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  • Heidi McLean
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3 common freelancing myths, plus the truth (can you handle it?)
3 common freelancing myths, plus the truth (can you handle it?) 5184 3456 Heidi McLean

To overworked, underappreciated 9-5ers, freelancing may seem like the holy grail. But going out on your own isn’t just a world of free-flowing creative juices, coffee breaks, and wads of money. Freelancing can make you feel just as burnt out and unstimulated as whatever made you take a hike from your previous gig in the first place.

Here are 3 common freelancing myths–plus ways to make the road less traveled work for you:

Myth 1: It’s easier than your 9-5

So you want to work from the beach? Excellent. You want to decide which people to work with and which jobs excite you? More power to you. But hear this: Once you go out on your own, you live and die by your own work. The allure of working from home in your pjs and not having a boss breathing down your neck is real. But the struggle of life without a full time, “safe” job is real, too. It’s awesome. And terrifying. It’s not easy. Whether you’re on your own or working a “safe” job, you will kill yourself (and I mean that literally) if you don’t find balance. If you want to build a solid business, you have to put in the work. The hope is that, because you’re building your own dream (and not someone else’s/one you don’t believe in) that you’ll at least enjoy it more. And while it can be enormously satisfying and liberating to build your own business from the ground up, that doesn’t mean it’s easy.

Myth 2: It’s too risky

The “too” is the operative word above. Because here’s the deal: in comparison with a 9-5 job, freelancing is risky. You’re not looking for someone to whisper comforting words and say this is a safe route, right? You absolutely could lose everything…or at least be very, very hungry at times. I mean it. You could have clients who pay late or don’t pay at all. You could have slow months that land you in the red and times you’re trying to figure out how to create a meal from whatever you can find in the freezer and the last quarter cup of rice in your pantry. Risk aversion is real, but if it keeps you in your swivel chair at a 9-5 you hate, then you’re afraid of the wrong kind of risk. Because there’s nothing more risky than staying there in your cubicle feeling like you’re wasting your life.

Myth 3: You have to do it all

You think it’s easy to have your life and energy sucked away by a “regular” job? What about when it’s your business? When every dollar that comes in is as a result of you pounding the pavement to find the client and then pounding the pavement again to produce work they’ll rave about? When you’re in business for yourself, it’s easy to just do, do, do all the time. And the lie that traps you is that you have to. But you give yourself out completely and guess what? There’s nothing left. There’s nothing left for your bedtime routine with your kids, or those glorious miles on the trail with your sneakers and your headphones. And here’s the real, counterintuitive kick in the pants: if you don’t have time for the stuff the fuels you, you don’t have a business. Because when you’re a freelancer, your business is you. It’s’ your creativity, your talent, your brains, and your guts. That’s something you simply cannot phone in. You have to be fueled, which means you can’t give everything to your business. You have to give something to yourself, which in turn, gives everything to your business. See what I mean?

The truth

Here’s the truth about freelancing, if you can handle it. And you can handle it, by the way, because you are scrappy enough to think about launching out on your own in the first place. It’s hard, gut-wrenching, kick you in the seat of your pants, pride-swallowing work. And it’s all yours, which is effing fantastic.

 

About PayReel

At PayReel, we minimize the time and effort it takes to get you ready for your project, make sure you get paid quick and easy and have Client Relationship Managers on call around the clock to answer your questions. All you have to do is call 303-526-4900 or email us. The PayReel team makes event payroll easier, faster, and seamless.

The next time you work an event or a production, tell your supervisor you love working with the PayReel team.

avocado toast - PayReel
  • Heidi McLean
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The avocado toast generation and the case for hiring Millennials
The avocado toast generation and the case for hiring Millennials 5397 3598 Heidi McLean

Gone are the days when you could rely on your workers to put in their time at the office and stay loyal to one company from cradle to grave. These self-indulgent, entitled youngsters want to get promoted just for showing up. Millennials want avocado on their toast, purpose in their jobs, and a healthy work/life balance. Ugh. Let’s put aside any bewilderment about the fancy toast and $5 lattés with frilly foam designs for a moment and consider the case for hiring Millennials–those born between 1981 and 1990:

 

  1. Millennials work hard

    Boomers may grimace and fight the urge to growl, “Pay attention!” when they see young, talented managers texting away in a meeting. But the truth is, Millennials work really hard. They may even be the most workaholic generation yet.

