MLM Woman Online Issue 19 This free monthly newsletter is made possible by our advertisers and our Insider's Bookshelf customers. We thank them for their support! From the Desk of the Editor The summer season is in full swing, so this month I have featured articles to help you reap the tax benefits of business travel and how to fit a vacation into your busy schedule, plus some great tips on how to get your web site working for you. Enjoy! Linda Locke, Editor MLM Woman Tax Tips By Sandy Moreland Hi everybody! Hope you all are having a fun and productive summer. Ours has been very busy. I am doing this article in the middle of the beautiful Colorado mountains in our trailer on my portable computer. Actually, that brings me to the main point of this article, merging or integrating your business travel with your personal travel. Personally, I like being able to play and work and write off my travel expenses that allow me to do both, play and work. Believe me, I like to take time off but at the same time when I travel, I like to have as much as possible be tax deductible. If your spouse, family or significant other complains that you are always working, meaning you never leave work at home, try explaining and reaching a compromise that by doing some work while you are away, you can then deduct some of the expenses of that nice vacation. If you listen to any tax tapes you will know that to take the majority of trip expenses off, the primary intention of that trip will have to be for business. But there are ways to write off that Disney vacation. Just read on. First let me clarify that there is a tax difference between Transportation and Travel. Transportation is usually around town or just far enough away that you do not need an overnight rest. Transportation includes only the expenses directly related to getting from one place to another, such as car expenses, not meals or lodging. Travel away from home while for your trade or business provides the benefit of allowing you to include virtually all of your reasonable living expenses, including such items as laundry, dry cleaning, of course lodging and incidental expenses, such as tolls, car rental, etc. The only place you really get short changed by Uncle Sam is in the area of meals. No matter what the case, except if you are an employee traveling at the request of an employer who is reimbursing your food expenses, you cannot take more than 50% of your meals off. Side note: this is because this is a favorite area for cheating and the Congressmen were the worst, so they, Congress, cut the meal deduction by half. You can write down everything you eat and take 50% as a deduction or locate a Federal Meal and Incidental Chart that gives an amount by city that you can deduct without keeping track of everything. If you eat out a lot, you may want to write everything down. The per diem rates can be found in IRS Publication 1542. I really hate to break this to you but anyway you slice it, you can only take off 50% of any of the meals that qualify for the business deduction. Allow me to shed a little light on this subject. If you are on a trip for business or are doing business one of the days you are out of town, even for personal pleasure and doing only a little business, you can deduct a meal. If you are just working around town, your meals out are not normally deductible, unless they are specifically for the purpose of a business meeting. Meals that qualify for business deductions are those that are in direct relation or for the purpose of a business meeting. The best suggestion I have is that if you are having a business meeting that includes a meal, is, followed by or preceded by a meal, keep the receipts, record the purpose of the meeting/meal, who was present and take your 50%. You can include the individual's spouse in the meal and deduction but not others who are not related to the business. Also, if only 2 or 4 of you are going out for the purpose of business and a meal, consider this, pay for each others. If you are in town, you cannot deduct the price of your meal, but you can deduct the price of your associates meal under the entertainment clause. So you pay for theirs and they pay for yours! This is a really important tip, because normally you could not deduct the cost of your business meal and only 50% of your prospects or downline's meal. So, don't pay for both, agree to each pay for the others and write the whole meal off on two separate returns! The next area to discuss is how to get some or all of your trips for free or tax deductible. Nothing is free! (Except my companies customer sign-up!) (Sorry Linda, I couldn't resist!) Anyway, let's take your company convention. Most of the time they are in a really fun place. My company is having the convention in Orlando! Wow, Mickey Mouse. We happen to have a timeshare condo that we also use for business and as incentives for our leaders. Several of us are going to Orlando a week early. We have several breakfast or evening meetings already set up and we will also go to Disney World and the attractions. We even did contests where we gave the top producers one day of a specific attraction tickets. However, here are the areas of caution. You cannot deduct the cost of taking your spouse or someone else unless you can prove that they are significantly involved in the business or prove that their presence serves a bonafide business purpose. For example, the distributorship is listed in my husband's and my name and we both participate in the business. Even if he were the primary business builder and I was just sometime with it, we could still take off all our travel expenses since we both participated. Another example is that we are both going to the convention and the preceding couple of days. We can deduct both of our airfares, our hotel stay, convention registration, and the cost for the condo for the number of days we were there, that we actually did something connected with business. However, since