Tax docI recently mentioned the importance of choosing a specific structure for your business, and mentioned that it’s not a “one size fits all” situation. I thought I’d share my situation to illustrate how my experiences over the years have influenced my decisions on the business entity front.

 

The Beginning

I started doing freelance work a long, long time ago – basically working on the occasional project in my free time, while I was working a full-time job. Initially it was just a bit of fun, I didn’t really think of it as anything more. Then eventually, over the years, I began realizing I could actually build this thing up into a full-blown business.

But during this early phase, while I still had a full-time job, I started out as a sole proprietor, as do many small business owners.

This was the easiest option – it didn’t require me to set up a legal and formal business entity (which would need to be legally and formally dissolved if I later decided this whole gig wasn’t going to work for me). However, as you’ve now guessed from some of my earlier blog posts, it’s the least profitable for a business owner, and also offers no protection of personal assets in case of legal action.
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Starting out in Full-Time Self-Employment
Once I made the leap into full-time self-employment, I knew it was time for me to form a business entity. After discussions with a CPA, I was advised to choose election as an S-Corp, and that’s precisely what I did. Not only would it provide some protection of personal assets, but it would likely save me a lot (thousands) in taxes each year.

Fast-forward to the end of last year, when I relocated from Massachusetts to Indiana – I decided to restructure my business. Bottom line – I wasn’t happy as an S-Corp.
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Restructuring
My unhappiness arose mostly from the burdensome administrative work and record-keeping involved as an S-Corp. As ridiculous as it sounds, even as a single-member S-Corp, you’re required to set up a board of directors (yes, you’re all of them), file annual reports, hold directors’ and shareholders’ (again, yes, you’re all of them) meetings, and have the secretary (again, you) keep corporate minutes from each meeting (detailing who was present, the reason for the meeting, etc).

An attorney had taken care of all the incorporation paperwork for me, and had told me I’d need to hold regular meetings – including the obligatory annual business meeting (recording things like important decisions made through the year), followed by filing of the annual report, and also be sure to hold meetings throughout the year for things like big purchases (like equipment), or decisions to take on contractors, etc., etc. (basically “documenting” these events like a meeting, with minutes).

Sure, good record-keeping is important for all businesses, whatever the structure. But this all seemed really hazy to me – the Type A in me likes to know I’m doing things properly, crossing every t and dotting every i, as is legally required. Just being told to “hold annual meetings, and have meetings for other things during the year” doesn’t really constitute me feeling like I suddenly know what I’m doing as a business owner. I like SOPs and templates, they make me feel good about doing the job right!

Overall, all the administrative stuff, and the “not knowing” if I was doing things properly when it came to meetings, weren’t good for me.

So I used my relocation out of state as an opportunity to restructure everything. A couple of months before my move, I contacted a CPA in my new town. I’d found her after doing my research, and decided I wanted to take over my business accounts. She was clearly a CPA whose work was very focused on small businesses, and, after chatting with her on the telephone, I set things in motion for her to be my new CPA.

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The Best of Both Worlds

She gave me a lot of great advice by telephone, and as a result, when I eventually relocated, I chose to form an LLC but also filed Form 2553 to elect to be treated as an S-Corp for tax purposes. Although this offers the tax benefits of an S-Corp, my company is still legally structured as an LLC, and therefore requires a lot less paperwork and fewer ongoing administrative formalities to follow than does a corporation. Naturally, I still keep great records about my business transactions, but I don’t need to file annual reports, hold regular meetings, etc., etc. It’s all much less burdensome.

I’ve no idea why, but this option wasn’t presented to me when I initially incorporated my business. But I’m much happier now with the day to day administrative and record-keeping requirements – I feel like I know what I’m supposed to be doing!
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Some Interesting Articles For You
I recently saw this intriguing article in which an attorney discussed why he typically prefers an LLC over an S-Corp.

And here’s another, discussing some of the caveats to limited liability when you form an LLC.

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If you haven’t already done so, speak with a CPA or business attorney to figure out which option is a best-fit for your business.

