Liabilities that Come with Independent Contractors

Employing independent contractors is typically fine, especially when the risk of physical injury is minuscule. These jobs include most office work, material handling jobs or driving jobs, which are usually covered by custom auto insurance plan or umbrella policy to protect from routine on the job injuries. Ultimately, the independent contractor jobs that have more significant amount of physical labor than others could be very tricky. Situations like this were made for state worker’s compensation systems to handle but instead business owners would rather outsource physical labor and potentially could be at risk.

Business owners need to be careful when employing a worker that they classify the worker correctly, either an employee or independent contractor. The IRS provides specific guidelines and descriptions that need to be followed when classifying a worker as an independent contractor. These guidelines have to do with the involvement of the employer and the control he has over the worker, like how and when the worker does their job or the kinds of payments made and how they are compensated for their work. These guidelines are critical, if these business owners miss the fine print and end up classifying workers incorrectly it could cost them huge fines and penalties if caught by federal or state agencies.

Make the Right Choice

Business owners should do their research to gain knowledge before they go employing any independent contractor so they don’t put their business at risk of fines and penalties. Employing independent contractors could be right for your business and could potentially save business owners money but they need to be sure that they classify right or it defeats the purpose of classifying as independent contractor. Do what is right for your business, so check out the guidelines and make your decision.  As strange as it may sounds, having the right number of in house employees can be big part of making a small business legitimate as you reach out to potential backers to grow over the long term.

The DOL is targeting businesses in the construction industry, so these businesses need to keep an eye out, since the DOL just launched a new multi-year initiative that will target the area for employment tax-related issues. Construction companies are the target because they typically run multiple projects at once and use independent contractor for a lot of their work. The DOL has chosen this industry to single out to make employment audits, which could last years.

The investigations stem from construction businesses out in Connecticut and Rhode Island, but if your business has any ties to the northeast it could very easily be forced into an audit. The only thing your business can do is to make that everything is right without misclassifying any workers.

Independent contracting is a strength of California, it plays an important role in the in the livelihood of small businesses, securing jobs and our state economy. Without independent contracting, our economy would be at an all-time low.  It is important to our economies recovery that we keep using independent contractors to keep some job security for those who are independent contractors. There wouldn’t be much chance for any new entrepreneurial opportunities without independent contractors, which has been a significant creator of new jobs in the state but this could come to halt.

Small businesses and independent contracting is California’s largest segment of the entrepreneurial workforce. “In 2009 (the most recent year available), roughly 1.5 million Californians worked primarily for their own businesses—more than one of every 11 workers in the state.” Shipping and delivery professionals, computer consultants, health care advocates, home improvement contractors, at home mom and dads starting their own small business endeavor are just some examples of the growing independent contracting industry. “Self-employment is about one-third more common in California than in the nation.” This statistic gives good insight to how important independent contractors are to California and it’s economy.

Romero reported that alternative work arrangements, which include independent contracting, are the state’s only competitive advantage. He also said that the potential for growth of a business would be subject to nonessential constraint by state and federal policies. If California and the federal government have restricted policies on independent contracting it will slow the economic growth that will also add to the state’s unemployment rate.

Romero refutes the myths that have arisen in the debate on independent contracting:

• Independents contractors do not gain a competitive advantage in evasion of labor and tax laws—indeed, tax compliance is the same or higher for contractors than for employees.
• Contracting work is not a “fallback occupation” for those who have lost jobs—in fact, self-employment fell during the recent recession and has grown during boom years.
• Contracting is a symptom, not a cause, of increasing global competition.

It is important for California and its leaders to fully understand the crucial contributions and positive impact entrepreneurs have on our state’s economy, especially during these rough economic times. Romero and his team will remain committed to protecting independent contractors and small business’ flexibility in hiring them.

Assembly Bill 2373 was introduced assembly member Chris Norby, which would provide a detailed list of factors to consider in determining whether or not a person is an independent contractor or employee. Here is a list of the factors currently proposed:

• “The extent to which the principal controls and directs the manner and means of rendering the service.
• The extent to which the principal provides training to the person rendering the service.
• Whether the service rendered is integrated into the principal’s business operations.
• The method by which the principal provides recompense.
• Whether a continuing relationship exists between the principal and person rendering the service.
• Whether the principal established the hours of work of the person rendering the service.
• The amount of time required for the person to rendered (sic) the service.
• Whether the principal or person rendering the service provides the instrumentalities and facilities necessary for rendering the service.
• The extend (sic) to which the person rendering the service is required to report to the principal.
• The extent to which the person rendering the service has unreimbursed business expenses or investments in the business of the principal.
• Whether the person rendering the service is engaged in a separate occupation or business or makes his or her service available to the general public.
• Whether this kind of service is usually rendered under the direction of the principal without supervision.
• Whether the parties believe they are establishing an employer-employee relationship.
• The length of time for rendering the service.
• The extent to which the service pertains to the regular business of the principal.
• The skill required to render the service.
• Whether the principal or person rendering the service have a right to terminate their relationship.”

This bill will provide more for attorneys work with when the question of worker status comes to litigation. Possibly the question of workers’ compensation should factor in as well, does the worker have insurance for themselves? Does the principal cover the worker? One thing to be sure of when hiring an independent contractor is to make sure all the guidelines are clear to make sure that if you hire a independent contractor they are actually an independent contractor and not an employee.

Your Own Boss

Becoming an independent contractor gives you the freedom and fulfillment of being able to self motivate to guide your way to success. As an independent contractor you have flexibility and your independence to begin a new journey of working for yourself. The flexibility lets you set your own business hours and you have the freedom to take a vacation or sick time more leisurely. The best part of all, you have no one to answer to but yourself. No more waking up and having to jump on the road to sit in rush hour traffic. All in all, working for yourself gives you the freedom, flexibility and independence that you have never experienced with past employment.

Unlimited Earning Potential

Since you are self-employed you have a direct impact on the success of your business and how much profit you make. You want to aim for the stars since you are no longer on a fixed salary. With the unlimited earning potential, you also have a perk of self employment which entitles you to deduct a variety of business expenses. You will become aware that you are worth more to a company now as an independent contractor rather than an employee because our clients do not have to shell out the cost of benefits for you, such as Social Security, Medicare taxes and unemployment compensation.

Create Own Image

Getting started with your new independent contractor status, you want to establish your own image that reflects your personality and your talents as a contractor. You can do this by creating business cards, creating a LinkedIn account, letterheads and creating your own work environment to make it as professional, comfortable, inviting or relaxed as you want. Depending on the type of clients you are dealing with and where you are meeting them decides whether you dress up or down and what you give your client should reflect who you are and the quality of your service. Also, the types of services you offer will rely on what type of image you want to portray for your business.

Freedom and Opportunity

As an independent contractor, you are the one who makes the rules and therefore you have the opportunity to open up new avenues in the industry of your choice. You have the choice to pick the projects that you want to work on. MyIndependentContractor is an example of a website that helps independent contractors out giving them a free website that allows them to display their work for potential clients to view. This helps independent contractors with getting certain opportunities that they wouldn’t have without having a website. This gives you freedom and the opportunity to become successful as you are willing to put the time and effort to make it possible.

A New Way of Thinking

Since the economic downturn and employment is at an all time high people are starting to think a different way about employment and the control that they don’t dealing with an employer. People want to have control themselves, so they don’t have to rely on someone else to support them. Becoming an independent contractor allows you to have the freedom and potential growth opportunities to grow your business and to earn as much as possible. Before you become and independent contractor you should explore all the benefits and opportunities of that could be available to you. Becoming an independent contractor could be your path to success.

Wasting no time, Commissioner Su showed critics that CIU means business. Su filed two separate lawsuits in LA superior court totaling a whopping $2,047,464. The lawsuits were filed against three carwash businesses for complaints about unpaid wages, failure to pay minimum wage, overtime for employees, penalties and damages.

Just as these carwashes are doing, many businesses try to gain an unfair competitive advantage and save money by paying their workers less than minimum wage, not paying workers overtime, and not providing workers compensation coverage and benefits that these workers should have. Other businesses unknowingly don’t obey by the rules either by a failure to update their HR and procurement practices because they are unable to obtain a competitive price for workers compensation or because they are unfamiliar with how to properly classify their contingent workers as an independent contractor.

These past months, we have seen changes and coordination between the state labor agencies, the U.S. Department of Labor and the IRS. As you may know, California is one of the 13 states that has already signed a Memoranda of Understanding with the IRS and one of the 27 states to sign an information sharing agreement with the IRS. Commissioner Su makes it clear with her actions that California doesn’t need any federal assistance when it comes to putting labor code violators on the line for money that they owe.

Since they have been cracking down California has already reduced its budget deficit from $20 billion to $5 billion last year. This doesn’t look to be slowing down anytime soon and seems the State Labor Department is doing everything they can to continue this crack down.

Hiring the Right Person

Hiring the right independent contractor for your business is important, so take your time during this process to avoid hiring someone that doesn’t fit your qualifications. Sometimes its nice to hire the first person that seems qualified for the job but to find the right one employer’s need to develop a plan that describes objectives and ideal candidate for the job. It is also good to include detailed job descriptions of the tasks that you were hoping to get accomplished. The detailed job description might scare off a few candidates but most likely bring out the higher quality candidates. Other important details to include in the job description are preferred education and experience, as well as any other minor qualifications you require of the candidate. Since you already included a detailed job description, this help with drafting an independent contractor agreement of the scope of work that needs to be finished.

Make Clear Expectations

Your independent contractor agreement is really an important tool you have for making expectations clear for your independent contractor. Being able to draft an agreement that clearly states job tasks, such as pay rate, a timeline for when tasks should be completed and other rights and obligations related to their work. This is also important for tax purpose for both employer and independent contractor to display that it is not an employee-employer relationships. Be sure to about worker classification, read more about the guidelines here.

In the independent contractor agreement you are allowed to be as detailed as you would like. Also, it is important to include a clause that says your independent contractor is not an agent of the company. This will not give the authority to the independent contractor to act on behalf of the business. If you clearly state rights and obligations will help avoid any hassle in the future.

Avoiding the IRS Misclassification

Avoiding the IRS misclassification might not be as clear cut as you might think.  If you fail to manage and document your relationship with your independent contractors you can fall into a shady area were the IRS may come and penalize you.

There is one general rule, the independent contractor should have a sufficient level of freedom, meaning that employers determine the task to be done, but the contractor has the decision on when and where to do it. Also, independent contractor should use their own tools, equipment and facilities to qualify them. This should all be included in the independent contractor agreement.

Quality Work Product

The independent contractor has complete control over how they complete the tasks for you. Nevertheless, there are ways to ensure the contractor is maximizing productivity for your business.

First, make strict deadlines for when tasks need to be completed, which includes details on the quality of the work to be completed. Secondly, hold scheduled meetings either once or a few times a week depending on the kind of tasks going on. This can also be done on the phone or online, but it ensures that they know what the task is and when it needs to be finished.Lastly, there can be specifications on additional compensation if the work is completed before the deadline or if additional tasks are finished on top of their regular task. This gives the independent contractor an incentive to do continuous high quality work for your business.

According to the IRS, their new voluntary classification settlement program, aka fresh start, is designed to increase tax compliance and reduce the problem for employers by providing greater certainty for employers, workers and government, according to the IRS.

Under the program, employers who are eligible will obtain substantial relief from federal payroll taxes they may have owed for the past, if they potentially treat workers as employees. This program is available to many organizations, tax exempt organizations and government entities that now erroneously treat workers as non-employees or independent contractors and want to reclassify them as employees.

To be eligible, an applicant must:

• Not currently be under audit by the IRS, the DOL or state agency concerning the classification of workers.
• Consistently treated workers in the past as non-employees
• Have filed all required Forms 1099 for the workers the previous three years.

Here are results for employers accepted into the program:

• They will pay 10% of the amount of employment taxes that would otherwise have been due on compensation paid for the most recent tax year to the workers, calculated under the reduced rates of section 3509 of the Internal Revenue Code
• No interest or penalties will be due
• The employers will no be audited on payroll taxes related to these workers for prior years
• For the first three years employers will be subject to a special six-year statue of limitations, rather than the usual three years that generally applies to payroll taxes.

