Create A Business Plan in 24 Hours With StarterBizPlan Webinar

It’s incredibly easy to get overwhelmed when creating a business plan. For starters, you need one regardless of any business you plan on creating- they’re an mandatory element to making the process flow in an organized and professional manner. You’re selling your new product or service to an audience that doesn’t know anything about what you have to offer, so you have to keep the presentation fresh and interesting. But wait, there’s more. Financially speaking, you need to also include a wide range of information for investors to look at for your new start-up. Necessary information will include 3-5 years of projected financial statements, an exit strategy, and an advertising and marketing plan among many others. If you don’t have all of this information, it will deeply affect how much lenders will provide your business, if they even decide to fund it at all.

Skip the headache and long nights of business plan rewrites and research by attending the StarterBizPlan webinar “The 24 Hour Business Plan” on May 10th! By registering today, you will receive a free sample business plan and plan outline. The team at StarterBizPlan will show you how to put together a professional and comprehensive business plan that will save you time and energy and allow you to focus on your dream business.

Special appearances will be made by Rick Gossett, CPA and architect of StarterBizPlan who will share his top business plan building tips and Fran Tarkenton, NFL Hall of Fame QB and entrepreneur who will also provide important insights into what elements make for a winning business plan.

Register here for more information.

Share!!!

10 Ways To Effectively Market Your Home-Based Business

There isn’t any big secret to getting your business brand and name out there these days, especially with so many social networking websites available at your disposal. If anything, it’s only getting easier! Not only easy, marketing a home-based business is more affordable than ever to work with, made possible with great word of mouth and social media. We scoured the web in search of a few good tips on marketing and found plenty, most of which we incorporate into our own line of work.

1. Know and Believe in Your Business Inside and Out

You just started a home-based business. Congrats! Now, er, what is it that I’m selling or providing others?

If you don’t know or if you do and just aren’t passionate about it, then how can you expect your business to take off? We know and understand our business like the backs of our hands and are always ready to describe ways that entrepreneurs can begin forming an LLC or corporation with the help of MyCorporation. When you care for and are inspired by the work that you do, it shows and others will be able to pick up on it. Moreover, they’ll want to be involved with what you do and are more willing to support a company that believes in what it does and the services it provides.

Continue reading

Share!!!

Go Green With MyCorporation!

If you’ve been to our website today, you’ve probably noticed that our logo has undergone a makeover. Our blue and white diamond logo is celebrating Earth Day in stylish eco-friendly green with our proud planet peeking out from behind.

For today only until midnight tonight (PST), we’re offering a FREE incorporation package deal, worth $49. Just give us a call or go online and use the coupon code EARTHDAY to take advantage of this deal!

Share!!!

Build a Professional Website with RealPractice

This is the promise that RealPractice is making to their customers who subscribe with MyCorporation. For now until April 30th, RealPractice will help you build a customized and professional website for $599. Included in this price will be 1 month of free website hosting. The perfect deal whether you’re looking to launch a new website for your business or just give your existing company site a makeover!

For 10 years, RealPractice have been building SEO-friendly websites with attractive designs and affordable rates for a wide range of professionals and businesses. Their high-quality work has garnered the attention of thousands of firms that they are proud to call their clients. No matter how large the business or the type of practice, RealPractice will create a professional website to retain clients and maintain an effective online presence.

Having an aesthetically pleasing website is how a business best flourishes online and keeps and draws more clients toward their services. Many companies feel threatened by the price tag and time involved in creating these sites and will more often decide to either not create a site or just stay with an old and poorly designed website to avoid the cost.

In addition to being easy on the eyes, RealPractice’s websites are fully functional including features such as:

• Getting better placement on Google and other major search engines
• Driving more traffic to the site via online marketing and social media
• Tracking all phone calls and inquiries via call tracking
• Turning more visitors into callers and turn more callers into clients
• Tracking all incoming client leads and managing them

Don’t miss out on this incredible opportunity! For more information, call 1-888-861-9615 or visit the RealPractice site.

Customer Service Counts!