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IncIf you’re thinking of becoming a freelance medical writer (or freelance “anything”!), you’ll have to decide on your business structureThese articles here and here provide good, basic descriptions of the different legal entities, and their pros and cons, that don’t make your eyes glaze over.
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Deciding on a Business Structure

In addition to your net income, many factors will come into play in making this decision, such as the state you live in. Speak with your CPA or business attorney about what option makes most sense for you right now – there’s no single option that will work well for all freelancers. So it makes sense to seek professional advice about this, so you feel comfortable with whatever decision you eventually make. 

If you don’t already have a CPA or business attorney, it’s worth booking an appointment with one in your area, in order to get some good advice about your particular situation.

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IMG_9583Invoicing is something every business owner has to do – if they want to get paid!
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So, what’s the best way to go about this?
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Well, the bad news is that there’s no one way that suits everyone – but the good news is that there are numerous options available to you:

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Simple Invoice

Most small business owners tend to start off creating simple invoices using Microsoft. After all, when you’re just starting out as a freelancer, or you’ve just made the leap into full-time self-employment, you’ll be juggling a lot of things, and it’s unlikely that you’ll have every duck in a row when you need to send out your first invoice. So, creating a simple invoice using Microsoft is a quick and easy way to get the job done, without the need to make any decisions on what invoicing service you think you want to use long-term. Just be sure to include:

  • Your Details:

    • Name or business name (the name that needs to be on the check they send you!)

    • Business address

    • Telephone number

    • Email address

    • Website URL

  • The Client’s Details

    • Name of contact person

    • Business address

    • Telephone number

    • Email address
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  • Invoice Details

    • Project details

    • Invoice amount

    • Issue date

    • Invoice number (use a numbering system makes sense to you)

    • Payment due date (you decide on this)

If you need some ideas for simple templates, you’ll find some free Microsoft templates here and here, among other places. Or even a variety of other free templates, such as this one.

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Invoice Systems

There are also numerous invoicing systems (software programs or online applications) that offer different bells and whistles – for example, some may allow you to track your time on projects, set up automatically recurring invoices, and send reminder emails when an invoice payment is overdue.

Some offer a basic free option in addition to their paid version. There’s no single best option out there – it’s a matter of what works best for you and your business.

If you’re just starting to think about using an invoicing system, you might want to check out a bunch of options to see if any seem like a best fit for you. Your might find this review article helpful – it discusses numerous options.

After unofficially polling friends and colleagues recently, some of the names that seem to pop up most frequently include:

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I’ve been using Nutcache for a couple of years – I just use the free version and it suits me fine.

If you’re overwhelmed by all the options and don’t know which to choose, I’d advise just starting with a free system – or at least a free trial of one of the paid systems (just don’t forget to cancel if you don’t like it). You won’t know if a system suits your needs until you give it a bit of a test drive.

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Client Template

Alternatively, some clients might even ask you to use their own template – it may be the only form of invoice they accept. For example, I work with a quasi-Government organization that asks me to use their particular PDF template for invoicing. And I work with a CME company that requires me to submit “invoices” via their electronic system.

These are easy options because they’re both up-and-running – all I have to do is complete them. However, if you’re in a similar boat and are already using an invoicing system for everything else, just don’t forget to track the payment somewhere for accounting purposes. I keep an Excel spreadsheet that details all of my work projects for the year – so even if a project hasn’t been invoiced via my usual Nutcache system, I’ve logged it on the spreadsheet, so it’s tracked along with everything else for accounting purposes.

This is my Go To document for all my projects – it lists them all, along with information such as the contact person, project due date, date when I submitted the first draft, the date I submitted an invoice, the date I received payment, etc., etc.

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Hopefully this will help get you started if you’re trying to figure out how to set up your invoicing system!

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Tax docFor me, one of the downsides of being self-employed is that I no longer get to “enjoy” the fact that my employer is in charge of deducting my taxes from my salary, and just providing me with a regular, net income each month. I enjoy the simple life, and being on the receiving end of a regular monthly payment in a job with a W-2 certainly counts as simple for me!