Earlier this month, California signed its third agreement, this time for a Memorandum of Understanding with the Department of Labor (DOL). This understanding goes beyond the previous two agreements signed and involves both DOL and IRS sharing information, also other joint departments, in effort to audit and penalize employers for misclassifying workers as independent contractors. These efforts are to help reduce the incidences of misclassification of employees, to help reduce the tax gap, and to improve the compliance with the federal labor laws. California wasn’t the only one who signed the understanding but also eleven other states have signed similar agreements. For more details on each agreement, information can be viewed on the DOL’s dedicated workers misclassification page.

Last year, the Wage and Hour Division of the DOL collected $5M in back wages, that is not including all the fines and penalties from employers misclassifying independent contractors. For those employers who are misclassifying, you might want to think again because the DOL is increasing their efforts since they got a hefty budget and staff increase for 2012 and they have state agencies get on board with their efforts.

The bill says “that a person who, for money or other valuable consideration, knowingly advises an employer to treat an individual as an independent contractor to avoid employee status for the individual shall be jointly and severally liable with the employer if the individual is not found to be an independent contractor.” Based on how you interpret this, the “person” possibly can extend to anyone who is paid for their advice to employers on how to classify employees. The law does exclude those employees who offer this advice or attorneys who give this advice in the course of practicing law. Be careful when giving advice to employers you might be liable for classification of workers. It’s safest for insurance clients and others in the industry to adopt best practices when advising clients on issues such as workers compensation and employment practices liability insurance.

Watch Out For the Fines

The law makes an adviser jointly liable with the employer but can also be liable up to 100 percent. What this means is that the advisors and employers can be fined separately, which they are liable up to 100 percent of any fines imposed. Those advising employers need to be very careful of how you are advising them, this could cost you and arm and a leg just for your advice.

Civil penalties for employers range from $5,000 to $15,000 per misclassified employee and $10,000 to $25,000 per employee when “a pattern and practice” of misclassification is proven. The fine for this law is for those insurance agents or brokers who knowingly advise employers to misclassify employees so that employers avoid taxes and medical insurance. For those who are ignorant to the law they can plead no knowledge of this.

For insurance agents or brokers to be liable they have to give advice to those employers but insurance agents or brokers do not generally offer advice to employers about classification of employees. The bill also requires an employer to pay for the advice and usually you don’t pay an insurance agent or broker for advice such as that, they typically get paid for the sale of insurance and not providing advice on labor laws. As an insurance agent or broker be sure to follow best practices when they do give advice about filling out classification paperwork.

• Being able to have mobility with their work. Working from home, work off-site or being able to work from anywhere.
• Flexibility and work/life balance. People want to be able to make their own hours and schedules, so that it will fit with their lifestyle choices.
• High cost of employee benefits for the employer.
• Eruption of employment regulations and litigation is burdensome, which most don’t apply to the independent workforce.
• When the economy isn’t going so well it is easy for employers to let go when times are slow and rehire when it picks up again. Independent contractors make it easy on employers.

What’s Most Suitable for Your Business?

Hiring independent contractors is trending and perhaps you have or contemplating independent contractors. There are some benefits of hiring independent contractors, and cost savings is usually the big factor. You have the possibility to save on payroll cost such as:

• Federal payroll tax
• Unemployment insurance premiums
• Workers’ compensation premiums
• Employee benefits, such as vacation, sick leave, retirement, disability, health insurance
• Office space and equipment
• No additional reimbursement for costs
• No overtime

Furthermore, this will reduce the exposure to some types of lawsuits such as alleged job discrimination and wrongful termination. This will allow the people working for you more flexibility with les cost and risk for you.

Using independent contractors may seem as if there are all benefits to it but employers need to be careful of the risks of hiring independent contractors:

• You still face exposure for on the job injuries
• Intellectual property complications. Businesses do not automatically own the copyright in the most work created by an independent contractor.
• Latestly, consequences of misclassification. If you are treating your independent contractor as an employee, the IRS will require you to pay all back taxes owed, with interest, and a penalty fee.

When your are deciding whether to hire an independent contractor or an employee, be sure to take all the things discussed into consideration.

• Over the course of hire the business did not have a history of treating the independent contractor as an employee.
• In all aspects of work, the business consistently treated the individual as an independent contractor.
• The business treated all individuals performing similar work or in similar positions as the individual in question as an independent contractor and not employees.
• The business had a rational basis for treating the individual as an independent contractor. A business could show that they reasonable basis by demonstrating that it relied on such things as a previous IRS ruling, an IRS determination letter or the result of a previous IRS audit. They could also use long standing industry practice as a reasonable basis.

After passing Section 530, if the IRS held a business it could not use section 530 to prevent the reclassification of an independent contractor to an employee unless the business is able to prove that when the individual was hired the business relied on one of the loop holes in determining that individual was an independent contractor. Under PMTA 2011-15, IRS loosened its interpretation; if a business is subjected to a federal employment audit, the business no longer has to prove that it relied or was aware of the section 530 safe havens before that individual was hired as long as the business displays that its decision to treat the individual as an independent contractor falls within one of the safe havens mentioned above and occurred before the tax period under audit.

The new laws that took effect on January 1^st have raised concerns for businesses to be careful on who they give the independent contractor status too. In California, S.B. 459 is being enforced, which imposes new penalties for misclassification of independent contractors, up to $25,000 for each violation. With that kind of cost per penalty many businesses can barely afford one violation but two of them could be the deal breaker for that business. Unfortunately those aren’t the only cost that the business will have to pay, they will also have to pay employee benefits and rights governed by the new law. Basically, those who were misclassified have the right to those benefits and rights as an employee because they were really employees of that business instead of an independent contractor.

California had a big year as far legislative activity in 2011 goes. New regulations were put in place governing: credit reports, pregnancy leave and health care, commissions, health care coverage, E-verify, employee leave, gender identity and expression, genetic information, and farm labor. Employers have been struggling with S.B. 469 because of such late notice from the Division of Labor Standards Enforcement, which was released on December 30^th giving employers less than a day to implement it. S.B. 469 requires businesses write a formalized, mandated notices to all employees, so that the employees know exactly what is going on.

These laws apply to the state of California. If you work from a different state or are working in multiple states, be sure to check the legislation across the country, different states have different laws that apply. This is just big heads up for those employers and businesses that are yet to reclassify their independent contractors. Now is the time to do it before they enforce the laws on your business, don’t let it be too late.

For an independent contractor there is no right or wrong strategy, it’s all about finding what brings in the clients and how to keep business flowing. There are steps of developing your strategy; finding out who the potential clients are and how you can reach them, should be the goal. Being able to advertise yourself somehow to get your name and your service out there to the community. You can do this by posting in newspapers, websites, create business cards, create a free website on myindependentcontractor.com, post sign outside of worksites. The free website allows you to display your work, explain what kind of work you do and allows for references and testimonials. Advertising well is crucial, you want to display your service out there and make people use your service, and there must be something that makes you a better then your competitors.

For independent contractors, who are getting potential clients, which they are asking for quotes on the jobs; Some times bidding the lowest on a job might get you the job, but some times it will lead the potential clients to believe that you will not do a satisfactory job because of low quote. It’s better to start your way in the middle and negotiate to price that better works for you and the potential client to make sure both of you are satisfied with the job. Also, when you are advertising you want to be sure that if you specialize in something you want to make sure that the potential clients know that, because it might be what they are looking for right away. You can post that to your free website that shows the work you have completed. Hopefully, the clients that you have completed work for believe that you do great work and spread the word about your service. Word of mouth could be one strategy but it is all based on the quality of your work and how satisfied the client is, but is a great way for people to hear about your service.

After coming up with your strategy, you want to monitor how that strategy is working for you. Is that strategy creating more clients for you or less clients or no clients at all, after which you would want to go back to the drawing board and create a new strategy. If you find something that really works for you and your business, such as using myindependentcontractor.com to show your website to potential clients, stick with it, until there are signs otherwise. Your strategy can be what defines you from other independent contractors out there who didn’t come up with a strategy or who have poor strategies. Find the strategy that works best for you and your business and change according to how business is going.

1. Intellectual property: This only pertains if you are creating art, written work, computer programs or other creative works but this could be an advantage to you as an independent contractor. Normally, you own the rights to the work you created as a contractor. Nonetheless, be careful when signing an agreement because the contractor may say that you are creating work that belongs to that company, which realistically surrenders the main advantage of being an independent contractor.
2. Taxes: As an independent contractor you are liable for paying for social security and Medicare taxes. If you are an employee, then your employer is liable for paying half. Be certain that you are actually a contractor before you sign the Independent Contractor Agreement. If you aren’t actually an independent contractor, the IRS will take action against your employer for misclassified employee. If you think you are a misclassified independent contractor, then there is a form that you can fill out, which the IRS will judge and if misclassified, the employer will have to pay what they owe.
3. Restrictions: If you are working and you have someone who is restricting you on what you do and how you do it, then most likely you are misclassified. If the employer controls what time you work, the place, how you work, how many hours you work, and to top it off if you have to ask permission for time off, then you most likely are an employee. As an independent contractor nobody should tell you how to do your work, what time to work, or when you can have vacation time.
4. Equipment and Supplies: Does the employer provide any equipment or supplies? If yes, you are an employee. Independent contractors typically use their own equipment and supplies.
5. Helper: If you need assistance on work that you are doing but the employer will not let you choose your own helper, and then you most likely is an employee. Independent contractors usually have their own freedom to hire help if they need, but they usually just work alone.
6. Training: If the employer provides you with training on how they want the job done, then this is a strong indication that you are an employee. Training for independent contractors aren’t normally full on training, just instruction on the overall results needed.
7. Payment: If you are paid by hour, day or week, then most likely you are an employee. Independent contractors are very often paid by the job, but are sometimes paid hourly. A contractor has more of an opportunity to make a profit or take a loss more than an employee.
8. Multiple Jobs: As an employee you generally only work for a single employer. As a contractor you are free to advertise and take work from other employers.
9. Benefits: If the employer provides you will insurance, sick days, vacation time, pension or other benefits of any sort, then most likely you are an employee.
10. Project Period: If you were hired for an indefinite period of time, as opposed to working on a specific project or series of projects, then most likely you are an employee.

There is not one general factor that qualifies you as an employee. The IRS weighs all the factors and examines the whole period of your employment. If you believe that you have been misclassified, you have options, such as filing the form to the IRS, and just because you signed an agreement doesn’t necessarily mean that you are held to that agreement, just have to wait to see the results from the IRS. Be sure that you’re employer isn’t taking advantage of you.

As an independent contractor you are essentially running your own business, and just with any business, you can’t just sit back and wait for jobs to come find you. Marketing is key to any business; it helps you and your personal brand become more recognizable, ultimately creating more opportunities for you.

Here are some tips to help you with marketing yourself as an independent contractor:

• Sign up for Myindependentcontractor.com (if you haven’t already) and take advantage of building your own FREE website. This website will allow you display the type of work that you are capable of. You want to display pictures that show the type of quality work that you do. Also, with your Free website you are given code that allows you to post your website in Craigslist.com.
• Testimonials and references; Ask for testimonials from clients, in writing, which you can use for your website to put under testimonials/references, so when people view your website they can read all about how professional your business is. Also, ask your clients if they can refer you to friends and family who might need your services. It costs you nothing to have your clients refer you and it’s a great way to get new projects.
• Advertisements; make sure to find out what works best for you in your advertising and stick with it. Whether it’s posting in directories such as Craigslist.com, or just by word of mouth. Do a trail and error to see exactly what works and what doesn’t. You want to try and meet your target customers in ads.
• Use project signs in front every job that you do, even if it’s only a single day job. The sign can bring a lot of attention from neighbors on the street, or if it’s a busy street it can bring you a good amount of attention. If your sign is up you need to be sure that you run a clean jobsite, actually you should always run a clean jobsite. You don’t want someone to drive by looking for work to be done and see your jobsite and they see it’s a mess. They will be thinking that this could be their house.
• Business Cards; business cards are easy way to get your name out there by just handing them out with your number and your website. This allows for customers to pass your number by word of mouth even if they don’t have your card or website address. Putting your website address on your card allows for potential customers to check out your work before they give you a call for the job.
• There are other ways of marketing you as an independent contractor, such as getting a logo, sponsoring teams, making personal appearance in the community helping, putting your ad in the local newspaper, etc.

