Tax Season Prep – How did you do this year?

Posted on 18 April 2012 by

Taxes? Forms? Receipts? Wha?

Before I begin this blog post and as I do with any blog post that might discuss finances of any sort – it is always highly suggest, recommended at, pointed to, and nodded at the belief and suggestion that you should always consult an expert when dealing with your finances at any time. Especially at tax season!

So this year in the US (Where I am) – today is the last day to file your taxes. If you are an owner of your own business like I am, no doubt you know how hard it can be to get motivated to deal with it all. Each year I have more and more friends, even family, that come to me in frustration, pulling out their hair and screaming from the top of their lungs that they haven’t…

  • Had time to prepare..
  • Had the chance to gather all their information…
  • Don’t know how to file for their income bracket..
  • Don’t know how to file deductions..
  • ..Insert reason X, Y, and Z here…

Because of this, I wanted to talk about the best ways to be prepared for your tax season. So regardless of if you are beginning, ending, or in a mad rush to meet with your tax expert on the last day of tax season (and you know who you are) – you finally have some great methods for ensuring that you are doing what you can to prepare. Here are some of the things I do:

Make a pre-tax season checklist

Each year, at the end of the current tax season and the beginning of the next one I make a pre-tax season checklist and either post it to my computer or post it on a corkboard by my computer. This checklist is helpful because as I go along the year, I am able to list the items and forms I will need at the end of the year, and I can check them off as they are collected. When tax season comes, guess what? That checklist is there to help guide me and show me what I do and do not need for that year.
No running around like a chicken with my head cut off. No fuss.

Collect and Sort

After I make the checklist I start to collect and sort through any receipts from that year that I am going to need at tax season. I grab each and every receipt that I know will be needed and I pile it up in front of me, categorizing it and then storing it in it’s own folder. After these are categorized I then scan them all and make copies, storing them on my hard drive and in a closet.
By the time tax season comes – I’ve got it all done and dusted.

Keep up with EVERYTHING

I see too many of my friends scrambling to get through tax season and look in 823234234 billion places for information on what they are able to deduct or what credits they may be eligible for. To reduce this, I admit I am diligent. Because I am in the states I check out the internal revenue service website and consult a tax professional. I make sure I keep up on the news and whenever I hear of a potential credit or a change to the laws I note it on that checklist and then investigate.

The point of this post is to tell you that a successful and RELAXED tax season all comes down to preparation. It doesn’t have to be hard, it doesn’t have to end in tears, it doesn’t have to have you run screaming down the road if you’ll only remember that preparation is key.

E-Learning & You

Posted on 11 April 2012 by

Learning! It's great for you!Alright so we have to admit it, the digital age has transformed how we learn.

No longer bound by the tradition (although beloved!) of going to the library and researching or checking out that old dusty book, we have moved decidedly forward. We, students of modern technology have embraced how we learn. Our thirst for knowledge cannot be contained and e-learning, once something that was more curious than familiar is now a staple in our everyday lives. So let’s examine it!

What is E-Learning?

E-learning is the constant virtual flow of knowledge by both teaching and being taught information.

If you are a college student much like me, who is attending an online University, then you are accessing those virtual libraries, corresponding with classmates via discussion forums and virtual classrooms, and researching using online databases. If you are a technical support manager then you are no doubt training your support technicians by way of online content, a help desk, or even a series of PDF’s and videos. If you are a coach who has had their coaching programs in the more “terrestrial arena” and are not using platforms like JigsawBox to take it live, congratulations! You, too, are participating in the e-learning process.

So how does e-learning benefit over traditional learning?

It’s mobile. It’s convenient. It’s global.

We don’t have to bind ourselves to books that are not in store or worksheets that we have to fill out. We no longer have to go to an actual library to research information on a subject or paper. Laid out before us we no longer find seven thousand papers, two hundred pencils, and twenty pens. We do not have to file anything physically away and if we are the ones that are distributing content – it’s no longer about two hundred legal pads filled with notes.

Now it’s in the form of releasing information digitally. With Web based training and Computer based training, we are bringing our knowledge to the masses by allowing anyone with access to a computer or telephone the ability to direct connect to what they need to know. At JigsawBox, we look to that future and embrace it.

