Tag: entrepreneur

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Home-Based Business

Ten Ways to Make Blogging Work for Your Business

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Blogging is quickly becoming the new favorite for small business marketers. Mainly because of the amazing results they received when they blog regularly. And publicity isn’t the only benefit to blogging. There are many ways that blogging can add merit to your business. In fact,

The Wall Street Journal recently featured The CWAHM blog in an article on how blogging can help small businesses create a buzz for their products and services. The results from this were amazing and prove that blogging truly works: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB120526706660828097.html?mod=ITPWSJ_20.

Here are the top ten ways to use blogs to increase your business revenue.

1. Ad revenue – Offering paid advertising on your blog is one of the easiest ways to see tangible evidence of the benefits of blogging.

2. Link swaps – Swapping links with other like-minded bloggers increases your standing with search engines. One of the biggest blogs available, problogger.net, recently completed a survey in an attempt to find where bloggers get the most traffic? The overwhelming response? Google at 46%. This shows us how important search engine ranking are. Link swaps are just one way to improve yours.

3. Reviews – Another growing trend online is that of the customer review. People appreciate reading the thoughts of others before they purchase a product. It doesn’t seem to matter how big or small the product, either. Posting reviews of books you’ve read, CDs you love, etc, is a great way to generate traffic for your blog.

4. Free offers – Who doesn’t love a freebie? There are many ways of using freebies to your advantage.You can offer a free ebook when someone signs up for your newsletter is an easy way to build your subscriber base. Many blogs also offer contests for those who post comments or interact in other ways on the blog.

5. Blog tours – Being a part in a blog tour is like being the next stop along the railroad. If set up correctly, the tour will send participants from one blog to the next to read more about whatever topic the tour is covering. I’ve participated in many blog tours for book releases. It’s a lot of fun and a great way to bring new readers to your blog.

6. Networking – It goes without saying that building relationships with people is one of the oldest ways of gaining long-time, loyal customers (or in this case, readers). Taking part in the comments discussion on blogs and forums is a great way to do this. The key, though, is to be authentic. Don’t simply blast places with the link to your blog; take part in the discussion and provide useful information – not just your URL.

7. Directories – Listing your blog in blog directories is probably not the best way to generate traffic, but it can be useful in certain ways. It’s a great way to connect with other like-minded bloggers and possibly generate some link exchanges, etc.

8. Press/Media – Getting media attention can be challenging. One great way to bring your blog to the attention of the media is to send out Press Releases when something newsworthy happens on your site. For instance, when I offered a free e-book on my site for Mother’s Day I put together a press release to announce it to the world.

9. Consistency – Posting on a regular basis is key. Try to find a schedule that works for you and stick to it. Even if you can’t blog every day, work to get posts out there two to three times a week. Most blogging software, including WordPress and Blogger, allow you to set the date and time our post will be published. Utilize tools like this to keep your blog consistently updated with fresh, new content.

10. Updates – Finding ways to keep your readers informed is a sure-fire way to keep them coming back to your blog. There are a quite a few ways of accomplishing this, such as offering a newsletter, setting up a Feedburner.com account, and making your RSS feeds easy to find and subscribe to.

