Article Check - Home Based Business

Thoughts on Employee Benefits
At the dawn of the twentieth century, Henry Ford had the revolutionary idea that the people who worked for him should be able to afford the products they built. Fast forward to the dawn of the new millennium when the CEO of one of the largest makers of computer printers and other accessories pronounced that Americans had no innate right to a job. Where benefits, living wages, and long careers were the norm, today’s trends are towards wringing every last cent of cost from labor overhead. Seems the industrial cycle is coming around full circle. The golden age of companies actually caring about the people who work for them is all but over. It should come as no surprise that the era of people caring about the companies they work for is dying almost as quickly. Today I want to ask you a very simple question: Can you afford to join the herd in slashing costs to the bone in order to boost your perceived bottom line? I think not. I think you owe it to yourself to invest in doing your part to ensure that your employees receive true living wages and a solid benefits package. I will even go so far as to assert that you must treat your investment in the people who work for you just as seriously as you treat any of your other investments because doing so will have a profound--and positive--impact on said bottom line. Would you believe that there is a hardware store in San Francisco whose employees’ average stay is measured in years? I know many people who have been there over a decade. These people receive living wages, health benefits, paid lunch breaks, vacation time, sick time, the whole package. Are the owners being generous? Certainly. But make no mistake about it: Their generosity is rooted in the same business values and mindset that I have been promoting all along. They know that their business depends on forging ongoing relationships with their customers and on being experts at what they do lest their clientele

a certain minimum amount of travel time per day and there were things we wanted to do along the way.

We went to AAA and they built what they call a Trip Tik for us. They gave us maps of all the states we would pass through and plotted the best route. We also scheduled in time for detours and hiking and just lolling around. They put all this information in a handy little pouch and gave it to us. It was a great trip.

Had we just set out on the fly without a plan we could have ended up stressed out hundreds of miles away from home the day before I was due back at work or we could have zipped through some beautiful scenery and found ourselves with time to spare and nothing to do in it.

So build yourself a Trip Tik to your Purpose. Take your day planner or a long sheet of paper and break your day up into appointment blocks. Two hour increments work great. These appointments are not negotiable. So be on time and ready to go. Make appointments with yourself to do the tasks you have prioritized. Make appointments with yourself to clean house, do yoga and walk the dog. But write it down. Otherwise time will seduce you. They’re contracts with yourself and you need to keep them with as much integrity as you’d keep any contracts with clients.

No matter how much fun you’re having doing a task it should end when it’s supposed to end. It shouldn’t take on a life of its own. In fact, the

HYIP: No Longer Scam During December, HYIP Change Tactic Now
HYIP scam in December! Do not invest! December is a bad month for HYIP investing! HYIP scam for Christmas money!I believe many must have heard of the above many times. For the past few years, December was the worst period to invest in HYIP. But in 2005, that trend seems to have ended. The worst month was in fact November! The statistic is based on the number of hyip that closes in November. (the statistic discounts 'baby' hyip)HYIP scammers are now changing their tactics. They are closing shop early in November now. They believe that the take-in rate for new investors in December will be very low. This is bad for them as their ponzi system will be affected if there is no consistent inflow of new funds.Best HYIP investment programAs a rule of thumb, most HYIP investors avoid investing during November, December and Janaury. Most HYIP investors will start investing in Feb. So what do you do during these 3 dangerous month?There are a lot of opportunities occuring during these period. But do not expect any long term investing. Think short term during these period. A lot of short term HYIP will appear during these period. Invest with more care.

I went to visit a friend who had quit the corporate world to start his own art-based business. This was a guy who wore, if not a suit, at least a tie and jacket to work every day for a decade. All the curtains in his house were drawn and his bed was littered with color samples, catalogs and all the assorted detritus of a home-based business. With his unshaven face and sunken eyes, he bore a frightening resemblance to Tom Hanks in “Castaway”. He leaned over and, with a wild glint in his eye, whispered “I haven’t taken a shower in three days.” That close to him it wasn’t difficult to believe but I couldn’t figure out why he felt the need to tell me.

