Weekly Business Advisors
Small-business ideas, advice, and opinions from around the country.
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Year-end tax guide 2009
Year-end tax planning is an unpleasant chore in a busy season. But it’s worth the effort--especially this year, when the potential payoff is unusually large. This guide offers up some longer-term advice on how to cut your tax bills for years to come. 1. You Can Still Cut Your 2009 Tax Bill. 2. Eight Last-Minute Tax Breaks. 3. How To Be A Tax-Smart Charitable Giver. 4. Ten Tips For Tax-Smart Charitable Giving. 5. Deadline For Self-Employed Savers. 6. Eight Steps To Protect Your Family. 7. Year-End Wealth Management. 8. Reading The Tax Tea Leaves 9. Ten Ways To Audit-Proof Your Tax Return. 10. Last-Minute Roth Opportunity.
Source: Forbes.com
Investment guide 2010
In this age of financial information overload, rare is the advice that helps you clear a path through the clutter and confusion and achieve your long-term objectives. That’s what the Forbes 2010 Investment Guide is designed to do. 1. Ten Steps To Upgrade Your Savings. 2. Investing, Family-Style. 3. Do-It-Yourself Investing. 4. Eight Steps To Do-It-Yourself Investing. 5. The Brokerage Customer Is Always Wrong. 6. Six Steps To Prevent Being Ripped Off By Your Broker.
Source: FORBES.COM
Small business crunches numbers
Small business has fought the health-care bill as too costly. That made last Saturday’s vote bitter to many of the nation’s roughly 30 million such entrepreneurs, if welcome to some. Action now shifts to the Senate, and with many specifics still in doubt, small-business groups are planning to lobby heavily there.
Source: WSJ.COM
Connecting with customers
It’s no longer enough to blast out marketing pitches touting the virtues of your company’s products and services, you need to create a marketing campaign that entertains, educates and adds value to your customers’ lives.
Source: REUTERS.COM
The 10 questions you should never stop asking
The same questions that any business owner should continue to ask, year in and year out: 1. What is our purpose for existing? 2. Who is our target customer? 3. Why does anyone need what we’re selling? 4. If there is a need, is it enough to support a profitable business? 5. What were our competitors up to? 6. Can you reduce expenses—without harming the product? 7. Do we have the right leadership? 8. Do we have the right employees? 9. How will we continue to drive revenue? 10. How are your employees holding up?
Source: FORBES.COM
Team-motivation audio conference provides affordable, convenient training
Looking to increase morale and productivity? Progressive Business Publications is hosting a 60-minute audio conference Dec. 16, “Motivate Without Money: 7 Keys to High Performance,” from 1:00 to 2:00 p.m. ET with Janelle Brittain, MBA, CSP, a leading expert in creating performance excellence. Priced at $199, it is a fraction of the cost of travel and attendance fees for other high-priced conferences or seminars. To register, call 800-964-6033.
Source: PB-CONFERENCES.NET
U.S. stimulus funds run out for lower SBA loan fees
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Small Business Administration said on Tuesday that supplemental economic stimulus funds for its two most popular loan programs have run out and new loan volumes could fall if funds are not extended. The SBA said $375 million in Recovery Act funds for use in 7(a) and 504 loan programs were exhausted by Monday, leaving thousands of struggling but viable small businesses in limbo unless new resources can be found.
Source: REUTERS.COM
Small business grants are rare, but they do exist. Here’s how to find them.
Grants are rare, but the information you need to find and apply for legitimate ones is publicly available and free. For qualifying businesses, there really are opportunities to land free money from state, county and city governments, as well as private foundations and corporations.
SOURCE: CNN.COM