several of our downline are staying with us and we will be doing meetings and discussing business regularly, we will be able to deduct most of the trip. If we did not do business on say two of the five days, we could only deduct the expenses for the business days. The worst part is that we can only deduct 50% of the food, even if we are out of town for the whole time! If you are in travel status, meaning away from home overnight at the very least, here are some of the things you can deduct. If you have a question about what you can deduct, consult IRS on the Internet or get one of the publications. Here is a partial list: Transportation to and from the airport, porter fees, packing fees and tips for shipping display material, taxi/limo fares, tolls, tips to drivers, bellhops, etc. Dry cleaning and laundry bills, phone bills, cellular phone bills, (the phone itself is deductible as listed property under section 179 expense.) Fax bills, computer rental, transportation rental fees, ie: rent cars, vans, buses, whatever. You can deduct almost anything you need while out of town, except food, which you can only take 50% of! Go figure! Well now that I have pretty much shot your idea of taking the whole family on a completely tax deductible vacation, let me assure you that your MLM business gives you more write-offs and better chance to beat Uncle Sam than just about anything else out there, especially if you are a salaried employee. So learn what you can deduct, sign up for that convention and have a great time. If you have always wanted to see the Grand Canyon, ask who knows someone in Phoenix or Flagstaff, run an ad, plan ahead and get a group or person going and plan on going there in 3 to 12 months. You should really have a good group going and be able to write off most of your trip. I really need to go now, we just saw the rest of the downline guests off and we are going for a hike. I did a little training session this morning on top of a mountain and I really need some time off. See you on the road! Business Hint: July is slow for business but plant seeds that will be ready to harvest in Mid-August or later. Mid-August, September, October and most of November are prime building months in networking so work in July for your future. Sandy Moreland is a Senior Director in FreeLife and her business is centered on health and wellness. You can contact her by phone at 800-850-0537, by voicemail at 888-573-8503, via e-mail at kmorelnd@concentric.net. Advice from A-Z On the Subject of Vacations, or Lack Thereof  Take a Break Before Breaking Down By Azriela Jaffe copyright 1997 A myth reverberates across the land that self-employment and freedom go hand in hand. Ask any home-based professional how liberated they actually feel, and this is probably what they'll tell you: "Freedom? Hah! Sure, I don't have to worry about getting fired, and if I don't show up for work at exactly 8:00 AM, no one cares. But I haven't taken a vacation in three years, and I work 70-80 hours a week. When I'm not working, I'm worrying about my business. Instead of reporting to a boss, now I'm accountable to my clients. Don't get me wrong - I wouldn't trade this for any corporate job in America. But freedom? That's not how I'd describe being self-employed!" What I miss most about my previous corporate career is paid vacations and sick time. My husband and I haven't taken a vacation longer than a weekend since our honeymoon three years ago. Why? Because one or both of us has been self-employed since our marriage, and the expense of a vacation, combined with the ongoing pressures of the business, have limited us to weekend visits to Grandma and Grandpa. My sister-in law Jane, a self-employed psychologist, recently underwent major surgery that put her out of commission for a month or so. There won't be a family vacation this year, as they recover from the loss of Jane's income. Vacations are a luxury, what we indulge in when we have disposable income and free time - two scarce commodities for entrepreneurs.  How many of these statements are true for you? 1) "We don't ever take a vacation, because we're still waiting for the right time. We're always reacting to one crisis or another. When things calm down, then we'll take a vacation." (The Firefighter) 2) "The last time I took a vacation, I worked most of the weekend on my laptop. When I returned from my "vacation", I didn't feel any more rested, and even more work had piled up in my absence. So now, I figure, why bother?" (The Worrier) 3) "I'm proud of my record. I haven't taken a vacation in over eight years. Shows you how hard I've worked to make this business successful!" (The Workaholic) 4) "I can't take a vacation because no one is trained to take the reins in my absence. Besides, if you want it done right, you've got to do it yourself. (The Indispensable) 5) "My wife wants to take a vacation with the kids - without me. I don't think that's right. A family should vacation together, or not at all." (The Inflexible) 6) "We take a vacation whenever we have a business trip we can write off. We tag on an extra day for having fun, if our schedules allow. (The Practical) 7) "I've got to be away from the business at least two weeks before I can relax enough to enjoy a vacation. So, I'm waiting until I can leave for a few weeks at a time." (The Dreamer) 8) "If there's any money left over after paying the bills, we've got more important things to spend our money on than a vacation." (The Frugal) When you start your own business, something has to give, and in many cases, it's vacations. So maybe Bermuda will wait another year. Redefine your notion of vacation. For some self employed professionals, working less than fifty hours one week is a respite. Take off one weekend and check out the tourist sites in your own hometown. Observe the Sabbath with your family for one full day. Take your kids to the movies at 4:00 in the afternoon on a school day. If a scheduled week off