Below are four articles that might be of interest to you. The first, titled Resolved to Keep on Marketing, Even in Tight-Fisted Times and written by advertising sage
The second, which I wrote for Valleynews.com and which also appeared in the LA Daily News, centers on alcoholism. It's about the audience's response to client Linda L. Rand when she starred in and directed The Gingerbread Lady.
For small businesses and start-ups, the third outlines how you can do your own pr and marketing and the fourth determines, for tax purposes, how to categorize people who work for you - employees or independent contractors. JMK
Subject of alcoholism stirs audience response
ValleyNews.com and LA Daily News
Contributed by: Judith King on 9/6/2007
Something peculiar has been happening to Granada Hills resident Linda L. Rand
(pictured), who currently plays an alcoholic in Neil Simon's The Gingerbread Lady;
she is amazed by the stream of people who come up to her after the show who are
either alcoholics themselves or those who have survived (not without considerable
damage) a dysfunctional alcoholic household.
It seems that her portrayal is so real that they relate to her on a totally unexpected
and deeply personal level.
"When a recovering alcoholic approaches you after a performance and thanks you
profusely for how you portrayed a character struggling with the same addiction...
rather than puffing up your actor's ego, it gives you an important lesson in humanity," says Rand.
The reactions she has been experiencing happen every weekend after a performance at the Sierra Madre Playhouse, where she plays the role of Evy Meara, a fading cabaret singer and recovering alcoholic who is just out of rehab and trying desperately to cope.
"Mostly what we wanted to achieve with this production," says Rand, "was to bring to light the devastation alcoholism inflicts on everyone involved with alcoholics. What we didn't anticipate was how personally and profoundly our audience members would be affected."
Rand co-directs The Gingerbread Lady with Melanie Ewbank.
From personal experience in a family riddled with alcoholism, Rand totally comprehends the complexities, the nuances, and fragility of a character so wrenched by addiction, self loathing, and inner turmoil. She has taken an unhappy personal history and turned it to her advantage. "The character of Evy Meara," she says, "is a compilation of my mother, my aunt, and my grandmother, with a little bit of me (the performer) woven in."
The play has had a variety of effects on audience members. One woman who grew up in an alcoholic household said that the play had "released a flood of emotions" she'd been storing for years. She went back to therapy, where she's been making, in her words, "fantastic progress."
Another playgoer thanked Rand for showing the alcoholic's side of the story, along with the effects it has on family and friends. "None of the cast members can take credit for that," says Rand. "Neil Simon's brilliant words were there...all we had to do was interpret them.
"So far, we've been incredibly touched by the audience's reaction. It's almost better than getting a Tony!"
The play runs through September 22, 2007. For tickets or more information, call 626-256-3809 or visit www.sierramadreplayhouse.org.
About Linda L. Rand
Linda L. Rand is a veteran actor, award-winning playwright, and director. In addition to her current run in The Gingerbread Lady, Rand can be seen in the recurring lead role of Dr. Judy Wolfe in The Learning Channel's Diagnosis X, airing Wednesdays at 10:00 PM (PT/ET).
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Do-It-Yourself Marketing for the Small or Start-Up Business
By
Judith King
You have a great product or service, an eye-catching logo, a solid business plan, a great Web site and great presentation skills. You are a motivated salesperson who knows the market. You are a member of the local Chamber and belong to a variety of professional organizations, including those online, where you network vigorously. Still, beyond all that you have prepared for your success, beyond your circle of contacts – who knows about you?
Wouldn’t an article about your company in the local newspaper or in a trade publication be a great publicity boost? What about your name on a by-lined article (like this one)? This is pretty basic public relations and, if executed correctly, can go a long way towards calling positive attention to your business.
PR, by itself or performed in tandem with advertising, can substantially increase your business’s visibility, thereby significantly increasing your sales. A fundamental principle to the success of this, though, is repetition, repetition, repetition. In other words, one isolated advertisement or article does not a client base build.
For the record, let me state here that PR and advertising are best left to the professionals. It is their business to keep current on the rapidly changing methods of communicating to an increasingly fragmented audience (your prospective clients). They are experienced in determining the most effective course of action for their clients. They have the contacts and resources upon which to call on behalf of their clients. That said . . .
