Daily Biz Solutions

Do you have team members whose jobs involve frequent travel? If so, it’s a good idea to periodically do something to help keep them motivated. Consider providing ipods to your employees who spend a lot of time flying from one client location to another. This inexpensive item can be a great way to let your workers who log many hours traveling that you recognize the unique stresses and pressures of that part of their jobs.

So you want to become an internet marketer. That is wonderful, but there are some very important steps you’re going to have to take first if you truly want to become successful.

The first of these steps is to realize that as an internet marketer you are no longer a consumer which means you have to stop buying things. Now that may not make any sense at first glance, but the truth is that one of the reasons that 97% of the people fail online is because they do not differentiate between those two entirely different behaviors.

Despite what you will read over and over you do not need to buy every new fangled system or program that promises to make you wealthy. That is not to say that you won’t have to spend any money, but how long are you going to last spending more money than you are making?

The next step is only necessary if you cannot grasp the first step. Cut up your credit cards. Seriously! If you are the type of person who can be convinced that coaching lessons, incorporating your business, and hiring an accountant should all be financed through the use of your credit card stop yourself now.

There are plenty of people online who are willing to share their experiences for free so you do not need to spend thousands of dollars on lessons of dubious value. There will be a time where the second two items have some value, but they are not at all necessary at the beginning no matter how hard they try to convince you otherwise.

It is far more important that you take the time to do market research. Find out whether there is a want or need for what you are wanting to market online. Do not fail to take this very important step or you will find yourself racking up expenses against little or no income. Too many people, myself included have started with a product they want to sell. It is far more important to find out what people are willing to buy and sell them that.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Stan_A._Smith

There are a lot of entrepreneurs out there doing what I call “dirty marketing” every single day. I should know — I was one of those solopreneurs. Back in 2003, when I started my first online business, I was desperate to figure the whole internet marketing piece out. I needed traffic like yesterday! I needed to build my list like nobody’s business. And I needed to come up with a system to ensure that – that traffic flow never stopped.

So as I joined more and more internet marketing lists, joined the forums, and kind of started getting my feet wet with internet marketing I began buying reports, systems, joined coaching programs, going to seminars — anything and everything that I could afford to start generating momentum in my business. I call this dirty marketing, and that’s because your marketing plan or system is really not a system at all. It’s just a dirty, muddy, mucky pool of marketing “stuff” from every guru on the planet.

I participated in dirty marketing for way too many years then I’d like to admit. It’s addictive for some reason. Even though it never works — there’s always the hope that this next thing will do the trick. I guess it’s sort of like a gambler hoping that his next trip to Vegas will be the jackpot winner.

Frustrated and disillusioned with the whole online business thing, I decided to take a look at my stats one more time before I made it just another one of my “hobbies”.

I noticed that most of my traffic was arriving to my site organically through Google, Yahoo, and MSN (in that order) via the articles that I posted on my site.

People were searching for keywords or keyword phrases and were finding my articles – and me. Now I didn’t do this strategically or purposefully at the time. Back then I was just writing whatever I wanted to write and posting them on the site. But then suddenly a light bulb went off. Duh!

Maybe if I write more articles, I’d get more traffic. Especially if now I added a little purposeful keyword strategy to the mix. But I questioned the time factor. Didn’t articles take a lot of time? Writing. Editing. Publishing.

Well the answer was yes and no. Sure, it took more time and brain power then so many of the other quick-fix marketing strategies out there at the time. But once I decided to let go of so many of the other marketing tactics I was trying (and failing at!), I realized that I would be able to free up my time for more article marketing.

And that was it! I effectively cleaned-up my marketing, stuck to one simply strategy — and then ran with it. Thank goodness I did, because writing articles has not only made me abandon the whole dirty marketing syndrome — but it has really elevated my business and allowed me to live the life at home with my family that I so hoped and wished for.