would only increase the pressure, not reduce it, don't do it. On the other hand, when the signs of burnout are loud and clear, you'd better listen. And remember this: if you are married and a parent, your family may need a vacation, even if you can manage without one. Azriela Jaffe is the author of “Honey, I Want To Start My Own Business, A Planning Guide For Couples” and “Let’s Go Into Business Together, Eight Secrets for Positive Business Partnering” (Avon Books ‘98). She is the founder of “Anchored Dreams,” a coaching firm supporting individuals and couples in business, a professional speaker and editor of the “Entrepreneurial Couples Success Letter”. Call (717) 872-1890, write P.O. Box 209, Bausman, PA 17504, or email AzJaffe@aol.com or visit the Anchored Dreams web site at www.isquare.com/crlink.htm. For free online newsletter, email jaffe@lancnews.infi.net. Use the Media Marketing Help for Biz Six Ways to Make Your Web Site Sell! By Dr. Kevin Nunley I call it "Six Months Later Syndrome." Almost all of us get it about six months after we put up a web site. You build some good looking web pages, you promote them on the Internet, lots of people come to visit--BUT you don't sell anything. Here are some simple ideas you can use now to get your web site sales going. How many times have you landed on a web site that looks promising, but you can't quite figure out what they're selling? Odd but true, many web sites have a hard time telling you WHY they are there. Tell the reader in very clear terms what you are selling. Make sure your "what I'm selling" message is the very first thing the readers sees. Many sites get carried away will cool looking graphics. They figure that you'll love the look so much you will be happy to click around for 10 minutes to find out what's being sold. Most people don't have that kind of time or patience. Remember that all readers come to your site asking, "What's in this for me?" Tell readers, right from the start, what they will get out of your site. List the benefits of reading further and buying from you. Tell readers who you are. Net commerce is still brand-spanking new and many people don't quite trust it yet. This is typical for a new media still in its early stages. Before anyone will spend a dime with you, they have to have some idea of who they're doing business with. I'm often surprised at how many web site designers go for a cold corporate look that provides few hints of who is behind the site. That's OK for Coca-Cola or American Airlines--those names are household words. For most of the rest of us, though, the reader wants to know how we are. Give the reader your name, your email address (in a link they can click on to write you), your phone number, and--in most cases--a physical business address. Writer Kathy Matthew's recently wrote that no one in their right mind is going to send money to someone they don't know and can't get in touch with easily. She's absolutely right. I also feel it's a good idea to include your picture. It might be a picture of you working with others, your workshop, or your showroom. Pictures communicate a lot of information and go a long way in putting Internet shoppers at ease. Make sure it's easy for readers to find your order page, find your purchasing information, and can locate a number to call to order. If your web site's main goal is to sell something, put ORDER INFORMATION in a easily-seen link on every page. I like to make it as clear as possible: Click here for prices and how to order. Give readers several different ways to buy--via an on-line order form, with a toll free phone number, or by writing a letter (I'm always surprised at the number of people who still prefer the old-fashioned method.) Most consumers will give you a credit card number, while many businesses would rather mail a check. Include comments from satisfied customers. Before people do anything they look to see who else is doing it. It's human nature. Be sure to pepper your web site with testimonials. They can be short--"Allen does great work!"--or can go into more detail about the benefits the buyer got from your business. Your testimonials will be more believable if they include the commentor's full name, business name, and city. Promote your site. Because Internet commerce is new, it takes a lot more visitors through your site before you get a sale. Increase the number of visitors and you increase sales. Advertise in email newsletters (write me for a list), on newsgroups that accept ads, trade links with other sites like yours, get into a co-op banner arrangement, and build your own house mailing list by offering a free report or newsletter. Finally, remember that the Internet is an information-based media. People go on-line to find good FREE information. Put some articles on your site that tell readers more about your field of specialty. If you're selling a long distance service, put up articles on how to deal with calls at work, how to get rid of unwanted calls, and new developments in telephone service. These articles don't need to be long. A few paragraphs often do fine for hurried readers. If you see an article you like on a web site or in a newsletter, email the author and ask for permission to re-print it on your site (I always invite people to use my articles at www.DrNunley.com). You can increase sales today by keeping these six simple points in mind when designing or upating your web site. Kevin Nunley provides marketing advice, copywriting, Internet promotion and web design. Need a new website, web copy, or your old website jazzed up? Reach him at DrNunley@aol.com or (801)253-4536. See all Kevin's articles on his Marketing Info Supersite: http://www.DrNunley.com Ask for his free report on marketing your business with free and low cost media. Go back to the top of the page Back to the MLMWoman Newsletter Index We want your feedback! Send e-mail comments to Linda at: regent@west.net Copyright 1998, Regent Press http://www.mlmwoman.com