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AHBBO Home Based Business Information Return to AHBBO Archives
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_______________________________________________________________ A Home-Based Business Online _______________________________________________________________ Issue 129 : April 8, 2017 Sent to 13,425 Opt-In Subscribers Editor: Elena Fawkner Publisher: AHBBO Publishing AHBBO Contact By Email _______________________________________________________________ _______________________________________________________________ IN THIS ISSUE _______________________________________________________________ 1. Welcome and Update from Elena 2. Home-Based Business Idea of the Week - Mystery Shopper 3. Feature Article - Are YOU Leaving Money On The Table? 4. Surveys and Trends 5. Success Quotes of the Week 7. Subscription Management 9. Contact Information _______________________________________________________________ 1. Welcome and Update from Elena _______________________________________________________________ Hello again and a warm welcome to all the new subscribers who have joined us since the last issue. This week's article is tax-related good news for those of you dabbling with the idea of starting an online home-based business. Just because you haven't started making money yet doesn't mean you can't start taking the benefit of business tax deductions. If you're spending money hand over fist on ISP fees and information products so you can learn how to start your own online business, you MAY be able to benefit from some pretty handy tax laws. And to help you on your way to your own online business, I've created a new, free e-book based on the information contained at my new site, Web Work From Home. Now, instead of having to go online and visit WWFH (which, of course, you can always do at the entire site in one handy ebook that can sit on your desktop to be read at your convenience. Download your free copy now at This book may be distributed freely. Give it away as a freebie to your website visitors or ezine subscribers with my compliments! As always, thanks for reading and I hope you enjoy this week's issue. Remember, AHBBO is for YOU! If you have comments or suggestions for topics you would like to see addressed, or would just like to share your experiences with other subscribers, I want to hear from you. _______________________________________________________________ FREE INTERNET TRAINING COURSE Free course how to build a profitable Internet business part time from your home. Free Newsletter. _______________________________________________________________ 2. Home-Based Business Idea of the Week - Mystery Shopper _______________________________________________________________ Be a Mystery Shopper? Who me? Mystery shoppers are not all that mysterious, but they do have a cool name. They aren't detectives trying to solve a crime, and they don't wear obscure clothing and dark glasses. They don't carry spy equipment and they don't sneak around, like someone on the prowl. Instead, they walk around like any other "ordinary" shopper and shop. Their goal is to shop without being so conspicuous that they are observed observing the store employees or store itself. They have a set criteria that must be followed, whether it be checking out the merchandise, observing the store clerks, tasting the quality of the food, or experiencing the dreaded "return of an item." Mystery Shoppers are often on a deadline. Their job is to enter a store, restaurant, of other facility, follow their list of criteria and be out of the store without anyone becoming suspicious of their purpose. Sometimes they have to arrive at exactly 4 p.m. Other times, they have a window frame of 5 p.m. to 6 p.m. And other times, they are given a week in which to complete their assignment. Mystery Shoppers must fill out questionnaires such as: "How long did it take you to get seated?" "How long did you wait for your food?" "Was your food hot when it arrived?" "When you walked into the store, how were you greeted?" "Did you find everything easily and if not, when you asked for help, how were you helped?" "Give a detailed account of what followed when you asked for the out of stock item." "How many customers were in the stores and how were they being helped?" "What did the bathrooms look like? Were they properly stocked and clean?" "After handing the money to the clerk, what did he or she do with the money?" "Were the advertised specials displayed according to the following standards?" With so many questions, it can often be difficult to remember everything. Some Mystery Shoppers have come up with a little system to help them along the way: * Make extra copies of the questionnaires, so that after you have driven a few blocks away, you can fill in the information and not forget anything. * Take a friend or spouse along, they can observe what the clerk looks like while you concentrate on the purchase and return policy. This is a great way to take a friend out to lunch, free. * Bring a tape recorder with you, once you leave the store, hit the record button (hidden away in your purse) and commence talking: you can act like you are on the phone, or talking to your friend or child. For the rest of this report, visit http://www.ahbbo.com/mystery.html . ----- There are many more ideas like this at the AHBBO Home Business Ideas page at free home based business ideas with more being added regularly. _______________________________________________________________ Highly Recommended. How To Cash-In On the Booming Demand for Information Products. Yes you can develop your own information product in hours, using knowledge you already have. You don't need to be a writer, speaker, trainer or communication expert, and best of all, you get to keep 100% of the profits. _______________________________________________________________ 3. Feature Article: Are YOU Leaving Money on the Table? _______________________________________________________________ © 2017 Elena Fawkner For those of us in the U.S., tax time is here again. For those of you elsewhere, tax time is always around the corner. Oh joy, I hear you say. Well, if you're contemplating an online home-based business, it may be just that. Really. Here's how. Are you ready to start making money with, say, affiliate programs or by creating your own information product, but haven't really got off the ground yet because you're stuck in the stage of thinking you have to learn everything there is to learn about internet marketing before you can start? (Which you don't, but that's a whole other article.) How