Build a portfolio that actually stands out

If you think you can compile a few pieces of your work and call it a “portfolio,” you’re mistaken. There are around 57 million freelance workers in the United States, constituting 36% of the US workforce. That means that as a freelancer, you have to get creative and try harder to present yourself — because if you don’t, someone else will.This is why...

13h

Tax time is finally here

When the IRS extended the annual tax deadline at the beginning of the coronavirus pandemic, the new July 15 deadline may have seemed like it was a long way off. Now, in just a few short days, you will need to either file your freelance taxes or file an extension, which will give you until October 15, 2020, to file your full return and pay your tax obligation.If...

1d

The Senate has been holding off on new relief. It’s costing freelancers their lives.

Six weeks ago, Congress passed a stimulus package called the HEROES Act, a follow-up to the CARES Act with a number of major relief programs for Americans still suffering under the coronavirus pandemic. Included in the package were an extension of the $600 Pandemic Unemployment Compensation supplement, which the Union fought to include freelancers,...

5d

Need a lawyer in NYC? We've got your back.

When you’re running a freelance business, chances are you’ll need a lawyer in your corner from time to time. Whether it’s a client who just won’t pay or a contract negotiation gone wrong, there are some problems you can’t solve on your own.That’s why we’re thrilled to announce a new partnership with Brooklyn Legal Services to provide free legal advice...

1w

Rent relief has been slow to come. Here’s what’s available now.

The first of the month is coming up again. This will be the fourth time since the coronavirus pandemic began that millions of people who have lost work will worry about how to pay the rent — or about how much debt is piling up because they aren’t able to.While the simplest, fairest answer to this problem would be to subsidize rent and mortgage payments...

2w

Stressed? Can't sleep? Try a breathing exercise.

You do it 960 times every hour, about 23,040 times per day. In fact, you’re doing it right now. Most importantly, researchers have discovered that most of us are doing it wrong.I’m talking about breathing. You’re probably thinking, “I know I get a lot of mundane activities like eating and exercising wrong, but breathing? That can’t be. I inhale and...

2w

The only skill freelancers need for the future is adaptability

There has never been so much talk about the future of work. We live in an age of technological acceleration and unprecedented global events — never has so much changed in such a short time.Technology greatly influences the way we live. Today, we can order hot food that has just been made at our favorite restaurant and have it delivered to our doorstep....

2w

What stand-up comedy can teach us about freelancing

I don’t know what’s on your bucket list, but until recently, I had just two things:1. Sit in the front row of an NBA basketball game.2. Take a stand-up comedy class.After years of — let’s be honest — being too afraid to do it, last fall, I finally followed my wife Linda’s encouragement and signed up for an eight-week class at ImprovBoston in Cambridge,...

2w

A new PPP update could increase your loan forgiveness to 100%

On June 7, the Paycheck Protection Program Flexibility Act was passed into law, extending the covered period in which borrowers can use Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loan funds from eight weeks to 24 weeks. The extension applies even if you received a PPP disbursement prior to the enactment of this new rule, and could be especially helpful to those...

3w

Celebrating Juneteenth

This article was originally published on June 19, 2020, and updated June 25, 2020.Today, the staff of Freelancers Union is not working in observance of Juneteenth.The holiday marks the date in 1865 when enslaved Black people in Texas were informed of Abraham Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation, which had been enacted two and a half years earlier. It...

3w