  2. Work/life balance is good for business

    It may come as a surprise that it’s just as hard for Millennials to achieve as anyone (noted above), but these young laborers do value a work/life balance. Facilitating and cultivating this balance is actually good for business.

  3. Diversity is good for business

    Each generation brings a unique set of attributes to the workplace that, properly interwoven, can create a focused, exuberant, high performing workplace. Keeping multi-generational workers engaged is the key. Engagement equals performance, and performance equals results.

  4. They’re the most highly-educated generation in history

    As education opportunities have opened up to men, women, and all ethnicities, this generation has become one of the most highly-educated of all time.

  5. They want to contribute to something that matters 

    People of any age will work their tails off if they’re personally connected to and inspired by their goal. They’ll give their best for something they believe in. Tap into that desire to work for a purpose, and you’ll access a goldmine of creativity, talent, and time

The bottom line

Avocado toast has become the shorthand for all that’s supposedly wrong with Millennials but it’s a tale as old as time. Until they’re the older generation, the young generation is always the worst. Through the lens of hindsight, the young rabble rousers of the 60s became celebrated flower children. Recognizing any generation’s weaknesses and strengths allows hiring managers to leverage those strengths to build a solid team.

 

About PayReel

At PayReel, we minimize the time and effort it takes to get you ready for your project, make sure you get paid quick and easy, and have Client Relationship Managers on call around the clock to answer your questions. All you have to do is call 303-526-4900 or email us. The PayReel team makes event payroll easier, faster, and seamless.

The next time you work an event or a production, tell your supervisor you love working with the PayReel team.

 

work relationships - PayReel
  • Heidi McLean
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How have “work relationships” changed as offices have become obsolete?
How have “work relationships” changed as offices have become obsolete? 400 266 Heidi McLean

Gone are the days when “work relationships” are made up of people we see on a regular basis. We can literally have an entire functioning relationship without ever seeing a person or even hearing their voice. Talk about an evolution from the days when sharing an office building was a prerequisite. Here are some of the biggest ways work relationships have changed with the evolving workplace.

From office space to any space: Working in the same vicinity as people used to be a necessity. If you couldn’t walk down the hall to knock on someone’s door or get together in a conference room to discuss the next initiative, you couldn’t get much done. Now, you can work from anywhere. That means you can have meetings across time zones and without even leaving your home. You may still see your co-workers virtually, but you’re less likely to have spontaneous conversations at the proverbial water cooler.

Blurred lines in the work/life balance: There used to be a somewhat forced separation of work and home. While you could take your work home with you, it was a lot harder to reach people with a random thought or question late at night or on the weekend. You were unlikely to call someone’s home and risk waking their kids at 9 PM. But shooting off an email or a text at 9 PM is socially acceptable and reading work communication as you’re going to bed or first thing in the morning is expected. Getting responses in a few minutes is so much the norm that a “delayed” response of even 10 minutes can cause concern. Now, it almost seems like you literally have to go underground (on the subway) or take a flight in order to get a break from electronic communications.

Communication is easier and harder: With this level of access, it’s incredibly easy to communicate in a moment. It’s incredibly easy to reach people and get a response. But we arguably have just as many communication errors since we can’t truly read people over email or text and emojis don’t quite replace seeing a live human face. Replacing live communication almost completely has its own challenges.

The bottom line

Work relationships have changed massively in the digital age. FaceTime often substitutes for face time, emojis often substitute for actual facial expressions, and all our “time savers” eat away at more and more of our time. It will be interested to see if the pendulum swings back to more personal interaction or if we will lean more and more on technology to replace the live interactions that used to be necessary.

