The Creative Mentor Part 2: Money // Salaries // Taxes // Negotiation
Part 2 was all about Money.
People get weird when we talk about money. People get weird about money in general. I personally believe being transparent about salaries, industry standard pay, cost of school, and the wage gap help us all have a better grasp of the reality of money and what our value as creatives is. If one of us is doing well, we all are.
Industry Standard Salary Rates:
There’s this temp agency called Robert Half that has access to creatives, and the people who hire them. Every year they put out a study of jobs that are in demand, what companies are doing/paying/what their benefits are, and what everyone should be paid for their work. I LIVE BY THIS DOCUMENT. So read over it and let this research help you justify your value to your boss.
Taxes Suck
There’s a lot to know about taxes no matter who your are. But if you’re a solo freelancer or an online shop owner you need to know a lot about taxes. When you work for a company, your company takes out your share of taxes for you, then we all file at tax time to make sure that number was right, and we get a return, or we pay more on our taxes. When you’re a freelancer you’re responsible for 100% of the taxes on our income.
Freelancer
15.3% self employment tax [covers social security, and medicare]
regular income tax
tax deductions [office space, stuff you need to run your business like computers, printers, software, etc]
Online Shop Owner
if you sell on redbubble, society6, etsy, etc you may owe taxes on your sales
if you make a profit [regardless of business statuse] of $600 or more you will need to claim that on your personal taxes
need to know what 1099 forms or Schedule C is
Here are links to helpful IRS Tax pages for more info:
Business or Hobby?, What is a Schedule C?, Self Employment Tax, Individual Income Tax, Net Profit (Sched. C), Estimated Taxes, How to Fill a W4, What is a W2?, What is an EIN?
Negotiating a Raise
People will never get paid more unless they ask. It’s super scary to go ‘hey give me more money’ but this might help you feel more confident to do that:
Research your value in the market:
Assess your ‘variables’ What is a realistic expectation for where you work?
What is the industry standard (for your area)?
What does the Design Census data tell you?Compare your current compensation to similar positions at other companies.
Respectfully ask the people around you who have similar titles what they make for the same work.
Build your case:
NEVER make something that’s rooted in ‘team work’ all about you. This includes how you handle the conversation with your boss.
Bring the implementations or creative solutions you’ve built over time and how it’s helped the process of work, or business. Example: Learning new programs to fill a talent gap on the team, or creative strategy that met a business goal, creating a more collaborative review process.
Demonstrate your worth to your boss with quantitative data. Example: Doing xyz helped increase abc by %.
Know what your worth, and what figure you want your raise to be.
Sites to help with your research:
Glass Door