean, however, that self employment assistance is completely out of reach.
Self Employment Benefits for Independent Contractors
For those self employed professionals who can not receive traditional unemployment benefits, a federal assistance program is in place. This program provides independent contractors with an “allowance” that’s not unlike traditional unemployment benefits. The assistance program is in place for those times when there isn’t enough self employment income coming in through no fault of the professional.
Independent contractors may also choose to take advantage of unemployment insurance. These policies are provided by the federal government and work in the same way any insurance policy does: self employed professionals pay into the policy when income is steady; when income is not steady, the policy will return some financial support. Through special programs and safeguards, even independent contractors can receive a form of unemployment benefits.
Posted by KC Morgan
Many work-related expenses can be claimed on taxes to lighten the load paid by independent contractors. The self employment tax can feel like a large burden when other taxes still have to be paid; balance it out with tax deductions that create less taxable income.
Tax Deductions for Independent Contractors
There might be many reasons you have to spend money in your line of work, but there’s no reason you shouldn’t be compensated for this effort. Spending in the name of the job? Save the receipt, document it and start brushing up on what’s tax deductible.
- Subscriptions. Receiving the Wall Street Journal or a number of online newsletters to help you do your job? Any time you spend your own money in the course of work, even for subscriptions, you can claim the expense as an independent contractor.
- Thank you cards, gifts, etc. Sending out cards to employers and potential employers? Having business cards printed to get new jobs? Such purchases are tax deductible - so go ahead and claim them.
- Retirement and 401k plans. You don’t have an employer to provide you with a retirement fund, life insurance policy or 401k - so you’ve done the responsible thing and purchased your own. Paying the premiums, however, is a huge burden when you have to pay such high taxes, too. There is some relief! Retirement, 401k plans and other similar expenses are tax deductible.
- Telephone costs. Calling potential clients and employers? Using the phone for the job? Some of the bill - and the related equipment purchases - is absolutely tax-deductible.
Posted by KC Morgan
There are many different tax deductions for independent contractors, and self employed professionals should take advantage of every single one they can. Learn what’s tax deductible, and save yourself some of those tax time expenses.
Work at Home Tax Deductions
Think the self employment tax is a burden? Claim expenses whenever possible, and learn which tax deductions will lighten the load. These are just a few work at home tax deductions you should keep in mind when it comes time to pay out for the income you earned as an independent contractor through the year:
- Health insurance. Supporting yourself with your work at home and/or self employment efforts? Independent contractors can receive a tax deduction for 100% of their health insurance expenses, both for themselves and their dependents. Professionals who do not receive health benefits through a spouse or employer, but who pay the entire cost of health insurance on their own, can always claim a little tax relief.
- Home office space. Some mortally fear claiming a home office, fearing it’s a giant red flag to the IRS. Some tax experts, however, say this is a false fear. If you truly have a home office space, then you have nothing to worry about anyway. Claim the expense of having a home office, because any little tax deduction helps.
- Furniture and equipment. Need a new chair for the desk? A new keyboard for the computer? Any office-related purchase that’s made for work, including furniture and equipment, is tax deductible.
Take advantage of tax deductions, and claim expenses for every purchase that's made in the line of work. Paying out at tax time, rather than receiving a windfall like so many others, is already a bit of a drag. Paying out more than you should - now, that's a fate you should never have to face.
Posted by KC Morgan
There are more than five things you need for self employment, not the least of which is plenty of self-motivation. But if you’d rather reach for something a little more solid to prepare for a self employed career, find out which five things can help you get prepared.
Self Employment: Five Things
There are at least five tangible things you need for self employment. All the intangibles, like perseverance, should already be part of your make-up (or at least, be in your mind) if you’re going to stick it out with a work from home career. Everything else? Well, it can be purchased or put together.
