2 Growth Stocks Capitalizing On The Gig Economy To Buy In 2020

Freelancers account for 36% of the American workforce, according to a recent study by Edelman Intelligence. Freelancers are also referred to as consultants or contractors. Some do it on the side while also employed at a full-time job, others freelance as their full-time job, and some freelancers only work part-time. McKinsey, a U.S.-based consulting firm, projects that 50% of the American workforce will be freelance by 2027. Freelancers who have in-demand skills like data analytics, machine learning, and programming can charge high rates and have flexibility, which will increase the demand for gig economy marketplaces. A sweet spot in the gig economy is to act as a matchmaker, connecting freelancers to clients looking for temporary or permanent assistance with projects. The main freelance work platforms in this space are Upwork ( NASDAQ:UPWK ) and Fiverr ( NYSE:FVRR ). Both of these tech stocks are trading at lower prices from their 52-week highs, are small-cap growth companies, and have minimal debt. Investors seeking exposure to the gig economy should consider buying these today. Image Source: Getty Images 1. Upwork Upwork is the largest freelance marketplace site and companies can find contractors from around the world who specialize in writing, video editing, web design, digital marketing, and more. It was originally founded as Elance in 1999 and merged with competitor, O-desk, in 2013. In 2015, this merged company was rebranded as Upwork and it IPO’d on Oct. 3. 2018. It also has over 12 million registered freelancers and 5 million clients, which could grow over time with the expansion of the freelance economy. This site has many sources of revenue, including charging a percentage of freelancers’ earnings, requiring freelancers to purchase “connects” to apply for jobs, and assessing administration fees on clients. Clients can choose to pay either 2.75% of their client spend or a flat fee of $25 per month for unlimited payment transactions. Upwork has an enterprise selection for large companies that includes additional upgrades like compliance offerings, custom reporting, exclusive access to top freelancers for a monthly or annual fee. The stock is trading around $10, which is toward the 52-week low of approximately $9. It has a positive free cash flow of $7.07 million, but it hasn’t turned a profit yet. Negative earnings is common for smaller cap stocks that have recently IPO’d. However, Upwork has manageable debt with a low debt-to-equity ratio of 0.05, significant cash reserves of $131.56 million, and annual revenue that has grown over 76% from $164.45 million in 2016 to $289.31 million in 2019. Investors may be tempted to buy Upwork when evaluating its revenue growth, profitability, the rise of freelance workers, and debt management. But they should also consider the risk of investing in recently IPO’d firms with negative profitability and that Upwork’s CEO Stephane Kasriel is stepping down. Hayden Brown, chief marketing and product officer, will take his place and there was no reason given for this change. Despite changes in leadership, investors looking to add growth stocks to their […]

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A Freelancer’s Guide to Taxes

Taxes can be stressful and burdensome for every freelancer. This will help relieve some of the pain. Photo by Brooke Cagle on Unsplash As you are considered self-employed as a freelancer you get the advantage of tax deductions but also the disadvantage of keeping track of these expenses — proving to the IRS that each deduction is accurate and appropriate. Each freelance check you receive should set aside 25% to 30% for taxes — which should be put in a separate savings account to use when it’s time to pay Uncle Sam. There are a few reasons why the range to set aside is so high, mainly because of the self-employment tax. As an employee, Medicare and Social Security are taken out of your paychecks automatically with the employer paying one-half of 15.3%. Unfortunately, as a self-employed individual, you are expected to pay the entire 15.3%. If you do not receive a 1099-MISC — a form that companies use to report payments to nonemployees — and received more than $400, you probably were paid through PayPal or another online payment system. If you don’t receive a tax report, understand that you aren’t off the hook come tax time. You should also receive a 1099-K if you were paid more than $20,000 or more than 200 times, however, if you don’t qualify for a 1099-K, you can use the Schedule C tax form — which serves as an overall tax report for your income and expenses. Schedule C summarizes your 1099 forms into one form, which deducts your expenses from your income. If you had $5,000 or less in expenses, the Schedule C-EZ may be best for you to choose from.

