IRS Standard Mileage Rates for 2010
January 8, 2010
The IRS has published their new standard mileage rates for 2010. They have dropped with the exception of the charitable mileage rate, which stayed the same.
Business Mileage Rate * – $0.50/mile
Relocation Mileage Rate – $0.165/mile
Medical Mileage Rate – $0.165/mile
Charitable Mileage Rate – $0.14/mile
I was a bit disappointed to see the rate drop, but it’s to be expected. Happy Driving!
* Can be used only if taxpayer owns/leases a passenger auto, van, pickup, or panel truck not for hire (e.g, as a taxi) that was not depreciated under ACRS, MACRS or Sec. 179 in earlier years.
How to Underline Blank Spaces in a Microsoft Word Document
September 30, 2009
I finally found out how to underline blank spaces in Microsoft Word 2007. It’s been driving me nuts for months and the support site just wasn’t helpful. I did this all the time with my 2003 version. Last resort (which should have been my first stop) was to Google my question and quickly went right to the answer on the Microsoft site. Here’s the secret no one wants you to know 
You can underline blank spaces by pressing SHIFT + HYPHEN (-).
That’s it! Earth shattering, I know. I do understand there are other ways, even considered better by Microsoft, but when all I want to do is a few quick, fast space underlines … voila! I was so relieved to find this today.
Update Your WordPress Blogsite Permalinks and You Will Be Found
September 29, 2009
Lately, I’ve noticed quite a few established blogsites still using the standard WordPress permalink structure. By naming your permalinks well, you may find some of your posts successfully listed at number 1 in the search engines (Google loves blogs). What is a permalink, you ask? A permalink, aka permanent link, is a URL that points to a specific blog post. This looks like jibberish by default: http://example.com/?p=123. The ‘&p=123′ text is called the post slug (isn’t that an awful way to refer to it). The post slug will appear in your URL in place of the full title of your post. By incorporating keywords and shortening your post title, you will absolutely be found and can attract new visitors to your site.
From the WordPress dashboard, select Settings, then Permalinks. From the WordPress Common Settings, choose something like Month and Name or create your own. Personally, I customize the settings and use the year and the post name, like http://www.example.com/2009/sample-post.
Not only will you be found by the search bots, but humans will find the address more visual pleasing and informative, as well. Don’t let this wonderful SEO opportunity pass by. It is such an exciting moment to see a post brought up as number 1 following a Google search. Why not change your permalink structure now and remember to leave a comment after you see your name in Google lights!
Resending a 1ShoppingCart Email Broadcast to a Customer
September 26, 2009
There may be occasions where a few customers have missed a broadcast or autoresponder message with important sign up or purchase details. An easy way to resend the message to specific customers is by creating a new autoresponder group. In this way, you can broadcast only to those who missed the details.
Start by creating a new autoresponder and name it, for example, Resend 0901. View the Client Details for each customer who missed a message and subscribe them to the new autoresponder. Revisit the email broadcast list and select the message to be re-broadcast. The recipient(s) will be the Resend autoresponder group you have just created. Select the broadcast time and send the email.
If customers missed a previous autoresponder message, find the missed message and copy it to the new Resend autoresponder group, then set it to send out with 0 days delay. View the Client Details for each customer who missed the broadcast message and subscribe them to the new autoresponder. This will immediately send them the missed message. Once the re-broadcast has been successful, you can decide whether or not to keep or delete the Resend autoresponder.
Contact us if you need some help with the solution. If you try it out, be sure to stop back and comment on your success!
Email Marketing Gets Better With 1ShoppingCart
September 8, 2009
If you haven’t heard, 1ShoppingCart launched it’s improved email marketing system recently. My fellow virtual assistants and I have been anxiously awaiting this update to check out the now-included newsletter templates for broadcasts or monthly ezines. There are several well-designed format choices available depending on the type of message to be sent out:
- Welcome – clean and simple format for a quick message
- Invitation – single column format for a quick invitation to an event
- Single – single column format
- Right – right sidebar with a main column for articles
- Left – left sidebar with a main column for articles
- Coupon – used for product promotions and announcements
- Promotion – used for product promotions and announcements
The nice selection of templates are ready to use but can be easily customized for client branding, if needed. Here’s a great short video demo to learn more about all the updates … even more reasons why I love working with this shopping cart platform. Go see for yourself!
Yes, you can restore that deleted QuickBooks transaction!
