The Juggling Entrepreneurs

Forbes magazine has a great article out about incompetent assistants.  Whether you work with a virtual or in-office assistant, it is important to hire one that makes you look good and relieves you of your workload - not adds to it.

I use media mail to send books I sell on Half.com. It can be used for sending video tapes, DVDs, CDs, software disks, books, and printed material. One risk is that the postal service can open it at any time.

Here are the general guidelines for sending Media Mail.

• Write and underline Media Mail above the recipients address, to the left of the postage.
• For the Continental 48 States, it costs $2.13 to send a package under 1 pound and an additional 34 cents for each additional pound.
• The maximum size is 108 inches in combined length and distance around the thickest part.

It takes an average of 4 business days for the recipient to receive it. The time it takes depends on how far away the recipient is.

You can put any package under 13 ounces in a mail box. Over 13 ounces, you must take it to the post office and hand it to the recipient. Make sure they weigh and stamp the package otherwise it may come back to you.

For a great reference guide to calculating postage see this Office Animation article.

MarketingProf’s gave this advice recently in their Get to the Po!nt eNewsletter.

Here are three points about customer service:

• Customers don’t care about your problems.  They want the product or service delivered as promised.
• Customers don’t understand quality.  They only know the experience that surrounds the sale.
• Customers need you to manage their experience.  Put your best and brightest in key customer service positions.

A revised Federal Minimum Wage Law Poster (July 3, 2007) is available for download.  It must be posted by every employer subject to the Fair Labor Standard’s Act.

Dates for Minimum Wage Increases:

• July 24, 2007, $5.85 per hour
• July 24, 2008, $6.55 per hour
• July 24, 2009, $7.25 per hour

Did you know that if you make a large enough income and do not pay taxes quarterly you can get fined?

The US Federal Government expects the self-employed and sole proprietorships to pay their taxes throughout the year instead of just at the end of the year.  If you expect to pay $1,000 or more annually in taxes (includes self-employment tax), then you need to estimate your taxes and pay them quarterly.

General Guidelines:

• You must pay the self employment tax if you earn more than $400 per year.
• The self employment tax rate is 15.3% (12.% for social security, 2.9% for Medicare).
• The maximum earnings subjected to the self employment tax is $94,200.

Refer to “Self Employment Tax” (IRS) for information on how to pay your estimated taxes.

Paying State Estimated Taxes

Besides your federal obligation, in most cases, you have to pay estimated taxes to your state as well or you may incur fines.   Many states require you to pay an unemployment tax as well as an income tax.

Go to your state’s website to find out how to apply and pay your state taxes.

I dream of having my own home office someday. The location and design of it is still very fuzzy.

Right now, my desk sits in a closet in the playroom. I can closely monitor my kids while I type away at my computer. I can also lock the closet doors so I don’t need to worry about them getting into my desk when I am not in the room.

Over 90% of the time, I am not working at my desk. I may be at the kitchen table, outside on the patio, or hiding on the floor of my bedroom. My kids are 1 and 4 (happy birthday, Ian) and their play still needs to be supervised for the most part.

But some day, I will actually be able to come out of the closet. =-) So where should I put my office?

• Convert the playroom into a office/den. Work there during school days.
• Use the back room (currently used for storage) in the basement. I would get the least interruptions.
• Have a carpenter build a desk in the kitchen. Best view of the backyard.
• Use a beautiful antique armoire desk (front folds up) my father has but doesn’t use that can be put in the dining or living room.

Right now I am preferring the very quiet back room in my basement.

Here are some sources I have discovered while I search. Feel free to leave comments with other links. =-)

• “5 Office Design Tips for Better Productivity,” Darrell Zahorsky, About.com
• “Home Office Plan & Design Books“, Catherine Roseberry, About.com
• “Office Design on the Cheap,” Susan Ward, About.com

Extracted from NASE’s Get Connected eNewsletter, May 4, 2007.

A new publication from the IRS might make light reading for small-business owners. Publication 4591, “Small Business Federal Tax Responsibilities,” provides essential information for small businesses and the self-employed in one convenient location. The tri-fold brochure covers these topics:

• Information about federal tax responsibilities
• Most often used forms or publications for small businesses
• Web resources for starting, operating and closing a business
• Links to federal and state government agencies

If you work for a virtual assistant, you can authorize them to be able to sign a letter for you. It is best to do this in writing stating exactly in what circumstances the person can sign. It is important to note whether the person can sign checks, authorize credit card purchases, or sign legal documents on your behalf.

Read “Signing a Letter for Someone Else” to view the proper format your assistant should use when signing a letter on your behalf.

Are you planning on attending a conference?

It is important to look at the conference brochures or websites as soon as it becomes available.

Most conferences have an early registration deadline which can save you money.  But, more importantly, is to arrange your hotel accommodations as soon as possible.  The block of rooms reserved for the conference attendees at a special rate are usually sold out long before the early registration deadline.

I highly recommend making room reservations as soon as possible to lock in at these rates - even if the final list of participants for the conference is not final.  It is very easy to change the names of the people staying in the rooms or cancel a room at a later date.

Usually conference registrations are non-refundable, so it is best to wait until you have a final list of participants.  If you are bringing several people to a conference put on by an affiliate or vendor and one of the people you registered cannot make it, get in contact with your account representative.  They may be able to reimburse you the money even if the policy is not to give refunds.

If the conference is held in a popular travel destination such as Walt Disney or cities such as Savannah or New York, remember to book your travel early as it fills up quickly during peak seasons.

For those businesses that use trade shows to make sales, take a look at NASE’s new Success Skill Seminar, Can a Trade Show Boost Your Business.

If you attend trade shows as a participant, you might currently make travel arrangements and then forget about the show until you get there.

If there is a specific goal you have in mind, you might want to do a little preparation.  (Many of these activities can be done by an assistant.)

There is something you an do besides obtaining a list of vendors and speakers participating and circling the ones you are interested in.

For example, if you goal is to evaluate software that meets a certain need in your company, try to eliminate some of the vendors prior to the show by:

• Create a list of criteria the software must meet in order for it to work for you.
• Check out the websites of the different vendors.
• Contact the vendors and ask questions.
• Evaluate the software using demos.

Once you have eliminated some of the vendors, contact the ones that made it to the next round and let them know you are going to the conference.  Find out if you can setup a meeting to talk.