According to his disclosure statement, Brian Bass is not an attorney, accountant, or insurance professional. But Friday, he educated a lively audience about the many legal, financial, and insurance issues that affect freelancers during his open session, “Getting Down to Business: Nonwriting Issues for Freelances.”
By flagging the parts of contracts that freelancers should watch out for (i.e., non-compete agreements and transfers of liability), Bass provided his audience with some of the necessary tools to master contract negotiations. Rather than striking out part of a contract and initialing it, try calling the client to see why this particular clause was included in the first place, he suggested. Having a discussion about the contract may trigger your client to think twice about the reason for including such statements.
Creating a business structure is another important issue for freelancers to consider—particularly relatively new writers. Following a broad overview of the pros and cons of sole proprietorships, S-Corps, and LLCs, an impromptu, mid-session Q & A period took place. Bass (with the assistance of knowledgeable audience members) entertained questions about paying yourself on a consistent basis, separating your business and personal assets, and for those with S-Corps, paying bonuses on December 31st.
To wrap up the session, the nuances of health insurance, life insurance, long-term disability insurance, and errors & omissions insurance were discussed. Ultimately, obtaining these various insurance policies affords protection for you, your business, and your family, Bass emphasized.
This session will be covered in more detail in a forthcoming issue of the AMWA Journal
--Kelly L. McCoy
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