I'll Be Your Friend If You're A Person

A short break from my Twitter tips to share a rant about Facebook.

I'll be your friend if you're a person. I'm sure the previous sentence sounds strange at first, but it makes a lot of sense to me. Friends are people. The whole point of Facebook is to build relationships between people. I feel weird when I get a friend request from a company, and I've been getting quite a few lately. How can you be friends with a company? Do you talk about each other's day or catch a ball game together? It doesn't make sense to me, so I finally told myself it was time to take a stand. Yesterday, with all due respect toward fellow business owners, I "unfriended" all of my Facebook connections who were companies.

I have a lot of fun with Facebook. Never before have we been able to connect with such a variety of individuals at the same time, yet I feel that some are not partaking in it as intended by shamelessly promoting their companies. I would even go as far as calling a friend request from a business SPAM because it's an unsolicited electronic message. For people who want a business page, Facebook has a "fan" page option for people to invite their friends to become fans of their company. The process is simple. First establish who you are (make it personal - about YOU), then find your friends and make new ones. Once someone verifies your friendship & you have connected with each other, invite these friends to become fans of your business.

Some of us play by the rules by not only inviting friends to become fans, but actually paying for advertising on there. While I applaud the spirit of guerrilla marketing that these business owners use to buck the system & blindly invite people to "friend" their businesses profile, I'm disappointed that they're bending the rules at the expense of those of us who follow them. On your company's fan page, you're allowed to post anything you want about your business. It's the best way to let people know about your address, phone, website, hours & special promotions. By becoming fans of your company, your friends are letting you know they want to hear about these things.

I know times are tough, but abusing Facebook's friend system will cost you more people than it will gain. Keep that in mind with every message you post. Remember that Facebook has a "hide" feature that will shield ALL your posts from your friends. You may think because you see everything they post that the feeling is mutual, but they may have hidden you from view long ago for any reason. I used to accept anyone's friend request & immediately hide those who post too often about business (some about politics too, but that's for another entry). So think about all the quality messages I missed because someone thought they found the next best advertising tool since cable TV.

Get in touch with me or visit TheWebSystem.com if you want to learn more about using social media for your business. If administered correctly, you'll not only find true fiends, you'll find some of the most loyal customers anywhere.

5 Useful tax debt management techniques to lower your IRS tax debt

Know how you can reduce your IRS tax dues by following some simple techniques.

When you have any type of dues or outstanding balances mentioned on your credit report, it pulls down your credit score. In addition, you would face obstacles in qualifying for a loan, purchasing a home or even finding a job. IRS tax debts can turn out to be specifically awful warning signals to prospective lenders, spoiling your chances to obtain credit.

There are some helpful tax debt management techniques that you can adopt to reduce your IRS tax debt. When tax liens have been imposed on your property for recovering IRS tax dues, they might damage your credit history like a bankruptcy or foreclosure. Once the federal government serves the notice for a tax lien, your creditors are informed about this. You should try to eliminate these dues as soon as you can since it would help you enhance your credit score.

Given below are five useful tax debt management techniques that you can follow to lower your IRS tax dues:

1) Apply for a currently uncollectible status

When you feel that you don’t have the capacity to pay your IRS tax dues, then you can apply for a currently uncollectible status. This would prevent the collection proceedings till the time the statute of limitations (SOL) on your debt obligation expires. Nevertheless, if your financial condition shows signs of betterment, then the Internal Revenue Service would take you out from the currently uncollectible status list and initiate collection proceedings once again.

2) Make a monthly installment plan

You can simply arrange a monthly installment plan to repay your IRS tax dues through the Internet, provided your overall outstanding balance isn’t more than $25,000.

3) Offer in compromise

This technique allows you to bargain a lowering of tax debt. The drawback here is that you have to make a huge down payment and substantiate that you absolutely don’t have the means to pay off the remainder since you’ve used up all your funds.

4) Ask for a part payment plan

A part payment installment plan permits you to pay a lower amount than what you’re required to pay back. Once the payments are made as per the contract, the rest of your tax dues is pardoned by the Internal Revenue Service.

5) File for bankruptcy

Your outstanding tax balances would be discharged if you file Chapter 7 or Chapter 13 bankruptcy. However, it’s also a warning signal for the potential lenders. Filing bankruptcy is harmful for your credit and it remains on your credit report for up to 10 years. In addition, you need to be lagging behind on your tax payments for a minimum period of 3 years to be eligible for a Chapter 7 bankruptcy filing. When you have a steady source of income, you might need to file Chapter 13 bankruptcy. This permits you to formulate a repayment plan. You can save your home from being foreclosed but you need to keep on making mortgage payments for the entire duration of the bankruptcy procedure.

IRS tax debt is a significant debt burden. Knowing the abovementioned techniques might help you reduce this burden.

