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Ask FreelanceSwitch: Pseudonyms and Secondary Services Posted: 25 Mar 2011 05:00 AM PDT In this issue of Ask FreelanceSwitch, we look at names and secondary services, in two questions from the same person. Ask FreelanceSwitch is a regular column here that allows us to help beginners get a grip on freelancing. If you have a question about freelancing that you want answered, send an email to askfreelanceswitch@gmail.com.
Question 1Unfortunately, working under a pseudonym is not the same as working under a business name. You can certainly register a business name different than your own to freelance under, but it basically has to be associated with your real name. The IRS doesn’t particularly care, provided that you’re giving your actual Social Security number when you’re filling out tax forms, but you can run into problems if you’re signing contracts under a name other than your own. At the very least, you’d have some concerns about whether you’d be able to get the contract enforced if you had to take a situation to court. In general, I’d recommend that you use a business name rather than a pseudonym. If you feel that you have a driving need to keep your work from being associated with your real name, you can consult with an attorney to see if there are any steps you can take — but there are almost certainly still going to be people who can associate your real name with your pseudonym. In general, you can use any work you’ve done in your portfolio, whether you’ve done it under one business name or another. The exceptions can be if you did the work as an employee or your client specified in your contract that he’d prefer you didn’t include a particular project in your portfolio. If you’re going to the trouble of setting up a pseudonym and splitting the type of work that you do, however, I’ve wonder why you’d want to include work done under another name in your portfolio? At the very least, it can confuse your clients as to just who they think they’re working with. Question 2The biggest reason that most freelancers stick to just one creative discipline is that it’s a lot of work to market yourself as a professional in just one area, let alone doing so with a second (and very different) field. There are some freelancers who offer secondary services in other fields, but it’s usually only as a part of a larger project focused on their main specialty. It takes some care to add in a second skill set, though. Most clients are looking for a freelancer who is great in his or her field — when they see someone who seems to be all over the place in terms of the work being offered, clients tend to worry that you’re not an expert in your field. It’s generally best to focus your work on what you want to do most and then go from there. Photo credit: Some rights reserved by Siew Yi Liang. |
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