“The two most important days in your life are the day you are born and the day you find out why!” – Mark Twain
Many people are finding out that they were born to be an independent business operator, an entrepreneur, a freelancer. MBO Partners which provides back office support for independent consultants report that 30.2 million workers are now freelancing. By 2020 they predict a 25 percent increase to 38 million workers. Deloitte Human Capital Trends reports that more than 30 percent of the U.S. workforce consists of contract or freelance workers. The research firm Edelman Berland estimates the number much higher at 53.7 million workers or 40 percent of all full-time workers.
Our government however only shows 9.2 million self-employed. The wide difference is due to the government wanting to paint a different picture of the jobs market and suggest many more people “employed” or essentially working for someone else. So they do not count people that file business and personal taxes separately or that incorporate their business.
The new and rapidly growing freelance economy (often called “agile talent,” “gig economy” or “liquid workforce”) poses challenges to anyone who is engaged in business to business (B2B) sales, but also some interesting opportunities. One area managers devote much effort to is getting freelancers to feel more engaged with the company for the time they are doing company work. While not able to “manage” or directly control how the work gets done, they want to maintain an active relationship. Promotional marketing items are very effective for this. By giving a freelancer a company branded item that will be kept in the freelancer’s workplace at the office or in their remote location, the “corporate brand” is continually reinforced.
If we consider that each freelancer is essentially an independent business, then as the number of those businesses increase so do the number of customers you may have! Each freelancer has a need to market themselves and nothing is more economical or focused than promotional marketing/specialty advertising. Most “big box” home improvement stores for example offer installation of everything from carpeting to decks and most (if not all) the installers are freelancers. They compete for the business and those that keep their name in front of the department managers get more work.
It is not only trades that freelancers dominate, accounting services, consulting of all types, hand and bindery work at printing facilities, personal shoppers, grounds keepers - the list is endless. Uber in just seven years went from zero to 160,000 active drivers in the U.S. alone – generating around $2.6 billion in 2015.
Our own promotional marketing industry has been a freelance environment since its inception. Those people we call independent business owners (contractors) are no different from freelancers. We have similar support structures as well. Consultants, day workers, accountants, artists, marketers – all have organizations that provide their back office support like billing, communications systems and referrals. So to are organizations available to promotional marketing independent businesses. Large volume specialized distributors (those that only sell through the independent business owners) are available to virtually everyone in this industry that wants to have more time for profitable business activities and spend less time on paperwork.
Finding freelancers who you hope become customers does take a bit of effort. Start with the internet. You will find both the actual freelancer and agencies that place them. Both are great prospects. Ask existing customers if they use freelancers. If they do ask for the names.
A cautionary note. While all predictions point to continued growth in the freelance economy, it is wise to maintain your conventional business contacts as well. The freelance economy is speeding to a head to head collision with government! The U.S. employment system has been designed to be the primary mechanism to collect income taxes, provide health benefits and retirement accounts. They collect payments for unemployment insurance, worker’s compensation and a lot more. There are currently legislative actions hanging around state and federal buildings waiting to be dusted off and moved forward that would reclassify independent workers, freelancers, home based businesses and virtually every other contractor – to become “employees” of some business.
The increase in the minimum annual income to declare a worker “exempt” rather than hourly was raised just in May 2016 to become effective in December. The adjustments to minimum wages and other pay related actions are all connected to an eventual attack on independent contractors. If you seek out a “partner” to handle back office tasks for you, be very sure that partner knows every single aspect of keeping you legally “independent.”
This is an exciting new business community that every freelancer is a member of regardless of the service or craft you represent. People like to do business with people they like to do business with – and that certainly can be you!
Gregg Emmer is chief marketing officer and vice president at Kaeser & Blair, Inc. He has more than 40 years experience in marketing and the promotional specialty advertising industry. His outside consultancy provides marketing, public relations and business planning consulting to a wide range of other businesses has been a useful knowledge base for K&B Dealers. Contact Gregg at gemmer@kaeser-blair.com.