Did you really find me on the Internet

Our friend Shashi Bellamkonda is back with another guest post of a small business story.

"Did you really find me on the Internet?" Small Business owner to me

By Shashi Bellamkonda

A few weekends ago on a Saturday morning, I went out to my car to begin my weekend errands and saw that I had a flat tire. Saturday mornings are not the best for flat tires. Since I have membership of AAA, I called them and a local towing company arrived and changed the wheel for me to my spare tire. Next step was to find a gas station that could plug the leak in the tire for me. I went down to a couple of them, and they told me that the Autoshop is closed on Saturday.

The choice at that moment for me was not to run to the Yellow pages and leaf through and call all the Autoshops in the vicinity, but to take my phone out and look up Google maps for the nearest service Station. The station that came up was:

Shady Grove BP Auto Care 240 601 6983
16210 Frederick Rd
Gaithersburg, MD 20877

I went to this store and got excellent service, and friendly folks worked on my tire. Since the service was good, I actually took my wife’s car back the next week to replace a mirror. During all this time, the technology this small business used was a billing anf invoicing system on a IBM laptop. They did not have a website and no email address on the card. When I told the owner that I found their auto shop on the internet, he was pleasantly surprised and said I was the first customer who has told him that. He said a major chunk of his business is from repeat customers and referrals from existing customers.

What should this small business be doing to improve their online presence? Do they need one? Does this show the importance of online local directories and being included in online maps? What do you think?

Shashi is the Social Media Swami at Network Solutions. He can also be found at his personal Happenings, advice and other technology thoughts blog and the Solutions Are Power blog.

[Disclosure: Network Solutions sponsored our Small Business Ideas for Small Towns booklet.]

Photo by Becky McCray

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Writing better directions for tourists

Tourism Tuesday: our series recognizing the importance of travel and tourism to small town business. The discussion in the comments section is always the best part.


In Scotland, while staying in Stirling, we picked up a driving tour brochure. It listed a monument to the McRae Clan in the nearby Sheriffmuir area. Being good McCrays, we had to go try to find it. The problem is that the instructions were nearly indecipherable to us and in tiny little print. That got me thinking about how to write better directions for your visitors.

Who are you really writing for? People who are not from here, maybe not even from this country. People who don't know the shorthand and common names for things. Your visitors will try to match up your directions to maps, to their printed itineraries, and if it's too tough, you're just frustrating them.

With all that in mind, here are the top ways to write better directions for your tourist visitors:

• Give plenty of space to directions in your materials. Do not pack them into a tiny space in a teeny font. Visitors have to read these while driving. 
  
• Define the exact starting point, and pick one that is easy to find. 
• For intersections, you can say whether to turn left or right, but also include the direction (north, south, etc.). Include a landmark at the corner and the street names where ever possible.
  
• For roundabouts or traffic circles, include the turn position (first turn, etc.), as well as identify the road by the destination and road number, exactly like it is posted on the signs at the site.
  
• Include every single step. Drive through the route and make notes. This has to be the most frustrating and common flaw in directions: the missed step. 
• Use your "enter" key. Start a new line for each step. 
  
• Include where to park when they arrive. 
• If you are doing multi-part directions, like a tour of several locations, make it easy to figure out how to skip one or more sights without throwing off the whole thing. Not every visitor wants to see every single thing on your tour.  (Sorry.)
  
• Write your directions to be simple enough to convey by text message or to read from a mobile phone's screen. Both technologies are possible, right now.
• Ask a non-local to review your directions. 
• Even better: Get a visitor to try them out while you watch silently.
• Keep them up to date. Make a special trip to update driving directions once a year.
  

What tips do you have for writing better directions?

A Bit of a Bonus: 
You are invited to our Open House at Tourism Currents, this Wednesday through Sunday only.

Photo of rural Sheriffmuir by Becky McCray.

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Open House at Tourism Currents

Sheila and I are hosting an Open House at Tourism Currents this Wednesday through Friday (September 30 - October 2, 2009).

What is Tourism Currents? It helps you learn about how to use social media tools for tourism projects. It's all based around real life things you do every day in the tourism world.

Come by, look around; have a seat and get comfortable. We're giving you full access to all the paid membership materials. It's a great way to figure out the quality of material we're offering, and to see if Tourism Currents is right for you. But only for three days. After that, the firewall comes right back up.