About PayReel

At PayReel, we minimize the time and effort it takes to get you ready for your project, make sure you get paid quick and easy, and have Client Relationship Managers on call around the clock to answer your questions. All you have to do is call 303-526-4900 or email us. The PayReel team makes event payroll easier, faster, and seamless.

The next time you work an event or a production, tell your supervisor you love working with the PayReel team.

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  • Heidi McLean
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Throwback Thursday: Hiring contingent workers pre e-anything
Throwback Thursday: Hiring contingent workers pre e-anything 4404 2477 Heidi McLean

On the rare occasion I pay a bill the old-fashioned way, I marvel. It wasn’t so very long ago that, for each bill, we’d sit down, handwrite a check, and then actually put it in the mail. Just as online bill pay has become the way of the modern world, so too have email, job boards, and social networking sites have proven the ultimate game changer for hiring practices. They’ve made a once-tedious and manual task more efficient and also brought the phrases “freelance” and “work from home” or “work remotely” into our modern language and culture.

Hiring short-term engagements via pre-electronic mail, pre-E-lance, and pre-e-anything was a totally different ballgame. As the founder of PayReel, I’ve had a front-row seat to that game and its remarkable evolution. It’s hard to believe we have gone from faxing and phoning to pointing and clicking in my personal 30-plus years in the business. It’s even harder to imagine the days before my involvement.

A brief history of hiring contingent workers pre-internet

Sometimes I wonder how anything got done before we had the power to hold the whole world wide web in our hands. But early hiring tools included job fairs, notices on community bulletin boards, government employment offices, or even a good old-fashioned “now hiring” sign. Here are some of the significant markers in the history of hiring contingent workers.

The 1800s, “free lances” fight for pay: While freelancing as we know it today may feel like a rather new phenomenon, the word’s origins date as far back as the 1800s. Merriam-Webster defines “free lances” as soldiers who sold their soldiering to the highest bidder.

The 1700s, “Help Wanted” ads appear: The Boston News Letters began carrying ads in 1704. Paying by the word, employers put an ad in the classifieds and waited for a response via snail mail. One such ad, from 1892, would be subject to anti-discrimination laws today. It sought, “A young lady of German parentage; must be a 36 bust and understand bookkeeping on a small scale.”  

1890, Consultancy and recruiting agencies incorporate: Before online databases, where you could vet and possibly even book talent from a pool of candidates in minutes, we had telephones. Hiring managers might reach for the Yellow Pages and start down the list of consultancy agencies. The very first of such, Arthur D. Little Inc., was founded in 1886 and incorporated in 1906. The company broadened over the years but at first, focused on technical research. In a sense, as someone hired to do a very specific job, these early consultants were the first freelancers. Like today’s freelancers, they kept companies from having to hire full-time. Similar firms cemented their place in the U.S. economy in the 1900s.

The 1980s, Fax machines take over office buildings: While inventor Alexander Bain first sent an image over the wire in 1843, the fax machine didn’t make its way to frequent commercial use until the 1980s. These miracle workers reduced turnaround time by taking resumes out of mailboxes and into the printer room. Employment agencies (who still had to pull resumes from their giant paper databases) could now send candidate details to employers in minutes, leading to speedier vetting and hiring. While bulky by today’s standards, the fax machine was one of the early innovations that led to greater efficiency in the hiring space.  

Significant moments in hiring contingent workers post-internet

Of course, with the internet, things really picked up. In evolutionary terms, it’s comparable to a leap from apehood to personhood.

1994, Email brings mail to inboxes everywhere: We all know what happened when email came out. The whole world changed. Suddenly, candidates could send resumes as digital files that were instantly received and could be printed in perfect quality. Individual candidates sent resumes as attachments and agents sent them to employers electronically, too, making rolodexes and endless file cabinets of resumes obsolete. This was the tool that made a paperless world imaginable.