much money have you spent on e-books and other information products in your quest for the holy grail? How much money are you spending on your ISP every month? How much money have you spent on what appeared to be promising online business programs only to see them bite the dust? And what about ALL that software you've bought but never used? Well, even if you haven't made a dime yet, if you have a "genuine profit motive", start thinking outside the paradigm of the *would-be* online business owner and start thinking from the perspective of one who is *already* in business. What does that have to do with tax? Everything. If you have a *genuine* profit motive for what you're doing, then you're in business. If you're in business, you can deduct business-related expenses against business and (if you're a sole proprietor), personal, income. Including ISP fees, including information products, including "secret marketing site" membership fees. All of it. See where I'm going with this? Even fees for what turn out to be bogus programs can be deducted if you incurred them in pursuit of business profit. And while we're on the subject of being hoodwinked, let's just get that one out of the way right here. We're ALL suckered into falling for at *least* one - it's called the school of hard knocks - so don't dud yourself out of a righteous deduction just because you're feeling ever so slightly foolish for having been suckered, against your usually MUCH better judgment, into believing that what sounded too good to be true wasn't. Even though it was. Repeat after me - a deduction is a deduction is a deduction. All that's required is that you incurred the expense with the motivation to make a profit. Now, a word of caution here. You can't deduct expenses incurred in pursuit of illegal activities so I wouldn't try and claim an investment in a pyramid or ponzi scheme on your tax return. But if all you did was fall for a sales pitch for a program that, if successful, would not have been illegal, and it was a business-related expense, go for it. So long as you had a genuine profit motive when you handed over the dough. It gets even better. (By the way, this is all U.S. stuff we're talking here. Check your local tax laws. Many countries will have something similar to what I'm about to talk about.) Here's where it gets interesting. If you work your business out of your home, in a room or a part of a room that you use *exclusively* and *regularly* for your business AND that area is also your principal place of business, you may qualify for the home office deduction. Even if you also work at a job outside the home. And when I say "exclusively" I MEAN exclusively - no children using your computer for their homework or to play computer games, no personal papers in your work desk, no late-night chatrooms (or less savory online pursuits if you get my drift), no online affairs, no television in the room. You may not be able to apply the home-office deduction against *this* year's income (as we'll see in a minute) but you will be able to apply it against profits generated in future years. So, why all the emphasis on "genuine profit motive"? The movement towards easily-started online businesses has sprouted an industry of so-called tax experts who would have you believe that anyone can reap the benefits of home business tax breaks simply by starting a "home based business". They basically try and convince you that anyone can pretend to be running a home-based business and thus qualify. Not so. You need to be running a real business, not engaging in a hobby or a sham. What distinguishes a real business from a mere hobby? You guessed it - a profit motive. Believe me when I tell you, if you're planning on taking business deductions, you'd better be able to prove to the IRS that you have a genuine profit motive. How do you do that? By keeping proper books and records. By keeping business and personal expenses separate. By keeping business and personal income separate. By running a genuine business, in other words. Here's how it works. Let's say you have a spare room in your house that you use exclusively as a home office. Over the past 12 months, you've bought a computer, desk, chair, printer and fax machine. You've decided that you want to start a home- based online business on the side while you continue to work in your job. You spend several hours a day researching ideas for your new business and you spend a small fortune on your high-speed internet connection, and various information products relevant to your area of interest. Because you're running a business, one of the first things you're going to want to do is get a system for your business records set up. Keep a record of all expenses as they're incurred so that when tax time comes around, everything is at your fingertips. I use Excel spreadsheets for this - one spreadsheet for every expense category. Here are the categories I use (use whatever categories make sense for your business though): Advertising and promotion Software* Web Hosting and Domain Name Registration Fees ISP/Cable Modem Fees Office Expenses Content Subscription Fees Telephone*** Bank Charges Books and Magazines Equipment** Furniture** Bad Debts Home Office Deduction * Usually has to be depreciated over several years unless it's software that needs to be updated frequently such as anti-virus software. ** You can either depreciate these items over time or you can write off 100% during the year of acquisition up to a maximum of around $20,000. *** If you only have one phone, you'll need to apportion expenses between personal and business. On the other hand, if you have a second line exclusively for you business, you can write off 100% of expenses for the second line. Every time I pay a business expense, I enter the details in the appropriate spreadsheet. Very easy. Then, when the time comes to file your tax return, you just need to prepare a Schedule C (for individual taxpayers). If your business makes a loss (i.e., the expenses you pay out are more than the revenue you bring in from your business), that loss is deducted from your income from all sources, thereby reducing your taxes. But, best of all, if you qualify for the home office deduction, you can take a proportionate share of your mortgage or rent payments and your utilities and apply them as a deduction against your business profits, but only to the point where the profit from your business equals zero. In other words, the home office deduction cannot be used to create a loss situation. But even if you can't deduct it this year (because your business has already made a loss), it's