The backbone for any functional small business is customer service. Good customer service is all about bringing customers back. Customer service is also about sending them away happy enough to pass on positive feedback about your business to others who may then use your services or buy your product. Leaving a positive lasting impression is the key to a successful small business.

The essence of good customer service is forming a relationship with customers – a relationship that that individual customer feels that he or she would like to pursue. How do you form this type of relationship? Consider what you do rather than just what you say. A positive attitude coupled with proactive follow through will leave a positive lasting impression with your customers. Follow these six easy tips to ensure you are giving your customers the best service possible.

Answer the phone
This sounds like a no brainer, but make sure someone is there to answer all of your incoming calls. Not only do you want to make sure you are receiving all of the business you can, you also want your customers to be heard. Many customers are not likely to leave voicemails, thus leaving you with a lost customer. Make sure you are answering the phone every time, as quickly as you can in order to make a good first impression with your customers.

Deal with complaints
Not all interactions with customers will be positive; you are bound to encounter some bumps along the way. Assess the issue and find a solution. Do not fall into the attitude of, “you can’t please ‘em all.” While this may be true, that does not mean you should not try. Give every complaint attention and provide a response. Making an effort to help an unhappy customer will reflect well on your business, thus allowing you to reap the benefits of good customer service.

Listen to your customers
Again, while this sounds redundant listening to your customers is vital. Do not simply run through the motions, pay attention to each individual person with whom you come into contact. Let your customer talk and show him that you are listening by making the appropriate responses, such as suggesting how to solve the problem. Let the customer know that you are there to serve them and you are actually listening, and understanding, what they want.

Follow through with your promises
Make sure you do all that you say you will for your customer. Reliability is one of the keys to any good relationship, and good customer service is no exception. If you tell the customer they will receive their product on Wednesday, make sure you follow through. Have a full understanding of how your business works so you can avoid mistakes when giving your customers information and deadlines. Make 100% sure that you can do everything you tell your customer you will.

Be polite
Being polite is the foundation of being professional. Of course you should be kind and courteous with your customers, but try to go above and beyond. Present yourself with a polished, responsible attitude. This impression will carry over to the overall impression of your business. Regardless of how frustrated you may be with a certain customer, your actions reflect your business. Make sure you put your best food forward and always be polite.

Go the extra mile
Putting in extra effort is sure to impress your customers and inspire confidence in your business. Going above what is necessary such as providing a discount or an additional free item reflects well on your business. You are conveying the message that you are there to serve your customers and you want them to be happy. This image will resonate positively with your customers and will result in referrals.

While it sounds like a no brainer, providing quality customer service is essential to your business. Your customers are the fuel that drives your business. Treat them accordingly! At MyCorporation we do all that we can to provide quality customer service to all of our customers. Learn more about what MyCorporation can do for your business HERE!

Share!!!

Gen Y and Small Businesses: Together We Can Make a Difference!

Marshall McLuhan is famous for stating that “the medium is the message”, a phrase that means that the form a message takes ultimately affects the way in which it is perceived. Gen Y, or the Millennials, of today’s society know backwards and forwards that if you want to have your voice heard and heard in large numbers, the best way to achieve this is through networking through social media outlets. Today, everyone who is out to make a name for their selves is creating a Facebook fan page and updating their status. They’re Tweeting live every hour on the hour, blogging to an audience of thousands, even creating podcasts on iTunes for those on the go to download and listen to when they’re on the road or at the gym or even on their lunch break. Today’s generation is logged on, signed in, and synced up 24/7 to all of the latest news and trending reports- and not only do they love it, they rule these virtual realities.

Big businesses have taken note of social media practices and are now integrating it into their work force, creating positions for tech-savvy individuals in the areas of SEO and SEM content production. They’re even offering creative media and graphic design internships for individuals and students who need the experience to pursue their career with. Most businesses today understand that social networking is here to stay and with dozens of reputable sites to work with, fewer and far in between do you find a company without a blog or Twitter account.