Here's how you get in:

• Go to www.tourismcurrents.com/sign-up.
• Scroll to the bottom of the page, and sign up for a no-charge Newsletter Membership.
• Head back to the site, log in, and poke around. Start here: The Introduction to the Introduction.

Right now, you'll see the full Introductory lesson, with three huge text lessons, two video interviews, tons of examples specifically for tourism, and extras in the Resources section.

And as a final bonus, during the Open House, you can upgrade to a Regular membership for the Just the Basics price. Here's what you get:

• Regular members – $75 per month
  For most organizations, this is the right package. You canask questions in the monthly Q&A, and network with your peers inthe forums.
  
  • Access (along with other members) to a monthly one-hour live video Q & A/round table discussion with Becky and Sheila.
  • Access to all lessons, including video interviews and takeaway/checklists.
  • Access to Tourism Currents Member Forum.
  • Monthly newsletter.
  • Access to full newsletter archives.
  
  

During the Open House only, you'll get this for $45 per month instead. This offer is strictly limited, and ends midnight CDT October 2, 2009. Period.

So come see us. (I'll even open the doors a bit early: midnight on Tuesday night. Don't tell.)

Photo by Becky McCray

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The SBIR Program – An Economic Stimulus for Small Business

At the National Association of Seed and Venture Funds Conference in Oklahoma City, Fred Patterson offered me a guest post. Fred has an amazing knowledge of the SBIR program, so I asked him to give us an introduction to it. -Becky

by Fred Patterson – The SBIR Coach

Over 25 years ago, the Federal government created a way to ensure that innovative solutions to tough science and technology problems would be developed. And, very cleverly, they did it in way that bolsters the largest job creation sector of our economy – small business. This initiative is called the Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Program.

Here’s how it works: The largest Federal agencies (those that spend over $100 million annually on outside research and development), must set aside a percentage (currently 2.5%) of their R and D budget for SBIR projects. In 2008 this represented over $2 billion of available funding. These projects are reserved for our domestic for-profit small businesses that are independently owned and operated by individuals (not large entities). The agencies pose problems, usually tough ones that they need solved to help fulfill their missions. The small businesses are invited to submit proposals for solving them, describing how they’re going to do the work and spend the money (up to $850K in two phases – feasibility and prototype development).

The proposals are evaluated and the best ones are funded, based solely on the merits of the planned project, the qualifications of the team, and the potential for turning the technology developed into a business with potential customers being from both the government and the private sector. It’s very competitive – only about 10-15% of the submitted applications get funded. The awards are essentially grants. There’s no debt to repay, and no equity to give up, And there are special rules whereby the small business gets to keep exclusive rights to intellectual property (called SBIR Data Rights) protected long enough for patents to be filed. In fact, it’s the intellectual property aspects of SBIR that make it uniquely attractive for inventors and entrepreneurs seeking to fund their development without losing control of their inventions.

Since the first SBIR projects were funded, way back in 1983, literally thousands of companies have gotten their initial seed funding via SBIR, and tens of thousands of jobs have been created. Many of the companies that got their start this way have been acquired by larger companies or gone public, creating wealth for their owners, both founders and investors. Not to say that it’s easy to have such success. In fact many more companies fail to achieve commercialization than succeed – it’s hard to do, but that’s the nature of a capitalist economy. Only the best achieve true success, and it’s because they were the best – producing a technologically excellent product that solved a problem and served a market need – that the economy grows as a result of their success.

So, if you have an idea for an innovative technology, check out the SBIR Gateway (www.SBIRgateway.com) for information on what projects are currently being sought. And if you’d like some help in doing that and then crafting a winning proposal, contact the SBIR Coach (www.SBIRcoach.com).

© 2009, Fred Patterson – The SBIR Coach (http://SBIRcoach.blogspot.com)

Photo provided by Fred Patterson.

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Learn about Economic Gardening Oct 8, 2009

The eXtension site frequently offers great small business education, and you can't beat the price: no charge. Dave Shideler, from Oklahoma State University, sent along a link to the Economic Gardening workshop coming up October 8, 2009.

On Thursday, October 8, 2009 at 2:00pm (EST);1:00 p.m. (CST); 12:00 p.m. (MST); 11:00 a.m. (PST) the eXtension Entrepreneurs and Their Communities webinar topic will be Economic Gardening - Two Decades of Economic Development Local-Style. 