Take advantage of our offered service and hopefully some these tips will help you with your marketing efforts to increase your cliental.

When employees create copyrightable work, the employer can take ownership of that work in one of two ways: either by qualifying as a work made for hire as defined in Section 101 of the U.S. Copyright Act or the employee has to assign the work to the employer. A work made for hire can produced by either an employee or by an independent contractor. If the employee created, during the period of his or her employment, then all the work produced will be owned by the employer as work made for hire. No written agreement needed.

Nevertheless, when work is produced by an independent contractor the law is quite peculiar. The work created by an independent contractor will only qualify as work made for hire and therefore owned by the employer, if there is a written agreement that the work is work made for hire and the work falls in one of the following categories: contribution to a collective work, part of a motion picture or audiovisual work, translation, supplementary work, compilation, instructional text, a test, answer material for a test, or an atlas. If the work does not fall into one of the categories, then even a written agreement stating that the work is made for hire would not be effective, which the employer will not own the work. In such a case, only a written assignment of copyright will be effective. Computer software, websites, graphic work, and music will often not be considered to be included in the work made for hire categories.

Lets make this clear, the default under law is the that copyright will be owned by the contractor unless there is a written agreement that the work is made for hire (if it qualifies in the listed categories) or the work is assigned in writing to the employer.

Be careful of different scenarios that can happen. If a business hires an independent contractor with all the correct documents needed, but the independent contractor hires a different independent contractor, and didn’t use the correct documents. Well, you get what would happen.

What is an independent contractor?

Independent Contractors

As business starts picking up and you need help you should want to use an independent contractor to help you out. Making payments to independent contractors for their work is completely deductible. All you have to do is make your claim for the deduction when filing your return. If you pay your independent contractor more than $600 during a single tax year, you must also issue a 1099-MISC in January of the following year. Lastly and very important, you do not have to pay employment taxes or make with holding on the compensation.

However, there is a set of standards that are set by the IRS when classifying a worker contractual help or independent contractor status. The crucial determination is whether or not you control the actions of the worker. The employer should show proof that the workers have freedom to how they perform the job required of them. An independent contractor does not have to follow scheduled work hours set employer and is paid based on the results, rather than the time spent at the workplace.

Employee

Employers who are hiring employees instead of independent contractors are liable to pay more employment related taxes. Under federal law employers are responsible for paying employment taxes related to the worker, even if there is only one. To begin, employers must withhold FICA, social security and income taxes from employee paychecks. The law also requires employers to provide counterpart funds for FUTA payments for their employees.

FICA is short for the Federal Insurance Contribution Act. This Act allowed a system to collect and provide benefits for workers that retire, are injured or become disabled. Another name you might know FICA for is Medicare.

FUTA stands for the Federal Unemployment Tax Act. This Act created a system that supplied unemployed workers who had recently been out of a job with temporary benefits until they obtain a new job. This federal program is different from the state unemployment acts. There are some employers that may not agree with the programs but all are required to comply.

Sum It All Up

Reviewing what we discussed, it is less expensive for employers to hire independent contractors instead of employees. The tax burden is significantly less, but be sure to the IRS doesn’t reclassify them as employees because that could mean penalties for your business.

The IRS has lost billions of dollars in lost tax revenue, which is why they are cracking down on businesses that misclassify their employees as independent contractors. If your business hires independent contractors, there is some information you need to know in order to maintain full IRS compliance.

The Difference: Independent Contractor vs. Employee

You might be unsure as to whether your hired help should be classified as an independent contractor or an employee, the IRS offers criteria on their website to help you figure it out. The key factor that needs to be looked at is the level of control that you have over your hired help. If you have control of when the work needs to be completed, how it is completed, when it is worked on, and how much time is put into completing the work, etc., then the worker is most likely to be classified as an employee and not an independent contractor. If your control is limited to project deadlines and final product outcome, and you have no control over when or how the project is actually completed, then most likely you hired an independent contractor.

There is additional criterion to consider, such as the way you financially support those that you hire. Do you reimburse for expenses, pay for training or provide supplies or tools? Also, if you provide any type of employment benefits, such as pension plans, vacation pay, sick leave, personal days or health insurance. If yes to any of those questions then those workers would most likely be considered employees.

Tax Implications for Misclassifying

As specified by the IRS, if you misclassify an employee as an independent contractor, you may be susceptible to stiff fines and penalty fees. The IRS will most likely hold you accountable for all pass employment payroll taxes, including Medicare, Social Security and unemployment taxes, as well as additional penalty fees incurred for not paying those taxes in the first place. You can also be assessed penalty fees for not filing required tax forms.

How to protect your business

Here are some guidelines to protect businesses from incurring IRS fines and penalties for those employers who hires independent contractors:

• When hiring independent contractor, make sure that you have a signed agreement outlining exactly what your relationship is.
• Do not provide any benefits, such as health insurance, education, training, or sick days.
• Only give tasks, deadlines and amounts paid per task to your independent contractors. You can’t tell them how to complete or what hours to work.
• Always have your independent contractor invoice you for completed projects. Be sure to keep all invoices on file.
• Never supply tools or any other items needed to complete a project; they must use their own tools and equipment.
• Make sure that you are not the only company that the independent contractor does business with.

Determining: Independent Contractor or Employee

When you are trying to determine whether the worker you hired should be considered an employee or independent contractor, you must look at the differences above and on the IRS website. In numerous cases, there is a clear cut answer but if you are not sure then the IRS can help decide. If you can’t classify your worker, then you can file IRS Form SS-8, Determination of Workers Status for Purposes of Federal Employment Taxes and Income Tax Withholding. Either your business or the worker can file the form with IRS. The IRS will then review the information on the filed form and then make a determination as to whether the worker is an employee or an independent contractor. Be sure to that you are filing all the required forms and paying all of the necessary taxes in order to maintain IRS compliance.

What is the new law? And What does this law do?

• To willfully misclassify an individual as an independent contractor; or
• To charge a willfully misclassified contractor a fee or make any deductions from compensation for any purpose including for goods, materials, space rental, services, government licenses, repairs, equipment maintenance or fines.
• Imposes a civil penalty of between $5,000 and $15,000 for each violation;
• Increases the civil penalties to between $10,000 and $25,000 if the employer has engaged, or is engaging, in a pattern or practice of such violations;
• Provides for the Contractor's State License Board to initiate disciplinary action against any licensed contractor that has been found to have violated the Act;
• Requires that any person or employer who has been found to have violated the Act to post a website notice (or to display prominently if there is no website) that, the person or employer has been found to have violated the Act and that the employer or person has changed its practices to prevent further violations;
• Provides that violations and disciplinary actions shall "remain in effect" against successors if it has one or more principals or officers and is engaged in the same or similar business; and
• Provides for joint and several liability for any person, other than an attorney or an employee providing advice to his or her employer, who knowingly advises an employer to treat an individual as an independent contractor to avoid employee status for that individual if the individual is found not to be an independent contractor.

Implement

Senate Bill 459 authorizes the Labor and Workforce Development Agency (LWDA) or a court to determine if an employer has violated the provisions of the new bill and to assess civil penalties. It also provides that the Labor Commissioner may enforce the statute and assess penalties through labor code section 98. Despite the Legislative Counsel’s statement that SB 459 authorizes an individual to file a complaint to request the Labor Commissioner to assess penalties, but the language of the statute does not expressly authorize any employee to bring such an action, either in court or before the Labor Commissioner.

Employees will likely attempt to recover Senate Bill 459 through the California Labor Code Private Attorneys General Act (PAGA). Under PAGA, aggrieved employees can bring a representative on their behalf to recover civil penalties in the Labor code that may be assessed by the LWDA. This could include civil penalties under Senate Bill 459. Penalties recovered by an employee in a PAGA action are distributed as followed: 75% to the LWDA, and 25% to the aggrieved employees.

Willful Misclassification

A violation of Senate Bill 459 requires a showing of “willful” misclassification, but the bill provides little guidance as what is actually “willful.” The bill doesn’t simply define what willful misclassification is, it says misclassification that is voluntary and knowing, which is vague.

There are certain factors that vary in Federal or under California law that can make an individual an employee or an independent contractor. There is no single factors that is controlling, the most important factor is whether the supposed employer has the right to control not merely a worker’s results but the manner and means used to obtain the results. This test is very vague and ambiguous. It would seem that finding of willfulness should be limited to only horrible cases. The only thing is that employers will have to answer numerous questions to attempt to comply with the willfulness standard.

Fees

Providing equipment or supplies or reimbursing a worker for expenses incurred is evidence of employment status. Thus, most business avoid from paying or reimbursing a contractor for expenses that were incurred to prevent a finding of employment status. Also, if the contractor were to use supplies or space provided by the business, the business will have to charge the contractor fees so that it cannot be argued that they business is paying for the contractors expenses. This practice would violate Senate Bill 459 if the contractor was willfully misclassified. Employers should be able to avoid violation of this fee provision even in the case of a willful misclassification, however, by requiring the contractor to obtain any necessary supplies, tools or equipment from unrelated third parties. The employer could still be liable under Labor Code section 2802, if that section, which requires employers to indemnify employees for expenditures or losses incurred in discharging employment duties, which applies to ordinary expenses, as some courts have held.

Other Ambiguities

As we discussed before, Senate Bill 459 provides for a range of civil penalties for each violation, but no guidance is provided as to what merits a $5,000 penalty versus $15,000 penalty. Also, there is no guidance as to what constitutes a “pattern or practice” that will result in larger civil penalties.

Recommendations

With the new law businesses should be taking the right steps to evaluate their existing independent contractors relationships. Here are some recommendations:

• Develop and publish a corporate policy on the engagement of independent contractors and the management of those relationships. As part of this policy, require that approval be obtained from a knowledgeable employee before any independent contractor relationship is established.
• Train employees who manage independent contractor agreements as to how to work with independent contractor relationships.
• Ensure that the company has a well-written independent contractor agreement for each contractor, that it is accurate, complete, and individually negotiated.
• Audit the company's independent contractor relationships, including a review of any past decisions or determinations concerning independent contractor status.
• Obtain a written legal opinion from counsel regarding the appropriateness of the classification of workers as independent contractors, based on counsel's understanding of the specific factual situations at issue.

To be eligible for the program, you must:

• Consistently treated the workers as independent contractors.
• Have filed all required Forms 1099 for the workers for the previous three years.
• Not currently being audited by the IRS.
• Not currently being audited by the Department of Labor or a state government agency concerning worker classification.
• If you were previously audited by the IRS or the Department of Labor concerning the classification of the workers, you will only be eligible if you complied with the results of that audit.

Once that you have done your paperwork and get accepted, you will have to pay the IRS just over 1% of the wages paid to the reclassified workers for the past year. You might be thinking that’s it? Yes, that’s it, no penalties and no interest, and you’re even protected from IRS liabilities from the past. If you have a weak case for contractor treatment, this could be your best bet.

Section 530

With all the other options to consider now, employers are feeling they have a lock on Section 530 relief may be least likely to sign up. After all, Section 530 relief allows employers to avoid liability for their past misclassifications and continue it!

Another important issue can be the effects of the state law. Although the IRS issues a closing agreement for the past, it’s not yet clear if the states will conform. Could your state view participation in the IRS program as an admission for the past?

Another issue you want to be concerned is how the workers may react. You want to speak with them to make sure they have no objections to being reclassified from independent contractors to employees. But with their new status, some workers might put together a claim against you for benefits and other for the past. This could be a consequence for reclassifying independent contractors as employees.

There also could be tort and agency liabilities to consider. Most employers will reclassify their workers for all purposes not merely with the IRS. They will begin paying unemployment insurance, workers’ compensation premiums and more. Liability issues could be in a gray area for a bit until the states law liability issue gets situated.

The IRS program can still be a great deal for some. But like most things with the IRS, you need to examine the whole picture before making a decision.