Several years ago, online entrepreneur and author Lisa Angelettie MSW, “GirlShrink,” helped herself get noticed and attract buzz in the over-crowded self-improvement market by using articles and other content to triple her list and her traffic. She has been making money online ever since. If you’re ready to learn how she did it, grab her free report: 3 Simple Secrets To Making Money Using Articles…How To Explode the Income In Your Business by Harnessing The Power of Article Writing & Marketing! – over at http://Articology.com/index2.html

© Lisa Angelettie

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Lisa_Angelettie

By Steve Adams

There is an old adage in the business world that says, “Dress for the job you want, not the job you have.” In other words, if you are a junior copywriter in an ad agency, or an associate at a legal firm, or an assistant buyer in a manufacturing or retail company, don’t wear your old faded jeans and world peace t-shirt from college, even though the company dress code says you can. Instead, take a look at what the creative director, or the partners, or the merchandise manager wears every day and make that (or better, in some cases) your guideline.
It’s all about making a good impression on the people who can decide your fate. If you look happy to be where you are now, you’re likely to stay there. But if you look like you aspire to something more, you might just catch the eye of someone looking for an ambitious go-getter and start moving up the company ladder a bit faster than those who dress for comfort, or appear to prefer fashion sense to business sense.
The same thinking applies to business communications. Things that may have been expedient or cheap when you started out can make you look pretty insubstantial or unstable as a potential business partner – especially if you’re aspiring to going after bigger fish.
It doesn’t have to be that way, though. Just as there are stores where you can purchase good quality business clothes that don’t cost an arm and a leg, there are many tools out there now that can help you dress up your business without breaking your budget.
Take your e-mail address, for example. Many consultants when they first start out will use an e-mail address with the domain @hotmail.com, @gmail.com, @aol.com, etc. They do it because it’s free, it’s easy, and they can count on those providers to manage the back end.
The problem is it also says “this e-mail is coming to you direct from my couch, where I am watching Oprah while writing it.” That may not be true, but that’s what it says – just as surely as that beat up old pair of Birkenstocks says “I’d rather be kicking back at the beach sipping Mai Tais than stuck here at work.”
Instead of settling for those generic e-mail identities, tell people you’re a substantial business by purchasing a domain name that ties into your business and routing your e-mail through it. Domain names through some providers cost less than $10 per year, and they’ll give you the e-mail address (or sometimes several variations) for free. Odds are you spend more than $10 a year on breath mints so you make a good impression. Isn’t it worth that much for customers and prospects to see your business’ name every time they receive an e-mail from you?
Then there’s your phone system. Again, nothing says “I’m doing this until I can find a real job” like a telephone that gets answered by you when you are there, and goes to an answering machine you bought at a big box retailer when you’re not. When that happens, it sounds like you’re not planning to be there very long – even if starting a business has been your lifelong dream.
What you want to look at instead is a virtual public branch exchange (PBX) phone service. This is a service that provides you with all the benefits of a standard PBX – such as a professional greeting, auto-attendant, multiple extensions, voice mail, company directory, call forwarding, etc. – without the huge investment in capital equipment. – all of the PBX work is done at the service provider’s end.
A virtual PBX is particularly good for companies with workers who are out of the office a lot, or who work outside the main office (such as out of town or even out of state). Unlike a standard PBX, the reach of which is limited to the four walls of the building where the equipment is housed, a virtual PBX extension can be forwarded to any phone anywhere. If the main office is in Iowa and one of your employees is in California, you can have extension 101 and 102, respectively, and no one will be the wiser.
For mobile workers, the same feature extends to cell or home phones. In fact, you can set up the phone system to ring the office, mobile, home, branch office, or anywhere else all at once or in sequences, so you’re always available to your customers and prospects (if you want to be). If not, or if caller ID shows it to be someone you don’t want to speak with at the moment, they go to a professional voice mail system that can then notify you by e-mail that you have a voice mail waiting. It can even e-mail a voice file so you can hear the message without dialing in to the office. All of this can be yours for $10-$50 per month or so, depending on your needs. Some people spend more than that a month just on shoes.
There’s still something to be said for having professional-looking letterhead and envelopes with pre-printed logos and address information. While most communication in business is handled via e-mail these days, more formal communication (such as letters of agreement, formal welcome letters, thank you for your business notes, etc.) make a better impression when they come on a quality paper stock that has been professionally printed.

Local quick-print houses can create all of that for you at reasonable prices. There are also online companies that will do the same. It’s a small investment that can make a huge impact on the people you’re trying to impress. Like a nicely pressed silk tie or earrings that sparkle, it’s often the little things that make the difference.

One last thing to consider is the content of your messages itself. If business writing has never been your strength, or spelling is to you as spaghetti sauce is to a white shirt/blouse, consider upgrading your skills in these areas. Many community colleges offer business writing classes that can help you learn to write better. You may not end up being William F. Buckley, but you also won’t have people wondering how you ever passed your sixth grade English class.

On the spelling front, don’t trust it all only to the built-in spell checkers in popular office software. They can’t distinguish between “to,” “two” and “too,” but there’s a good odds-on chance your readers can. Use the wrong one and again you’ll sound foolish.

