Ars Gratis ... Huh?

All too often, there's a disconnect between the artistes of this world and the bottom-liners.

We don't always think of business consultants as artsy-fartsy types, but indeed the best among them have strong visionary and creative stripes. They must solve problems by looking into a company's future and devising solutions that are sometimes a bit "out there."

So what happens when they run up against the coin-rattlers, who can't see beyond next quarter's projections? They must finesse the situation, frame their statements and think about "art, for money's sake."

So says my long-time source Ray Coen, food and restaurant consultant extraordinaire, on his blog this week. Check it out - it's a terrific read.

Five Myths

Read Kristie Arslan's Five Myths about Small Businesses at HuffPo.

Kristie, executive director of the National Association for the Self-Employed, is one of my best sources. She a fount of information and a dynamo of activity working on behalf of self-employed folks and small business owners.

Million Dollar Consulting

Many former execs have left their corporations - by hook or by crook - in the past two years.

If they haven't been able to retire, you can bet a lot of them have opened their own consulting practices.

Most will be lucky to equal their former salaries, and others just won't make it at all. Why?

Check out my interview with "Million-Dollar Consultant" Alan Weiss, a man who most definitely does not have a self-esteem problem! (But was a gracious and lovely interviewee.)

Getting Paid

The questioner in my column this week is apparently not the only freelancer having trouble getting paid.

I have to laugh a little at the Journal's intrepid reporting: Freelancers often have a hard time collecting on their invoices!

Will wonders never cease?

Those of us who have freelanced for a couple of decades know that this is hardly big news. Okay, more people are working as independent contractors these days, so maybe more are noticing that this whole "getting paid" thing isn't always cut-and-dried.

Since I got burned way back in the '90s for a $500 payment (big money for my family at that time!) from a now-defunct business journal, I've learned how to make sure I get paid.

And I have a one-off policy: Late or non-existent payment? I don't take another assignment from that client. Period.

Freelance Tax Form

I so wish I could actually file this marginally employed tax form, IRS number BFaS (blood from a stone).

A few friends of mine would be well-served to use some of these freelancer deductions, including:

*Deduct 50% of medicines taken to combat avian flu, swine flu, rogue flu and subway poet flu.

*That/which Deduction: Deduct $1 for every grammatical error in a sign or poster thatn you pointed out to someone else.

*Your food blog

*Your other food blog

The only reason this is a no-go for me is a note in small print: "If you do not Twitter, you do not qualify as a freelancer and may not use this form."

Blast!

Self-Employed Success

Are you self-employed, or hope to be shortly?

If so, you need to read the tips my expert source gives in this week's Smart Answers column.

These are common-sense, practical things you can do to increase your odds of success, but many (if not most) self-employed people probably don't do them. The tax account thing, in particular, is a bummer.

After 20 years as a freelancer, however, I can certainly appreciate these ideas. And when I think about the failed entrepreneurs I know whose homes are now in foreclosure and life savings destroyed, I'm even more enthusiastic.

What's a Writer Worth?

Jim Rainey's "On the Media" column in today's L.A. Times features a gloomy outlook for freelance writers.

He accurately nails the twin dilemmas of shrinking newspapers/magazines and websites that recruit professionals - Chamber of Commerce types, think tank pundits and professors - as free columnists, spurning the tradition of paying journalists for their talents.

Back in November, the BusinessWeek SmallBiz page featured a column decrying the freelance economy in general. Not sure I agree with his conclusions, but it's an interesting debate.

Having been happily self-employed for two decades, I hope I never have to return to employer-based work. But the outlook for writers who expect a living wage seems to be dimming.

That Elusive Paid Vacation

It was 20 years ago next month that I took off on maternity leave from my last full-time job.

After my son was born, I confided to another mom-journalist that I was thinking about becoming a freelance writer and not returning to my job at a Los Angeles newspaper.

Her mouth dropped open in surprise. "But you ... you won't get paid vacation!" she exclaimed.

Well, two decades later I can say she was right. I still don't have paid vacation.

What I gained working from home, spending as much time as possible with my children, learning about entrepreneurship and eventually becoming a sought-after expert on small business, has more than made up for the lack of two paid weeks' leave per year. (I suppose I might have gotten up to three weeks - or maybe four by now!)

But it's true that taking time off when you're self-employed isn't easy. Unless you really want to take unpaid vacation time (which none of us can afford), you have to work extra hard planning and setting up work in advance while you're gone.

At the same time (if you're the mom), you also have to work extra hard planning and setting up your vacation reservations, itinerary and making sure everyone will be happy away from home.

The stress of all the extra work can mean that you're so wound up by the time you leave, that you wonder if it's really worth it.

But thankfully, the answer is always "yes." Just getting out of your routine, away from that ever-present home office and being with your family for a whole week is wonderful.

Here's to happy trails, low stress and August vacations! See you later this month.

Speaking, Perhaps ...

On Thursday, I'll be a panelist at the annual meeting of the Pasadena Playhouse District. The business group has asked me to contribute to a discussion on (what else?) the economy and how small businesses can survive the storm.

I have to add a provision here: I'll be a panelist in Pasadena Thursday morning ... IF I'm not downtown at Los Angeles Superior Court doing jury duty. I've been on hold all week with the threat of jury duty hanging over my head, vanishing only after my 5 p.m. call to the automated juror hotline.

So far, I've postponed (and re-called) three interviews, rescheduled a hospital visit to a dear friend undergoing cancer treatment at City of Hope and will have to leave the Playhouse District hanging until Wednesday after 5.

I thought for sure I'd be asked to report on Monday. Nope. Tuesday is Cesar Chavez day, a court holiday. I've already been told not to report on Wednesday. That means Thursday is my most-likely-to-serve day (many courtrooms do procedural motions on Fridays).

In the past, because I was self-employed and had young children at home, I was always able to send in my hardship excuse by mail. The rules changed a few years ago, and now even small business owners and the self-employed (who don't get paid for jury duty) have to report on their prescribed day.

The last time I was downtown, a judge presiding over a complex civil trial swore me in under oath and made me explain to the entire courtroom why I couldn't afford to take weeks away from earning a living. "Doesn't your husband work?" he demanded. "Can't you do your interviews after hours or on the weekends?"

In the end, the judge excused me and several others who testified that their livelihoods would be at risk. But his sneering demeanor was contemptuous, as if he were letting off a bunch of slackers who didn't appreciate the importance of American jurisprudence!

How about you? Have you done jury duty lately? If you're self-employed, did the court understand that it would be a hardship for you to serve?