MISC MUSES

The growing number of freelancers and independent contractors in recent years means that more and more people are working from home. While those unable to step away from their desks to do a load of laundry may have a little work-from-home envy, working from home has its challenges, too. A freelancer’s home office that is both inviting and conducive to being able to actually get work done is one of the most important ways to set yourself up for success.

Here are five tips for making your home office a place you want to spend your time:

1. Light up your life

The importance of good lighting cannot be overemphasized. Light your workspace appropriately for your task and also to limit eye strain. These tips, from eye care professionals, are more about function than fashion, but there is no end to lighting options that meet the needs while also allowing you to express your style.

2. Organize and de-clutter

When home offices become collecting places for clutter, you’ll end up resorting to a coffee shop or your dining room table. To combat this, you’ll need some organization techniques to keep everything in order, but don’t neglect the power of organizing’s less glamorous cousin: de-owning. De-own what you don’t need and you’ll free up your mind and creativity for the things that matter.

3. Invest in ergonomics

Sitting all day and staring at a screen is tougher on the body than it seems like it would be, but your body has a way of telling you (usually through pain and strain) that you need to do something differently. Consider ergonomic desks and monitors that allow you to look straight ahead. Here are some quick tips and OSHA provides a thorough checklist for safety in the office. Invest in your body’s future with exactly what you’ll need to be comfortable and position your body for success.

4. Accommodate your unique needs

If your space will never host a client or an overnight guest, feel free to make it a place just for you — even if that means including a spot for productivity-boosting naps. If, on the other hand, you’re going to have client meetings or use the space for multiple purposes, be sure you include the elements you’ll need to keep it from feeling like your clients are stepping into your bedroom.

5. And finally, add your style

The possibilities here are endless, but if you’re going to spend most of your awake time in your space, you should totally love it. Part of the benefit of working from home is being able to make it your own personalized home office. Here are some design tips/ideas and inspirational visual galleries for making your home office truly yours.

Photo by Blackbox design studios 

The bottom line

In her early days, J.K. Rowling wrote anonymously at a cafe and Stephen King set up a makeshift workspace in his laundry room. You don’t have to have a home office to get work done. Still, if you’re going to go to the trouble and expense of having a home office, make it worth it. Invest in lighting, workspace tools, and decor that make it functional and inviting. Because what’s the point of having a home office if you’re always escaping to work elsewhere?

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.

One hotly-contested topic this election year has been the minimum wage increase. While we still don’t know exactly how federal minimum wage will be affected once our new president takes office; what we have right now is a mashup of states who are implementing gradual increases, several whose increases depend on a litany of caveats, and a few who are holding steady at or near their current local minimum wage.

If you’re paying employees in one of the 29 states that recently passed the minimum wage increase, you may be wondering—what does a local minimum wage increase look like?

If you’re anything like I was before I started at PayReel, the fact that there are both federal and local minimum wages is likely confusing. While some states (like Wyoming and Georgia) have minimum wages lower than the federal minimum wage, the federal minimum wage sets the benchmark.

Since July 2009, the federal minimum wage has been set at $7.25 per hour for non-exempt employees. This means that if your employees are working in the United States, and are eligible to receive overtime, you are going to be paying them a minimum of $7.25 per hour. But wait, there’s more! If your employee is working in a state that has a minimum wage set above the federal limit (there will be 29 such states, as well as Washington, D.C., on January 1, 2017), they must be paid that wage. For example, if your employee works in Washington, D.C., and lives in Virginia – you must pay them the minimum wage in Washington, D.C.

Paying non-exempt employees after federal and local minimum wage increases is only bound to get more confusing. Luckily, at PayReel we eat, sleep, and breathe compliance and have already updated our software to handle changing minimum wage rates.

If you want your business to stay compliant (read: avoid back taxes, keep your livelihood, and stay out of jail!), we always recommend reviewing your payroll practices around the first of the year. If you find yourself in over your head, get in touch with PayReel at 303-526-4900 or shoot us an email by clicking here.

We’re happy to help you hire who you want when you want while keeping your compliant and your workers paid.

About the author

PayReel Customer Experience Manager Natalie “The Go-Getter” McGinnis recapped 2016’s biggest news in freelancer management to help you prepare for 2017. Nat’s experience in recruitment and customer service set her up for success in providing laser-focused attention and assistance to the PayReel employees and clients who need it the most. Click here to read more of Nat’s Notes and meet the rest of the PayReel team by clicking here!