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Five ways for freelance trainers to get more leads

Reading time: 6 minutes One of the challenges when you’re a freelance trainer is that if you spend all day training clients, it doesn’t leave you much time for marketing your business. So if you want to get more leads for your business, you need to implement smart marketing strategies which can be working for you round the clock even if you’re busy delivering a course or a workshop. Fortunately, in the digital age, this is easy to achieve if you know what you’re doing. And it doesn’t need to be expensive either. In this article I’ll be sharing five tips that freelance trainers can use to generate more leads and, ultimately, get more clients. 1. Define your value proposition Before you can market yourself effectively – whether online or offline – you need to have a clear and compelling value proposition. Your value proposition is a statement (usually one or two sentences long) which sums up what you do and what makes you different from, and/or better than, your competitors. One of the main places that a value proposition should be used is on your website. A well-crafted value proposition will ensure that when people land on your website they immediately know where they are, what’s on offer, and why they should read on and find out more about your training services. Here’s an example of a value proposition for a fictional social media trainer: Practical, fun and affordable social media training that pays for itself Our courses have a 100% satisfaction rating and are proven to help you get new clients If you don’t already have something like this for your business, check out this step-by-step guide to creating a value proposition . 2. Turn your website into a lead generation machine Most freelance trainers have websites which don’t generate them any business whatsoever. But you don’t need to be one of them. If you expect a first time visitor to your website to contact you straightaway, that’s the equivalent of expecting someone to marry you after meeting you once for half an hour The biggest mistake most trainers’ make with their websites is that they try to turn first time visitors (known as cold traffic) into leads too quickly. You wouldn’t expect to meet someone in a bar and marry them the next day – there’d usually be some form of courtship (a series of dates, moving in together, etc) between meeting someone for the first time and asking them to marry you. If you expect a first time visitor to your website to contact you straightaway, that’s the equivalent of expecting someone to marry you after meeting you once for half an hour. It could happen, but it’s unlikely. What you need to do is find a way to get that cold traffic to subscribe to your mailing list so as you can send them regular follow up emails to nurture the relationship until they are ready to buy. The best way to do this […]

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This is how insurance is changing for gig workers and freelancers

This is a preview of a re search re port from Business Insider Intelligence , Business Insider’s premium research service. To learn more about Business Insider Intelligence, click here . Business Insider Intelligence The gig economy is becoming a core element of the labor market, pushed to the fore by platforms like Uber and Airbnb. Gig economy workers are freelancers, such as journalists who don’t work for one publication directly, freelance developers, drivers on platforms like Uber and Grab, and consumers who rent out their apartments via Airbnb or other home-sharing sites. Gig economy workers are not employed by these platforms, and therefore typically don’t receive conventional employee perks, such as insurance or retirement options. This has created a lucrative opportunity to provide tailored insurance policies for the gig economy. A number of insurtech startups – including UK-based Dinghy, which focuses on liability insurance, and US-based Slice, which provides on-demand insurance for a range of areas – have moved to capitalize on this new segment of the labor market. These companies have been busy finding new ways to personalize insurance products by incorporating emerging technologies, including AI and chatbots, to target the gig economy. In this report, Business Insider Intelligence examines how insurtechs have begun addressing the gig economy, the kinds of policies they are offering, and how incumbents can tap the market themselves. We have opted to focus on three areas of insurance particularly relevant to the gig economy: vehicle insurance, home insurance, and equipment and liability insurance. While every consumer needs health insurance, there are already a number of insurtechs and incumbent insurers that offer policies for individuals. However, when it comes to insuring work equipment or other utilities for freelancers, it’s much more difficult to find suitable coverage. As such, this is the gap in the market where we see the most opportunity to deploy new products. The companies mentioned in this report are: Airbnb, Deliveroo, Dinghy, Grab, Progressive, Slice, Uber, Urban Jungle, and Zego. Here are some of the key takeaways from the report: By 2027, the majority of the US workforce will work as freelancers, per Upwork and Freelancer Union , though not all of these workers will take part in the gig economy full time. By personalizing policies for gig economy workers, insurtechs have been able to tap this opportunity early. A number of other insurtechs, including Slice and UK-based Zego, offer temporary vehicle insurance, which users can switch on and off, depending on when they are working. Slice has also developed a new insurance model that combines traditional home insurance with business coverage for temporary use. Other freelancers like photojournalists need insurance for their camera, for example, a coverage area that Dinghy has tackled. Incumbent insurers have a huge opportunity to leverage their reach and well-known brands to pull in the gig economy and secure a share of this growing segment – and partnering with startups might be the best approach. In full, the report: Details what the gig economy landscape looks […]

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The Freelancer’s Guide to End-of-Year Tax Prep