Common Misconceptions:
PR? Advertising? Not significant, you may say. Yet they are as essential to marketing your business as are all the other components you have so carefully included in your plans.
Another common misconception among small business owners is that marketing – particularly the public relations and advertising portions – is unaffordable, therefore unobtainable. Not so. There are many PR and advertising professionals who will contract out on a project basis or at an hourly rate. Or, time and resources permitting, you could do it yourself!
Going Solo -- Sort of:
Can’t write? Perhaps this is where a PR or advertising pro could step in to help. A rough outline of what you want to publicize in your press release or ad is all you need. After some consultation with you, they can rewrite, edit, and polish your work. You take it from there.
Conversely, if you like to write you could undertake that part of the task, then hand it over to someone else for the dissemination process. This would relieve you of the time it takes to research your market and determine which media are most appropriate.
Going Solo, For Real:
For purposes of our exercise, let us assume you own a local business with a regional service. Clearly, local daily newspaper(s), business journals, surrounding area weeklies and local magazines are the most effective means of reaching your potential customers.
First, however, you must determine how you wish to approach your target market. Is your service new to the area? Unique among competitors? Is your pricing or customer service a cut above? Find the difference between your service and the competition’s and work it. If there is no difference, there are other, equally effective means of establishing company awareness. Then, when someone needs a service such as you provide, your company’s name will come to mind simply because you put it there.
Call the editors of the publications in which you wish to appear and introduce yourself and your company. Ask how they prefer to receive news from you -- by e-mail, fax, regular mail, etc. Let them know that you are an expert in your field and that you are available to comment on any relevant stories. Offer to write articles about your industry. Similarly, call up the publication’s display advertising departments and inquire about ad placement. They should give you all the information you will need to design an ad according to their specifications, as well as a range of sizes and their corresponding costs.
There are many other activities that, when coupled with basic publicity, can keep your public relations efforts going – even when you have nothing new to announce. For example, develop a newsletter that is of interest to existing and potential customers; sponsor a breakfast meeting and invite your target market to attend. Make sure you have an engaging speaker they are eager to hear, and remember to send out a press release and invitations and to place an ad announcing the event. Flyers might be appropriate, too. Become involved with local corporate giving programs – they may be looking for donations other than funds.
Remember, doing the PR and advertising yourself is not impossible, but it does require time and a resourceful nature, which, clearly, you possess. Otherwise you would be working for someone else.
©1998 Judith King
This article first appeared in The Middlesex News, Framingham, MA, 1998
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Independent Contractors or Employees?
When the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) established Revenue Ruling 87-41, it instituted twenty factors to be used as a guideline in determining the status of a worker as an independent contractor or an employee.
It will be interesting to see if any changes will be forthcoming, especially in the face of the burgeoning independent workforce.
Control Factors:
1.Instructions. A worker who is required to comply with other persons’ instructions about where, when, and how he or she is to work is ordinarily an employee.
2.Training. Training a worker by requiring an experienced employee to work with the worker, by corresponding with the worker, by requiring the worker to attend meetings, or by using other methods, indicates that the person or persons for whom the services are performed want the services performed in a particular method or manner.
3.Integration. Integration of the worker’s services into the business operations generally shows that the worker is subject to direction and control. When the success or continuation of a business depends to an appreciable degree upon the performance of certain services, the workers who perform those services must necessarily be subject to a certain amount of control by the owner of the business.
4.Services Rendered Personally. If the services must be rendered personally, presumably the person or persons for whom the services are performed are interested in the methods used to accomplish the work as well as in the results.
5.Hiring, Supervising, and Paying Assistants. If the person or persons for whom the services are performed hire, supervise, and pay assistants, that factor generally shows control over the workers on the job. However, if one worker hires, supervises, and pays the other assistants pursuant to a contract under which the worker agrees to provide materials and labor and under which the worker is responsible only for the attainment of a result, this factor indicates an independent contractor status.
Time Factors:
6.Continuing Relationship. A continuing relationship between the worker and the person or persons for whom the services are performed indicates that an employer-employee relationship exists. A continuing relationship may exist where work is performed at frequently recurring although irregular intervals.