The new bill also imposes new penalties that range from $5,000 to $15,00 for each violation, which could be fatal for a business. There are also enhanced penalties for a person or business if caught engaged in a pattern or practice violations that can range from $10,000 to $25,000. The law also states that anyone found in violation is required to post on the employer’s website or in the workplace that gives notice to employees and the public that the person or business has engaged in willful misclassification of employees. This is also meant to advise any workers who believe that he or she has been misclassified to contact the Labor Workforce Development Agency.

A willful misclassification under law is defined as avoiding employee status for an individual by voluntarily and knowingly misclassifying that individual as an independent contractor. This very broad language used that leave room debate in a legal battle where there is already litigation over the standards relevant to these workers.

California is a difficult and expensive state for an employer, especially in the area of compliance with wage and hour laws. This bill increases the potential exposure in terms of liable parties and the devastating costs of misclassification. Any business or individual doing business that hasn’t recently audited and analyzed its classification of workers as independent contractors should start right away and shouldn’t wait to do so.

To be classified as an independent contractor under the IRS guidelines would depend on certain circumstances and each case is different. If you are classified as an independent contractor your employer has the right to control or direct only the result of your work. Nevertheless, if the employer controls what you do and how you do it, you are an employee, despite whether or not the employer gives you freedom of action. If you are in the independent trade, business or profession, which you offer your services to the general public, you are an independent contractor.

The IRS requires for your business expenses to be deductible, it must be normal, meaning common and accepted in your industry, and necessary, meaning helpful and appropriate to your trade or business. A necessary expense is not required to be essential.

The next thing you need to distinguish is if it’s business expenses from personal expenses. Depends on certain circumstances but personal, living or family expenses generally cannot be deducted. However, if an expense is used partly business and partly for personal purposes, only the business expense portion may be deducted. As an independent contractor you are able to deduct the cost of meals either as overnight business travel expenses or as business-related entertainment expenses.

To qualify for a business entertainment deduction, entertainment expenses must be normal and necessary while carrying on your trade or business. You have to show that the entertainment expenses are directly related or associated with the conducting of your trade or business, including meals and beverages. Additionally, the meal must take place right before or after discussion held for the purpose of making a business decision.

You can deduct the meals as an overnight business travel expenses, if while away from home you required sleep or rest to meet the demands of your work.

You cannot deduct expenses from meals that luxurious and opulent. A meal cannot be considered to be luxurious and opulent if the cost is reasonable, based on the facts and circumstances. Business expense deductions for meals are limited to 50% of the actual cost of the meals. You must keep records of your actual meal cost.

The program is called the Voluntary Worker Classification Settlement Program, which is part of a larger program called “Fresh Start” that aims to help taxpayers and businesses address their tax responsibilities. Businesses that take part in the program will owe about 1 percent of wages paid to reclassified workers in the past year with not interest or penalty.

Misclassification costs the IRS a lot every year in taxes and there is a reason why. A Wall Street Journal article reports that Labor Secretary Hilda Solis said employers can cut labor costs by 20% to 30% when they classify employees as independent contractors. According to the article, a 2009 Government Accountability Office report found that misclassification in 2006 cost $2.72 billion in unpaid federal taxes. It also results in unpaid taxes for state workers’ compensation and unemployment insurance programs, which hurts the state governments. The White House Obama administration has said that misclassification may affect as many as 30% of all companies in the U.S.

The Voluntary Worker Classification Settlement Program is now open to all businesses, but IRS expects most businesses are small businesses because countless small business owners are dumfounded by the complicated requirements for classifying workers.

To qualify, your business must:

• Consistently treated workers in the past as nonemployees
• File all required Forms 1099 for the workers for the previous three years
• Not currently being audited by the IRS, the Department of Labor or a state agency concerning the classification of these workers

To apply for the program, file Form 8952, this is the application for Voluntary Classification Settlement Program, at least 60 days before you want to begin dealing with workers as employees.

While this new program is good news, the bad news is that IRS will become more strict about classifications of workers going forward, so businesses need to make sure that they are classifying their employees right. To help businesses meet requirements, Solis has announced that the IRS and the Labor Department will work together to share information and “strategically educate” employers about compliance.

Independent Contractor vs. Employee- Does it matter?

Yes it does. Employers have no right to say that workers are independent contractors if they aren’t. The IRS has three elements employers should examine to determine if a worker is an independent contractor or an employee. Here are those elements:

1. Behavioral Control – Who has control of what they worker does? Who sets work hours and determines how or where work is performed? Who provides the tools to perform the duties of the position? Is training provided for the worker?
2. Financial – Are the business aspects of the worker’s job controlled by the employer? For example, does the worker get reimbursed for business expenses? Does the worker have the opportunity to earn a profit or take a loss for the work being performed? Can the employer decide not to pay for a piece of work that does not meet expectations?
3. Type of Relationship – Does the worker receive any employee type benefits, such as leave, pension, or training? How long is the relationship expected to last? Is the work performed a key aspect of the business?

Businesses should consider each of these elements when deciding whether a worker is an employee or independent contractor. Each case is different and there is no hard and fast criteria for differentiate an employee with an independent contractor. Also, there is not one element that stands alone in making the determination. To really determine if they are an employee or independent contractor would be to look at the entire relationship.

After evaluating these three elements it is still unclear whether a worker is an employee or independent contractor, you can complete and file Form SS-8, which determines of workers status purpose of Federal employment taxes and income tax withholding. Either the employer or individual worker can submit this form to the IRS. The IRS will review the forms and will then issue an official determination of the worker’s status. Be aware that filing could take six months or longer to receive your official determination from the IRS.

As we touched upon earlier, the consequences of misclassifying an employee as an independent contractor can be quite expensive. If it is determined by the IRS that a misclassification has occurred, the employer may be required to:

• Reimburse the worker for wages that should have been paid under the FLSA, including both minimum wage and overtime.
• Pay penalties for not properly withholding federal, state, social security, and Medicare taxes. Penalties may also apply for improper filed employment tax forms.
• Pay any misclassified injured employee’s worker’ compensation benefits.
• Provide employee benefits including medical insurance and retirement plan contributions, etc.

Bottom Line

The misclassification of workers can have a major effect with a number of costly back pay and legal consequences. Employers should be careful and apply the right classification to workers so that they save money instead of having to pay a bundle in penalties.

Our goal is to maintain your independent contractors status. If you primarily work for one client the IRS might rule that you are actually an employee rather than an independent contractor. This could very well be true especially of you are working on the client’s premises, with their equipment and under their direction. If they rule that you are an employee you will lose the ability to deduct your expenses while not gaining any benefits that a regular employee has. If possible, it is best to have several clients and use your own equipment that way IRS can’t say otherwise.

There is also the possibility that IRS might rule your business a hobby if it doesn’t show in 3 out of 5 years. The IRS is more likely to make this ruling if this business isn’t your only or primary form of income. If this happens, you will only be able to deduct expenses up to the amount of any income you make from the business. There is still another way to prove that your venture is a business and not a hobby, even without making a profit, if you run it in a businesslike fashion. Here are some ways to demonstrate this:

1. have a business plan
2. Use a separate bank account for business. Never mix business and personal finances.
3. Use a separate phone line for business
4. Keep records of all business activities
5. Maintain a consistent and professional image

Pay your quarterly taxes on time. Since an independent contractor does not have taxes deducted from client checks, you must pay estimated taxes on a quarterly basis if your tax liability for the year will be more than $1,000. If you omit to do this, the IRS may penalize you. The due dates for quarterly taxes are usually the fifteenth of the month in January, April, June and September each year. Make sure to check the IRS for the exact dates each year. If you do not make the correct payments by the due date or do not pay enough estimated tax payments to cover most of your tax liability for the year, the IRS may penalize you.

Beware though, not only do you have to pay your portion of social security taxes as an employer would; you also have to pay the employers portion. Fortunately, you can deduct the extra portion from your income when you file your federal income tax return.

You want to be sure that you keep close records of all your expenditures so that you know exactly how much you spent. Even if someone else does your bookkeeping, its still good to keep track in a separate spreadsheet so that you can track your expenses. Make sure to keep all receipts of purchases as backup for your records.

Be watchful to keep good records of the usage of cars, computers and cell phones if these items are used for your personal use also. The IRS is especially observant in checking the deductions for these items. It’s a good idea to keep a log of each of these items showing the miles driven for business, the hours the computer is used for business and the business calls made from that cell phone.

If you purchase equipment, some equipment can be expensed as soon as it is bought instead of being depreciated. This should lower tax liability in the current year. The current limit on the amount that can be expensed in any year is $100,000. The purchase of computer software can also be expensed; formerly it had to be depreciated over several years. Watch out for the IRS, they have be known to disallow tax benefits for a previous year if it later finds that the expensed equipment is not being used more than 50% of the time in the business.

Get your business a separate phone line if you don’t already have one. This will let you be able to deduct telephone costs and not have to use your own personal line for business. This helps show that you are running a business rather than a hobby.

There is a possibility that you are able to deduct part of the expenses for your home if your primary office or place of business is in your home. The deductions can include part of your rent or mortgage payments, depreciation, utilities insurance, real estate taxes and repair costs. The part of your home that you use for business must meet one of the following criteria:

1. Be used on a regular and exclusive basis for the business.
2. Be used to meet with clients or customers.
3. Be a separate structure on your property, not attached to your home
4. Be used to store inventory or sales samples.

If you own your home and choose to use the home office deduction be aware that when you sell the house, you will have to reduce the cost basis of the home by the depreciation on the house. This is true even if you did not take a deduction for the depreciation. You may only deduct depreciation up to your gross profit from the business less any other expenses from the business and the deductible mortgage interest and taxes. However, you may carry over any unused depreciation expense forward to the next tax year.

Make sure and keep good records, conduct your business like a business and be thorough in keeping up with tax changes and your financial life as an independent contractor will be much smoother; at least the tax for the part.

Myindependentcontractor.com is a tool that any contractor should have in their toolbox. It has the ability to increase your business exposure to new clients as well as give new clients the information needed to make a decision about whether or not to hire that contractor. Myindependentcontractor.com was made to give independent contractors superiority over competing for jobs against other contractors in your area.

“MyIC.com website has given the advertising edge I needed to compete on jobs and message boards. Having a site with great tools to build a quality detailed site with pictures and information is priceless when competing in a market in this condition. Pictures speak well of workmanship and quality. I value my, myic.com web page as one of my best tools. Thank you to My Independent Contractor for the access.”

-Timothy Zimmerman

This testimonial reveals the real worth of using myindependentcontractor.com for any independent contractor. We could say great things about our website and tell you that using it will give your business the upper hand but we want you to hear from our actual users. This testimonial displays that myindependentcontractor.com is great tool for marketing your business and giving you the advantage over other contractors for certain jobs.

“Having a site with great tools to build a quality detailed site is priceless when competing in a market in this condition.” Take it from the testimonial, using myindependentcontractor.com is beneficial to your business. Well, what are you waiting for? Go sign up for your FREE website on myindependentcontractor.com.

Hiring an independent contractor or new employee is an important business decision that you need to make for your business. To help you make the best possible decision, consider the pros and cons of hiring and employee or an independent contractor.

Pros for Hiring an Independent Contractor

• Reduced Overhead: There is a big attraction for small businesses hiring an independent contractor because of the reduced costs in: expenses, payroll, benefits, and other overhead. Lower the overhead is the less stress for a small business to bring in new business revenue to cover costs.
• No Health Benefits: This one is important and deserves separate mention. Employee health benefits is a burden on a small business, the uncontrollable costs of health benefits can hurt a small business. The average total cost of health benefits for U.S. employees was $6,215 in 2003, according to the Mercer 2003 National Survey of Employer Sponsored Health Plans.
• Work On Demand: Hiring an independent contractor allows more flexibility to the changing work demands of your business. This gives you the ability to take added opportunities as they present themselves, and during the slower periods allows better-cost control. Your contract workforce often comes fully trained and highly specialized.