A couple of years later I got it when I too had swapped working for the man for the pleasantly unstructured life of a home-based entrepreneur.

I was on my way to a Networking luncheon and slipped some dress shoes on only to find that my feet had apparently grown two sizes. My sneakers and my fluffy slippers fit just fine but they didn’t go with my little black suit. I understood then that his confession had been more than a need to share his personal hygiene issues with me. He felt compelled to share the horror of what he was becoming.

At some point every back bedroom entrepreneur has an epiphany that they might be a little too far gone along the do-it-yourself continuum. For me it was the shoes. For my friend it was the orange water pouring out of his groaning shower head when he finally found a reason to shower.

If you’re just starting out with a home-based business and still euphoric over getting to conduct business in your pj’s or being able to take an Oprah break – be aware that there is a dark side. One day you, too, will run slap up against a moment of clarity when you see your formerly civilized life slipping away from you and realize that you may have taken the ball and run with it just a little too far.

It’s a tricky thing to get the balance just right. There’s so much to do in setting up and maintaining a business. And, mindful of the fact that 80% of all small businesses fail in the first year, you are probably anxious to do as much as you can as fast as you can in order to start bringing home the goods.

There are several balances to be worked out – all of them tricky. When do you outsource and when do you do it yourself? How much can you work and still have a life and a family at the end of it? What do you absolutely have to do first and what can wait?

There are many excellent books and articles on what to do to set up your business. This isn’t one of them. This is about how to be as you do those things. How to be kind to yourself; available to your family and friends and enjoy life even amid the uncertainty and stress of creating your dream from scratch. Your life isn’t wallpaper to your daily struggle. It goes on whether you pay attention to it or not.

So here are a couple of tips to keep you present and focused. Some practical some more touchy-feely. All of them useful. Six things you can do to avoid singing the Home-Based Burnout Blues.

1. Find your Purpose.

This may sound pretty basic but it’s so basic many people don’t do it. Your Purpose is not the same as your goal. Your goal is what you want to do; your Purpose is why you want to do it. Your Purpose is larger and inclusive of all aspects of your life.

Why do you want to do what you want to do? Why are you uniquely qualified to do it? If you don’t know this and can’t explain it to yourself how are you going to be able to market yourself? (Are you still laboring under the illusion that you won’t have to market yourself? Are you still waiting for a knock at the front door from someone demanding your goods/services?)

Your goal may be to sell $200,000 of widgets this year. But your Purpose may be to sell $200,000 of a fine quality product with such integrity and appreciation for your customers that they will provide you with return business which will in turn provide for a good living for you and your family.

Write out your Purpose and post it everywhere. Stuff it in your sock drawer so it’ll surprise you when you least expect it. Definitely stick it on your TV. Read it every day. Don’t lose this Purpose in the minutiae of daily tasks. Don’t go unconscious to it. Be aware of what you do every day. Everything you do is a structure to either move you towards it or away from it.

Ask yourself periodically. Am I in line with my Purpose? Is playing with your kids in line with Purpose? Sure, if it keeps you sane and healthy and nourishes your family. Is watching back to back episodes of Cops in line with your Purpose? Probably not if you slump on the couch and come to three hours later wondering where the time went.

There’s an old Buddhist saying:

“If you seek enlightenment do not waste your time by day or by night.”

Switch success for enlightenment and you’ve got a pretty good mantra for business.

But what if you’ve been working your rear off and you decide that some mindless TV is just what the doctor ordered to rest your brain and give you a rare treat? Then - vegging on the couch may actually be in line with your Purpose because you chose to do it willingly and mindfully. It’s about whether you choose the situation or let the situation choose you.

2. Once you find your Purpose plot a road map to it.

My husband and I once took a road trip which went through 8 beautiful Western states including Montana, Wyoming, Idaho and Utah . I had exactly two weeks of vacation and knew when I could leave and when I had to be back. In order to get back in time we had to budget a certain minimum amount of travel time per day and there were things we wanted to do along the way.