Join Chris Gibbons, Director, Business/Industry Affairs, Littleton, Colorado for an informative session for an update of a popular community-based economic development strategy. Chris kicked off the Economic Gardening project in 1989 with the idea that it was a better approach for Littleton (and perhaps many other communities) than "economic hunting."

Economic Gardening is grounded in the belief that many communities do better growing their own jobs through entrepreneurial activity instead of recruiting them. The idea was based on research by David Birch at MIT that indicated the great majority of all new jobs in any local economy were produced by the small, local businesses of the community. The recruiting coups drew major newspaper headlines but they were a minor part (often less than five percent) of job creation in most local economies.

Join us as we check in with Chris on what two decades of Economic Gardening has done for Littleton, CO. To learn more about Economic Gardening prior to the webinar go to http://www.littletongov.org/bia/economicgardening/.

I am a huge fan of this approach. Growing your own is much easier than trying to compete with every other town out there recruiting. It's a long term strategy, without the big headlines. But it makes up for it with results.

Mary Peabody,  UVM Extension Specialist, gave some instructions for participating:

Help us to spread the word about this session. No pre-registration is required and there is no fee to participate.

About 10 minutes prior to the start time simply go the Adobe Connect Pro meeting room at http://connect.extension.iastate.edu/ecop/. You will be presented with a login screen that has an "Enter as Guest" option. Enter your first name, last name and state, then click "Enter Room" to join the conference.

To hear the audio of the workshop and participate in the Q and A portion of the workshop we will be using a built-in teleconferencing capability of Adobe’s Connect Pro conferencing software. Once you log into the meeting you will be presented with the option to enter your call-back number, your phone will automatically be called. After entering your number you will be automatically called and joined into the audio portion of the Web conference on your phone.

Newcomers to online learning are welcome!

Photo by Becky McCray

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Intellectual property advice

.


Chad Hinrichs and Paul Rossler are both intellectual property attorneys from Gable Gotwals law firm of Tulsa. They offer us their two top tips on trademarks and patents.

Interviewed at the NASVF, National Association of Seed and Venture Funds, conference in Oklahoma City.

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Did you make the Brag Basket this week

Did you make the Brag Basket this week? All you have to do is add yourself or another deserving soul in the comments. Share your projects and accomplishments. You can also cheer for other people, give shout outs, congratulate, and even give someone a well-deserved pat on the back.


Every week, y'all share great stories in the Brag Basket. Reading them is the highlight of my blogging week. I hope you enjoy reading about each other, as well.

The Brag Basket is open all weekend. (September 25-27, 2009 - I'm putting dates because sometimes a person will comment on an old basket by mistake.) Drop by any time and leave your good news in the comments.

Will you put something in the Brag Basket this week? You can brag on a friend, your own project, yourself, others, anything! Make it personal, and not just an ad. You don't need special permission, and you don't have to be from a small town. Just leave a comment right here. There's no deadline, so you can brag anytime during the weekend, and I'll open a fresh Brag Basket each Friday.

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Woodward Small Business Workshop

Woodward, Oklahoma, played host to a terrific small business workshop today, presented by Lt. Governor Jari Askins.

Kimberlee Smithton and Jeanne Cole offered great insights on customer service and small business assistance. I talked about old and new tools for small businesses to market themselves online. You can download a copy of the handout, with all the lists and items I mentioned.

And if you were there, say hello in the comments.

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POV Laura Beulke

My Twitter Addition/Addiction....
A Point of View story from Laura Beulke, Vertical Printing and Graphics

I started using twitter in January 2008 and really didn’t know what it was all about. I followed a link from another social media website and started my account and looked around a little and found a few people I was interested in and that was about it. Then I would go and visit the site maybe once a week and look what was posted and then I posted a few things too. But then it hit me around June 2008 this would be a great resource for gaining new clients from all over the country. So my addition became an addiction!!!

So now I started doing some serious following of people and was also leaving several micro blogs a day, it started off with a little bit of advice and then I would offer some special rates, then came the FREEBIE’s, where I would give away a little bit of printing or a product. Then it SNOWBALLED for me... people started RT my specials and that I offered FREEBIE’s and before you knew it I had hundreds of new new followers.