Twitter Applications I Really Do Use Every Day #3

As I was planning this series of posts, it occurred to me that most people will look at all these applications and think, "That's way more than I can handle!" or "There's no way someone would do all that!"Guess what friends, I will eventually show you how to manage it all without going bonkers. Today's post will help explain.

I really do use these applications every day, but that doesn't mean I actually have to do anything to use them. Get ready for the beauty of automation.

Today's application: SocialOomph (formerly Tweet Later)

On Twitter, it's common courtesy to follow someone back when they follow you. By the way, I just let you in on one of the most commonly known secrets about Twitter. Those people you see with 5 & 10 thousand followers got them by following lots of people in hopes that they would follow back (unless they're already famous). But who has the time to follow back all these people? SocialOomph lets you do that automatically & much more!

To recap the first steps for setting up Twitter:

1. Create your account with an effective username
2. Turn off notifications, fill in a creative bio & upload a picture
3. Publish your TwitBacks design

So have you made it this far? Great! Now go to http://www.socialoomph.com/ and click Register for a free account. Here you'll enter a username & password that can be different than what you have on Twitter. Fill in your basic information (leave out the stuff that looks unfamiliar), then retype those squiggly letters & you're in!

Now the fun part! Once your on your "dashboard," click the Accounts tab. Now click the Add Account subcategory, select Twitter (should be default) then continue. Here's where you enter your Twitter username & password (don't worry - it's safe) then more squiggly letters. You now scroll down to find you can send automated responses to your new followers. This is a VERY handy tool for someone promoting a business, but be careful. Twitter veterans are skeptical about these Direct Messages (DMs). My inbox fills up daily with "Thanks for following" messages, so try to be as creative here as you were with your bio. Here are some memorable auto DMs I've received:

• Fantastic! Thanks for the following. I will follow back and look forward to exchanging opportunities.
• We specialize in wedding ideas, planning and anything wedding (link to website)
• I like your profile and thanks for joining with us! This has become a place for great insight, wisdom and survival strategies for these hard economic times.

Keep in mind that many Twitter "experts" are advising against sending auto DMs. They see them as cheesy or cliche, but I can't think of a better way to welcome new followers while introducing your business & niche. Special note: Any time you list a website anywhere on Twitter (including your Auto DM), be sure to include the "http://" to make it clickable. The easiest way to do this is to copy it straight from your browser (right click, copy).

Below the auto DM box, you'll find the option to automatically follow people who follow you. Automated is good. This is the way to go if you want to accumulate thousands of followers. I understand if you have privacy issues, etc., but remember in my first post where I suggested to create two accounts (business & personal) you can leave the personal one off of this. Follow your friends & let them follow you. This is for business, and running a successful business requires you to broadcast your message as far & wide as possible. Twitter gives you a free platform to do that. If you do want thousands of followers, but still want to keep track of your friends, I'll show you how in a future post.

You're almost done with SocialOomph. Next is the vet followers option. I recommend against this because you won't have time to read all the posts by all the people you're going to follow anyway, so why are you worried about who you are following? Just follow everyone & leave this box unchecked. As I said earlier, I'll show you how to manage this later.

The next option is a good one though: Auto Unfollow. Twitter accounts are judged by ratios. If people see that you're following way more people than are following you, you'll look like you're out to rack up followers (which you are, but appearances matter on the web too). A good balance is to follow 200-300 more people than are following you. I'll show you later how to maintain this ratio. Go ahead & activate the Auto Unfollow feature. If someone changes their mind & doesn't want to follow you, let them go. There are over a million people on Twitter (or fish in the sea : ).

Finally, you have the option to get an email with a digest of your @replies (public messages sent to you through Twitter). You can choose this if you want, but when you get past 1,000 followers, you'll thank me for not recommending this. I get enough emails, so leave this box unchecked.

Once you click save, the program will activate in a day or so. You'll know when you see outbound messages in your DM box. If you decide to run multiple Twitter profiles, you can manage them all on the same SocialOomph account. Just click Accounts & Add New Account. I hope you're able to follow these tips. They shouldn't be too confusing because the sites are all set up in a "step-by-step" format. Of course you can contact me with questions or suggestions by visiting our "Tweet Your Business" Page.

Thanks for reading,

Jeff

Twitter Applications I Really Do Use Every Day #2

As I was planning this series of posts, it occurred to me that most people will look at all these applications and think, "That's way more than I can handle!" or "There's no way someone would do all that!"Guess what friends, I will eventually show you how to manage it all without going bonkers.

The second application I use is called TwitBacks.


Before I get into TwitBacks, let me go through a little step by step about setting up a powerful profile:

• When you click Join on the Twitter home screen, you're asked to choose a username. Here's a great opportunity to showcase your business or yourself, depending on the purpose of the account. You my want to create 2 accounts right here to lock anyone else out of using a name that's important to you. My 2 primary accounts are @vacationtax (business) & @jeff_wagner (personal).


