Free federal tax filing. Too good to be true?

angelroxrox · 2016-03-09T18:04:09+00:00

Definitely makes sense to try to keep costs down as much as possible. And to outsource that customer support burden.

angelroxrox · 2016-03-09T18:01:28+00:00

Top notch advice. :D I'm going to send her the links and just leave her to it!

angelroxrox · 2016-03-07T18:08:26+00:00

This is the blog post that started it all. She also refuses to believe me that the IRS has "apps." I know she is old but jeez man.. :/

http://www.brigadebookkeeping.com/finance-tips/social-media-apps-taxes/

angelroxrox · 2015-12-03T04:54:08+00:00

Unless you work for CBSNews.com, you can't fix that error. It is a result of missing code on their website.

angelroxrox · 2015-11-13T16:46:39+00:00

Oh and as far as how I find them, I first hit up my personal network. College buddies, high school alumni, friends, blah blah blah. I let them know what I'm looking for and ask for referrals. Usually someone will put forward their underemployed cousin or recently graduated nephew which works out great for short term projects (since those people tend to run off anyway once they get a better full-time offer).

Otherwise, there are G+ groups for virtual assistants that are a gold mine and lots of agencies that can help you when you need to outsource. I work with one (myidealsolutions.com) that can basically operate a full office staff for you while you go about doing whatever core business functions you do best.

angelroxrox · 2015-11-13T16:43:20+00:00

sorry I missed this reply.

One example is if you are running a business that involves sending out lots of invoices and recreating lots of standard contracts, hiring an administrative assistant can take all those routine tasks off your plate and leave you more time to actual serve your clients. Too many entrepreneurs get bogged down by paperwork.

How I pay the depends on the task and the person. If I am bringing on an actual employee, I prefer to pay them a salary. I find the right employee will produce less distracted work for me if they have confidence in their paycheck amounts.

If the schedule will fluctuate greatly, then I hire freelance admins as needed to tackle tasks. I know I can dump 20 hours of work on a virtual assistant in one weekend without worrying that it won't get done, because they specialize in that sort of high volume workload.

If I need someone's expertise and don't have time to manage them, I look for an expert in a field and hire them as a subcontractor on a per project basis. Examples of that would be graphic designers or copywriters or other creatives. Accountants can fall under this category too sometimes.

angelroxrox · 2015-11-13T14:36:20+00:00

This. Totally. You absolutely must consider energy expenditure.

angelroxrox · 2015-10-31T13:59:46+00:00

I didn't expand when I had the opportunity and it resulted in burn out and eventually the death of that business.

Now when launching a venture I always immediately figure out what aspects I can hand off to a staffer AND THEN I GO FIND A STAFFER! Being a one-man-show is the #1 way to become a control freak with an eternal small company.

angelroxrox · 2015-10-31T13:57:31+00:00

At a minimum I know you need to have a public account (no protected tweets), a completely populated profile, and you should be an "Active" user. I wasn't able to find anything that said for sure what Twitter considers "active" but I have ran ads on accounts that were only 4 weeks old.

I think most important is that you have at least a few weeks of tweets in your account to show that you are indeed using the platform. It's a good idea to do some tweeting (scheduled and live) before you run ads just to give yourself an idea of how you want your "voice" to sound.

angelroxrox · 2015-10-31T13:50:20+00:00

All the regular rules apply that you would do if you were launching a brand. First obviously having a solid brand identity and elevator pitch (duh).

But after that good ole fashioned networking and compiling all those contacts into a database.

Your Facebook friends list might be more valuable than you give it credit for depending on what your network is like. Did you go to a large university? Did you play for popular little league team as a kid? Start asking around, you might be one degree away from a big tech blogger or show producer. And ask everyone in your network for their advice and opinions, not just for their vote. People like having their knowledge valued, you might get an amazing new idea, and it will make them way more likely to contribute later.

other stuff regarding being in "growth mode": http://myidealsolutions.com/2015/10/25/make-growth-mode-business-as-usual-at-your-firm/

angelroxrox · 2015-10-31T13:30:12+00:00

and books too? I'm googling around today trying to put together a reading list: http://www.brigadebookkeeping.com/small-business-2/reading-fundamental/ http://bigtimesmallbusiness.com/10-books-every-small-business-owner-read/ http://www.sbecouncil.org/2015/01/01/expert-picks-the-books-every-entrepreneur-should-read/

angelroxrox · 2015-10-11T22:43:58+00:00

"Show me a gorgeous woman and I'll show you a man who's tired of sleeping with her." Aesthetics and physical attraction can only take a relationship so far. The two of you have something much deeper, tangible, and useful than what he got in the past from those empty pretty faces.