At the heart of the matter though, you don’t want to connect with a company that delivers daily posts and Tweets just because they feel the need to keep up with the kids. While the size of the followers and the number of Facebook “likes” is important, it’s the message and the content that needs to be the most relevant to those following it, particularly for small businesses just starting out. Why would you follow a company that kept discussing pork chop recipes if you were a vegetarian? You wouldn’t! You would unfollow them and go toward a group that best fit your interests and needs. Moreover, you’d want to follow a company that thrived on customer interaction and would not only follow you back, but would add you to their mailing list or retweet a mention you made about them. It’s the simple things that count and every business is capable of making the effort to connect with their audience.

We at MyCorporation are constantly looking for new ways to engage and involve our audience and customers within our company. Recently cited on Fox Business News for our use of social media outlets and networking channels, we work to make sure that every customer is fully satisfied and receiving the best possible customer service.

Customers that work with us are also invited to connect with the company through their Facebook fan page and Twitter account. We also offer a blog on our company website that offers quick tax and business structure tips, among many areas of interest for small businesses. Entrepreneurs are encouraged to visit our site to discuss and share their success stories with other businesses or website visitors. In addition to providing a valuable service, our company works to ensure that small businesses have their voices heard online. The customer always comes first with us. Not only do we strive for entrepreneurs to get their voice out there, but we work to get that voice recognized as working alongside MyCorporation, growing both reputations and gaining a lifelong working relationship between client and business.

Don’t think we stop there though. While we are currently hitting social networking channels daily, blogging weekly, sharing newsletters with entrepreneurs, and offering Q&A interaction tools on our site, we continue to grow by refusing to remain stagnant in our line of work. Customer interaction is still our number one priority and we’re always looking for ways to make sure our customers are satisfied with what we can do for them.

Got a suggestion? Contact our Twitter account and Tweet an idea or two with us!

1099 Health Care Act: Information and Implications

Small businesses face a unique set of challenges in the current economy.

The Senate voted to repeal the unpopular 1099 tax reporting requirement of the Affordable Health Care Act Tuesday, April 5th. This is the first piece of legislation that officially repeals part of President Obama’s widely-debated health-care reform movement.

Small business owners have expressed their frustration at the provision, which would require them beginning in 2012 to report to the IRS all payments of more than $600 on 1099 forms—work that many small companies just don’t have the time or manpower to do. According to the Washington Post, The bill would have generated an additional $22 billion in tax payments over the next ten years. In addition, the major provisions of the Health Care Act include:

1. Tax Credits for small business
2. Help for Seniors with the cost of Drugs in the Doughnut Hole
3. Elimination of Pre-existing conditions exclusions for children
4. A High Risk pool for anyone turned down due to Pre-Existing Conditions
5. Re-Insurance for early retirees (55 to 64)
6. Prohibition on Rescission of insurance policies if you get really sick
7. No More Lifetime Limits on insurance policies
8. Unmarried Children can stay on their parent plan (up to 26th birthday)

Despite the Health Care Act, there are numerous tax implications for employee’s and independent contractors. For small businesses seeking to make sense of the new legislation, regardless of possible appeals, the classification of their employees is paramount. Specifically, what makes someone an employee and not just an independent contractor? The answer is often less than simple. Many business owners fail to make the distinction, thus opening them up to potential lawsuits and tax complications.

The best way to avoid penalties is to know the law. Employee classification holds enormous potential for lawsuits, mainly because most employers really don’t understand the employee distinctions. The IRS published a great deal of information regarding this classification. The information can be found HERE.

Who is considered an independent contractor? The general rule is that an individual is an independent contractor if the payer has the right to control or direct only the result of the work and not what will be done and how it will be done. The earnings of a person who is working as an independent contractor are subject to Self-Employment Tax. Who is considered an employee? Under common-law rules, anyone who performs services for you is your employee if you can control what will be done and how it will be done. This is so even when you give the employee freedom of action. What matters is that you have the right to control the details of how the services are performed.

Only time will dictate the future changes and appeals to the Health Care Act. Small business owners should consider all of their employees and classify them into the correct category in order to avoid potential lawsuits and tax complications.

Share!!!