However, inevitably, self-employment brings many benefits, so the choice is a trade-off that I gladly take, and I just deal with the annoying book-keeping stuff as best I can. If you’re just starting out as a freelancer, and thinking about doing it full-time at some point – or if you’ve just jumped into self-employment – you’ll also have to deal with this kind of stuff.
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When self-employed, you’re not only responsible for paying your own income taxes, but also self-employment taxes. Self-employment taxes are basically your Social Security tax and Medicare tax. Typically, your employer would not only automatically withhold these from your paycheck, but also pay half of the amount, thereby reducing the contribution that you have to pay. However, now that you’re self-employed, the “employer’s half” now becomes your expense too, because you’re now also the employer!
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Check out this page on the IRS website for a good explanation of how this all works when you’re self-employed.
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These taxes represent a significant cost of being self-employed, and deter some folk from pursuing their dream of starting up their own business. However, they’re not insurmountable, and you can reduce them, depending on which legal business entity you decide to operate, but you should definitely be aware of them, and account for them in your financial business plan.

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recorder2In my last post, I discussed a few options for recording presentations if you’re a medical writer who’s decided to start reporting medical conferences – or maybe you just need to record interviews with experts or key opinion leaders for articles you are writing.
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First-Time Use

Once you decide on your device, I can’t stress enough how critical it is to get familiar with it before the meeting. I realize this may seem natural to most folk, but I’ve seen enough writers at meetings, frazzled because they’ve had some kind of issue with a new recording device – they hadn’t checked it out in advance because it had seemed like it would be so intuitive to use.
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I’m not at all a tech-geek, so I’m definitely someone who tests out new tech devices before I REALLY need them – more times than I probably need to, just to appease my anxiety level! You may not need to be quite as Type A about it as I am, but I definitely advise playing around with your new device until you feel comfortable using it. Whatever device you’ve decided on, don’t let the conference be the first time you use it!
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If you get the chance, test it out at some kind of presentation in a big hall, similar to what you’ll experience at a conference. Maybe your local university or community college hosts some public lectures – attend one and give your recorder a test drive. This will allow you to see how the audio holds out in a large auditorium.
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A Couple of Tips

  • Use earphones: Your audio quality will vary depending on the speaker, acoustics in the room, your location, etc. – a lot of things you have no control over. When you’re listening to the recordings as you write articles, if you’re struggling with the audio just using your computer’s speakers, plug your earphones into the computer and see if that helps. It often helps me a lot. In all the years I’ve been using mine at conferences, I’ve never had an issue where I’ve not been able to understanding the audio from a lecture, and I’ve had a lot of “poor” audio issues (often when you’re attending a lecture, you just know it’ll be rough listening to the audio because it’s difficult enough hearing it adequately in person – maybe the acoustics are producing lots of reverberations in the room).

  • For one-on-one conversations, let the speaker know you’re recording their comments: If you’re chatting individually with a speaker at a conference, or even with an expert over the phone, be sure to ask their permission first. It’s the polite, professional thing to do. I’ve never had anybody refuse to be recorded – I think most professionals kind of expect to be recorded during interviews, but it’s still polite to ask. And explain why you’re recording the conversation – it’ll put them at ease, and help them figure out how best to answer your questions. If the purpose is to obtain a direct quote, they may prefer to take a couple of moments to think about how they phrase something, so that it flows better in your article. If it’s just so you have their information for paraphrasing in the article, they may not feel the need to be as succinct, because they know you can select the information that you feel is most pertinent.
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Hopefully this will help with your preparation for the conference!

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recorderIn past decades, the warmer weather used to signify the height of conference season – although these days it seems to pretty much run all year round – especially with many organizations holding their annual meetings in the winter in a warm and inviting location. And some just choosing to host them in the winter in a not-so-warm location (my specialty college has decided on Minneapolis for our typical winter meeting this year! Although they’ve at least brought it forward to October, instead of the usual December!)
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Anyway, if you’re a medical writer and are considering conference reporting for the first time, you’ll need to take some kind of recording device with you.
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What Choices Do I Have?