JigsawBox is that unique spot on the internet that is not just easy to use, but that also caters to e-learning. We encourage coaches and more to join us by signing up for a trial and just taking a look at how you can add your content and information by way of the module, create that package, and then send out that link for your clients to sign up immediately and start learning from you TODAY.

You can use your JigsawBox to promote your method of e-teaching your students via learning logs, questions and answers, forum discussions, trade documents and files, and so much more.

E-learning is not just the present, but it is the future. We here at JigsawBox appreciate how to stay ahead of the curve.

Blogging – Business and Personal

Posted on 04 April 2012 by

Blogging!Blogging for business doesn’t have to be boring, but it does have to be you!

If you are a business, coaching or not, and you have found your way to the internet then you have no doubt also found your way to your very own blog. Consciously we know that using blogs to advertise our products and services makes a dent in our business. If you are like many others when you start to focus solely on the business you start losing the personality that you bring to the party. No matter what you blog for, it’s important that you retain the best part of your organization – YOU!

So let’s talk about using the blogs for business. True, it is about blogging to talk about your company and give your clients (current and future) the facts about what you do. It’s also true that making an impression is and defining your place in THEIR success story. Make your blog not just one that meets their business needs, but one that introduces you as a coach and as someone that they need in their lives. Insert your product or service into their dreams of attaining whatever goal is at the forefront of their minds and let them know YOU understand what they are going through because you have:

  • Been there.
  • Shared similar experiences.
  • Can relate because you’ve helped others in similar situations.

Use the blog to give them the 5 W’s: Who, What, When, Where, and Why they need YOU specifically. Don’t drown those clients in the “OMG MUST BUY NOW”, be an effective marketer by connecting and the convincing. Remember, whatever you promise make sure that you can commit to and provide. Give the outside world an in-road into your expertise so that you become the only expert they turn to when they need an infusion of the possibilities that exist to them.

You are the catalyst of change in the lives of those that find you. Show them the light that you provide.

Affiliates – Compacting Your Content

Posted on 07 March 2012 by

Affiliates and PromotionIn this multi-part series we have gone through learning and understanding how being “affiliate active” can help change your business and make it grow. Today I am going to show you how easy it is to create a simple but detailed affiliate promotional pack. This is the pack that will let you bring your content in an easy-to-use way so that literally all your affiliates have to do is cut and paste! (And of course promote, we can’t make them do that!)

Here is how you do it:

Creating your first affiliate promo package is easy if you know what you are doing. Here is what should be included in your affiliate package:

Branding – Always include your branding at the top of the page and keep it simple. The focus is not going to be on the aspect of imagery but rather the content involved.

Introduction – Include an introduction to what’s inside your affiliate pack. This is where you want to bullet point the aspects of the product or program your affiliate will be promoting. In the introduction make sure you highlight specific times and dates of any relevant events or the dates that they should be promoting.

Table of Contents – Include a bullet pointed list of what is included in your affiliate pack. Let them know what they can use to start promoting your program, immediately. Here is an example of this:

  • Sample Tweets
  • Sample Facebook Posts
  • Sample Newsletter and E-Mail Copy
  • Banners and Graphics

Content Sections – Include a section for each of the areas of content listed above. Customize it to make it easier for your affiliates by adding their affiliate links to their packages.

For Social Media select 10 Tweets and 5 Facebook posts. Ensure that your social media has the appropriate #hashtag attached and provide a schedule for the release of these announcements if your event is time sensitive.

For Sample Newsletter and E-Mail Copy ensure that you provide at least three samples that your affiliate may use to send out in their daily or weekly campaigns. Make sure that your affiliate has their links ready and a clear call to action that gets their subscribers to purchase from you!

For Banners and Graphics you want to include no more than THREE graphics. These graphics should be in multiple sizes and be sure to include any HTML code that goes along with them. Having a copy and paste code available means instant promotion – all the affiliate has to do is copy and paste.

I encourage you to do some or all of this and start building your affiliate resources up today!