not lost. You can carry it forward to future years to be applied against future profits. So, as you can see, even if you're only in the information- gathering/learning stage of your business, if you have a profit motive you're nonetheless in business and you can and should be writing off your business expenses even if you're yet to start generating revenues. Make sure you keep proper records and substantiate all expenses though. The IRS is, of course, well aware of the potential for abuse of home business tax deductions and will be paying close attention. That's fine though. If you have a profit motive, you ARE running a business and you're *entitled* to take any legitimate deductions that are available to you. To do anything less is to leave money on the table. ------ include the following resource box; and (2) you only mail to a ------ practical business ideas, opportunities and solutions for the work-from-home entrepreneur. AHBBO Home Based Business Online Also, visit Elena's newest site, Web Work From Home _______________________________________________________________ 4. Surveys and Trends _______________________________________________________________ © 2017 Ryanna's Hope ================== ADVERTISING REALITIES ================== "BRANDING" - SHORT OR LONG TERM? The objective of "branding" is to cause your product to be the one most customers think of when they have a need for it. According to master ad wizard, Roy Williams however, branding must be accomplished in "long term memory." You might add, "well, repetition, right?" Williams has researched brain activity with advertising and his advice is that the brain will not transfer to long term memory any data that is obviously recognized as "soon to expire." Instead, "irrelevant" messages are transferred to "short term memory," and are erased with simple sleep. ===================== ADVERTISING TIME LINE. . . ===================== 1880s - Illustrated trade cards reach the height of their popularity, not only with advertisers but also with the American public, which becomes remarkably interested in collecting them. 1892 -Sears, Roebuck & Co. mails out 8,000 post cards with imitation handwriting across the country. 2,000 orders are received directly from this promotional campaign. ====================================== THE AGING OF AMERICA - WHAT CAN WE EXPECT? FOR CAREGIVERS ...WHICH WAY THE TREND? ====================================== According to America Research, the number of Americans age 85 or older is skyrocketing. The total jumped 51% from 1980 to 1996 and is expected to climb an additional 32% by 2005. This swelling of the "old age" group means more aging parents relying on their families for care. The 65 and older population is expected to reach 39 million, a 15% increase, by 2017! ========================== BETWEEN MOM, DAD OR THE KIDS? ========================== The Conference Board revealed in a 1998 survey that by the year 2005, 37% of US workers will be more concerned with caring for a parent than for a child. The Health Insurance Industry Association reported that more workers are buying long term care insurance through employers. ======================= "SANDWICHED" GENERATIONS? ======================= In 1997, America Research revealed that 1 in 5 of the labor force was part of the "sandwich generation," that is, taking care of both children and elderly relatives. The figure will increase over the next 5 years. ============================== HOW ARE "CAREGIVERS" CUTTING BACK? ============================== Research along the above lines reveals that 19% have less money to spend on the immediate family. 36% pay some of their parent's bills. 24% eat out less with their family. 46% have become more saving conscious. 26% are spending less, not knowing how long care for mom/ dad will last. 51% are shopping for only the lowest price. 38% say buying for themselves is not important - parents come first. ================================== THE AGING TREND AND BUSINESS IN GENERAL ================================== Companies that cater to both senior citizens and caregivers will profit the most. "Caregivers" and members of the "Sandwiched Generation" are extremely hard pressed for time. Here's what's expected to come down the line in the immediate future: * The number of "health nuts" will increase. Companies selling vitamins etc. will prosper. * Consumer related services will need to improve service. "Caregivers" are demanding. * Many stores will need to revive "home delivery" to the elderly and the caregivers. * House calls from clothing people will not be uncommon. * As technology becomes less expensive, and more accessible, seniors will want to access the Net for products, entertainment, family contact and more! * Shopping from home will be the continued "call" for caregivers and seniors who have little time, poor health, and limited finances (looking for best buys). ------ _______________________________________________________________ Access to a computer? Work at home online and earn up to $1,500 - $5,000+ per month! You set your own hours, part-time or full-time. Be your own boss! We have the proven system in place, we train you to succeed! _______________________________________________________________ 5. Success Quotes of the Week _______________________________________________________________ To dream anything that you want to dream. That is the beauty of the human mind. To do anything that you want to do. That is the strength of the human will. To trust yourself to test your limits. That is the courage to succeed. -- Bernard Edmonds Whether we like it or not, each of us is constrained by limits on what we can do and feel. To ignore these limits leads to denial and eventually to failure. To achieve excellence, we must first understand the reality of the everyday, with all its demands and potential frustrations. -- Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi Five minutes, just before going to sleep, given to a bit of directed imagination regarding achievement possibilities of the morrow, will steadily and increasingly bear fruit, particularly if all ideas of difficulty, worry or fear are resolutely ruled out and replaced by those of accomplishment and smiling courage. -- Frederick Pierce _______________________________________________________________ 9. Contact Information _______________________________________________________________ Elena Fawkner, Editor A Home-Based Business Online Contact By Email Online Business Opportunities _______________________________________________________________
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