1995-1998, Online job boards post positions: Yep, it’s the biggie. Platforms like CareerBuilder, HotJobs and Monster took over the internet. Email brought mailing resumes to a halt and then these job boards nearly replaced emailing. This is where filters that allowed hiring managers and recruiters to sort candidates (by skills and location, for example) came into play.

2003, Online interviewing tools : Video chat services such as Skype allowed recruitment agencies to conduct initial interviews online, no matter where in the world the candidate happened to be. This reduced travel costs and turnaround time. It also reduced dress time for the candidates, who only had to look professional from the waist up.

About PayReel

Producing multimedia content and executing live events is chaotic. At PayReel, we make sure our clients can hire who they want when they want and that everyone is paid properly. Leave the details up to the PayReel team so you can focus on pulling off a flawless production. Contact us anytime at 303-526-4900 or by emailing us here.

Relax. We got it.

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  • Heidi McLean
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February 2018: Month in review
February 2018: Month in review 5808 3876 Heidi McLean

January took forever and February flew. Just like that, the second month of 2018 is over. Below are a few of the topics in employment and politics that made news in the shortest month of the year.

 

The FMLA turned 25…and had a quarter life crisis 

On Feb. 5th, 1993 the Family and Medical Leave Act, which gave employees job protection to care for sick family members, was enacted. Some of the questions coming up around its birthday are:

  1. Should that time off should be paid? It’s up for debate, but at least two Trumps and a Rubio say yes.
  2. Who qualifies as a family member? Austin’s guidelines leave room for interpretation.
  3. Does it go far enough to protect everyone, including low wage workers? And what about parents?
  4. Will the Koch brothers and cronies be able to win the fight against the aforementioned FMLA expansions?

 

People got sick…or at least sick of work

Thirty-precent of prison guards called in sick for Super Bowl Sunday. And it happens every year. But it turns out, the real problem may be that Americans don’t take enough sick leave. Meanwhile, Airlines sued Washington State over sick leave laws and Maryland’s sick leave laws got delayed in Senate.

Interns and ballers said “Show me the money!”

As Vogue took criticism for unpaid internships, Carmelo Anthony and others called the NCAA corrupt. It all brings up the bigger question: is it time to classify internships and treat college athletes like employees?

It was quite a month in employment. What stories caught your eye?

About PayReel

Producing multimedia content and executing live events can be chaotic. At PayReel, we make sure our clients are able to hire who they want, when they want and that everyone is paid properly. Leave the details up to the PayReel team so you can focus on pulling off a flawless production. Contact us anytime at 303-526-4900 or by emailing us here.

Relax. We got it.

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February 2018: Month in review
February 2018: Month in review 500 500 wpengine

Welcome to WordPress. This is your first post. Edit or delete it, then start writing!

client relations payreel
  • Heidi McLean
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Four easy steps to improve client relations
Four easy steps to improve client relations 5379 3663 Heidi McLean

We all like compliments. What a nice shirt! Great job on that presentation! Those jeans make you look skinny! But what about complaints? Can we honestly say that we always appreciate this type of feedback? Maybe not. But the best thing we can do for client relations is to treat those complaints as the gift they are.

 

Follow these easy steps to improve client relations

  1. Consider the complaint a gift. In customer oriented organizations, complaints should be embraced with the same anticipation and curiosity as if received in a beautifully wrapped little box. Complaints are gifts because they are our clients’ way of offering us a second chance to get it right. When a customer doesn’t invest the time and energy to complain, you’re in deep trouble. You’ve probably lost the advantage of knowing your offer has fallen short of expectations before the problem impacts your bottom line.
  2. Make it easy for the customer to give this gift. Giving key accounts a single point of contact is a great strategy, but what happens when the SPOC you’ve provided is the source of the dissatisfaction? That’s why executive relationships are vital. Giving your clients the ability to pick up the phone and share concerns directly with your upper management is the business equivalent of being one of Santa’s LinkedIn connections. Direct line to the gift man.
  3. Respond quickly. Clients know you’re busy. Sometimes simply making their concern a top priority is enough to smooth any rough waters. People want to be heard…and preferably before they forget what they said.
  4. Thank the gift giver. When someone gives you a gift you should, of course, express gratitude. In order to do so with authenticity, you have to truly see the benefit and opportunity in the feedback. If you don’t see if that way, work on your mindset. The highest form of gratitude you can convey is to fix the problem. Once fixed, make a call and acknowledge the mistake as well as how you have fixed the problem.