- Working computer with an Internet connection. The whole world’s going online, and you should too. If you don’t have a working computer with an Internet connection you can access on an unlimited basis, it will be more difficult to make self employment a success. Many work from home professionals, in fact, work and earn exclusively online - that’s how much work you could be missing if you’re not plugged in, too.
- A self employed resume. Even if you don’t have a lot of self employed work history, you can put together an impressive resume to highlight goals and skills. Include relevant work history of any kind, education, special skills you possess or special projects you’ve participated in to beef up your resume a little.
- An online portfolio. Have a presentable collection of your best work in one, easy-to-access location online. Many Web sites will allow you to create free pages, so there’s no reason you shouldn’t have a great online portfolio to show off to potential employers.
- Professional email address. If you were an employer and you received an email from RowdyFunGuy47, you’re not going to take it as seriously as you might take the mail from JohnJamesFreelancing. There are too many free email accounts available - create one that you’re going to use for your professional, self employed life.
- Personal space. Want to work at home? Then you’re going to need a space in which to do that work. Create a space and make it your own, even if your self employment jobs carry you out of the house. It’s nice to have your own personal “office,” and will help you maintain the professional feeling you’ll need to maintain self employment.
Posted by KC Morgan
It’s great to work at home and call the shots, earn money independently and reap the successes of a job well done. It can also be extremely boring, lonely and monotonous to sit in the same room doing the same thing for hours, days, weeks at a time. Learn how to banish work at home boredom.
Work at Home Boredom
Even a dream job can become a draining job when professionals work forty hours a week on their projects, which can start to all seem the same toward the end of Thursday. Struggling with work at home boredom? Many self employed professionals find themselves suffering from the same ailment. So…how do you get rid of it?
Changing the Pace of Self Employment
Even in the world of work at home, where professionals find their own jobs and make their own way, projects can start to take on a similar hue. Every task seems the same as the one before; every new day offers no difference from yesterday. Banish work at home boredom by changing the pace of self employment, mixing it up to inject a little novelty into the day.
Most people begin a project or working task and see it through to its completion. A few hours on Project A, an hour or two on Project B, and by the time you have to work on Project C you already feel burnt-out and bored. Remember that work at home doesn’t necessarily have to be linear. That, in fact, you can choose to work in your own way - a whole new way.
Why not get half of Project A done, then work a bit on Project C? Turn to Project B until the inevitable boredom sets back in, and finish up everything left undone on A. Switch it up, mix it up, and jump between assignments. You’re still getting work done - just not necessarily all at once. Even this small change can help banish work at home boredom, making old projects seem somehow fresher and more exciting.
Posted by KC Morgan
Search for freelancing writing jobs and you’ll find lots of revenue-sharing opportunities. Many sites want bloggers who will work on page clicks, article-writers who will optimize in order to earn. Other gigs may promise low money but a large audience of readers, or a certain audience of readers you hope to impress. But is exposure worth more than income, especially a stable, steady income you can trust?
Writing Exposure
Freelance writing can be a pretty rough road - just ask any self employed writer. It’s hard to seek out job opportunities, put together an impressive portfolio and convince publishers to give you a chance. However, all of that becomes a little bit easier once the writer starts to establish a reputation, a name, a little bit of recognition. Once the writer has all of that, the writer has an audience - and this often leads to better-paying writing jobs and higher income.
Writing Income
No one can live without income - just ask any self employed writer. It’s impossible to eat, pay bills or enjoy a roof without earning some sort of money. This is why many freelance writers shy away from revenue-sharing agreements which make no payment promises, or low-paying jobs which seem to offer little financial reward. However, freelance writers will admit that writing exposure is as necessary as writing income. The trick is to find a good balance between the two. Accept different writing job opportunities which give you both exposure and income. Pick jobs with good exposure and other jobs with great pay. If you can find a job that offers both, you’ve achieved one of the rarities of self employment.