August 12, 2009
Your buzzing along in QuickBooks with a nice rhythm going as you work through your data entries. But the phone rings and when you get back to business, you duplicate a transaction. No worries … just delete it. Oops! You’ve accidentally deleted the wrong entry — now what?
Well, it’s time to discover a great feature in QuickBooks called the Audit Trail. I’m not saying it will save you every time, but it’s a safe bet you’ll find this feature comes in handy, once you know it’s there. QuickBooks automatically tracks all your additions, deletions and modifications made to transactions in your data file. The Audit Trail is arranged in order of the user who last affected a transaction, then by transaction type.
Select Reports from the navigation bar. Go to Accountants & Taxes, then select Audit Trail. Change the Date Entered/Last Modified drop-down box to adjust the date range currently displayed. Once the deleted entry is located, make note of the account and memo details to reenter the transaction. Voila! You are back where you started.
It’s Official…I’m Master Cart Certified!
July 17, 2009
As a Virtual Assistant, I have learned that the growth of my business truly relies on my ability to continue my education. When I review my goals and budget throughout the year, I incorporate training that reflects those goals for growth or expansion into complimentary areas.
Last year, several of my clients requested shopping cart and affiliate management assistance for their online businesses, as a companion to their bookkeeping tasks. I decided to educate myself beyond my self-starter adaptability and enrolled in several cart courses. I am proud to note that I have now completed Practice Pay Solution’s Cart Strategist and Cart Technician training to become Master Cart Certified in the 1ShoppingCart brand system. I am happily displaying their logo!
And very shortly, I will be even prouder to display another cart certification … but I’ll leave that a surprise. Go ahead … toot your own horn, and let me know what you have in the works.
Has Your Client Asked You to Charge Less?
June 26, 2009
This is a comical video for anyone who has ever had a client request that you lower your rates.
As business owners, we do need to be able to identify areas where deals can be negotiated, but it is much more important to be able to identify areas where scrimping can actually hurt your business. Spend your money where you will receive the most value, whatever that may be: increased productivity, improved time management, or greater quality of life. The benefits to move your business forward will far outweigh the cost. Watch and learn. am5nr293hu
Intuit Small Business Town Hall on Using Social Media
June 23, 2009
I am happy to say Intuit, makers of QuickBooks software, is continuing to improve. They are building their Small Business Community with town hall events, webinars, training, conferences, Ask the Expert events and more. This Thursday, June 25 at 9am PT (12pm ET), the Town Hall topic will be Using Social Media to Grow Your Business. Join Michelle Long, CPA and the following guests as they discuss how to use social media such as Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn, for effective marketing.
- Scott Wilder – Small Business Group at Intuit
- Chris Kim – Senior Marketing Manager with Intuit
- Dante Layton – Owner of Dante Layton, Inc.
- Ruth Perryman – Owner of the QB Specialists
Cost is free and there will be a Q&A session following the discussion. Hope you can make it!
Adding To My Ideal Client Profile
June 22, 2009
Have you started developing your ideal client profile? It is important for every business owner to identify who that ideal client is and create a list or profile. At first, this was a challenging concept for me to grasp coming from the corporate world where I really had no choice in who I worked with. As a Virtual Assistant, I work with many different clients and have been continually learning who meshes with my personality. When our partnership is successful, I make note of those characteristics. Having this profile has helped me initiate conversations with potential clients as well as feeling comfortable letting clients go if our styles don’t blend.
Most recently, I added a very key characteristic to my client profile. A potential new client noted that she was direct. A bell went off in my head because I am too, but I hadn’t identified it. As a bookkeeper, I find this works very well with several of my extremely busy clients. I like to be quick and to the point in my emails. My questions are small and words few but there is no love lost in the directness of my message or their quick reply. We are not ego involved in the communication.
I struggle with email because fluffy writing does not come naturally to me. In fact, I normally don’t charge for my email time because I know this. I must carefully craft emails writing and rewriting sentences to get my message across. Just this past month, a client let me know they prefer email over phone contact and it proved to be more than challenging. I was told I spent too much time answering an email. Initially I felt discouraged but now realize that had I relayed my direct communication style to this client ahead of time, I may have been able to spend less time crafting and worrying if I was going to offend her in some way. Adding directness as a core characteristic to my client profile will definitely encourage me to seek such partnerships with my future clients. What characteristics would you include?