Pros for Hiring An Employee

• Dedicated and Loyalty: Hiring an employee can be a huge commitment but it can result in having an individual with stronger loyalty than an independent contractor. The added dedication and loyalty can result in more productivity of work. Your loyal employees will be ready to do whatever its take to help your business grow.
• Multiple Roles: Staff in small organizations will often perform a variety of roles. This provides various learning opportunities for your employees and a flexible, diverse workforce for your business.
• Improved Work Flow: With a steady flow of business coming in, having an employee can a lot easier to coordinate projects. Trying to juggle multiple independent contractors/ freelancers to meet a project deadlines can be a challenge.

Cons of Hiring An Employee

• Added Responsibility: Hiring an employee can be an encumbrance for your small business and family as you have to make payroll for your employees to help them provide for their families also.
• Extra Overhead: There are extra costs to consider besides employee benefits and payroll. If you work out of your home or small office you might have to move to a bigger space, sign a lease and purchase equipment needed.
• Becoming a Manager: As your small business grows in employees, you will become less involved with projects and more involved in managing employees issues. Your business will be exposed to worker-related lawsuits. Independent contractors usually require less management due to more motivation from being self-employed.

Cons of Hiring An Independent Contractor

• Lack of Control: What makes an independent contractor “independent” is their choice of work that is performed. Independent contractors may have additional projects on top of your and may be less committed than a employee.
• No Fixed Rates: Your small business might find an independent contractor that they does great work but the rates charged can vary by project and overall market demand. With an employee you can usually set the pay rate until the next review date.
• Misclassification Penalty: If you make an error in classifying an employee as an independent contractor, you will be liable for employment tax, interest and a penalty. Use caution and keep current with the legalities.

There are a few things you want to focus on when marketing within your community. First stay local, try and only focus your marketing efforts towards the areas your business is within. Secondly stay involved, you want your business to be involved and known through doing community activities and other goodwill that will help the community. Lastly stay personal, instead of just dropping off flyers just like every other contractor, try to get to know your potential clients. You want to make sure to focus on these three things but here are some additional tips to start your marketing plan.

Your business should utilize city, local, and your own business websites that lets you market your business. Myindependentcontractor.com lets independent contractors build their own website for FREE. It lets you posts photos of your work, the description of your work, reference/testimonials from past clients and put in their directory for your website to be viewed along with a code to advertise your website on other directory and local websites. Search locally to find those websites that allow you to display your website with your service, such as Craigslist.com and Backpage.com. You want to make sure that you make a local presence for your business by covering all the local websites that potential clients would be searching.

Your business should get involved within the community and stay involved in your community. This substantial way to market your business, people in the community always remember those business or people who help out in the community. Donate money to help remodel some of the old buildings in town or sponsor kids sports teams in the community. If you don’t have any money to donate, donate your time to help out with projects in the community. You could even join the community board; this will show people that you care about your community and help you stay involved with past customers that hopefully turn into loyal customers.

Following up with staying involved with the community is supporting community events. Support the community events; you could even sponsor a community BBQ for your business. It might not be a bad idea to start an advisory board of past and present clients to give their opinions on how to better serve the community with your services.

Paper articles, commercials, flyers, advertisements are all ways to publicize your business. You want to make sure you take advantage of all the opportunities to advertise your business, you might not be able to do all of them but do as many as you can. These will lead to more and more project leads, along with bigger projects, more quality project leads, bigger clients and higher pay rate. Remember you have to start somewhere but use the resources that surround you to get your business were you want it to be.

For starters, if you are new to advertising for jobs online head to Myindependentcontractor.com and sign up for your FREE website that allows you to display your work. It will only take you a few minutes and you will have your own website with your own web address that allows you to give a description of your work, give references and testimonials, photos of your work and a code that allows you to paste into Craigslist.com or any other website that allows you to advertise your work that will display your website. Along with all the other features, myindependentcontractor.com will put you in our directory so that customers can browse and view your ad.

When you are setting up your new website there are a few that you are going to want on your site. The first thing is the photos, the photos you choose should be photos that display the type and quality of your work. Since you only have so many photo slots, you want to make sure you select the right photos that do justice for your business. The second thing is the references and testimonial, they will come from your previous clients about the work that you did for them. There is a limit of how many you can use, so choose the best that will help you gain trust from new clients. The last thing is the description of your work, you want to describe the different types of work that you do thoroughly. You want to make sure you sound professional and act professional, so that your clients feel comfortable with you as their contractor.

Now that you are all signed up and set up your own FREE website, its time to take advantage of the code that was given to you when signed up. All you have to do with the code is copy and paste it into where you are posting to advertise. This gives you the opportunity to find all the directory type websites that people search for when looking for a contractor. Some examples of those websites would be Craigslist.com, Backpage.com and Angieslist.com to name a few. Many of homeowners looking for contractors now are looking online, instead of finding someone the old fashioned way, either through a phone book, word of mouth, or a sign.

Since many homeowners are searching for independent contractors for their projects, there are many people searching those online directories daily. Since there is always someone searching, you want to post at least a few times a week to these directory websites so that as many people view your advertisement as possible. The more views that you have on your advertisement the more the probability that you are going to land a job or multiple jobs. When you are posting to these directories, pay attention to which of them gives you more traffic and try to spend more time on the ones that you receive more views. If you take advantage of these directories, you have endless possibility, maybe an expansion in your business because of all the jobs landed from all the advertising and quality jobs that were done.

There are other places to search online for jobs, such as forums or looking in the wanted section of those directories. Sometimes jobs don’t flow in as you would want them too, so you might have to go out and get them for yourself. Going onto forums allows you to communicate with others about your work. You might get responses but you might not, it’s worth the effort. Looking for jobs in the wanted sections allows you respond to those looking, making it easier on those looking to narrow down the contractor for the job. Jobs don’t come easy all the time, sometimes you need to work for them and put in effort towards it that you normally wouldn’t.

Now that you were given some tips on how to find jobs online for independent contractors, its time to go out and utilize this to the best of your abilities.

The key differentiator between you and the other independent contractor is professionalism. You need to embrace professionalism in all the work and everything you do. The little things, like keeping neat and tidy jobsite, showing up on time to the job or calling to say that you are running late will make a big difference in the long run. This runs true to your marketing efforts. If you are professional, you will be treated as a professional.

1. Get a logo, one that people will be able to recognize and use it on everything. Put your logo on your work truck, project signs, work shirts, estimates, invoices and everything else that involves your business. Your work truck can be a big advertisement for you, its always displayed no matter where you park it.
2. Get a standard company vehicle; a white vehicle is preferred so that you can get the logo painted on your vehicle. Your business truck is some of your best advertisement like I mentioned already. Your logo doesn’t have to cover the whole car like a Nascar but just big enough for people to see your ad.
3. Use project signs in front every job that you do, even if it’s only a single day job. The sign can bring a lot of attention from neighbors on the street, or if it’s a busy street it can bring you a good amount of attention. If your sign is up you need to be sure that you run a clean jobsite, actually you should always run a clean jobsite. You don’t want someone to drive by looking for work to be done and see your jobsite and they see it’s a mess. They will be thinking that this could be their house.
4. Personal appearance counts, depending how many is in your crew, get t-shirts with your logo on them or collared shirts showing clients that you are professional. This will help with the perception of your business with uniforms, other possible clients see that you are professional will help your reputation and help you land more jobs.
5. Now that we went over the basics it’s time to really start with your new age marketing. Go to myindependentcontractor.com and go sign up for your free website. This will give you a larger market to advertise too. When you sign up you are automatically put into a their directory for homeowners to search. With signing up you get your own website with description of your work, photos of your work, testimonials and references, and a code for craigslist to post your services. The best part of it is that you control everything and can change anything you want when you want and it’s FREE.
6. Once you signed up for your free website, its time to identify your points of strength.Ask your clients were they heard about and keep record of how you get your jobs. This will help point out exactly what is working for you, so that you can focus more on similar types of marketing. Take note of if you get work from an online directory, like Craigslist.com or Backpage.com, or from a phone book, or local newspaper ad, or sign out in front of the house and if it works, keep doing it and maybe enhance it to hopefully receive more projects. Also, asses the competition, why did you get the job and they didn’t. What are their strengths and weaknesses?
7. Testimonials and reference; Ask for testimonials from clients, in writing, which you can use for your website to put under testimonials/references, so when people view your website they can real all about how professional your business is. Also, ask your clients if they can refer you to friends and family who might need your services. It costs you nothing to have your clients refer you and it’s a great way to get new projects.
8. Customer service, call your clients and ask if everything went well, and if your service is satisfactory. The client might have more work for you to do or may have thought of another referral for you. Its important to stay in touch with clients, they can bring you a lot of other clients. This will show the clients and new clients that you care and take pride in your work. If there were was problem, do your best to fix the problem but unfortunately sometimes you can’t please everyone so it’s the effort that counts.
9. Advertisements make sure to find out what works best for you in your advertising and stuck with it. Whether it’s posting in directories such as Craigslist.com, or just by word of mouth. Do a trail and error to see exactly what works and what doesn’t. You want to try and meet your target customers in ads.

Who is required to be licensed?

All businesses or individual contractors who construct or alter any building, highway, road or other structures in CA must be licensed by the CSLB if the total cost for the project including labor and materials is $500 or more.

Advantages of a Contractor’s License

There are plenty of reasons to get a Contractors License:

• You are able to do projects that are over $500.
• You can take a client to court if they hadn’t paid for the work that was done. Without a license, a contract over $500 is considered illegal.
• You can legally market and advertise your business.
• A contractor license makes your business eligible for special discounts from many material suppliers and improvement stores.
• You can join builders associations that have job boards, plan rooms and group insurance.

What are the Licensing Classifications?

The classifications are broken down into four different categories.

• A - General Engineering
• B – General Building
• C – Specialty Classes
• D - Limited Specialty Classes

What Kind of Experience is Required?

The required amount of experience is at least four years of journey level experience to qualify for the exam. The state gives you credit for having experience as a journeyman, foreman, supervising employee or contractor or a combination of experience and education.

Well What if you don’t have four years work Experience?

It is still possible to qualify by substituting apprenticeship or technical training or other education for work experience. For example, you could receive a credit of up to two years for a college degree in business. You don’t necessarily need a college degree. If you have transcripts showing the course work in construction technology, drafting, accounting, etc., can also be substituted for a portions of the four-year requirement.

How Do I Prove My Work Experience?

You can prove your work experience by having someone that you worked for or someone in the building trades who has direct knowledge of your work to sign a “work cert” (Certification of Work Experience). You don’t need a work cert for each and every job, one person may sign for all four years of required experience.

Can I qualify with self-employment?

Yes

Can I use Owner/Builder Experience?

Yes, but its not recommended. Owner/Builder experience is reviewed separately to evaluate the amount of experience time you will be granted. On average, the time you are granted is at least three fourth of what you submitted.

What happens if my application isn’t approved?

If the application isn’t approved it will be returned to you with a letter asking you to supply additional information or make corrections. You will have 90 days to comply.

Is there an examination requirement?

Yes there is. If qualified the person must pass the Law & Business and Trade exams, unless you meet the requirements for a waiver of either one or both exams.

Does everyone have the same exam?

If this is your first license, you will take the two exams, the Law & Business and Trade exam. Everyone takes the same Law & Business exam but every person takes a Trade exam that corresponds to your particular trade.

What happens if you fail the exam?

Both exams are scored individually and can take either exam as many times as necessary within an 18 month period at $50 per retake. If you don’t pass within the 18 month period then you have to reapply. If you passed one of the exams it still counts for up to 5 years.

Is workers compensation insurance required?

Yes, unless the entity has no employees, then a certificate of exemption can be filed with the contractors state license board.

What is the cost to apply for a license?

The application filing fee is $250, the initial license fee is $150. Both of these fees can be paid when you submit the application. If the applicant chooses to remove his or her application after it was submitted, only the initial license fee will be refunded.

Am I able to apply for more than one classification at a time?

No, you first need a license number before you are able to apply for additional classification. For example, you might have just received your B license as general builder, and then later add classification such as a C-10/ electrician.

Does the CSLB recognize licenses from other states?

Yes, the CSLB has reciprocity agreements with Utah, Nevada and Arizona. It is possible to get a CA license if you hold a license in one of these states by only having to take the CA Law & Business exam. The key is you must have been licensed in the other sate for a minimum of 5 out of the last 7 years.