I have also done sponsorships for peoples blogs through connecting on twitter which has brought lots of attention to both my website as well as my twitter account. In less the 1 year I had gain over 5000 followers and with many of those I have built relationships with that have feed in some GREAT referrals as well. Now not only am I a twitter addict I am a twitter queen (at least I think so.)

I now make it part of my daily routine to come up with a different special, or a positive saying and this is what really has made it all work for me. I seem to get new followers everyday and also find that several of my followers take the time to RT my specials (some do it everyday.) I see this being the reason I have been successful at gaining business from this thing we call Twitter. I also think that following it up with a great products, person to person customer service and most of all building long lasting relationships is the most important part of it! The FREEBIE’s also help too!

So thanks to this little thing called Twitter I have added clients in 15 more state that I had not done any business in before, making it well over 30 states now that Vertical Printing and Graphics, a little boutique printing and graphics company in Encinitas, CA can say they service.

--
Laura Beulke
Vertical Printing & Graphics
http://www.VerticalPrinting.com

Follow me on Twitter: VPG_Printing

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Simple booth display idea

I'm off this week to the Oklahoma Municipal League, where we're exhibiting our grant writing and project skills for small towns.


I thought I'd take this chance to offer a booth idea I saw at the first OpenBeta event. Foamish promoted themselves and their cool startup image by making the simplest display ever. They printed a bunch of copies of their logo, and taped them up in a tiled pattern on the wall. Poof! Instant display.

Have a great week, and I'll try to sneak back and post when I can.

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Resources at OKStartup

Shelli Todd, Oklahoma Department of Commerce, tells us about the resources at OKStartup.com.





What's the equivalent service in your state? Who provides the one-stop information hub for entrepreneurs?

Interviewed at NASVF - the National Association of Seed and Venture Funds, Oklahoma City, September 2009

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My favorite stories are in the Brag Basket

Every week, you share great stories in the Brag Basket. Reading them is the highlight of my blogging week. I hope you enjoy reading about each other, as well.

This is where you can share your projects and accomplishments. You can also cheer for other people, give shout outs, congratulate, and even give someone a well-deserved pat on the back.

The Brag Basket is open all weekend. (September 18-20, 2009 - I'm putting dates because sometimes a person will comment on an old basket by mistake.) Drop by any time and leave your good news in the comments.

The Brag Basket is open for everyone, whether from a small town, a big city, or anywhere in the world. (But it's true that I love small town brags!)

Will you put something in the Brag Basket this week? You can brag on a friend, your own project, yourself, others, anything! Make it personal, and not just an ad. You don't need special permission, and you don't have to be from a small town. Just leave a comment right here. There's no deadline, so you can brag anytime during the weekend, and I'll open a fresh Brag Basket each Friday.

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Stay Informed on Current Trends for your Home Business

[Another guest post by our great friend Denise McGill ]

By Denise McGill
To say the least, small business owners must be savvy in many areas of business. It often means you are the decision maker, bookkeeper, salesperson, office administrator and marketing manager. However…with having to wear so many hats, how does one person keep up with the latest trends in their industry and stay competitive?

Set aside a little time each day to take advantage of valuable resources available to you. This list provides free or low-cost resources to keep your small business competitive, innovative and fresh.

• Competitor websites – study them.  What is their angle, do they have special offers, what is appealing or confusing about the site, what other services might they offer, who are their customers, is their pricing competitive? 
• Industry memberships – enroll yourself. Many memberships offer discounts and valuable services filled with tips, success stories, latest industry trends, news, interviews, and workshops.
• Ezine newsletters – free and informative. Most websites offer an online newsletter in exchange for your email address. Filled with marketing tips, online courses, and industry news.
• On-line Forums – informative, interactive networking. With forums, feel free to ask questions or network with members. Simply search the internet for forums matching your industry niche.
• Trade Magazines – essential subscriptions. Trade magazines scour the industry for trends, news, key players, upcoming events, etc.
• Webinars – an instructive seminar accessed from the comfort of your home. If you cannot take time away from your business to attend a seminar, then a webinar is the perfect choice. Simply register online for the webinar, access the class and get the same information actual attendees receive at a fraction of the cost.
• Chamber of Commerce events – attend them to build business relationships and develop partnerships. It is also a great way to network in your community and keep a pulse on key issues.

These free or low-cost resources are available to all small business owners. Stay in touch with industry trends, network with peers and gain indispensable knowledge. Your business is sure to prosper and grow. 