The journey is the destination, but *awards and recognition provide nice scenic overlooks along the way. We’ve learned a thing or two over the past 19 years, and thought we’d share some of what’s worked for us and led to our recent success. (We’ll save our mistakes and missteps for another post.)

The saying goes that you can’t teach an old dog new tricks, but that’s pure malarkey. Businesses and entrepreneurs of any age and experience must keep learning new tricks in order to stay fresh, relevant, and frankly, in business.

Put simply, our forward-thinking culture, ability to strategically gather and implement client feedback, and embrace change have been key to our success.

Don’t take yourself too seriously

Having a team willing to dress up and ham it up in front of a camera (pictured), leadership willing to take a few steps off the beaten path, and partners who were able to transform our website from stale to edgy led to an *award from The Business Marketing Association of Colorado. It’s not just about how people see our website. It’s about how we see ourselves.

We see ourselves as fun and edgy, but our website didn’t reflect it. We see ourselves as cutting edge, but our website – in many cases the first impression people get of our company – was standard. Cohn Marketing was able to communicate who we are and convey our message in an engaging and creative way that demonstrates our forward-thinking culture–and win a BMA in the process.

Listen

Colorado Companies to Watch selects winners based on revenue growth, exceptional entrepreneurial spirit, unique use of technology, and a highly-sustainable competitive advantage. We could talk about each of those points, but we’ll focus on one piece that contributed to all the rest: We listened.

Three years ago, we took a calculated risk and built PayReel OnLine. Before we invested in the site, we invested in getting feedback from key clients. We knew that we didn’t have all the answers, and wanted to know everything that was and wasn’t working for our customers as well as what would make our system their dream come true (yes, we’re still talking about payroll).

We didn’t settle for a site that just worked well enough. We knew that an investment in PayReel Online was an investment in our existing clients, our target markets, and our company, and that we had to keep an open mind throughout the process.

This unique use of technology paid off. It made for highly-satisfied clients and contributed to the competitive advantage that enabled a significant spike in revenue, leading to our recognition as one of Colorado’s Top 50 Companies to Watch.

Our 19th year in business has been an exciting one. We’re very proud to have expanded and earned awards that showcase our talented, innovative team. Looking forward to what our third decade in the business has in store!

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*BMA Awards: The Business Marketing Association of Colorado presented  Cohn Marketing with a gold award for their work on our website. The theme was “Your Own Special Ops Team.”

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PayReel’s clients, who are some of the biggest companies in the world, are constantly immersed in the chaos of producing multimedia content or executing live events. PayReel makes sure they have the right contractors at the right time in the right place, and that everyone gets paid properly. And, most importantly, they handle every last detail perfectly while making sure their clients think nothing of it. Relax we got it. 

Neymar da Silva Santos Jr., the Brazilian fútbol wonder boy, scored his 100th professional goal on his 20th birthday in 2012. Now 22 and still in his formative years, Neymar has led his team to the World Cup quarterfinals.

But in the days following Brazil’s decisive 4-1 win over Cameroon, the news that reached further than Neymar’s obvious contributions to the victory was the fact that he was under investigation for displaying a line of clothing not sanctioned by the World Cup. While fans know him for his impossible goals and tricks and for his showmanship, the casual observer may remember Neymar most for his non-regulation underwear. Also facing potential fines, Neymar has more than his reputation at stake.

Not unlike the state and federal regulations for businesses, FIFA’s World Cup rules are extensive, complicated, and easy to break. At PayReel, we know the guidelines inside and out so that our clients can spend money on (and get in the news for) the things they want to, rather than for preventable errors.’

Business is a team sport. Together, we can win. GOOOOOOAAAALLLL!

PayReel’s clients, who are some of the biggest companies in the world, are constantly immersed in the chaos of producing multimedia content or executing live events. PayReel makes sure they have the right contractors at the right time in the right place, and that everyone gets paid properly. And, most importantly, they handle every last detail perfectly while making sure their clients think nothing of it, so they can get back to doing what they do best.

Twenty-five years in business makes for one heckuva journey—complete with more than a few dead ends and accidentally-delightful wrong turns. It has even included some awards (such as being named one of the top 50 Colorado Companies to Watch in 2014). That’s pretty fun. But you know what’s even more fun? Getting there.

Our favorite part of the judges’ selection criteria for our latest recognition was “exceptional entrepreneurial spirit.” That’s what sent our CEO on this path in the first place.

We hope you’ll join us in celebrating PayReel’s journey from a basement office to the mountaintop (Golden pun intended) by following our upcoming series for entrepreneurs, small business owners, and anyone with a dream and a sense of adventure.