What happens if I get caught operating without a license?

You will be given a misdemeanor in CA and face fines that can range from $200 to $15,000. A citation would be issued that would remain at the Contractor State License Board of California for up to 10 years. So if you were to apply for a license, your application would be delayed for an extended period of time while they review the circumstances of the citation.

Am I required to be fingerprinted?

Yes, fingerprints are required for all new applications, adding officers to an existing license, replacing the qualifier, etc.

What if I have a misdemeanor conviction from years ago? Can I still get my license?

Yes, you can still get your license but the application processing time will be greatly increased. All fingerprints go through the CA Department of Justice and the FBI before being sent to the CSLB. At the CSLB the records will be reviewed by criminal background unit or CBU. At the time of this video, the current backlog in the CBU is around 6 months. Which means that receiving a test date and obtaining your license could take as long as 9-10 months.

Are there any financial requirements to qualify for a license?

Yes, the CSLB requires that you maintain at least $2500 in working capital.

Titles or Positions and Business Entities

What is the difference between an RMO and RME?

RMO or Responsible Managing Officer is the qualifier for the license and may or may not hold any ownership in the company. An RME or Responsible Managing Employee is the qualifier for the license and may not hold any ownership in the company.

Can an RMO be a qualifier on more than one license?

Yes, an RMO can be the qualifier on up to three corporate license as long as you hold at least 20% ownership in each company.

Can an RME be a qualifier on more than one license?

No, an RME can only qualify one license at a time. You may have a sole owner license but it must be inactive while the person is acting as an RME.

Can an individual have more than one license?

Yes, an individual can have as many as 10 sole ownership license.

Can a sole owner also be an RMO or qualifier on another license?

Yes, an individual can be an RMO on another license as long as they hold at least 10% or more of the company.

Should I incorporate, operate as a sole owner or a partnership?

• The difference between these entities are that when a license is issued to a corporation, its owned by the corporation. Qualifiers and officers can come and go, but the license belongs to the corporation.
• A sole owner license does not have the same protection a corporation has but the license belongs to the individual.
• A partnership requires at least two members, a qualifying partner and general partner. If either partner leaves the company the partnership license is automatically cancelled.

Can I form a limited liability company or LLC?

No, contractors are not allowed to form LLCs.

Are there advertising requirements?

Yes, your license number must be on all advertising materials.

Can I advertise that I’m bonded?

No, the state law prohibits advertising that you are bonded.

Can I offer electrical services if I have a plumbing license?

No, you can not advertise, offer, or enter into a contract to perform services for a classification that you do not hold.

Like I said in the beginning, requirements for a licensed contractor varies by state. Make sure you check out the state’s requirements in order to be prepared for that states exams. Now fill out the application and follow the steps. Best of luck getting your State Contractors License.

Experience and Credibility

Here are some things that you should be looking for: A contractor who has been in business for a while, someone who is licensed and registered in the state of the work being done (every state has different rules; check yours on contractors-license.org), has insurance (liability; worker’s comp), and has a solid reputation, either by word of mouth or through reference or testimonials. Reputation is key, if the contractor has been highly rated by a friend, someone you know that has had work done by them, or through references or testimonials then its most likely safe to say that the contractor is credible and experienced for your job. But first make sure that they also have a clean bill of health from the Better Business Bureau and from your state’s consumer protection agency.

Get Bids

Talking to friends, family and neighbors about their contractors like if they showed up and finished on time, any unexpected costs, and all the good and the bad about that contractor. Then choose the top three of your choices and get bids from them, toss the lowball offer to see how they react towards it. While we’re all looking for value, be cautious if a contractor bids several hundred or thousand, depending on the job, dollars lower then the other contractors. The really low bid might seem like a great deal, but there has to be a reason why the contractors bid was so low, such as cutting corners on the work, perhaps using cheaper materials then the bid, or they start the project only to tell you a little ways through that the project is more complicated than initially assumed therefore more expensive. Be cheap but don’t be too cheap.

Beyond the Contract

If you have major renovations going on you are going to be spending a lot of time with this contractor, so when you are deciding on the contractor, think about whether you feel comfortable with their personality, background, methods, and communication skills. You want to make sure that everyone is clear about the project; everyone should be on the same page. If everyone is not clear about the projects you could end up disappointed, frustrated and possibly be out thousands of dollars beyond what you had budgeted for. You want to make sure that your contractor is trustworthy, so you don’t end up with a project that turned out the opposite of how you wanted it.

The Contract

The Contract is the most important aspect of the project; every project should have one no matter the size of the estimated work. Every detail about the project should be included in the contract – from a work timetable, start and finish dates, to the description of the work, to the materials that will be used, right down to the brand or make of the fixtures, to the payment schedule and everything in between. Make sure to include a time limit for fixing defects, if its not included in the contract the contractor is not liable to fix the defects. Contracts make sure that if a dispute does arise, the problem can be dealt with. If it’s in the contract then the contractor has to fix the problem without any if, and or buts about it.

Paying the Contractor

When it comes down to paying the contractor after all the details are set about the project in the contract, don’t pay the contractor more than 30 percent upfront. If the contractor has been around a while they will most likely have accounts at big stores to purchase the materials needed for the project. Make periodic payments as the contractor completes certain portions of the project. Expect to make an average of three payments per project and leave a significant portion to be paid only when the job is completed and you are satisfied, at least ten percent. This will be the best way ensuring that work will be done according to contract and done the way that you want and expect.

Nowadays, Most homeowners are searching for independent contractors online from the comfort of their homes but what distinguishes one contractor ad from another? Homeowners are going to be looking at Craigslist.com, Backpage.com and any other website that allows contractors to post ads of their trade. If you have ever looked through those ads you would see a bunch of ads just explaining the type of work that they do, with their contact information at the bottom but is that enough information for the homeowner to hirer a random independent contractor? For some it might be enough, but for those homeowners who need to know more, a contractor with a website and pictures of work that they have done can really help to make a homeowners decision on the contractor to hire for the job.

Myindependentcontractor.com allows independent contractors to build their own website to display their work to others for homeowners to view and decide on their service. Building a website is fast and easy for contractors through myindependentcontractor.com and once they have signed up they automatically are put into are directory for homeowners to browse and view. Homeowners will now be able to see photos of the jobs that they have done, description of the work and a reference or a testimonials that could make a big difference if a homeowner is trying to choose between which contractor they want to do the work. Myindependentcontractor.com even provides contractors code to put into Craigslist.com and other websites to display their website, instead of posting a description of work and contact information like every other contractor out there.

Myindependentcontractor.com has set the new standard of how contractors advertise their services to homeowners, since most homeowners now search for contractors from the comfort of their own homes on the internet. For homeowners making the right decision for the job is difficult but being able to see actual work that contractors have done with references will help the homeowners feel at ease with the contractor that they choose is right for the job. Myindependentcontractor.com is helping contractors find more jobs, while helping homeowners find quality contractors for their jobs.

Building your very own website through myindependentcontractor.com is easy and fast, anyone can build their own free website. Building your website it allows you to have a custom web address, upload up to nine pictures of your projects to showcase, choose five service categories to be listed under in our directory, the ability to export to Craigslist.com and are able to edit and change your website at any time. You might be thinking, “ this is all free” or “this isn’t real”, but yes it is a free website and a real website. Myindependentcontractor.com allows contractors to receive the advantage over other contractors who don’t know about our service.

Once you are all signed up and built your website to your specifications now your ready to start putting some ads that lead to your website, such as the Craigslist.com or Backpage.com, to start bringing in some more traffic to your business and your website will already be placed in our directory for homeowners to browse to see if your service is right for them. Once you start posting your services your going to start getting traffic to your website from those viewing the advertisements that you posted or through our directory, either way your business is getting exposure. There endless amounts of possibilities depending on how much attention your website generates, your work schedule could be book for weeks or months at a time if the everyone who viewed your website loved the work that you had done ensuring them that you are capable of quality work.

Many independent contractors are yet to learn about our service, the ones who know about us and use are service for free websites for independent contractors are gaining the competitive edge over those who are not thus leaving them behind in their dust. Internet marketing is at its all time high, people are using the Internet for everything, even searching for a contractor to finish a project that they need done. Those who are using the traditional way of advertising are on a decline of work that they are receiving, the ones on the internet are reaping the benefits of advertising online by having clients seek out their service. Traditional marketing may always be around and independent contractors will still receive jobs but it will not be equivalent to the amount of jobs received by the contractor who has a website and does traditional and internet marketing. Myindependentcontractor.com is the right choice for any contractor looking to increase their exposure and business.

Myindependentcontractor.com is free opportunity for contractors to acquire a free website so that contractors can advertise by posting on Craigslist.com and show people the type of work that they are capable of. There is no other website on the web that allows contractors to make free website and post your website in a free directory so that homeowners are able to find you to hire. There is too much opportunity for contractors using myindependentcontractor.com, it all depends how you decide to use it, and the more you post to other websites like Craigslist.com the more possibilities for new jobs.

Building a free website gives you an advantage over other contractors who don’t have a website, nowadays most people search online for contractors to hire for certain jobs and if you aren’t online you would losing those jobs to other contractors who are online. Being able to post to other websites other than Craigslist.com will give you a wide range of clients. Some people use different websites to look for contractors, so if you posted to each website that allowed you to post your website and service, your business has the opportunity to receive more business. Even if you still do regular advertising by handing out flyers and have other ads you can put your website address on those so that when people are considering your business they can look at your website to look at your work, this will give you the upper hand to other contractors who don’t have a website.

The opportunity by myindependentcontractor.com should be a no-brainer to any contractor; there are too many benefits that it offers to independent contractors. Now its up to those contractors to take advantage of the opportunities that we offer through our website. If you don’t take advantage, I guarantee that there is another contractor doing whatever it takes to get his business out there and he will be the one who starts receiving more work.

There are more possibilities for advertisement is this day and age, social media is another great way to put your services out there. Creating a Facebook or Twitter page for your business isn’t a bad idea, it could create some buzz for your business. With creating a social media page you can post your website link that you made from myindependentcontractor.com so that your friends or clients have the opportunity to see your work. On your Facebook you can have your friends suggest you to other friends and you can have clients leave testimonials about your work, if there isn’t enough space in the testimonial/ reference box on your website that you made. Social media gives you the chance to branch out to even more and possibly giving you the upper hand on other competitors.

How myindependentcontractor.com came about

The creator of my independent contractor was remolding his master bathroom and the contractor he had hired was very impressive. The contractor took pride in his work doing a great tile job and made sure he cleaned up after he was done with his work. After talking to the contractor about how he promotes himself to be able to get more work, the creator realized the contractor had no real way of showcasing his work to others to get work, nor did he know how to get a website nor did he have the money to have one built. The creator promised that he would find a website that would give him the capabilities to show his work to others to give him exposure to in return get more work. After searching online, he came to the conclusion that there wasn’t any single website that allows contractors build their own individual websites that gives them exposure for homeowners to search and see the work of different contractors. This is how the idea of my independent contractor started and soon after myindependentcontractor.com assembled.

How to get started on myindependentcontractor.com

Getting started on my independent contractor is effortless. First go to the free membership services page and click start now. This will take you to a create free account page, which contractors have to fill out the information needed to get started so they can be on their way to build their new website. Next it will take you contractor information page, which is the start to building your website. This allows contractors to be able to display the name of your business, a picture of the contractor, what type of work they do, a description of their work, an up to 18 picture gallery, and four references / testimonials. Once your website is built you can make changes at any time and it makes it easy to get your website seen by giving HTML code for Craigslist which can also be used on websites such as Backpage, Ooodle, and Ebayclassifieds, so that contractors can post their website to get more exposure, in return more traffic which means more jobs.

How it makes it easy on contractors

Myindependentcontractor.com gives contractors the opportunity to advertise their business for free. There is no other website like it on the web, so contractors need to take advantage of something that will only help their business gain exposure. All the contractor has to do is join myindependentcontractor.com and fill out the information in order to make their free website, which they made it very simple and straightforward. Once the website is set up, the website will be automatically be enrolled in our Contractor search directory for free, this alone will give contractors exposure to new jobs. With the Craigslist HTML code given to make it easy on contractors to show their website to those who need work done and makes it easy for the contractors to be able to use the same HTML code to post their website on other websites where contractors can post their services to pull in new jobs and clients.

