Did you know that business lunches (and other meals) are 50% deductible? Many people think they are 100% deductible. But it is only 50%. However if you’re audited, and can’t prove that the lunch was for business, then the deduction might be allowed at all.

So how do you prove that it was a business lunch?
Will the IRS take your word? NO
Will a receipt prove it? NO.
Will the say so of your long lost brother’s uncle be sufficient? NO
What can you do to prove that a certain was for business? You can use the receipt to record the date, the time, who you went to lunch with, and what you discussed. That will be sufficient proof. Or you can keep a tax diary.

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Yesterday my day fell apart. I felt like this poor guy in the picture. I was frazzled. My day started out “wrong.” I wasn’t ready to start work at 9am like I usually am. I spent an hour cleaning and getting ready and then it got even worse.

Everything fell apart. I had too much to do, and not enough time to do it, and things weren’t going right. My bank couldn’t find a large check I had deposited last week. A client gave me a rush job that I really didn’t have time for, but I wanted to accommodate them.

Finally, sometime around noon, I sat down and made a list of the things I needed to do. I prioritized what actually had to be done that day. I broke them into manageable bites and started working. Things went much smoother, and I actually got a few things done. The bank also found my check, which relieved my stress quite a bit.

Before I go to bed, I usually review how my day went. Yesterday I thought about all the people I work with who also work from home. I thought about how they manage things. These are a few of the common traits I came up with:

1. Goals. Most of the successful small businesses I work with have set specific goals. Goal-oriented individuals seem to achieve more. I think this is because specific goals make you accountable for your actions and your time. Goals should be reviewed and adjusted as needed.
2. Systems. Successful people have systems in place that help them flourish. Those who struggle let the demands of life, family, and friends dictate what they do. (My systems fell apart yesterday.)
3. Learning. Thriving home-based business people are continually learning new things that help them with their business.
4. Mindset. Successful people have a different mindset than unsuccessful individuals. (Yesterday when I changed my mindset, things started to flow better.)
5. Support. Whenever you work from home, you need others you can reach out to and ask for assistance. This could include just whining about your day, or advice on an ad you’re thinking of running.

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I had to write about this nifty FREE product that I just found.

Friday a client called me and asked if I would proofread, edit, and revise a document for him. When he told me he would email me the paper, I assumed it was in Word format. The file came as a pdf, and it was 73 pages long.

I really didn’t want to retype the whole document. I also didn’t want to install Adobe Acrobat on my computer (even though I have it). When I had the full Adobe on my computer, every time I would open a pdf to read, it would open the whole Abode Suite and took forever. (I’m sure there is some way around this, I just don’t know it.)

Read on to see what I found and why I chose this photo!!! Read the rest of this entry »

Dave Navarro is increasing his readership through a contest. This isn’t so unusual except for the fact that you can enter more than once by tweeting about his blog post “7 Steps to Playing a Much Bigger Game (with Free Workbook).” He has a tiny url so you can tweet about your experiences with his workbook. Dave will then have a drawing for free stuff – an ipod touch, Dell Mini Notebook, gift certificates, etc.

I thought this was a brilliant digital marketing idea. (His extremely long blog post and workbook are pretty good too.) There are three things I really like about his method:

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Testimonials from satisfied customers add credibility to you, your company, and your products and services. Before using any information from a customer, be sure to get their permission in writing.

1. Put testimonials on your website.
2. Testimonials are great on landing pages.
3. Highlight a satisfied customer in your newsletter. Customer comments get the highest readership in newsletters because they are compelling and fun to read.
4. Add customer comments to a brochure or white paper. Comments from satisfied customers can add interest to an otherwise dry subject.
5. Use a customer testimonial in a press release. These pique interest of readers and may lead to someone contacting you.
6. Put three short comments together for an ad. These always get read because they are true stories about real people.

Are you a watcher or a jumper?

Several years ago my children and I were at Lake Powell. There was a cliff above a pool of water. Several people were jumping off the cliff into the water. It wasn’t horribly high, and the water seemed deep. My children wanted to jump as well. Being the cautious mother that I am, I wasn’t comfortable with that. I’d heard all the horror stories of kids jumping, hitting their heads, and dying.

We were with some friends who had jumped off this cliff before and assured us it was safe. They knew that in a certain spot there was a rock under the surface that someone could get hurt on. So they asked the current jumpers to stop so they could explore the water and find the rock. They swam around and found the rock and showed everyone where it was.

Then they climbed to the top of the cliff and started jumping. My husband jumped in as well. Now it was my turn. Was I going to be a wimp in front of my children. I had seen 10 or so people jump and land safely. The cliff wasn’t really high. Could I do it?

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I have several friends who host their blogs on a free program. That is great if you don’t plan to make money in any way from your blog. If you want to blog about your family, then I recommend you use a free service.

If you want to make money, however, then it doesn’t make sense to use a free service. With a free service you don’t have complete control of your site. Also many free programs will shut you down if you “commercialize” their site. I didn’t realize this until a friend had her site shut down. It was sad because she had put time and effort into her blog and she can no longer use it.

WordPress isn’t the only program you can use to blog, however. Before I began my blog I did some research on several programs that I could host myself. (As you’ll get to know through my blog, I am big on research. I absolutely love it! I know, I’m quirked – and yes that is a word and I like dictionaries too.)

Anyway, back to the subject at hand. Why I choose WordPress:

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