Digital Voice Recorder: The good news is that, nowadays, you have heaps of choices when it comes to a recording device. Everyone is different when it comes to recording devices and what they prefer to use. Digital recorders also come in all shapes and sizes – from pocket-sized ones like mine, to huge things with their own cages and wheels! I like using my Olympus recorder (that’s mine in the photo), it’s small and light, simple, reliable, and works well for me – plus, I’m a creature of habit, and it’s what I’ve always used! But, what works great for me may not suit you. But if you’re thinking of an actual device and don’t know where to start, you may be interested in this this Top 10 Review that I came across recently.
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Unless you have specific additional needs for your recorder, you don’t need to spend a whole load of money on it – I’ve had mine for many years, and I think it cost me around $90 – it runs at about $120 these days. A few things to consider when deciding on one:

  • The USB connection (mine has a USB port that folds out of the device – no need for a USB cord)

  • Size (you’re going to be using it like an extra appendage at the conference – you’ll like it better if it’s small and light, and easy to kick into action if you’re late running into a presentation)

  • Storage

  • Battery life

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Smartpens: I’ve heard a lot of good stuff about these Livescribe Pulse Smartpens. Personally, I’ve never even tried using one, but they seem intriguing and I’ve come across a lot of folk who love theirs. Unless you’re someone who likes risking buying gadgets anyway, it might be worth doing some detective work yourself before investing in one of these. See if any of your medical writer friends have one you could try – if you have a AMWA local chapter (or other networking) meeting coming up, ask if someone might bring their pen with them so you can test it out during the evening.

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Smartphones & Tablets: At the very least, there’s a high chance you own some kind of smart phone or tablet, allowing you access to either a built-in recorder and/or the use of some kind of downloadable app for recording purposes. Your laptop may also serve a similar purpose with its built-in recorder. So they’ll also be options you can consider, although they likely won’t be as good as an actual digital recorder – but some folk use them as their primary recording source, so you may find this a great option for you.

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Last week I attended our fall AMWA-NE Chapter dinner meeting, which turned out to be another fun evening.

We met at Mick Morgan’s Irish Pub & Restaurant in Newton, MA. It was a fun venue, although our private room turned out to be not-so-private! It was a side room that was continuous with the main part of the bar, and had no door. So we could still hear the music and antics in the bar, as well as the “Open Mic” event that started up shortly after ours did! But regardless, it was fun, and we all coped admirably with the side noise!

Our speaker for the evening was our very own AMWA fellow and former New England Chapter president, Jill Shuman. A certified Editor in the Life Sciences (ELS) and a Certified CME professional (CCMEP), Jill discussed various routes for a medical communicator to take in order to bridge gaps in expertise. A selection of those that she reviewed, included:

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Certification/credentialling programs

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Certificate programs

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University degrees

Although some colleges offer programs that require classroom presence, some now offer programs for medical writers that are completely online. These include:

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Although AMWA currently offers a variety of certificates for members to undertake, it will soon also offer a certification program – the first examination is set to be held in 2015, and the program will be open to all medical writers, not just AMWA members. And just in case you need a refresher, this link explains the difference between certification and a certificate.

If you haven’t already done so, don’t forget to join AMWA and check out your local chapter meetings.

And if you’re local to the New England region, please come and join us.

 

 

Update from our AMWA-New England Chapter

I was recently asked by the President of our local AMWA-New England Chapter to become an Executive Committee (EC) member. Naturally I was delighted and honored to be asked, and I accepted very graciously. Tonight was our summer EC meeting, and my first as a member.

We all met in Burlington, MA at a local Panera Bread there – apparently they used to have a ameeting room there where members could congregate, but this is no longer available. But it was still a great location for everyone – central for most members to get to, and I have to say I always love the food there. Plus they always have decent coffee too – and they keep tabs on the timing of when it was brewed, and refresh it regularly – always a bonus in my book!

It was great catching up with a bunch of folk who I know already from the New England Chapter, as well as meeting some others who I’ve not yet met. We had a full agenda for the evening, but managed to accomplish everything in decent time. And the plentiful supply of coffee was a great help!

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2012 AMWA Annual Conference

If you’re thinking of going to the AMWA Annual Conference this year, don’t forget to register in advance to take advantage of the lower fees and ensure that you secure a hotel room. The conference will be held in Sacramento, CA from Oct 4-6, at the Convention Center in the city.

I’m hosting a breakfast roundtable on Saturday on “How to Advance Your Medical Writer Career Through Blogging”, so I’m excited about being involved in that, as well as being able to catch some of the other great sessions on the schedule. 

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Not a Member of AMWA Yet?