7.Set Hours of Work. The establishment of set hours of work by the person or persons for whom the services are performed is a factor indicating control.
8.Full Time Required. If the worker must devote substantially full time to the business of the person or persons for whom the services are performed, such person or persons have control over the amount of time the worker spends working impliedly restrict the worker from doing other gainful work. An independent contractor, on the other hand, is free to work when and for whom he or she chooses.
9.Doing Work on Employer’s Premises. If the work is performed on the premises of the person or persons for whom the services are performed, that factor suggests control over the worker, especially if the work could be done elsewhere. Work done off the premises of the person or persons receiving the services, such as at the office of the worker, indicates some freedom from control. However, this fact by itself does not mean that the worker is not an employee. The importance of this factor depends on the nature of the services involved and the extent to which an employer generally would require that employees perform such services on the employer’s premises. Control over the place of work is indicated when the person or persons for whom the services are performed have the right to compel the worker to ravel a designated route, to canvass a territory within a certain time, or to work at specific places as required.
10.Order or Sequence Set. If a worker must perform services in the order or sequence set by the person or persons for whom the services are performed, that factor shows that the worker is not free to follow the worker’s own pattern of work but must follow the established routines and schedules of the person or persons for whom the services are performed. Often because of the nature of an occupation, the person or persons for whom the services are performed do not set the order of the services or set the order infrequently. It is sufficient to show control, however, if such person or persons retain the right to do so.
Payment Factors:
11. Oral or Written Reports. A requirement that the worker submit regular or written reports to the person or persons for whom the services are performed indicates a degree of control.
12. Payment by Hour, Week, Month. Payment by the hour, week, or month generally points to an employer-employee relationship, provided that this method of payment is not just a convenient way to paying a lump sum agreed upon as the cost of a job. Payment made by the job or on straight commission generally indicates that the worker is an independent contractor.
13. Payment of Business and/or Traveling Expenses. If the person or persons for whom the services are performed ordinarily pay the worker’s business and/or traveling expenses, the worker is ordinarily an employee. An employer, to be able to control expenses, generally retains the right to regulate and direct the worker’s business activities.
14. Furnishing of Tools and Materials. The fact that the person or persons for whom the services are performed furnish significant tools, materials, and other equipment tends to show the existence of an employer-employee relationship.
15. Significant Investment. If the worker invests in facilities that are used by the worker in performing services and are not typically maintained by employees (such as the maintenance of an office rented at fair value from an unrelated party), that factor tends to indicate that the worker is an independent contractor. On the other hand, lack of investment in facilities indicates dependence on the person or persons for whom the services are performed for such facilities and, accordingly, the existence of an employer- employee relationship. Special scrutiny is required with respect to certain types of facilities, such as home offices.
Risk Factors:
16. Realization of Profit or Loss. A worker who can realize a profit or suffer a loss as a result of the worker’s services (an addition to the profit or loss ordinarily realized by employees) is generally an independent contractor, but the worker who cannot is an employee. For example, if the worker is subject to a real risk of economic loss due to significant investments or a bona fide liability for expenses, such as salary payments to unrelated employees, that factor indicates that the worker is an independent contractor. The risk that a worker will not receive payment for his or her services, however, is common to both independent contractors and employees and thus does not constitute a sufficient economic risk to support treatment as an independent contractor.
17. Working for More than One Firm at a Time. If a worker performs more that the minimum services for a multiple of unrelated persons or firms at the same time, that factor generally indicates that the worker is an independent contractor. However, a worker who performs services for more than one person may be an employee of each of the persons, especially where such persons are part of the same service arrangement.
18. Making Service Available to General Public. The fact that a worker makes his or her services available to the general public on a regular and consistent basis indicates an independent contractor relationship.
19. Right to Discharge. The right to discharge a worker is a factor indicating that the worker is an employee and the person possessing the right is an employer. An employer exercises control through the threat of dismissal, which causes the worker to obey the employer’s instructions. An independent contractor, on the other hand, cannot be fired so long as the independent contractor produces a result that meets the contract specifications.
20. Right to Terminate. If the worker has the right to end his or her relationship with the person for whom the services are performed at any time he or she wishes without incurring liability, that factor indicates an employer- employee relationship.
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