Handle complaints well and my guess is that you will have effectively turned a complaint into a bonding agent that will strengthen your connection with the customer. And that’s a great gift!

 

About PayReel

Producing multimedia content and executing live events is chaotic. When it comes to event payroll, payroll taxes, and so much more, PayReel makes your life easier. We make sure our clients are able to hire who they want, when they want and see that everyone is paid properly. Leave all payroll services and details up to the PayReel team so you can focus on pulling off a flawless production. Contact us anytime at 303-526-4900 or email us.

Relax. We got it.

 

freelance payroll payreel - PayReel
  • Heidi McLean
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The gig economy is here to stay: Here’s what it means for businesses
The gig economy is here to stay: Here’s what it means for businesses 4256 2832 Heidi McLean

The gig economy now makes up 34% of the US workforce. Gone are the days when cubicles dominate workers’ worlds from 9 to 5 Mondays through Fridays. Independent contractors are more likely to do the bulk of their work from home or from Starbucks than from a cubicle or brick and mortar offices. Tax laws, employment laws, and freelance payroll are all evolving in response. Here are some of the main implications for businesses:

 

Smaller core staff

As independent contractors do more of the work for businesses, many companies are shifting towards smaller core staffs. While there are benefits to having workers under the same roof during the same hours, small businesses may benefit financially by being responsible for fewer full-time workers.

 

New legal considerations  

Freelance payroll is a different ballgame and one of its biggest considerations is worker classification. While it was once a fairly black and white issue, the subject grows more important and more challenging each day. This highly confusing topic also carries intense legal ramifications. The government is paying more attention than ever (see Uber and America’s pastime as prime examples) to making sure workers are classified correctly—and making someone pay when they aren’t.

 

The bottom line  

Subjects like payroll taxes, worker classification, and freelance payroll get more complicated by the day. Partners who help make sense of a tricky transition as big as this one are worth the investment. At PayReel, we manage all of the above and, as the employer of record, we even take on all risk associated with a variable workforce. Think you might benefit from hiring a payroll service? Here’s a handy guide to find out more.

 

About PayReel

Producing multimedia content and executing live events is chaotic. When it comes to event payroll, payroll taxes, and so much more, PayReel makes your life easier. We make sure our clients are able to hire who they want, when they want and that everyone is paid properly. Leave all payroll services and details up to the PayReel team so you can focus on pulling off a flawless production. Contact us anytime at 303-526-4900 or by emailing us here.

Relax. We got it.

 

worker classification - PayReel
  • Heidi McLean
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How to navigate the increasingly dangerous waters of worker classification
How to navigate the increasingly dangerous waters of worker classification 4449 3675 Heidi McLean

Just as the stakes are getting higher, worker classification is getting trickier. The rise of the gig economy has led to an exponential increase in the number of independent contractors it brings into the labor pool each day. Lawmakers are taking note,  and the government ain’t playin’. Tax and employment law violations can lead to severe consequences. Employers shouldn’t play either. Here are some ways to tell the difference between an employee and an independent contractor and some questions worth asking before bringing an independent contractor on board.

 

How to tell independent contractors and employees apart

This is a meaty subject with a mountain of government legalese to back it up. Thankfully, employers can look at some of the main factors the government considers to sort out any areas of confusion, including the following:

  • The employer’s degree of control over the worker
  • The worker’s opportunity for profit or loss
  • The worker’s investment in facilities
  • How long-term the relationship is
  • The worker’s skill set

If you’re confused by gray areas, of which there are plenty, Upwork provides a simple IC v. employee compare-and-contrast chart that would make your high school English teacher proud. We also dive deeper and provide a handy cheat sheet and additional resources on the subject here.