I started preparing for next year’s taxes in October of this year. By the first week of November, I sent my CPA a prepared document listing my current business income and expenses (aka a “profit and loss statement”) as well as my anticipated income and expenses for the remaining two months of the year. I also provided my CPA with additional tax-relevant numbers, including: The money I paid in Affordable Care Act health insurance premiums, and the subsidy dollars claimed The money I contributed to my HSA, and the money I withdrew from my HSA for qualified medical expenses The money I contributed to my traditional IRA and SEP IRA My estimated federal and state tax payments I closed this document with a list of questions, including: What is the maximum amount of money I can contribute to my SEP IRA this year? (Unlike a traditional or Roth IRA, which are capped at specific dollar amounts, SEP IRAs are capped at a percentage of your net self-employment income—which, when your taxes are as complicated as mine, might require a CPA’s assistance to help you calculate.) Is it possible to open a Solo 401(k) in addition to my SEP IRA, to funnel more money towards retirement and reduce my taxable income? (I am pretty sure the answer is no, but the good thing about having a CPA is that you can double-check.) Will I need to adjust my fourth-quarter estimated tax payment to compensate for over- or under-estimating my first three payments? Will I need to pay back any health insurance subsidy dollars, or did I claim the right amount? If you’re a freelancer, side hustler, or gig economy worker, it’s not too late to start thinking about your own taxes—and, as Laura Saunders at The Wall Street Journal reminds us, there are a handful of tax-related tasks that need to be completed before the end of the year . These to-dos include: Opening a health savings account Opening a Solo 401(k) Increasing your withholding on your W-2 income (that’s the paycheck you get from a traditional employer; if you increase the amount of tax you pay on your W-2 income, you might not have to pay as much quarterly tax on your freelance income) Saunders also lists some record-keeping tasks that don’t necessarily need to be completed by December 31, but are still good to complete in advance, including: Tallying up all of the income you’ve received from your various freelance/side hustle/gig economy sources (remember, you need to pay taxes on all of this income, even if you don’t receive 1099 forms from each of your individual clients or gig economy employers) Tracking your tax-deductible business expenses Calculating depreciation on any assets you use for your freelance business (like a car, or a laptop) I’ll leave you with one more freelance tax-related tip, directly from my CPA: if you’ve been thinking about making a business-related purchase, whether it’s a new computer, new furniture for your home office, or tickets […]

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The new war for talent: Why you should consider offering benefits to freelancers

The growing war for talent , especially millennial talent, is prompting employers to get creative and offer a new wave of benefits like pet insurance, telemedicine and college loan repayments. Unfortunately, the fastest-growing part of the employment economy, freelance and contract workers, almost always find themselves left out of that conversation. The latest Freelancing In America survey from Freelancer’s Union and Upwork, showed the number of US freelancers grew by 7% in five years to 56.7 million, with 35% of American workers freelancing last year. The entire gig economy may actually be much larger. Benefits to freelancers? It is easy to see why companies tap into freelance and contract workers. They often bring specific skill-sets and experience that full-time staff lacks. Employers can access workers from other geographies, for example, who have unique specialties. By the same token, contract workers are often drawn to the flexibility of hours , location and employers or gigs. Although there are advantages to freelance work, including the potential to make more money, there are some obvious drawbacks. Mainly, the lack of consistent income and access to company benefits including health insurance, causing stress and concerns about accessibility and affordability. That said, I think freelance workers will soon become the leading drivers in the talent war. The best of the bunch are demanding more and more from their clients. Smart companies that want to continue benefiting from them will need to treat them better and offer incentives. It is time to start thinking of making employee benefits available to contractors. Extending benefits to freelancers? In California, a new bill has proposed that gig-economy workers, including those who work for Uber and Lyft, be considered employees, thereby making them eligible for basic health insurance. However, it must be noted that not all freelancers want to be employees. I know that the subject of advocating extending employment benefits to freelancers, may make some HR leaders bristle. Freelancers are known to carry multiple jobs at a time, so the question of liability or responsibility for any single contract worker, may come into question. Administering and managing coverage for full-time employees is challenging enough, with individual coverage plans often being uniquely configured for them and running for different terms. Even when working for the same employer, some workers may be eligible for benefits one month and then ineligible the next, based on hours worked. The burden of adding and removing these workers falls entirely on an employer and adds more complexity, liability and cost to the equation. The solution may be found in the new wave of tools that are automated, flexible and intended to manage the fluctuation of freelancers who meet eligibility requirements. Since failure to remove an ineligible worker from your list may be a breach of terms with your plan provider, hypervigilance offered through such software is necessary. Employers may start by offering freelancers access to voluntary benefits. Pet insurance and student loan repayment can be a flexible and manageable way to add value to […]

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Freelance Art Director/Senior Designer