The Exposure and the Ability to Showcase their Work

Myindependentcontractor.com isn’t like any website out their for contractors, some website allow you to post your services on their but no other website allows you to create your own website for free, while also putting the contractors in a search directory for people to search their services. Being able to post a description of your work, who you are, pictures of the work you have done and have real reference or testimonials gives you an advantage of those contractors who are just offering their services on Craigslist and other websites without any background or pictures of the work they have done. People want to be able to know who they are hiring for a job, if they are capable of the job, and if they do quality work. This is were my independent contractor is at its best, allowing those looking for trustworthy contractors to be able to see who the contractor is and a showcase of their work, making it easier on those looking for the work to be done.

Testimonial

Myindepenentcontractor.com has been a tremendous asset to my company in these uncertain times. I really enjoy the freedom to update and customize my website at any time. I use the craigslist Html code on a regular basis and have received numerous jobs because of it. My clients really appreciate being able to see my work and being able to see who's coming to their home before hand. I'm very happy with the results of being in the contractor search directory, I've bid on numerous projects from out of area clients who found me on this site.

Thank you MyIndependentContractor.com!

-Steve Brown/Brown's Construction

Homeowners

For those homeowners who need remodeling, landscaping or any other work down on their homes myindependentcontractor.com is the place to go to find the contractor that is right for your job. Being able to search different contractors in your area, what type of work they do, and get reference/testimonials of their work allows homeowners to find the best fit for their job. My Independent Contractor makes it easy on the homeowner by not having to search everywhere for a contractor that does good work, they can even do it without leaving their home and can find a quality contractor in minutes with a click of a mouse.

JOB'S JOB'S JOB'S... The Government is promising them but www.MyIC.com is providing them.

We have heard from a large number of Contractors on www.MyIC.com that they are getting Job's from either having a website with us or from using our other FREE services such as posting their website and or website address on Craigslist and other sites.

If you are a Contractor that has received a Job or Job's from using the services from My Independent Contractor, we would like to hear from you via an email...Please let us know.

As you should all know, www.MyIC.com is 100% FREE for all Contractors.

Thank you for joining www.MyIndependentContractor.com

Sincerely,

R. Scott Hatfield

FREE Directories:

www.Craigslist.org

www.Backpage.com

www.Oodle.com

www.Ebayclassifieds.com

After a Contractor has created an account and a Website with www.MyIC.com they get FREE HTML code under the "Contractor Services" tab when they log in.  The HTML is entitled "Craigslist HTML" but it can also be used on www.Backpage.com and others.  MyIC.com has also provided a simple video entitled "Craigslist Export" which shows you how to copy and paste the HTML code.

Other FREE local Directories may not allow HTML, but you can simply post your website www.MyIC.com/scotty as an example.  If you have not created your own unique website address, your default website address uses your primary phone number such as www.MyIC.com/5303218182

Posting your Website on as many FREE local directories as possible simply increases your exposure to Homeowners and others to help get those desired Jobs.

Contractors can now:

1.  Create and Edit their own Website for FREE!

2.  Receive FREE website address & create a unique web address...FREE!

3.  Have Website automatically enrolled in our Contractor Search Directory...FREE!

4.  Use our craigslist HTML code to post their website on Craigslist...FREE!

5.  Create their own unique business cards...FREE!

Let Homeowners and others "SEE" what you can do...FOR FREE...

R. Scott Hatfield

Founder & CEO

1.  Create and Edit their own Website for FREE!

2.  Receive FREE website address & create a unique web address...FREE!

3.  Have Website automatically enrolled in our Contractor Search Directory...FREE!

4.  Use our craigslist HTML code to post their website on Craigslist...FREE!

5.  Create their own unique business cards...FREE!

Let Homeowners and others "SEE" what you can do...FOR FREE...

R. Scott Hatfield

Founder & CEO

  
The Yellow Pages directory generates on average more leads than all of its main print competitors combined. Leads, of course, are what turn into sales, so the potential here is great. Unlike other advertising media, Yellow Page directory usage is driven by major life events instead of entertainment or location. It seems as though the more important an event is, the more that the Yellow Pages usage goes up. For instance, if someone is looking into a first time financial investment, Yellow Page usage increases up to 165%. Finding a home remodeling contactor, up to a 75% increase. A Yellow Pages directory is a lot more than merely a window shopping medium, it is a shopping and buying guide for a larger number of users than ever before.. So you see, the lead potential is definitely there, all you have to do is take it.

The Yellow Pages have always been known as ready to buy, trust advertising. Long before the Internet came around, there were the Yellow Pages to help guide people in the right direction. So if you can get a lot of leads and customers through a “trust” medium such as this, you’ll be doing very well for yourself. Another trust based media is the Newspaper. People will turn to these mediums before they go anywhere else because, well, they trust the information they find in them. Why? Because illegitimate or “scam” businesses aren’t going to pay money to advertise. You’ll typically only find the businesses that are on the up and up here.

The advertising rates for a newspaper, much like the Yellow Pages, are going to cost, but it is money well spent when you consider the amount of leads you can generate, especially in the Sunday editions, and the typical quality of those leads. And while it’s true that the readership of newspapers have gone down over the years, the quality of the readership has not. Generally, people that look for trustworthy businesses are trustworthy themselves. There are many different formats that you can put your ads in, and you can advertise in the areas that suit your business the best. So as far as lead generation, and demographic specific advertising goes, these two directories are best routes you can take to for your contracting business.

1. Increase you Connections

Working with others in industries complementary to your own [home design, flooring, furnishings, and color consultants] is a good way to keep your name out there, and your own work known. This is an ever changing and competitive field, so you want to stay on top of the game at all times. This is not only social networking, but it is professional networking as well, and even if you feel like you have enough contacts and leads, if you try this angle, you may find that you can eventually get more This will also give you opportunities to get referrals and distribute your business cards, brochures, etc.

2. Know Your Customers needs, and Serve Them Well

What we’re talking about here is more than just knowing their room or exterior color preferences. If you ask them about their other projects, listen inventively to their questions, share your knowledge about the current project and possible future one‘s, they will remember you if they have other projects in the future. And while this isn’t necessarily increasing your sales by acquiring new one’s, you are increasing your sales by retaining old ones. If you also return all phone calls promptly, and go out of your way to help them, you’ll find that there is nothing more effective than outstanding customer service for a healthy business.

3. Communicate both verbally and visually, your Professionalism

Potential customers will form their first impressions of you and your company, within the first 10 to 15 seconds of meeting you. With such a short time to get across to them your professionalism, a neat, clean appearance for both you and your crew is very important. Organized estimate sheets, a clean company vehicle, professional business cards, and other business tools will demonstrate your attention to detail, and as a result, will keep your potential customer interested and attentive

4. Connect Charitably with Your Community

Volunteer your professional services, products, expertise and time to worthy charitable causes within your community. You'll hopefully be able to make connections with other like-minded business owners. And professional contacts that are made under these types of circumstances are invaluable and often long term. You will open yourself up to new lines of business support and innovative, complimentary ideas.

5. Keep Learning new skills

Learning new job skills will add expertise and new business opportunities to your professional life and career. Increasing your areas of expertise will make you and your business more valuable, in that you can take on more jobs of greater variety. And this is one of the most guaranteed ways of increasing your sales.

1. Write a press release on a new product or service and send it to a couple of free press release distribution sites. Follow their guidelines for submission so you don't waste your time editing and re-doing work. A few good one’s that I’ve found are PRUrgent.com, Press-Base.com, PressAbout.com, PressMethod.com, and PRLeap.com
    
2. Update your Google Maps Listing, make sure the information is accurate and easy to understand, and then have them verify your ownership via e-mail or SMS message. Letting potential clients know exactly where you are is often an overlooked aspect in marketing strategies.
    
3. Join a relevant chat forum or Blog site, and contribute to that online community. Use indirect messages for sales such as a forum signature or your forum user name. If you can leave 25 signatures on 10 different sites during the course of 2 weeks, you’ll have roughly 3,500 links waiting to be clicked.
    
4. Become active in social networking sites. Facebook is a good place to start simply because of its huge amount of members. Your potential for new customers by being active on sites like this is unlimited.
    
5. Check out your niche on Wikipedia, WikiTravel, or other wiki sites, and see if you can post up a link. Don't use obvious sales tactics or otherwise try to use the system, the editors will just delete the information. Instead, provide appropriate information and follow the rules concerning links.
   
    
6. Learn how SEO’s can get your company website optimum exposure by helping it rank high on search engines such as Google. The right keywords will help you get and stay at or near the top of the first page of Google.
   
7. Find out who's linking to your competitors and contact them asking for a similar opportunity. Be careful not to act like you're entitled or needy. Look for opportunities for a mutually beneficial partnership, and suggest some things you can do for their business in exchange for their help with yours.
    
8. Make a slideshow of your products, or a before and after sequence of your work, into a video and upload to Youtube,  making sure to optimize your title and descriptions. When it's uploaded, write a new page and embed the video onto your own Web site.
   
9. Set up a map for your storefront or area at CommunityWalk.com and then embed it onto your "how to get here" or "about us" links on the home page of your company web site.
   
10. Write a "how-to" article that addresses your niche for a site like Work.com. This is a good resource for getting mentions and links. Looking at your product or service in a step-by-step manner is often enlightening to potential clients as it can help you to better explain your products and services.

 So there you go, a good list that once implemented, can do the marketing work for you.  

It's been no secret that the housing market has seen several downturns, and that this has hurt contractors. The recovering housing market offers opportunities to contractors who know where to look to rebound and recover.

In any housing recovery, business and residential property owners decide to build, remodel or deal with repairs that have been put off for quite a while. In this housing recovery, given the large number of foreclosures and partial build sites there is an extra opportunity above and beyond traditional rebound work.

Houses and properties that have been sitting for months or years experience deterioration that requires far more work to repair than if preventative maintenance had occurred by present owners. While no one wants to benefit from another person's tragedy, the fact remains that as the housing market recovers, someone has to repair, or demolish and rebuild, neglected property.

To be on the cutting wave of the rebound, a contractor needs to know where to look. Subscribing to local business journals and court registers can help you keep track of suppressed areas that are poised for a lucrative rebound, as well as increases in true post-foreclosure sales (as opposed to sold to the bank), or renewed commercial or home-buying.

Part of the market recovery can be attributed to local, state or federal efforts to renovate and repair aging housing, commercial or business stock. Attending community improvement meetings and fundraisers can help you get a pulse on where revitalization monies and contracts may be flowing.

It will be important to find out if homeowners select the contractor or if the contractor must bid with a government or non-profit agency.

Know and become known in the neighborhoods you serve. Contracting business is often boosted by positive networking. Drive the neighborhoods in your region and note which ones are deteriorating and which ones are being maintained. Watch for the middle ground of properties that need work, but seem to be in neighborhoods where residents are starting to make efforts to get that work done.

Contribute, sponsor or volunteer for community events. By making a positive return to a community, and associating the name of your business with that turn, homeowners finally in a position to make repairs or remodels they have been putting off will think of you first.

In a rebounding housing market, smart contractors are able to locate these opening opportunities at the same time that they are able to incorporate lower cost labor and materials resulting from the economic downturn. Strengthening your financial position in this manner can help you ride the slow upturn, rather than weather through, or miss the boat.

Finally, be aware of any tax breaks or incentives that can help your business or your customer get more from your contracting abilities for less without cutting into your bottom line.

Customers feel they are getting their money's worth when they select a contractor who knows the working and economic environment. Following these tips show these customers you are the contractor for the long haul.

When you want a way to keep your startup costs down if you are new to the housing market, just starting up your own company and want to make sure that you can save even when it comes to having your own website, this is where My Independent Contractor comes into play.

As you start out and grow your company even if you are the only employer you want to make sure that you can save where it matters the most. You are not going to be able to provide the professionalism required by many who hire contractors without a fully functioning website. Even if you were to use a free host, who would take you serious that way with a ton of advertisements that have nothing to do with your skill set on the website?

