Posted on September 24, 2007
Filed Under Business, Retirement, Small Business, self employed | Leave a Comment
Being self employed is about more than just sticking it to the man. You are your own boss. You have the freedom to take control of your business, make the decisions, and ensure the safety of your own future. This article, spanning several parts, will give you the down and dirty details on each of the options that you have for retirement.
SEP-IRA
Short for Simplified Employee Pension Individual Retirement Account, a SEP-IRA is a simple alternative that is treated much like a regular IRA, but has advantages over some of the other options.
Continue reading Retirement Options for Self Employed Part 1 - SEP IRA
Posted on September 14, 2007
Filed Under Business, Small Business, Taxes | Leave a Comment
Over the past couple of years I have noticed a trend where I see employees who think that they are independent contractors and vice versa. In order to [hopefully] prevent further confusion I have compiled the 20 guidelines that the IRS uses to distinguish between an employee and an independent contractor. Regardless of the agreement — written or not — you have worked out with your employer or client these guidelines will determine whether you are classified as an employee or contractor.
Continue reading Are You an Independent Contractor or Employee?
Posted on October 23, 2006
Filed Under Marketing, Small Business | Leave a Comment
Entrepreneur writer and “guerrilla marketer” Al Lautenslager has compiled a list of 10 marketing tactics under $10. Some of the tactics may not apply to your business or targeted demographic, but overall it is a nice list that is worth a read.
A few of the tips that I really liked were:
- Make a donation to charity for every purchase made during a particular month. If your orders average more than $100 each, donate $10 per order. If that doesn’t make sense for your prices, find another dollar amount that’s a good fit. Your donations will be well worth it if they accelerate orders or increase volume.
- Use lottery tickets as incentives for referrals. You could market your giveaway as a chance to win a million dollars (or whatever the grand prize is for the lottery in your area) for all referrals received during a particular period of time.
- Show up in person with a cookie for the receptionist at a client or prospect’s office. The thing is, customers and prospects love attention. Drop in and visit a few of your customers and just say you’re stopping by to brighten their day. You can’t do this with 1,000 customers, but you can do it with 10 or 20. And sometimes those 10 or 20 can be enough to supply you with just the right orders to meet your monthly goal.
That last tip, the one about showing up in person, I think is very important. With the “digital revolution” that has swept over our world in the past few years it seems as if people are relying more on email, instant messages, and cell phone calls rather than face-to-face communication.
Check out the rest of the list…
10 marketing tactics under $10