No matter how much fun you’re having doing a task it should end when it’s supposed to end. It shouldn’t take on a life of its own. In fact, the

Failure To Pay Employment Taxes - Penalties
As an employer, you must pay employment taxes if you have employees. Fail to pay and the IRS will rain all over your parade.PenaltiesIf you have employees, you absolutely must deduct and withhold various taxes from the paychecks of your employees. Since you are deducting money from the employee’s paycheck, you are handling their funds. This fact is very important to the IRS and it places great emphasis on any failure to deposit employment taxes.If you fail to pay employment taxes, you will be subject to a 100 percent penalty. Yes, 100 percent. Known as the “trust fund recovery penalty”, the penalty is assessed against the person responsible for paying the taxes, not the entity. The person can be the owner, corporate officer or other “responsible person.” In short, a business entity is not going to protect you from the wrath of the IRS.Late PaymentsCash flow crunches are an inevitable event for practically every business. So, what happens if you make a late payment for employment taxes. Unless you can show a reasonable reason for the delay, the IRS is going to penalize you.Late payment penalties range in amount depending on the delay. If the delay is less than six days, the penalty is two percent. Delay for six to 15 days and you are looking at five percent. More than 15 days in delay is going to push the penalty to 15 percent. If you delay this long, the IRS will be peppering you with penalty notices telling you where you stand.In ClosingWhatever you do, make sure you deposit employment taxes with the IRS in a timely fashion. Take a moment to think about the worst thing you have ever heard done by the IRS. If you fail to pay employment taxes, the actions taken by the IRS will be ten times worse and you will be the one telling horror stories.

ng out of his groaning shower head when he finally found a reason to shower.

So here are a couple of tips to keep you present and focused. Some practical some more touchy-feely. All of them useful. Six things you can do to avoid singing the Home-Based Burnout Blues.

1. Find your Purpose.

There’s an old Buddhist saying:

“If you seek enlightenment do not waste your time by day or by night.”

Switch success for enlightenment and you’ve got a pretty good mantra for business.

2. Once you find your Purpose plot a road map to it.

No matter how much fun you’re having doing a task it should end when it’s supposed to end. It shouldn’t take on a life of its own. In fact, the

Low Cost Refinancing Home Mortgage Loans Online
Low Cost Refinancing Home Mortgage Loans Online Online home mortgage refinancing loans are becoming increasingly easy to secure as the use of the Internet continues to grow. Many mortgage lending companies have an online application form you can fill out in just a few minutes. This gets your loan search underway without the hassle of filling out many paper forms by hand.When you apply for home mortgage refinancing online, your application is sent electronically to a variety of National and local lenders and banks. By getting rate quotes from more than one lender you are assured of getting the lowest rates possible.There are many great reasons for getting a refinancing home loan online. Consolidating debt is one of those great reasons. While mortgage interest rates are still low is a good time to pay off those high interest credit cards. You can put mortgage refinancing to work now by reducing your high interest debt.Reducing your monthly payments is another great reason to refinance. By getting several refinancing loan quotes you can compare the different offers before deciding on the loan payment that's right for you. You should be able ask a loan officer any questions you might have before any commitment is made.Much of the time spent on processing loans comes from the handling of stacks of messy paperwork. With the use of electronic mortgage forms, the processing time can be cut in half or less. Because loan officers can process loans more efficiently, a savings of $250 to $550 per refinance home mortgage loan is possible.

gle. It goes on whether you pay attention to it or not.

So here are a couple of tips to keep you present and focused. Some practical some more touchy-feely. All of them useful. Six things you can do to avoid singing the Home-Based Burnout Blues.

1. Find your Purpose.

There’s an old Buddhist saying:

“If you seek enlightenment do not waste your time by day or by night.”

Switch success for enlightenment and you’ve got a pretty good mantra for business.

