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Business Survival Guide : 8 practices of a long term contractor
Originally posted on FreelanceSwitch According to the Webster Dictionary, a practice is: – to follow or observe habitually or customarily – to exercise or pursue as a profession, art, or occupation – to perform or do repeatedly in order to acquire skill or proficiency None of the practices below are technical for one simple reason – technically, you should already be good at what you do. After all, you are selling your services as an … Continue reading
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The Tragic Tax Yo-yo
A lot of lessons I learn come from personal tragedies. I am incredibly grateful that this is not one of those. I got lucky. Quinn sat me down when I was starting and told me: Make sure you put a certain amount of your earnings aside each and every time you get paid. It is not your money, it is Uncle Sam’s. I’m not going to write a big old post on taxes. I’m just … Continue reading
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Are you Prepared for the Unexpected?
I’m going to Germany for Christmas!!! Or so I thought, until my car was broken into at a lunch stop on the way to the airport. Grabbing my backpack through the smashed window, the thief made off with my laptop as well as our passports and Lindsey’s green card. Having no passports, we were forced to cancel the trip. After the initial shock, I thought about it and realized, as long as my identity is … Continue reading
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The Million Dollar Question
If you don’t keep score, how do you know when you are winning? Now there is your list of dreams, an indispensables road map to happiness. Some of us though, happen to like big neat targets we can obsess over. Like ONE MILLION DOLLARS. Peter: Ahem…well, don’t you think we should maybe ask for *more* than a million dollars? I mean, a million dollars isn’t exactly a lot of money these days. Virtucon alone makes … Continue reading
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Freelancer’s Guide to Sales: Measuring your Sales Pipeline in 15 Minutes
Four years ago, Julie & I decided we were (emotionally) ready to buy our first house. Santa Cruz is quite expensive, with the median house price weighing in at $740,000 and the medium apartment around $480,000. This was going to have a significant impact on our monthly cashflow. We had some savings, and a loving wedding gift from both our families gave us enough to put 20% on a small apartment or townhouse. Julie and … Continue reading
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50 Questions to Ask When Interviewing an Accountant
Nothing is more frustrating than to work hard and make a pile of money, only to lose it in a law suit or to the IRS. There are core people to each and every business team. Few are more important than your accountant and your lawyer. Having been through the selection process a few times, I figured it would be worth sharing some of the wisdom we have gained.