Categories
Entrepreneurs Entrepreneurship Home-Based Business Starting Up

Cash In Minus Cash Out Does Not Equal Profit

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You’ll pay too much in taxes if you don’t understand that cash in minus cash out does not equal profit.
This is the most important thing you need to know before you start keeping records for your business…cash in minus cash out does not equal profit. It simply equals cash left over. Or, in many cases, it’s a negative number, so it equals cash you owe somebody.
What this means is that you’ll need to understand the IRS rules and keep your records according to those rules so you report your profit correctly and take (and be able to prove) all the deductions you’re allowed to take. Because you want to pay the least amount of tax possible, right?
The way you’ll need to keep your books will be different depending on whether your business is a sole proprietorship, a partnership or a corporation. The rules for calculating income and deductions (and therefore profit) and the forms used for reporting to the IRS are different for the different business types.
What counts as income? Most or all of the money you take into your business will count as income. This includes fees for services and/or product sales.
But not all the cash that comes into your business counts as income.
If you get a rebate for a purchase you made at your local office supply store, that’s cash in, but it’s not income. It’s a reduction in your supplies expense.
If you get a refund of part of your insurance premium at the end of the year, that’s cash in, but it’s not income. It’s a reduction in insurance expense.
If you borrow money (and it doesn’t matter if it’s from your brother or the bank), that’s cash in, but it doesn’t count as income.
What counts as expenses? Most of the money you spend for your business will probably count as expenses. This includes advertising, postage, office supplies, and similar items.
But not all the cash that goes out of your business counts as expenses.
When you buy business property like cars, computers, and furniture that will last longer than a year, you’re not allowed to deduct their entire cost as an expense in the year of purchase (except in special circumstances).
These items are called capital assets. Sometimes they’re referred to as fixed assets.
You have to depreciate them over several years. Basically, depreciation is a process of spreading the cost of an item over its useful life.
You might have cash of several hundred or thousands of dollars go out the door when you purchase fixed assets, but you can’t deduct the entire amount of the purchase price as an expense when you buy them.
Some things that your business pays for might only count as partial expenses. An example of that is business meals and entertainment where you can only deduct half of the cost.
That doesn’t mean that your business can’t pay for 100 % of the cost, but only that you’re limited in the amount of the tax deduction you can take. This is another example of cash out that doesn’t translate directly to expenses.
Some things your business pays for might not be tax deductible at all.
An example of this would be a contribution to a Political Action Committee. That doesn’t mean that the business can’t pay for it, just that it’s not a deductible expense on your tax return.
Some more examples of cash that goes out the door that doesn’t count as expenses are: draws for sole proprietors and distributions for partners or S corporation shareholders.
There’s also one type of expense that can be more than the amount of cash that the business actually spends. It’s the home office deduction that some sole proprietors can take.
So you see why it’s so important to understand that cash in minus cash out does not equal profit.
Unfortunately, the IRS rules and regulations don’t always make logical sense; they might seem complicated and unfair. One thing is certain. They are the way they are, so we have to deal with them. Learn what you can. And get help when you need it.

SherylSchuffPhoto.jpgSheryl Schuff, CPA, is a Certified Public Accountant, author, and consultant who teaches entrepreneurs how to get their businesses organized, keep good accounting records, and maximize their business tax deductions. She is President of Schuff & Associates, PC and has been in private practice for over 30 years. She recently started an information products company www.TaxesForSmallBusiness.com to provide individual training materials for small business owners.

Categories
Entrepreneurs

Tax Deductions: One Way to Minimize Self Employment Taxes

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The US Tax Code can be pretty rough on the self employed. It often seems to be written to favor big corporations over small and solo businesses. The rules are often complex and confusing for the average self employed individual to grasp, even with the help of an accountant. And that first paycheck can be a shock when you realize how much of it is eaten up by self employment taxes!

Even when tax breaks are available, figuring out if you qualify and then having all the right paperwork in place may make those deductions seem like they aren’t worth the hassle! For instance, if you have a home business, i.e. you work out of your house, you may be able to deduct for a ” home office” — but the requirements are strict, and can be a trigger for an unwelcome audit. Mileage reimbursement is a little more straightforward, until you realize you have to write down every trip, its’ length, who you met with and what you talked about! And not many new business owners even remember to keep track of startup expenses, much less understand how depreciation works, without the help of a good accountant.

There is one tax provision, however, that is clearly worth the trouble: a Section 105 Medical Reimbursement Plan. This can save you, quite literally, thousands of dollars a year. You must be married and able to legitimately employ your spouse at least part-time in your business in order to qualify. If you are and you can, read on — your heartburn over outrageous health insurance premiums and skyrocketing medical expenses may be about to go away!

Here’s the bottom line: with the requirements met and the proper paperwork in place, you can:

  • Deduct 100% of your family health insurance premiums
  • Deduct 100% uninsured family medical and dental expenses
  • Save a huge chunk in federal, state, and self employment taxes!

How do you qualify? You must have a properly documented employment agreement with your spouse, and the work performed and salary must be reasonable. Complete records of the premiums and expenses and their reimbursement are required. Ugh, more paperwork…but help is on the way!

I’ve been very impressed with the BizPlan/AgriPlan Section 105 Medical Reimbursement Plan, offered by TASC (Total Administrative Services Corporation). Recommended by a colleague (who saves several thousand dollars every year with this plan), I’ve found TASC to be a very professional company that takes its obligations to its self employed customers very seriously, including offering a tax audit guarantee. And the annual cost is very reasonable, starting at under $200.

Don’t wait — you can only deduct expenses that occur in or after the month you apply for the plan. Consult your accountant, and check out BizPlan today, for maximum tax savings this year!