Here’s our first tip: Sign up for the newsletter so you don’t miss a single tip from Heidi’s 25 years’ experience.

About PayReel

PayReel’s clients, who are some of the biggest companies in the world, are constantly immersed in the chaos of producing multimedia content or executing live events. PayReel makes sure they have the right contractors at the right time in the right place, and that everyone gets paid properly. And, most importantly, they handle every last detail perfectly while making sure their clients think nothing of it, so they can get back to doing what they do best.

Pop some bubbly and indulge us while we share some great news with you. PayReel has been named one of the top 50 Colorado Companies to Watch in 2014!

Winners are selected by a panel of judges based on revenue growth, unique use of technology, exceptional entrepreneurial spirit and a highly sustainable competitive advantage.

PayReel rose to the top based on our recent growth, which was fueled by a flexible, client-first attitude and a constant focus on making the client-freelancer relationship better and more productive for everyone.

Of course, we would be nothing without our great clients and partners. So if you’re one of them, raise a glass to yourself as well. If you’re not and you’d like to bask in this victory with us, simply click on the link below to get the conversation started.

Cheers,

The PayReel Team

About PayReel:

PayReel’s clients, who are some of the biggest companies in the world, are constantly immersed in the chaos of producing multimedia content or executing live events. PayReel makes sure they have the right contractors at the right time in the right place, and that everyone gets paid properly. And, most importantly, they handle every last detail perfectly while making sure their clients think nothing of it, so they can get back to doing what they do best.

About Colorado Companies to Watch:

Colorado Companies to Watch is a unique statewide awards program recognizing growing companies that fuel the economic fire of the state.  Colorado Companies to Watch honors companies that develop valuable products and services, create quality jobs, enrich communities and create new industries throughout Colorado.  The Colorado Office of Economic Development and International Trade launched the program in 2009 in conjunction with the Edward Lowe Foundation and valuable community partners from across Colorado.

They keep endless details running smoothly, money moving to all the right places, and reports changing hands with the precision of Olympic relay racers. They’re the payroll team. And just like parents:

1. They have a ridiculous amount of responsibility.

Assigning tiny humans with the monikers they will carry with them from birth to the grave is a big responsibility. And naming them is just the beginning! Babies expect to be fed and kept alive to boot. From there, parents are tasked with ensuring children’s development into functioning members of society. It’s basically impossible.

A company’s payroll provider is equally important. What other group puts food on employees’ tables, keeps contractors happy and productive, and manages the details of the 401ks that silently grow into workers’ future security?

Where there’s a high level of responsibility, the stakes are high, too. So when something goes wrong, it seems to go really wrong. Which brings us to the fact that…

2. They only get attention when something goes wrong.

Whether a parent or a payroll employee, lack of appreciation is part of the gig. You’re unlikely to get a call from your child’s teacher congratulating you on managing to keep her fed, bathed, and functioning, but you’re sure to get one when she kicks her classmate during recess.

Likewise, the payroll department doesn’t get flooded with thank-you notes every time yet another round of checks arrives on time. But when a payment is late or the IRS comes knocking, the calls and emails are frequent and unforgiving (even if the mistake is tiny and the payroll team has single-handedly kept every contractor and employee paid for the last 11.5 months).

3. They make it all look effortless.

Seasoned parents can maneuver a toddler from a stroller into a car seat while simultaneously feeding two other kids, folding the stroller and packing it (along with 16 bags of groceries) into the trunk. They make it all seem like child’s play. But put the single auntie in charge and you’re lucky if the kids get fed and make it home with all of the pieces of clothing they had on when they left.

Likewise, payroll requires serious multitasking, and behind the quiet number crunching is some intense organizational talent. Timesheets aren’t especially flashy, but with highly customizable features, they are especially useful (unless you put someone inexperienced at the helm). That’s when you’re suddenly grateful for all the ways they make life better.

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On this Mother’s Day, hug a mom. And a Payroll employee. They do more than you realize.

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About PayReel:

When it comes to the administrative tasks associated with contractors and freelancers, PayReel sweats the small stuff so you don’t have to. And that is a very big deal. From worker classification to timely paperwork to IRS and DoL compliance issues, we’ll take care of ALL of it. Thanks to our deep expertise in contractor management, even though we’re handling a million details in our world—nothing happens in yours. Work gets done, relationships flourish, people get paid…and it’s all perfectly seamless. Learn about the Benefits of working with us—and how we can make your work-world a lot easier. Or, take a look at our video, which also provides a great overview of who we are.

Watch Our Video