Author Bio:
Denise McGill is a freelance copywriter specializing in catalog product description, copy makeovers, web content, landing pages, promotional materials, articles and more. Visit her website at http://mcgillcopywriting.com for more information on giving your business the competitive edge.

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Are small towns part of the past

So, am I excited that they acknowledge small towns for tourism, or am I disappointed that they relegate them to the past?



Seen in the CVG Cincinnati Airport 

Now, how can we do something with this? How can we promote small towns as part of the present, or maybe even, gasp, the future?  I'd love to hear your thoughts.

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Can the local grocery make a comeback

When the big Wal-Mart has already run the little chain grocery store out of business, is there any chance that a totally independent, locally-run grocery could compete? Yes.

Alva, Oklahoma. Population just under 5000. My hometown.

In 2002, the last grocery store in town, Homeland, locked its doors, leaving only the Wal-Mart Supercenter in the grocery business. The local manager of that Homeland didn't stand still. He immediately worked to bring in a new chain. I have no idea how many different chains he met with. None of them would touch Alva, not with a Supercenter for competition.

Then the manager and his wife convinced each other to try it on their own.

Are you kidding? The chains knew it wouldn't work. They were smart to stay away. How could these locals go it alone against the behemoth?

But they weren't alone. They had the support of a bigger group of locals. The local tech center helped with a three year plan, a local lender was right there supporting the financing. Other economic and business development groups were deeply involved. Volunteers helped haul in equipment. People walked in to help get the store ready. One day as they scrambled towards opening, 23 people were working, and only four were on the payroll. Read the re-opening story in the Alva Review-Courier.

Finally, after a three year gap, they did it. Alva's Market opened in 2005. Four years later, they are still going.

They will sack your groceries and carry them out to your car. They offer cooked meals at lunch time. A local barbecue artist smokes meat on weekends. Local and regional products, from cheese to candles, are for sale next to national brands.

It's working. Despite everyone who said it wouldn't. (I'll admit, that includes me.) Despite the up and down economy. Despite the tight labor supply. Despite it all. It's working.

Photo by Becky McCray.

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Simplified Marketing Plans video summary

At the September Bartlesville (Oklahoma) Marketing and Communications Association meeting, President David Austin stopped me for a quick interview. I shared my Simplified Marketing Plan, and gave away some small town secrets.



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Brag Basket

Today, I'm going first in the Brag Basket!

Sheila and I have done it! We finished Tourism Currents, we finished on time, and we have a bunch of new folks joining up! Yay!

We launched Tourism Currents to help tourism professionals learn the new social media tools. It's completely tailored to tourism and includes six months of lessons based on what you actually do in the tourism business. Feel free to share it with a tourism professional you know who is looking to learn.

And that's what the Brag Basket it all about. This is where you can share your projects andaccomplishments. You can also cheer for other people, give shout outs,congratulate, and even give someone a well-deserved pat on the back.

The Brag Basket is open all weekend. (September 11-13, 2009 - I'mputting dates because sometimes a person will comment on an old basketby mistake.) Drop by any time and leave your good news in the comments.

TheBrag Basket is open for everyone, whether from a small town, a bigcity, or anywhere in the world. (But it's true that I love small townbrags!)

Will you put something in the Brag Basket this week? Youcan brag on a friend, your own project, yourself, others, anything!Make it personal, and not just an ad. You don't need specialpermission, and you don't have to be from a small town. Just leave acomment right here. There's no deadline, so you can brag anytime duringthe weekend, and I'll open a fresh Brag Basket each Friday.

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Three failure quotes

barbaraling
What the caterpillar sees as failure, the butterfly sees as the beginning of life. :)
I never view failure as something negative - I look at it as a way to open creativity.

micah
Failure isn't about "not winning" it's about heart wrenching actions leading to fundemental change.

chrisbrogan
failure is the pain that fuels learning. 

 Photo by Becky McCray.

(I didn't have a butterfly, so will a locust do?)

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Just a simple phone call

I was near the end of a two-hour drive to pick up our daughter at college. It had been an intentionally quiet drive. I had been texting a bit, but hadn't talked to anyone for the whole time. When my phone buzzed twice, I realized it was a call, not a text. I looked at the number. I knew it was from near my office, but I didn't recognize it.

"Mr Swanson, this is Scott from Jim's Auto Care. Is it okay to talk?"