If you’re starting out in medical writing, I’m going to send you my regular plug to join AMWA! Hopefully there will be a local chapter within reasonable commuting distance – if so, regular involvement in meetings will be really beneficial for you. And if you’re considering going to the annual conference, you’ll pay less for registration.

 

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Strangely enough, after reposting my Marketing By Warm Email Prospecting – Part II after a “missing link” incident, I came across a Facebook update by Ed Gandia that same evening.

He is once again making his free training series available via his website, but only for a few days.

So don’t miss out on the opportunity – head over there now to hear his thoughts on How to Land Clients Faster, Easier and CheaperIt’ll only cost you your email address!

 

Image credit sippakorn @FreeDigitalPhotos

This is a duplicate of a post that I shared a few months ago – for some reason, in the transition to my self-hosted site here, the link became dysfunctional! So I’m just reposting it for completion since it is a “Part II”. 

Recently I mentioned that I’ve been listening to some webinars by Ed Gandia on warm email prospecting. I shared some of his thoughts about why he feels it is a useful marketing tool.

I’ve now listened to the remaining one in which he discusses what warm email prospecting actually involves. So here goes with more of his thoughts…….

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In Order To Do It Right

  • Avoid the email blast
  • Don’t just talk about yourself
  • Don’t send the same message to everyone
  • Don’t use it to send out your newsletter to non-subscribers
  • Don’t use it to announce a new service to non-subscribers

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So What Does It Involve?

It involves sending out customized, personalized, and properly timed emails to a carefully picked list of prospects – emails with custom messages, not a mass email blast. It avoids the “all about me” approach. One example that Ed shared, goes something like this:

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Hi Randy,

I’ve been reading about your company in the Atlanta Business chronicle and the work you’ve done at Emory Hospital. based on the work I’ve done with ACME Medical, I may be able to help you get “X” accomplished faster and cheaper.

Here’s a short article on how I’ve helped ACME.

Would it make sense for us to chat briefly sometime in the next couple of weeks?

Regards,

John

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Ed’s Warm Email Prospecting Blueprint

  • First, figure out what is your ideal client profile: It is important to get the kind of clients that are best-suited to what you want to do in your business – this is a key to success and satisfaction in any business.
  • Create a targeted list: Identify the organization, and even specific individuals within it, that you are looking for. Then do your research to find their email addresses.
  • Establish a meaningful connection for each prospect: You need a good reason for why the prospect should respond, and you need to introduce this early in the email. Maybe you both have a mutual business contact, or you heard of them via a conference. Or it could be something like a business accomplishment, award or recognition of yours that would be useful for your prospect to know about. Some “connection” with the prospect is always good.
  • Make a relevant and quick pitch: This is where it all comes together, but where many make mistakes. Need to keep it short – 120 words or less!
  • Prepare for conversation: You’ve done the hard work – now be prepared to field and respond to any emails or calls that you might receive. Have a set of talking points and questions ready in case you get a call. And also some stock email text to use as the basis for a response to anyone who replies looking for more information.
  • Do smart follow-up: Success with email prospecting requires a long term commitment, but tends to return a higher success rate than other methods when done correctly. No matter how well you do, however, most prospects will not respond, so you have to be prepared for that – it’s true with any method. Ed recommends sending a 2nd email two weeks later to non-responders – but do this correctly too. Don’t come across as if you’re reprimanding – he suggests re-sending your original email with an additional link, maybe to an article you wrote that they might find useful as an addendum, or with some additional information about your work that they might find useful.
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Powerful Email Subject Lines

Ed discusses how getting the subject line right in your email is crucial to it being opened. Firstly, keep it short – he advises less than 50 total characters. And secondly, it’s also important to lead with your connection in the subject line:

  • Congratulations on the new publication
  • I wrote ACME’s white paper for their new product
  • Dr John Smith referred me to you

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I really enjoyed listening to what Ed has to say about warm email prospecting. He’s a great speaker anyway, and is very easy to listen to, and he raised some very valid points about how you should go about your email prospecting for optimum results – and although they seem intuitive on some level, it’s always good to have someone fortify them for you, and provide some solid examples of what to do, and what not to do!

Since I’m not a fan of cold-calling, I certainly use email as my number one marketing tool. It’s been useful having some clear pointers from someone who uses it successfully.

How about you – are you a fan of email marketing?

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