2. Once you find your Purpose plot a road map to it.

No matter how much fun you’re having doing a task it should end when it’s supposed to end. It shouldn’t take on a life of its own. In fact, the

Moving Message Display
Moving message display are designed to be installed into environments where vast amounts of information need to be conveyed to large audiences both quickly and efficiently, also in the world of indoor and outdoor displays. This gives you enormous flexibility for creating interesting text message on Moving message display.Moving message displays are becoming very popular in the areas like airports, banks, auctions, church, receptions, promotions factories, companies, groups, government and high streets outlets to transmit information to large groups of people quickly. This is possible because of technology called LED lighting, which stands for light emitting diodes. The important thing to remember here is that LED technology is very much efficient than standard incandescent lighting.LED technology is one of the most advanced technology today as they are very efficient and do not waste any electricity in their production of visible bight and eye-catching light.As a result, in addition to being extremely bright and eye catching, Moving Message Displays, using this technology, also energy-efficient with attractive design that that be clearly seen with great distance.Standard color comes in red, yellow, or green, but any combination in multi color scheme can be chosen to make display more effective and brighter in sense. In addition to this, size is also variable. Character sizes usually range according to the need. The technology behind LED moving message displays is so advanced, there are literally thousand of variations on the standard electronic display. Jayex Technology , the leading manufacturer of Moving Message Display has variety of options that give wide choice.Most importunately, these Moving message Displays are easy to set up , program and handle, they allow the outlet to simply and clearly present the scrolled text. Most Moving Message Displays are connected to local power supply and can switch on

e in the minutiae of daily tasks. Don’t go unconscious to it. Be aware of what you do every day. Everything you do is a structure to either move you towards it or away from it.

There’s an old Buddhist saying:

“If you seek enlightenment do not waste your time by day or by night.”

Switch success for enlightenment and you’ve got a pretty good mantra for business.

2. Once you find your Purpose plot a road map to it.

No matter how much fun you’re having doing a task it should end when it’s supposed to end. It shouldn’t take on a life of its own. In fact, the

Life Insurance and Life Assurance are Not the Same!
The average man in the street assumes that Life Insurance and Life Assurance are names for the same form of insurance. How wrong they are! But don't hang your head in shame, many financial commentators get it wrong too! Life Insurance and Life Assurance perform different financial roles and are poles apart in cost - so it helps to surf for the correct product. Life Insurance provides you with insurance cover for a specific period of time (known as the policy’s “term”). Then, if you were to die whilst the policy is in force, the insurance company pays out a tax-free sum. If you survive to the end of the term, the policy is finished and has no residual value whatsoever. It only has a value if there is a claim – in that context it’s just like your car insurance! Life Assurance is different. It is a hybrid mix of investment and insurance. A Life Assurance policy pays out a sum equal to the higher of either a guaranteed minimum underwritten by the policy's insurance provisions or its investment valuation. The value of the investment element is then a reliant on the Insurance Company’s investment performance and length of time you have been paying the premiums. Each year the insurance company adds an annual bonus to the guaranteed value of your life assurance policy and there is normally an extra “terminal bonus” at the end. Therefore, as the years go by your life assurance policy increases in value as the investment bonuses accumulate. The value of these bonuses are then determined by the insurance company’s investment performance. Once investment value has been assigned to the policy, you can cash it in with the insurance company. However, most people get a far better price for their life assurance policy by selling it to a specialist investment broker rather than cashing it in with the insurance company. If you were to die during a Life Assurance policy’s term, the policy p

a certain minimum amount of travel time per day and there were things we wanted to do along the way.

No matter how much fun you’re having doing a task it should end when it’s supposed to end. It shouldn’t take on a life of its own. In fact, the more you like doing it the more you need structure surrounding it. We all like to do pleasant things that we’re good at. But they may not be what needs to be done right now. Have definite starting and ending times for your day.

Make yourself an appointment for something active every few hours so you’re not sitting on the phone or computer for 12 hours straight. If you have a problem with forgetting to eat or drink enough water – schedule those too. I might schedule two hours of writing on my articles then a half hour appointment to clean the kitchen which would stretch me and get my circulation moving (and get the kitchen cleaned!). Back to the computer for answering e-mails and client paperwork and bookkeeping. Another hour scheduled for a quick lunch and walk in the park with the dog. Client phone sessions would be scheduled with ten minute breaks in between. Finish work at 6 PM.

