A Solopreneur's Notebook.

• May 13, 2026

  1099-NEC vs 1099-K, and why your payment method matters.

  The first January I worked for myself, I got two 1099s from the same client and spent an evening worried I had committed tax fraud by accident. What was actually happening: the IRS classifies payments by method, and the form you receive depends on which side of the line your client used. Read more →

• May 6, 2026

  What I charge, and how I figured it out.

  For two years I priced myself by dividing job-listing salaries by 2,080. The objection came eventually, from my bank account. The math behind freelance pricing, the mental shift from time to value, and how to raise rates without flinching. Read more →

• April 8, 2026

  What I wish someone had told me before I filed the LLC.

  I sat on the fence for almost a year before I filed the LLC paperwork. Most of the fear turned out to be about not knowing what I didn't know, and the substance, when I got to it, was a few afternoons of forms I could have handled the whole time. Read more →

• March 30, 2026

  Quarterly estimated taxes for freelancers, without a subscription.

  I treated quarterly estimated taxes like a recurring dentist appointment for two years before figuring out how the math actually works. The four IRS dates, the safe-harbor calculation, and how to do this without paying for software. Read more →