What if you were about to make your own website, completely customizing it and have home owners worldwide see your work? If they could compare you to a competitor, have a chance to compare you to other contractors and see from your own work that you are the best, what is to stop them from hiring you for the job?

How about being able to add your own images to the site making sure that those who bid on you for the amazing work you can provide them, show exactly how crafted you are? What if you had a live section that would allow for potential clients to see both references of your work and also testimonials from those clients? Everyone else is on the World Wide Web why are you still sitting back in the past without one?

With the power of being able to reach a larger target audience you can have clients line up waiting for you without having to do much investing to start with. Save time and money in a quick way to make sure your site is listed where it should be, knowing that you can compete head to head with others in your area of expertise.

You can also have the option to have your website listed within the contractor directory available with your Name, Contact Phone Number and Zip Code so that others can easily find you. A website that can be seen by both home owners and companies alike, you want a way to reach out to more in a quick time saving way right? A website with My Independent Contractor allows for exactly that, a quick and easy way to get started, save both time and money and still be seen by thousands.

Professionals of all types have websites dedicated to the business they are in, why are you any different? If you like not having a larger audience to reach out to for the skills you specialize in that is fine, stop reading now. However if you want to make sure you are on the band wagon for having a professional website that any possible client can visit and check your references, please continue reading now.

There is not one successful person around that would tell you the key to growing your company is to avoid the Internet, if anything that is the complete opposite. All businesses need a website in order to reach more potential clientele and make sure that they are ahead of the competition!

Having a website that stands out not only lets those visitors know that you are a professional taking your industry talent serious, but it also lets them easily refer you to their friends, family and colleagues. How quick does word of mouth spread? On the Internet it can spread quicker than one can bat an eyelash.

If you have the skills to back the “professional” title that you carry, then you need a website that does the same, an effective website at that. Your site needs to show what you can do and how you do it, backing up everything that gives you creditability compared to those who you are working to bypass when it comes to snagging up projects. The site should be laid out so that all reference material is easily accessible by viewers, give a breakdown of everything that you can do for them and a way to contact you. Newspapers may still be around but the internet has the power to reach more viewers, in a quicker time, 24/7/365.

Your website should be able to inform the reader of what they need and how to achieve it using your services, a way to make the reader at ease for the valuable resources you can provide to make sure their projects are completed within a timely fashion, proper to the job at hand and able to help give your readers a way to gain trust in you as a professional in the contracting world. You need a way to broaden the audience with a message, the message is clear; your website shows off your work in this industry and without having a website most people are going to overlook you as you are not in step with the computer age. Make sure you are known to keep up with the times, get a website and show off your assets to those who you know will hire you after seeing exactly what you can do for them.

Think of the last time you (not as a contractor, but as a consumer) had a project to do. As an example, we'll say it was staining your deck. Well, you didn't know anyone personally who could complete the project. You went to the internet or the yellow pages. And, if you didn't know who you were looking for, what separated the guy you found from the rest?

In a short word, it was marketing.

You were impressed with the look of his website and liked the fact that you could browse through to see completed projects.

Being an independent contractor, you understand that there are hundreds of us out there. Whatever your specialty, there are plenty of us to choose from. Sometimes, we are intimidated by the huge scale marketing gimmicks of our competitors- flashy trucks, whole page newspaper ads. We just can't imagine we'll ever have that kind of cash.

Aside from the few personal job contacts we have, most of us rely on "outside" jobs to keep our business afloat. We look for "gimmicks” or "slogans", and put them on our lawn- or in the local pennysaver. Locally, you're covered.

Wouldn't you like to grow your business?

Here, at MyIndependentContractor.com, we offer you the opportunity to build your very own website-free! As part of our free service, you also:

• Have a custom web address
• Are able to upload up to NINE pictures of your projects-or craft
• Choose FIVE service categories to be listed under (in our directory)
• Get to edit and change your website at any time

It's like having a marketing staff in-house!

It gets even better when you upgrade to our premium membership. At this level, you will enjoy:

• The ability to export to Craig’s List
• Business card templates
• Your business listing in EACH search directory for EACH category (on the Internet)

With this membership, you will soon be able to upload up to 18 pictures of your work, Now, that's like having the marketing staff AND an executive assistant in-house, for less than TEN dollars!

One yellow page ad costs somewhere around 0. Your entire YEAR with us would cost .55.

Imagine seeing your company pop up as the result on an Internet search engine, not once- but FIVE separate times in five separate categories!

This is the marketing plan that you have been looking for. It is the plan that sets YOU apart from the rest. It separates the good from the great.

Everyone has something that they're good at. Independent contractors know this, and that is why we choose to work autonomously, doing what we love and getting paid for it. However, it goes way beyond doing one thing that you love. If you have a specific skill, it needs to be a marketable one. It needs to be tweaked and refined, before it's put out to the public. And finally, you require a target audience who is seeking out this skill and wanting to pay you for it. 

Enter MyIndependentContractor.com, a website that offers independent contractors a chance to target a specific audience. Not only do we offer you a targeted consumer in need of your skill, but we have created a community of contractors, such as yourself, who are trying to find out how to grow their business. Whether you are a writer or a plumber, MyIndependentContractor.com offers you the chance to explore how others are making their careers work for them. Being a member of the website will also help you "fine-tune" your own skills, as you build your account.

For consumers, the benefits of hiring an independent contractor are endless. An independent contractor has none of the "strings" that traditional employees come with. There are no pensions to worry about. There are no payroll taxes, or health benefits to worry about. In addition, an independent contractor usually has one specific skill. There is no need to go to an "umbrella company" who has to mark up their services (sometimes in excess of 20%), to get a few services done. When we think in terms of convenience, we forget about dollar signs.

In today's economy, that no longer seems frugal OR logical. We say so many times, "You get what you pay for". An independent contractor proves that time and time again.

MyIndependentContractor.com is a new Website built specifically for all types of contracting services who really don't have time to learn various computer languages...they do however understand how vital it is to advertise their business via a computer over the Internet.  In Northern California alone, there are over 1000 skilled services postings by Contractors every day on Craigslist.  Let me say that again, "every day" there are over 1000 skilled services postings by contractors advertising thier business on Craigslist in just Northern California alone. (Sacramento, Redding and in between)

MyIndependentContractor.com built a very simple template so that anyone, even those with limited computer skills can build thier own unique website to show off their abilities.  MyIndependentContractor.com also provides a search directory so Homeowners can find and see these individual websites by searching via Name, Phone or Zip code.  MyIndependentContractor.com has also created Craigslist HTML code so that Contractors can post their unique website on Craigslist.  MyIndependentContractor.com feels that Contractors should "display" their abilities for all to see, and not just write words for us to read.  Contractors should also advertise on as many services as possible within their budget to increase their visability. 

Craigslist HTML code is just one of the services that is offered by MyIndependentContractor.com .  Contractors can build their own unique websites for free using a simple template to show what they can do.  After they have built their own free website and have chosen to enroll their website in the search directory by becoming a Premium Member, Craigslist HTML code is provided for free to each Contractor so they can post thier own unique website on Craigslist.  This is a very simple process, all one has to do is copy and paste the Craigslist HTML code that is provided by MyIndependentContractor.com that is in each contractors login area under "contractor services".  After copying the Craigslist HTML code, one must then paste that code into the "posting description" on Craigslist and lilke Magic, the website you built on MyIndependentContractor.com is now on Craigslist.  When a prospective client clicks on your title in Craigslist, your website will show up...showing pictures of your work, work description, contact info, references and anything else that is on your website.  It is simply your own unique website on Craigslist.

All Types of Contractors post thier buisnesses on Craigslist every day simply to advertise their services.  However, over 90% of these postings are just words.  Words are not enough, homeowners and others want to see what a person can do before they hire them.  My guess is that there are well over 30,000 Craiglist postings by Contractors every day in the US, but 90% of these post are just words.  Plus, these Contractors must repost and retype their words everytime they post.  If they have some type of HTML code posted on Craigslist, this code is often difficult for homeowners and others to navigate so as to see what a given Contractor has to offer.  MyIndependentContractor.com has provided a simple way for contractors to post thier own websites they build on MyIndependentContractor.com into Craigslist.  No more typing just words into craigslist, all one has to do is copy and paste.  There is also a simple how to video at MyIndependentContractor.com showing just how easy it is to post their website on Craiglist. 

For Contractors, advertising is all about letting people know what you do, getting the work and making a living.  For Contractors who post their business on Craigslist and use the Craigslist HTML code provided by MyIndependentContractor.com , their odds are greatly increased for getting the jobs they desire.  MyIndependentContractor.com has had a number of Contractors inform them of just how much they love using the Craigslist HTML code provided to them.  They also like the ability to log back into MyIndependentContractor.com and change their website anytime they want.  All the changes that are made on thier own unique website will be reflected by new Craigslist HTML code they can then copy and paste. 

Craigslist HTML code provided by MyIndependentContractor.com is a must for those Contractors who like to advertise their businesses on Craigslist.        

             Steve Brown/Brown's Construction

             Comments:

MyIndepenentContractor has been a tremendous assest to my company in these uncertain times. I really enjoy the freedom to update and customize my website at any time. I use the craigslist Html code on a regular basis and have recieved numerous jobs because of it. My clients really appriciate being able to see my work and being able to see who's coming to their home before hand. I'm very happy with the results of being in the contractor search directory, I've bid on numerous projects from out of area clients who found me on this site.

You won't find a better deal out there with as much freedom and control of your own website for less than $5 a month.

Thank you MyIndependentContractor!

 

 

The most effective online advertising can cost nothing to your bottom line. It does require a commitment to providing value for the information seeker. It is known as value added content marketing. Show and share your knowledge to consumers. Do this by:

• Frequenting an online DYI and contracting community, answering questions while having a business related signature.
• Writing blogs or articles about common problems and solutions in your industry.
• Creating videos that demonstrate simple DYI skills, but encourage contracting a professional for more complicated work.
• Convincing contracting and DYI related podcasters to interview you. (Hint: A podcast is like a radio show on the internet.)
  
  Remember, this is advertising that should never look like an ad. While it's perfectly fine to plug your business at the end of a blog, video or interview, consumers are drawn to helpful information and repelled by an obvious effort to sell. By providing value to the consumer and showing them you know your stuff; you are positioning your contracting business in their memory rolodex, or online bookmarks file, should they ever need a contractor in your field.
  
  Consumers believe it is tough to find a trustworthy, competent contractor. By sharing your knowledge, you show that you care about them as more than a paycheck. By providing them with information that is accurate and useful, you prove you are skilled enough to be trusted with the precious investment that is their home.
  
  A website is a must for the next set of free online advertising. Every business these days should have a website if they wish to stay competitive. Your website will be one of the largest sources of information about your business. It is also an important means of attracting and converting potential customers.
  
  Once you have your website set up with information on what your business does, how it can help the customer and how you can be contacted, you want to sweeten it with value added articles and resources to draw the customers in.
  
  If you have a list of contractors or businesses that complement your specialty listed on your site, you can arrange to have a link or banner exchange. This means that as you send business you can't satisfy their way, they will be sending business they can't satisfy your way. All the while, customers have one more reason to bookmark your site. The more they visit your contracting site, the more likely you will be first in their mind when they have a contracting need you can meet.
  
  The final step is advertising to draw customers to your site. You must always integrate popular related keywords into your text (known as SEO: Search Engine Optimization). Contractor directories and review sites are another way customers can find your site or contact information. Ask customers to post a review if they are satisfied with your work.
  
  Remember, home owners select who will work on their house, and who will get repeat business. Link exchange, SEO, review sites, and directories can help customers find you. Value focused advertising helps them choose you. And all of this advertising can be had for free!

1.  Create and Edit their own Website for FREE!

2.  Receive FREE website address & or create unique web address...FREE

3.  Have Website automatically enrolled in our Contractor Search Directory...FREE

4.  Use our craigslist HTML code to post their website on Craigslist...FREE

5.  Create their own unique business cards...FREE

Homeowners and Others simply want to "SEE" what contractors can do before they hire them...

R. Scott Hatfield

Founder & CEO