Triple Eight is seeking a talented senior designer/art director to work with our team on a freelance basis. We are looking to find a candidate who combines conceptual and creative excellence with experience in design. Duties: To conceptualise and, using your visionary design skills, craft and produce award-winning creative work within the scope of the brand and creative brief supplied. Mock up design ideas across a number of elements. Work closely with the creative team and, as directed, by the creative brief. Manage deadlines and large workloads efficiently and effectively. Ensure effective communication and management of teams’ expectations. Work with the Creative Team to understand the clients’ brand and manage projects in a way that will support the delivery of the brand. Manage and take ownership of projects from origination to completion. Accurate recording of work time. The responsibility of this role vests in the attitude, behaviour, determination and accountability of the candidate to pursue all avenues in order to ensure that the end-product/design craft is of a high standard. By taking ownership and making use of all available resources, the end-product/design craft should showcase a keen attention to detail. Requirements: A critical thinker with exceptionally fast conceptual skills. Thorough understanding of promotional activities and experiential marketing disciplines. Finely-honed graphic design skills and latest techniques. A portfolio that demonstrates these skills beyond a shadow of doubt. Capability to take on campaigns with multi-element tasks which require a concept and thought-through process. Fully literate in all relevant programs. A Photoshop genius – someone who can take visuals from average to exceptional! Qualifications: Degree or diploma in art direction (Or a degree in visual communication/design/fine art etc. that shows competent visual skills). Minimum three to five years’ experience as an art director. Essential Personal Attributes: Team player Hard-working, conscientious Creative thinker – cross boundaries to conceptualise Ability to work under pressure Goal-orientated achiever Pro-active thinker Key Responsibilities (broad description): The purpose of the role is to produce artwork and art layouts by developing art concepts that support the development and promotion of client strategies, business problems and briefs. The Art Director will be responsible for the layout of artwork for the concepts. The successful candidate will be expected to maintain and push the company’s standard for creative excellence, by developing engaging, high-quality artwork in line with the creative brief and in a timely manner. Working under the guidance of the Creative Team, the Art Director will amongst other things, understand client strategies, business problems, briefs and the message the client is seeking to deliver and translate this into high quality artwork, creative solutions and executions. Please submit a relevant portfolio of work as a link/PDF along with your CV on application. Should you not receive a response within a reasonable time frame, please consider your application for this specific role unsuccessful.

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Editors Don’t Need Perfect Writers, Just Reliable Ones

( Photo by Kaitlyn Baker on Unsplash ) Before I was a freelancer, I was a managing editor, and one of my biggest problems was finding reliable, quality freelance writers. That sounds unbelievable: Just look at how many writers are contributing content here, and how many freelancers are working across the online world. Yet I couldn’t find many writers to create the content that my technology publication needed. In some cases, their news writing skills weren’t very good. But some freelancers passed us by completely because they knew little or nothing about the market we covered and thought we wouldn’t choose them based on their lack of knowledge. The truth was that I needed freelancers with a good grounding in news and feature-writing. I didn’t need another technology expert or market analyst — I just needed a dependable, professional writer. The experience is something that I’ve taken with me into my freelancing career — inside knowledge of what editors are looking for in a freelance writer. This may surprise you: Top writing skills are not at the top of the list. An editor for a niche publication who’s looking for a freelance writer needs three things: A good attitude. A willingness to follow editorial direction. Good, not perfect, content writing skills. If a writer meets these requirements, many editors will help them learn to write for that market niche. In six years of recruiting new freelancers, surprisingly few writers met all three of the items above. Those who did became writers that we relied upon regularly — and paid above market — to craft news articles, features, and marketing copy like whitepapers and ebooks. The best of these writers have continued writing within this industry area. I see them regularly at trade shows, covering product announcements for various publications. They command top dollar for their work. And they are usually booked up for the year. I’m giving you this insider information to awaken you to a huge opportunity. Niche publications need freelancers. They need reliable people who will produce a well-written copy on time. They need people who can put their ego to the side when they get editors’ feedback. They need people who keep their eyes open and never stop learning. Trying to find your first freelance job is frightening. Moving into a subject niche that you don’t know much about can induce even more anxiety. Do not let this anxiety stop you from moving into a new subject, and don’t let it affect the way you respond to feedback from an editor. If you’re asked for more information, for a more detailed query, for different writing samples, or for extensive edits — respond professionally. If despite your best efforts, an assignment doesn’t work out, you will move on with much more knowledge about that area than you had when you started. It will be worth the work, no matter what happens. A couple of years into my managing editor job, I met a writer who’d been recommended […]

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10 Ways You Should Be Using Freelancers More Strategically