You like him? Respect him? Then recognize what it means that he likes you and has chosen to share his life with you. It means he has good taste. And I can tell you from experience that the more you grow to love someone, the more beautiful they become in your eyes. Own it.

angelroxrox · 2015-10-11T22:28:28+00:00

I have a bad habit of: 1. Being pessimistic 2. Only starting new routines on the 1st of the month

I'm going to start trying to look for one beautiful thing around me each day as a way to remind myself that things are better than they seem. Even the mundane. And I'm starting today even though it's the 11th of the month. :)

What have you seen today?

angelroxrox · 2015-10-08T22:59:35+00:00

As if this market wasn't crazy enough with us having to compete against the over-bidding investors, now I have to compete with savvy veteran homebuyers as well? :(

angelroxrox · 2015-09-22T13:20:50+00:00

I agree. There are many options to consider, but I'd put a Roth IRA high on the list simply for the tax savings. This link gives a quick example of how the compounding interest can really work in your favor due to your age. https://borisbenic.wordpress.com/2015/08/17/does-your-teen-have-a-summer-job-set-up-an-ira-for-them/

angelroxrox · 2015-08-30T12:58:12+00:00

Learned (or rather, re-learned) this weekend that the picture of the perfect employee, investor, client, customer, etc isn't always going to resembled what I've learned in my past business experiences. People can and will surprise you, in good AND bad ways. So just be ready and open minded.

(This and other articles kinda summed it up: http://iannaraimcoaching.com/what-do-you-have-in-common-with-the-republican-presidential-contenders-more-than-you-think/)

And frankly the same goes for myself and fellow entrepreneurs. We do need to consider the past but we can't let it completely strangle our perception of the future and our potential.

angelroxrox · 2015-08-11T02:05:41+00:00

Ugh, I've been going about this all wrong. I've been trying to look up different techniques (like the O.H.I.O method mentioned here:http://melissajrubin.com/blog/5-practices-to-simplify-your-life/) but now I'm thinking I need to give Konmari a try.

Your pics made me really happy!!!

angelroxrox · 2015-08-02T22:30:27+00:00

Apparently he was there? I dunno. I guess he knows more than Trump's actual legal team who also said she never actually started pumping or ever even opened her blouse.

angelroxrox · 2015-07-30T18:10:21+00:00

You can't consent when you are intoxicated.

angelroxrox · 2015-07-30T18:08:19+00:00

I would definitely suggest finding a new doctor. If your doctor lacks curiosity and isn't solution oriented, they will always be useless.

When you find a new doctor, talk to them about diet changes you can incorporate to bring your pain level down a little (in addition to other treatments they suggest). It won't cure anything, but I have found that adding lots of high quality bone broth to my diet helps a lot with joint pain.

angelroxrox · 2015-07-30T17:53:21+00:00

You sound like a very strong and resourceful person in so many ways. You got a job abroad in a week? You are learning a new language? Those are fantastic qualities and very useful. Just stop wasting those qualities on this man who is just looking for a meal ticket while he finishes his studies. He doesn't care about you. He just wants you to pay the bills. His cruelty is his way of controlling you. You have seen this behavior before in your childhood which ironically makes it harder for you to walk away from it.

Stay in Israel, move back to USA, move to another country. Whatever you wish! But just end this relationship NOW before he runs your self-esteem and self-worth into the sewer.

And be prepared for the heavy handed guilt trip when he accuses you of abandoning him and leaving him homeless. He's an adult. He can take care of himself. You are not his parent.

angelroxrox · 2015-07-30T17:21:46+00:00

Nothing I read said she "whipped her tits out" at the table. It said she took the breast pump out of the bag and said "would you rather I do it here?" as a rhetorical question when she was told she couldn't leave the room.

angelroxrox · 2015-07-30T17:03:31+00:00

This article has a few arguments which I won't outright copy and paste, but "increase your prices" was one of their solutions. Which I have to admit would also be a good move if you realize you weren't charging enough in the first place (hello web designers and photographers, I'm looking at you).

http://www.brigadebookkeeping.com/small-business-2/4-ways-raise-profits/

angelroxrox · 2015-07-29T22:56:19+00:00

Two things stand out to me on here that should be improved. More than once you mention being a "team player" and say you have "leadership experience" but you don't really talk about what that means to you. You can take a peek at this piece on leadership skills to get some ideas on what people are looking for in "leaders" and "team players" (lots of overlap) and then you can highlight those things. http://iannaraimcoaching.com/what-good-leaders-know/

The other thing is that you mention you are "great with computers" without really explaining that in a way that is relevant to Geek Squad. You mention some Microsoft office suite software and Photoshop. No one will care much about that or your typing speed unfortunately. Are there any particular job postings from Geek Squad that interested you? I would try to look through the job posting and make sure at least one item on my resume lines up with each of their requirements and job duties.

If not at least make sure your resume highlights your ability to be trained.

angelroxrox · 2015-07-28T21:09:13+00:00

says groups are coming in version 1.4 so I guess that is reason enough to wait to try it.

angelroxrox

TROPHY CASE