But if you’re still uncertain, engaging a contractor management firm is your safest bet.

 

Questions to ask before hiring an independent contractor

1.  Am I confident I could make a strong case for the classification we chose?

If there is any question whether you’re on solid ground with your decision, you’re probably on very un-solid ground. It’s worth engaging support to make sure you get it right before it hits the courtroom.

 

2. What are the consequences if I get it wrong? 

Uber has provided über lessons on worker classification woes. It’s clear that the consequences can be steep and that the DOL is ready to drop the hammer on misclassification.

 

3. Do I need professional support and a built-in insurance plan to make sure I get it right? 

Navigating the dangerous waters and staying compliant is harder and more important than ever. Worker classification is one of those areas in which you can’t afford to take risks. Partners who make your life easier are worth the investment. A payroll service may be right for those who don’t have the bandwidth or interest in digging into the legalese. At PayReel, we manage payroll taxes and, as the employer of record, we even take on all risk associated with a variable workforce. Think you might benefit from hiring a payroll service? Here’s a handy guide to find out more.

 

About PayReel

When it comes to event payroll, payroll taxes, and so much more, PayReel makes your life easier. Producing multimedia content and executing live events is chaotic. At PayReel, we make sure our clients are able to hire who they want, when they want and that everyone is paid properly. Leave all payroll services and details up to the PayReel team so you can focus on pulling off a flawless production. Contact us anytime at 303-526-4900 or by emailing us here.

Relax. We got it.

 

event payroll - Payreel
  • Heidi McLean
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Six reasons PayReel projects are better projects
Six reasons PayReel projects are better projects 560 315 Heidi McLean

Whether it’s a massive event or a one-camera shoot, when PayReel manages your projects, it’s the best for clients and workers alike. At PayReel, we’re devoted to making every single client and worker interaction a good one.

 

We make your life easy and your workers happy

 

1. We do it all.

Unlike the big guys, we handle events of any kind and any size, whether you’re payrolling thousands of workers or sending a one-person crew to film an NBA game.

 

2. We’re here. We even answer the phone.

Events don’t operate on a nine-to-five schedule and neither do we. We have an after-hours phone so we can be sure to provide speedy answers.

 

3. We’re paperless.

Not having to sift through piles of identical paperwork cluttering up your desk and your headspace makes the process quicker and easier for you and for your workers.

 

4. We offer speedy payment.

Workers submit timecards on Mondays and we pay them on Fridays. When they’re paid quickly, workers won’t be calling your office, which frees you up to do your job better. Of course, it also keeps workers happy so they are free to focus on your project and happy to come back for your next event.

 

5. We keep workers happy.

Speaking of keeping workers happy, the last thing you need once you’ve hired workers is to lose their loyalty on the back-end details. Whether they’re working for one day or for a month, we make sure workers get paid quickly and accurately so if you want to use them again, they’ll be ready to pick up the call.

As Michael, one of the freelancers PayReel pays, said, “Natalie ( on of our PayReel Customer Experience Manager) has been superb in addressing whatever problems I have had.”

 

6. We make event payroll as easy as 1, 2, 3, w-4.

By managing all the payment details, including the mountains of W-4s, we make event payroll a non-event.

 

The bottom line

You work with us because we make your life easier. Why not use us for all your events and workers? Not only does our team manage event payroll and payroll taxes; as the employer of record, we even take on all risk associated with a variable workforce. Think you might benefit from hiring a payroll service? Here’s a handy guide to find out more.

 

About PayReel

When it comes to event payroll, payroll taxes, and so much more, PayReel makes your life easier. Producing multimedia content and executing live events is chaotic. At PayReel, we make sure our clients are able to hire who they want, when they want and that everyone is paid properly. Leave all payroll services and details up to the PayReel team so you can focus on pulling off a flawless production. Contact us anytime at 303-526-4900 or by emailing us here.

Relax. We got it.

 

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