Getty Readers often ask how I became interested in writing about the freelance revolution. Way back in 2013, I was a partner in a boutique consulting firm RBL Group, working on a human capital strategy for McKesson , the big pharma company. McKesson’s CHRO Jorge Figueredo asked me to help him and his team understand the emerging trends that were shaping HR in future. Much of the data I reviewed focused on tech: AI was beginning to appear as a factor in talent management and Workday was demonstrating the potential of the “cloud” in HRIS. But I was interested in another cloud: the “talent cloud”. Early digital talent marketplaces were forming, and firms like Accenture and Deloitte claimed that more and more companies were depending on freelancers to augment full-time staff, and lend expertise the organization did not own. A bunch of articles followed, then a book Agile Talent written with Norm Smallwood, then an interview and a series of articles in the Harvard Business Review , and I was hooked as a chronicler of the freelance revolution. Which brings me to the current state of freelancing. One obvious measure of the growth of the freelance revolution is the sheer growth of freelancing . A more interesting indicator is a broadening of how freelancers are asked to support companies in a more strategic way, an area where greater progress should be evident. Hence the topic of this piece: what are more strategically impactful ways that freelancers can contribute to an organization? There are certainly new platform innovations that promise a more strategic contribution. For example: · Coaching talent platforms like AceUp , offer company executives, hi potential young managers and senior technical leaders executive coaching services in dealing with critical developmental needs · Expert access platforms like CleverX provide organizations with access to on demand expertise in a wide range of areas; the experience of these experts helps companies to increase the odds of success in new areas PROMOTED · Independent management consulting platforms like Business Talent Group in the US, Outsized in Asia, Flexing It in India and Expert 360 in Australia, give startups the chance to work with top management consultants on a freelance basis There is a greater good possible. As organizations become comfortable with a flexible, blended workforce, smart executives see greater potential to work with freelancers in more strategic ways. Here are 10 ways to get more from your investment in the freelance revolution: 1. Lubricating the executive imagination . At National City Bank , the HR head brought in freelance futurists to broaden executive thinking during the planning process; 3M regularly brings in outside experts to its R&D leaders for the same purpose. Are there freelancers or independent consultants working with your organization that might lubricate the creative juices of your leadership team? 2. Part of the strategy team . What about including freelancers as part of the team exploring a new investment in a market, product or capability. For example, Halliburton brought […]

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The Beginner’s Guide To Side Gigs

Long gone are the days of having one source of income . Considering many college grads of the last decade or so entered the job market during an economic recession and many are currently entering into an unforgiving and unstable workforce, having varying revenue streams has become a tool of survival. We are also pursuing our dreams and using side hustles to fund them. A side hustle is simply a separate gig one takes on with the sole purpose of additional income, and/or experience. This isn’t yet a full-time role or position, it is simply work done on the side of your day job. Side hustles can be quite lucrative if done correctly and can be a great source of additional income and who wouldn’t want a few extra coins? Ahead, check out a few of the most popular side hustles. 1. Freelance Work No matter your industry, from actors to writers, there will always be work for freelancers. Freelance work, simply means work offered on a temp, or non-contractual basis. This is work based on the need of the employer, not in a salary or full-time position. Freelance work is great for anyone with extra time, looking to make some extra money all while pursuing a passion. If you’re a creative of any sort, freelance work is a great way to network with professionals and build out your professional portfolio. If you’re looking to showcase your skills and make some money try sites like Upwork.com or Fiverr.com . 2. Ride-Share Driving Uber? Lyft? Via? Take your pick. Ridesharing companies have not only changed the way we travel in cities around the world, they’ve also become a reliable source of side gig income. In just 2018 Uber grossed over $11 billion dollars in revenue with Lyft not far behind with over $2 billion . Rideshare companies have become the new wave of transportation throughout the nation growing in popularity and income. If you’re looking for quick, easy money, and a side hustle with a flexible schedule, this might be the gig for you. 3. Meal Delivery From UberEats, PostMates, Seamless and so many more, there is no real reason you couldn’t be making extra income. According to Deliverect.com the food delivery industry is worth over $80 billion dollars and continues to grow as new restaurants surface. If you’re looking for extra income, all you need is a car and some free time to earn a few extra dollars throughout the day. 4. Airbnb If you’re a homeowner or renting an apartment and happen to travel often, you might want to look into becoming an Airbnb host for the times that you’re away. Becoming a host simply means, providing accommodations for travelers looking to save money while on vacation. According to Priceonomics.com Airbnb hosts are making more than anyone else in the gig economy, earning over $900 monthly. 5. Start a Business Starting a business will probably be the most difficult, yet most rewarding of all the gigs listed. The […]

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