I could easily work until 11 PM and have done so many times. But that’s not healthy and not sustainable especially as I share my life and home with others. My particular Purpose includes having the energy and peace of mind to enjoy the results of all my hard work at the end of the day.

3. Put it in writing.

Put what in writing, you ask? Everything. Purpose. Ideas. Outlines. Lists. Deadlines. Goals. Studies show, by the way, that only 3% of us write down our goals. But of the 3% of entrepreneurs who do - a stunning 97% achieve their goals!

Get this stuff out of your head and onto paper. Make it so that your business is present and visible.

There are two great advantages to getting all of this stuff out of your head and onto paper. It makes your business real. A character in your daily life. And it saves energy because you don’t have to worry about forgetting things or keeping track of ideas. So find a system and run with it. Get a Daily Planner. I love the Franklin Covey system. It combines journaling with an appointment calendar and a To Do list. It’s expensive but you can usually find it on eBay. Write down your Mission statement; Vision statement and Business and Marketing Plans. You’ll need a business plan anyway if you’re planning on getting outside funds. Look at your Business and Marketing plan daily.

4. Value yourself.

Figure out your hourly rate and factor that in to every decision you make. I mean every decision. It’s great to be able to build your own website. You can save a bundle if you’re already computer-savvy and there are many excellent softwares which will help you. I made my first with a program I got from my website host. I put $14.95 on my credit card, downloaded it and within minutes was working on my site. I did it myself and it looked decent.

But it took me close to six weeks. I wasn’t working on it full-time but when I wasn’t I was thinking about it. It was a major distraction and it was a lot of fun. There was a learning curve so I first had to learn the software then implement it. I knew nothing about color or fonts or placement or keywords or metatags. I lost time that I should have been marketing and in the end the whole exercise was more a character building exercise than a website building exercise.

I survived and so did my site. But had I added up all the hours I worked on it (including the “hidden” hours when I got up at 3 AM to fiddle with it) and paid myself - I probably didn’t save any money and I would have gotten a more professional looking site with a designer. When you decide whether to do something yourself or outsource it be sure to also factor in the time it takes to learn the software. This can be substantial.

Add up the missed marketing and promotional opportunities and add in the stress and aggravation factor.

If you want to outsource design work try a community bulletin board like Craigslist.org ( a stomping ground for many unemployed web designers). There’s now a Craigslist in pretty much every major city. Remember, too, that you don’t need to even have a web designer living in your home state unless you plan on suing them over the end product. elance.com. is also great for home entrepreneurs. You can post your project online and receive bids from vendors. Check out their portfolios; interview them and go with the right one.

If you’re good with graphics and hellbent on designing your site and cards, letterheads etc. yourself give yourself a deadline and stick to it. When I was starting out I figured out my hourly rate was about $75.00. I got in the habit of calculating how long it would take me to do something; learn the software and experiment by trial and error. I tried to factor in the frustration factor to me and the lost time to my family and other areas of my life. If I could hire a professional to do it for less I farmed it out.

5. Which brings us to money.

Don’t get caught in the “I can’t afford it” trap. You may not have much money to spend but everyone has a little. Allocate it wisely. You have to spend money to make money. Maybe this is a Universal law because it thins the herd right at the outset. If you don’t invest in yourself why should anyone else?

Most of us have an ego mind which has mixed feelings about our success. One way to put a tripwire in front of what should be our stunning rush to success is to tell ourselves we can’t afford to do what we know we need to do. Then it’s not our fault if we don’t make it. We didn’t make the cut because we didn’t have the money to start our business right not because we were afraid or unwilling to risk.

If you don’t have the money to pay for something – barter it or ask for terms. Get a credit card

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Properly preparing your home for sale is critical to your success. Taking the time before you sell to make some cosmetic changes could net you more money at closing. The following suggestions will help you with this task.

Utah home buyers, are you ready to buy a home, refinancing your current mortgage, or finally get that home equity loan? If you are looking for a Utah Mortgage you need to watch interest rates from the Fed closely, because changing rates could make a huge impact in your home loan options. Interest rates are the biggest affect the type of mortgage available to choose and affect when it's smart to make a change.

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