• Upon creation of your Twitter account, the first thing you should do is turn off notifications (by clicking settings, then notices). Otherwise, you'll get an email every time someone follows you. I get plenty of emails, so I encourage turning that off right away.


• Next you should consider a catchy, yet informative bio. Here you get a chance to grab attention. I've seen some funny ones, "Real Estate know-it-all" "Defender of good. Enemy of evil" Collaborate with a friend (especially if it's someone who always says funny stuff)!


• Now, you're ready to upload a photo! It's easier than you think. You should already be on settings if you've made it this far. Click picture, then browse. Go through your computer's pics until you find one of yourself having fun! Family photos are great too.


• The next tab, Designs, gives you the option of several Twitter presets. Wouldn't it be more fun & interesting to personalize this? You can upload any logo or photo if you like, but I prefer to use TwitBacks.

TwitBacks helps you create a custom Twitter background with almost any info you like - for free. (Eventually you'll notice that all these applications I use are free) To find Twitbacks, go to http://www.twitbacks.com/. Right in the middle of the page, they tell you to create your Twitter Background, so click there & follow their step by step instructions. You'll be able to enter a company and/or personal bio, photo, logo, contact info & more. Just follow the instructions as you go down the page, and you'll be done in no time.

At the end of the step-by-step TwitBacks process, they ask you if you want them to post it as your profile's background. Of course the answer is yes! That's why you did all that. If you go back to your profile & click refresh, your new TwitBacks background will magically be there waiting for you. Curious what one looks like? Check out my profile @vacationtax. 90% of my posts are personal, but having a TwitBacks background always keeps my business info up there should someone visit. Kind of allows me to advertise with out bombarding people with ads!

If you have questions about how I use this application or others, visit my "Tweet Your Business" page.

Thanks,

Jeff

Twitter Applications I Really Do Use Every Day #1

As I was planning this post, it occurred to me that most people will look at all these applications and think, "That's way more than I can handle!" or "There's no way someone would do all that!"
Guess what friends, I will eventually show you how to manage it all without going bonkers.

First thing's first: What the heck is Twitter?
You hear about it all the time. You may know a few people who post everything they do (at least a few facebook friends, no?). I wouldn't doubt it if you even started a Twitter account, posted something like, "figuring out Twitter" and left it at that. That's actually how I started. In fact, I think that was my first post! 1,179 "tweets" later, I think I've finally figured it out. Now it's time to share.

So the #1 application I use every day? Twitter itself of course!

Twitter is a free social networking and micro-blogging service that enables its users to send and read messages known as tweets. Tweets are text-based posts of up to 140 characters displayed on the author's profile page and delivered to the author's subscribers who are known as followers.

If you are serious about your business in the year 2009 and beyond, you have to learn how to twitter. Why? Because it’s one of the fastest growing sites in the world and people like to hang out there. Learning how to twitter is not as difficult as some new online marketers may think.

-Twitter is growing at a staggering pace and some experts say that they will hit 50 million users soon. That means that you have direct access to tens of millions of people. That is a dream scenario for any business owner.

Let me share with you a few Twitter accounts that I oversee:
@vacationtax - My own account that I update several times a day.
@Jeff_Wagner - This is a non VacationTax.com account that I use to update facebook.
@VTaxShare - This one's fun: Send a direct message, and it immediately re-posts for all.
@vtaxsendscards - This ones a long term project. A blatant commercial project : )

I have created over 10 separate Twitter accounts (& counting). I don't reveal all of them because they're for business owners who may not want to share that they let me build & maintain their account. That's what I'm offering to other businesses (no matter the field). Check out my Tweet Your Business page to learn more about how I build and automate these accounts.

Over the next few days, I'll post about other applications I use to maintain so many accounts. If you want to learn more, keep checking back!

Thank you,
Jeff

Why Social Media?

In building VacationTax.com, I decided to enter the world of social media as a means to spread the word. I created accounts on Facebook & LinkedIn but held off on Twitter because I didn't really understand it or how it would work for business.

My little facebook account I started to share my business quickly grew to over 200 friends, & I wound up reconnecting with current as well as long lost friends & family. When I set up the VacationTax.com fan page, I knew there was huge potential. The fan base is still small but not bad for a brand new company.

A friend invited me to join Twitter, so I finally signed up & studied just about every course & application I could find to see what would work best. Before I knew it, I accumulated over 3,000 followers & counting.

I didn't consider myself a social media expert until I started helping friends do what I did. I realized that if I was setting up websites, facebook pages & twitter accounts, people must have been looking at me as an expert. That's what inspired my decision to share this knowledge with everyone.

More options will follow, but as of right now, I'm looking for new, established & potential business owners who are looking for some help with social media. My test group is almost complete, but I will share as much free information as I can before I'm going to have to start charging. I'm also working on an e-book that will sum up what I've learned so far.

Please subscribe to this blog, follow me on Twitter & become a fan of VacationTax.com on facebook.
Take care!
Jeff