My heart started to beat a bit faster and my mind started trying to make sense of why Scott might be calling.

See, I didn't have a car in the shop.

"I was working on a car today, and it had a problem like yours. It made me start wondering if yours was okay."

I told him that it was fine.

A couple weeks ago, Scott had worked on our car, the one I was driving right now. A light had been coming on briefly every morning. Scott looked at it and we talked. It was a problem not with the cooling system itself but with a sensor. The system wasn't leaking but needed to be flushed. The sensor had some corrosion, but cleaning out the system should solve the problem and without the additional cost of replacing the sensor. He left it to me to decide. I picked the cleaning. He said to let him know if it didn't work.

"If I remember, the light was coming on every morning. So it's not anymore?"

Nope.

"Good. Take care."

I was amazed. His records were in his head. He was concerned about the effectiveness of his work. I'm guessing he wasn't calling with some programmed system of followup (I've seen the shop, remember?). He just wanted to be sure.

I've been there several times in the past year, looking for a new garage.

I think I found one.

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Is ecommerce right for your small town store

[Paul Gerst of TeaDog, offered up this introduction to ecommerce for small town retailers. He has some terrific questions for you to think through. -Becky]

If you are a small town retailer, you may be thinking about adding ecommerce to your business. Before making a decision, take a few moments to consider a some questions.


In doing some preparation, you may learn that ecommerce is the right step. You also may discover that starting a store blog or improving a web site would be more fitting. You might find out that using sites like Etsy.com or Amazon Marketplace work better for your business.

As a retailer, you have advantages that may make ecommerce beneficial. For example, you already accept credit cards so you have a merchant account. You currently sell items so you have relationships with suppliers. Maybe most importantly, you know the type of customer that buys your products and what is important to them.

Despite the proliferation of ecommerce and an economic slowdown, opportunity still exists to sell online. The Dept of Commerce indicated US retail ecommerce sales for the second quarter of 2009 rose 2.2% to over $32 billion from the first quarter while total retail sales decreased slightly. Overall, ecommerce accounted for 3.6% of total retail sales.

Although it may not seem logical, technology should be one of the last items to consider. Other factors will have a bigger effect on the success of your ecommerce business.

To begin, determine a measurement of success. What will make your ecommerce site successful? How will you measure success? Is it revenue? How much? Is it the fun of a new challenge?

Also, carefully, consider roles and responsibilities. Since you are already busy, who will manage the site? How will you handle shipping? Who will handle marketing? Marketing the site will be your biggest challenge.

Next, consider the competition. Even though you successfully compete regionally, you now face a bigger audience. What differentiates you from Amazon, eBay and Internet-only stores? Determine your unique selling proposition and make sure to be consistent. If your store competes on service or offers unique items, then do the same online.

Then, if you decide to sell online, the first step is picking a shopping cart. Determine your goals, level of technical expertise and amount you want to spend. Most of today's shopping carts are built for small businesses and made for people who are not programmers or developers. A little skill can build a robust ecommerce store.

Make sure to get all the fees and exactly what is included in the cost. Beware, some carts charge a percentage of monthly sales. Make sure you know about this. Take advantage of the 30-day free trial many offer to build a small site.

In doing research, review sites with similar items or ones you really enjoy using. Find out the carts used by these sites. You can look at the footer of the site, which often tells the shopping cart platform. It may say "Online Shopping by ..." or some variation.

With the right preparation and answer to a few questions, you will make the right decision to enhance the value of your small business store.

A small business owner, Paul Gerst runs teadog.com, an ecommerce retailer specializing in brands of tea from around the world. He also runs a fan site for PG Tips Tea.

Photo by Becky McCray.

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Employee vs Independent Contractor

Ten Tips for Business Owners

Source: IRS Summertime Tax Tip 2009-20

If you are a small business owner, whether you hire people as independent contractors or as employees will impact how much taxes you pay and the amount of taxes you withhold from their paychecks. Additionally, it will affect how much additional cost your business must bear, what documents and information they must provide to you, and what tax documents you must give to them.

Here are the top ten things every business owner should know about hiring people as independent contractors versus hiring them as employees.

1. Three characteristics are used by the IRS to determine the relationship between businesses and workers: Behavioral Control, Financial Control, and the Type of Relationship.

2. Behavioral Control covers facts that show whether the business has a right to direct or control how the work is done through instructions, training or other means.