Either shore up your capabilities in this area or find someone to proofread your materials before you send them. If there’s no one in your business to help you with it, English majors at local colleges or junior colleges make good candidates for this type of work. Most will be happy to earn a few extra dollars – it beats working the all-night shift at the Quik-E-Mart. And if they catch one major gaffe a year, they’ll likely have paid for themselves many times over.

In today’s electronic world, the odds are your business communications will be seen and/or heard many times more than you will personally. Make sure you’ve dressed yours for success.

Leave the impression your business is the one you aspire to be and you’ll inspire confidence in customers and prospects alike. And they’ll help you get where you want to go a lot faster.

What is an audit and why do individuals cringe at the word? The Internal Revenue Service issues audits as a regulatory measure to ensure that society is completing accurate tax returns. Sometimes they are issued simply to check on something that seems awkward or you might get picked for an audit simply because your number was picked. Avoiding an audit or decreasing your chance for an audit is quite easy.

First to avoid tax deductions, claim tax deductions that you are legally entitled to. If there are items that you are not sure about consult a tax attorney or tax professional – get legal advice about what specific deductions you are able to claim. If you do not have documentation to verify the claim of a deduction it is probably not a grand idea to go ahead and make the claim. Submitting documentation along with your return will assist in preventing red flags and avoiding tax audits.

The discrimination index function is a computer ran program that aids the Internal Revenue Service. Basically, your tax return is compared to the tax returns in the same income bracket. If any deductions or claims seem outrageous compared to others in your tax bracket – your tax return might be flagged for an audit. To help in avoiding a tax audit keep honest on your tax return and do not exaggerate any numbers. When ran through the discrimination index function you want your return to show up normal comparisons.

There are many things you can do to avoid tax audits. For example, first and foremost, keep track of all of your income. Keep copies of your W2′s and 1099 forms, all receipts and any financial information that is relevant to the information submitted on the tax return. Keep all of this information organized, categorized and separated into specific years. Also, if you had help in preparing your return keep track of the contact information of the preparer that assisted you on the tax return. All of these above mentioned tips might not completely help you to avoid a tax audit but would surely be of help if you were chosen for an audit.

If you claim deductions instead of taking the standard deduction, any itemized listings that are exceptionally high for your income range might alert your return for an audit. To avoid a tax audit, keep honest and accurate with all of your charitable contributions especially. For example, please do not state that you have contributed $15,000 to a special organization if your annual income is only $35,000. This is not an action that someone would take it they are trying to avoid a tax audit.

It you are an owner or partner in a small business it would be in your best interest to try and avoid a tax audit. Filing a schedule C, which is required of small businesses, is tricky and complicated. If you are unfamiliar with taxes you should consult a tax attorney or tax professional. Avoiding a tax audit if you are a small business is almost next to impossible. The Internal Revenue Service is fairly certain mainly self-employed individuals try to hide or not report some of their income – this makes small business owners a target for tax audits.

Along the same lines of being self-employed, many individuals that receive a portion or all of their money in cash profits are a target for tax audits as well. To help avoid tax audits, be sure to keep all records of income either in a log book or computer program. Remember to report all income to the Internal Revenue Service and if your income is not currently taxed be sure to pay estimated taxes. These are also easy ways to avoid a tax audit.

If you are divorced both parties of the divorces wave a red flag for a tax audit the first few years. Be sure that you and your ex-spouse know which individual is claiming any dependent/s in the relationship. A child can only be claimed by one parent or the other. Many divorced couples work out a situation as to where the claiming years alternate. Also, if you are not in constant contact with your ex-spouse – be sure around tax season each individual knows who is claiming the dependent/s.

If you hold money or investments in off-shore or foreign accounts it is your responsibility to report the money produced and pay the appropriate taxes required for the funds. Holding off-shore accounts is legal but the taxes must be paid on them. If an individual does not report this off-shore income for any reason at all, criminal punishment can result.

The bottom line in avoiding a tax audit is simply being honest, accurate and filing in a timely manner. Keep organized and consult professional assistance whenever needed, especially if you have a specifically difficult filing situation.

Lydia Sweet is a contributing tax preparation expert for http://www.taxadvisr.com and has been working in the tax preparation field for 13 years. taxadvisr.com is a resource site for those preparing their federal and state income tax returns. Free E-File software, discussions, articles, reviews, forms and more can be found at http://www.taxadvisr.com

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