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Can you believe it's Christmas already? It's been even more hectic than usual for me! My family has the gift giving under pretty good control by drawing names, but I took a six weekend outside the home job for extra money (don't we all need that at this time of year?), and suddenly I'm getting customers interested in my website design services at the same time. Add that to the time I spend doing medical transcription and working on this site, and well, I'm pretty busy. I'm keeping up with emails and such, but sometimes it's a close thing. Well, better too busy than too slow.
I did not feel the quake that shook central California yesterday - I'm too far away, but my prayers are with the families who are having to deal with it so close to the holidays.
I hope you all have a wonderful holiday season.
Don't forget, you can contribute your articles or tips anytime for consideration. Just use the contact form.
How are
you managing your link exchanges?
by Stephanie Foster
There are many ways to drive traffic to your site. Hopefully, you are already listed in the search engines and people are finding your site and buying from you. You might even be using pay-per click to get even more qualified traffic. But how are you doing at exchanging links?
Link exchanges are generally a free method of promotion with several key benefits. The number one benefit, if done correctly, is that you get relevant traffic. Close behind, however, is the benefit you gain from the search engines considering you to be more relevant because you have links pointing to you, ideally using your keywords.
Managing your link exchanges can be a great deal of work, however. You need the sites to be relevant to yours in order for the search engines to consider it valuable, and you won't get traffic from just any site. People who are looking for fishing gear aren't likely to follow a link to a site about candles.
There is a free service now that I think is going to work better than the other link exchanges I have tried. It's from SiteSell, a company known for delivering incredible value. I've tried other link exchanges, and some members will try to link to just about anyone. You don't want that, or you'll look like a link farm to the search engines, which is bad. SiteSell's Value Exchange program matches you to relevant sites, then you decide whether or not to exchange links. You fill out a form about your site, including keywords and description, then wait for them to send you related sites seeking links.
This is a huge timesaver. If you've searched for relevant links to your site, you know how time consuming that can be. Not everyone you contact will be interested. The Value Exchange is for people who are specifically interested in link exchanges with related sites, so you get much better quality in your links.
You can even consider using this for topical links. This can be something like exchanging articles or placing a link on a page where both have similar themes. Not content - you don't want to lose customers by linking to your direct competition, but if you think your customers would enjoy a link to a given site, why not discuss an exchange to specific pages within each other's sites, rather than simply to the home page?
Now, you'll
still have to do maintenance, such as making sure that your
link partners actually do keep your link on their site (unless
you're hosted by SiteSell,
then they have a monitoring service too!), but you've saved
a great deal of time by using this service. Done correctly,
you will have increased your ranking with the search engines
and given your customers some valuable information they may
not have found otherwise. Over time, a good link exchange program
will pay for the time you spent on it.
Stephanie Foster is the owner of Home with the Kids, a resource that knows that there's more to staying home with your family than just business. From money saving tips to parenting and marriage tips, to work at home jobs and businesses, you can get information and support here. You can visit the site at http://www.homewiththekids.com.
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Business or Hobby...What Would the IRS Call YOUR Business?
One thing we know for sure… direct sellers start their businesses for a wide variety of reasons. Some want to build a dynasty, some want the tax benefits, some do it to buy and share a product they believe in, while others are simply looking for a way to have fun and make a little money on the side.
Taking time to define your business purpose and goals is critical. Why? Because the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) has different rules for each level of interest you take in your business. You want to be familiar with these rules, as they have a dramatic impact on your ability to take deductions or even losses on your tax return. To determine how the IRS views your business, we will focus on the flags and warnings that traditionally separate the serious business builder from those that do not demonstrate a clear motive to make a profit.
Why is motive so important? Because in many ways, it determines the deductions you can legitimately take with regard to your business. There are two primary actions that are viewed by the IRS as evidence of a lack of profit motive. They are:
If either of these describe you, realize that it could be argued that you are not running your business with intent to make a profit and therefore could be categorized as a hobby, not a business. This, in turn, could result in the disallowing of otherwise legitimate business deductions. Now that we have your attention, let’s look at how you can meet the criteria that secures your status as a home-based business? Keep in mind that “saying” you are doing the following is not enough. You will need to provide proof that you are practicing legitimate business procedures in the event the IRS ever challenges your business status.
Following is a Four-Point Quick Check list for assessing whether your business would be deemed a hobby or a legitimate business.
So how did you do? Are you able to say with confidence that you practice each of these four things on a regular basis? If your answer is yes – congratulations! You are well within the guidelines of a legitimate business and can very likely report any losses on your Schedule C tax form without worry of the IRS calling your business a hobby. Perhaps your response is not quite so confident. Perhaps your intention is to do these things but you don’t have evidence that you do so on a consistent basis. If this is true for you, you just might be in jeopardy of having your business be considered a hobby and lose all the fabulous tax benefits as a result. If you answered “no” to any of these questions you may be on the verge of being classified a hobby and denied your right to deduct certain expenses as well as business losses.
If your intention is to build a profitable business, you must make some changes by taking these important steps:
• Maintain proof of sales at the retail price
• Spend more time on your business each week
• Document all business-building activities thoroughly
While all these steps take time and effort, they are absolutely necessary in order to protect your status as a business and your right to report losses on your Schedule C without worry of the IRS denying your deductions. OK, despite your best efforts, let’s imagine that you cannot meet the requirements set forth by the IRS and your business is categorized as a hobby – what then? The answer may surprise you and serve as a motivator to work a little harder.
Expenses incurred as a result of your hobby are shown as miscellaneous deductions on a Schedule A and are subject to the 2%-of-adjusted-gross-income limit. You can list them in the following order:
Have more than one business? Each will have to be evaluated separately for profit motive and each can be treated differently on your tax return. For example, you may sell decorative items for the home to friends and family (schedule A – no losses allowed), while your other business, which involves health and wellness products, is the one where you focus your profit intent (Schedule C – losses allowed with proper documentation) The lesson learned here is clear –it makes good business sense to carefully track your expenses as well as your business activity so that you don’t lose out on potentially thousands of dollars in tax savings available to you as a legitimate home based business owner.
This article has been provided by Vicky Collins, The Financial Center Director for the Direct Selling Women’s Association. The Association offers a community web site where direct sellers enjoy 24-hour access to industry specific information and resources designed to help them successfully manage their direct selling business. Discover this one-of-a-kind, all-inclusive business-building resource at http://www.mydswa.org.
Need
your own website?
New feature here. You may have to fill out a survey or give out personal information for your freebies, so decide if the offer looks worthwhile to you.
If you offer a freebie, let me know! I will consider it for inclusion here and in the freebie section of the website.
Are
you a *serious* internet marketer?
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