3. Financial Control covers facts that show whether the business has a right to direct or control the financial and business aspects of the worker's job.

4. The Type of Relationship factor relates to how the workers and the business owner perceive their relationship.

5. If you have the right to control or direct not only what is to be done, but also how it is to be done, then your workers are most likely employees.

6. If you can direct or control only the result of the work done -- and not the means and methods of accomplishing the result -- then your workers are probably independent contractors.

7. Employers who misclassify workers as independent contractors can end up with substantial tax bills. Additionally, they can face penalties for failing to pay employment taxes and for failing to file required tax forms.

8. Workers can avoid higher tax bills and lost benefits if they know their proper status.

9. Both employers and workers can ask the IRS to make a determination on whether a specific individual is an independent contractor or an employee by filing a Form SS-8 – Determination of Worker Status for Purposes of Federal Employment Taxes and Income Tax Withholding – with the IRS.

10. You can learn more about the critical determination of a worker’s status as an Independent Contractor or Employee at IRS.gov by selecting the Small Business link. Additional resources include IRS Publication 15-A, Employer's Supplemental Tax Guide, Publication 1779, Independent Contractor or Employee, and Publication 1976, Do You Qualify for Relief under Section 530? These publications and Form SS-8 are available on the IRS Web site or by calling the IRS at (800-TAX-FORM).

Links:

• Contractor vs. Employee
• Publication 1779
• Publication 15-A

The Late Brag Basket

Last week, with "The End of the Month Brag Basket," I scared at least a few of you into thinking it was the end of the Brag Basket itself. Not so! I love reading your stories. But since I was late opening this one, I couldn't resist a bit of punning in the title.

So let's open the Brag Basket for the long weekend. (September 4-7, 2009 - I'm putting dates because sometimes a person will comment on an old basket by mistake.)

This is where you can share your projects and accomplishments. You can also cheer for other people, give shout outs, congratulate, and even give someone a well-deserved pat on the back.

The Brag Basket is open for everyone, whether from a small town, a big city, or anywhere in the world. (But it's true that I love small town brags!)

Will you put something in the Brag Basket this week? You can brag on a friend, your own project, yourself, others, anything! Make it personal, and not just an ad. You don't need special permission, and you don't have to be from a small town. Just leave a comment right here. There's no deadline, so you can brag anytime during the weekend, and I'll open a fresh Brag Basket each Friday.

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Serve the under served market

[Earl, one of our readers, left this as a comment on an older post. I think it's a good discussion starter, so I brought it here as a post. Becky]

SERVE THE UNDERSERVED" and watch the sales roll in!
By Earl L. Sigmund CPA

I guess that I never looked at target marketing this way before. Instead of taking your product or service and trying to find a target market to buy your product or service, we should first do research on what group of people is underserved and then DEVELOP something that this group wants to buy. Seems like a no-brainer to me. This is what ESPN did, 24 hour headline news did, even McDonald's did.

Just what do entrepreneurs want now that they don't have? What do stressed-out families want now that they don't have?

Maybe this sort of thinking will help entrepreneurs figure out why their marketing efforts fail. Research and analysis of the marketplace are key. Let's take the time to do our homework instead of just jumping in and forcing our own services and products down everyone's throats. 

What under-served markets do you see around your town?

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Promotion checklist for after your event

Congratulations on a terrific event. Now what? Before you jump onto the next thing, what can you do to make that event continue to work for you?

Let's brainstorm some ideas that will work just as well for tourism events as for promotional events from a small business.

• Post your photos from the event to Flickr and Facebook. Tag them with key words about your event, your place, and all the people pictured. 
• Search for event photos from other attendees. Comment, compliment and ask permission to use them to promote the event in the future. 
• Get some press. In a small town, you can probably write up your own report and submit it.
• Report on the event online. Post it to your blog, Facebook, and any local forums that welcome event reports. 
• Drop a note (email?) to your legislators, especially if you received any state funding for your event.

What online promotion ideas would you add for after the event?

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Side note: You know that Tourism Currents, the learning project for social media from Sheila Scarborough and me, is launching soon, September 9. While Sheila and I are busy (seriously busy) finishing up all the details, Sarah Page kindly wrote an overview of it at her blog, Tourism Tech. Thanks, Sarah!

Photo by Becky McCray.

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