Posted by KC Morgan
Working at home isn’t always the freeing, enjoyable experience it’s cracked up to be. Sometimes there’s nothing more difficult than ignoring the distractions of the home. Sometimes, it’s impossible to work your own schedule because you have to work around someone else’s. The spouse, the kids, the responsibilities of life may make working at home more like a fantasy than a planned event.
Finding it hard to keep working at home with so many interruptions? Learn how to follow your own schedule on your own terms.
Working at Home, Your Way
Cleaning up, feeding the kids and taking care of everyone else in the house can take its toll on time meant for working at home. It’s important to follow your own schedule on your own terms and learn how to budget your time so you still get the job done. You are your own boss - so make yourself stick to your own schedule for work at home, at least.
It’s important that you make your family understand that work time is separate from home time. Working at home sometimes makes it hard to separate housework from work work. Make the distinction and draw the line. Tell your family what hours your are unavailable, and explain that you need your work space (and work time) to yourself. Can’t get the message across? Close the door, put up a sign and tell them you’ll get to it when you’re off work - just like any other professional.
Working at home? Follow your own schedule - no one else’s.
Posted by KC Morgan
Find great self employment ideas by learning more about being self employed. A self employed person is one who finds their own clients and/or customers, sets their own schedule and creates their own revenue. There are many occupations which qualify as self employment: writing, graphic design, craft making, mystery shopping. People who use their skills and talents, anything from plumbing to a knowledge of law, to open their own businesses are also self employed.
But how does it get you closer to landing on a great self employment idea that you can use to create cash?
Self Employment Ideas
Do you have a great concept for an online business? A plan for how you can market your own baked goods? Crafty hands that know how to create a useful product? Then use it. Self employment starts with self employment ideas - namely, a product you want to sell.
It all comes back to a specific product. Writers create crafted pages for pay, electricians sell a service as a product and everyone has something to offer. When you find a buyer for your product and start to earn money through this endeavor, you’re earning revenue with self employment.
Want to find great self employment ideas? Find something to sell, either by inventing your own product or finding self employment opportunities online to help you get started.
Posted by KC Morgan
You might be surprised how far a good reputation can take you when it comes to real work at home jobs. To be treated like a professional that deserves high-paying work, you have to learn how to present yourself like one.
Think that your reputation has no role in whether or not you find real work at home opportunities? Think again.
Real Home Based Job Professionalism
Ever heard the expression that all it takes to get a job…is another job? When it comes to work at home, that saying is especially true. Always treat every job you get, no matter how short the project or low-paying the work, like a top priority. Want more home based jobs? Do a great job...on every job you get.
This goes a long way toward establishing your reputation as a true work at home professional - emphasis on the professional. Prove that you’ll put the same care and consideration into every project, and prove that you’re deserving of new home based jobs and opportunities.
You never know when you might make an impression on someone through your consummate professionalism and work ethic. When you show that you take every work at home job seriously, you prove that you have earned your right to more work - and work at home success. Want real home based jobs? Be really professional at all times. You never know who’s going to keep on you file for future projects.
Posted by KC Morgan
Can a mom run a home-based business? Asking that question is a little like asking if trees can change color. Who knows more about hard work, long hours and sacrifice than a mother? Lucky for mom, running a home-based business takes hard work, long hours and sacrifice.
Think you’re ready to run a home-based business? There’s only one way to find out.
Running the Home
Moms already know a little something about running the home. Taking care of a child, like taking care of a business, requires patience, creativity and lots of love. There will be times when you want to give up on your home-based business, but often it’s perseverance that pays off in the end. Moms who have experience running the home may have more experience with home-based business than they realize.
Running a Home-Based Business
The Internet makes many home-based businesses possible, for moms and executives alike. Have a great product to sell? Create pages to feature your wares, add safe buying links and launch your business. Have services you want to offer? Make them known, and offer pricing, on your Web site.
There are many wonderful tutorials and free tools which can help you create a business Web site very inexpensively. Once you’ve got a site, you’re ready to start running your home-based business and exploring the ins and outs of making a living with self employment.