Dancing at My Desk

Presented by Susan Getgood (Marketing Roadmaps; @sgetgood), Liza Barry-Kessler (Privacy Counsel, LLC; @lizawashere) and Kristen Berman (Intuit Quickbooks Pro).

Starting off with Accounting Best Practices is Kristen from Quickbooks. Her mission is to help the small business and their bottom line. She is going to be speaking from her experience not as an accountant (because she isn’t one, so that’s a good thing).

Keep the records – You can’t wait until you’re rolling in money to start tracking it. The reasons are:

• The Government doesn’t like it
• Knowing what you make is the first step to increasing it
• Mixing and mingling business and personal finances isn’t helping anyone

There are a lot of reasons why businesses fail so don’t help that process along. Separate the business and the personal.

Basic accounting: demystified (money goes in to your business, money goes out. Tracking it is called accounting). You have no business insights until you can look at things in black and white. Accounting is all about a balancing act.

Assets = Liabilities + Equity

Kristen covered write offs and what is acceptable and what isn’t. If you’re having dinner with your best friend and you’re asking for business advice, you can write off the meal. Dropping off kids on the way to a business function? You can write off the gas. A lot of the business expenses can be tricky, but there are a ton of resources online to help you figure out the most appropriate way to do things. Are they ordinary and necessary? Then it’s probably a write off.

Eight things to remember.

1. Record it.

2. Find a sytem that works best for you.

3. Set a goal. Then track it.

4. Keep up with it. Reconcile it once a month – bank account, PayPal, written notes, etc.

5. Keep the personal and the business in separate cookies jars.

6. Don’t trust everyone. Input controls and safe guards

7. Get aware of the taxes you may owe (sales, SE) and plan ahead

8. Seek advice from an accountant / bookkeeper.

Next up is Liza who is a lawyer (but she quickly reminds us she is not OUR lawyer).

She asks “is your blog a hobby or a business?” A business is defined as something that if there is a reasonable expectation of earning a profit. Remember that getting stuff (like products) can count as income.

What kind of business are you? Liza explains how to Incorporate. You can do it by yourself and check Secretary of State Web sites for information and know that the costs vary.

Non-Profit Corporations are different. Liza recommends getting a lawyer for this. It’s very complicated and it’s tough to do it on your own. Sole proprietorships are pretty straightforward. But, if something goes wrong, you are personally liable. You may want to consult an accountant to make sure you understand business expenses, deductions, profits, etc. Partnerships (LLP) are great for small groups of people. If something goes wrong, the entity is generally liable, not individual partners. Write down an operating agreement (a WRITTEN understanding of who owns how much or what, who invests how much or what, plans for biz development, what happens if someone wants out. Discuss this among the partners first then hire a lawyer to make sure the document says what it needs to say to legally reflect your agreement.

Traditional Companies follow an LLC. It includes:

• Operating Agreement
• If something goes wrong, the entity is generally liable, not owner(s)
• Highly flexible regarding ownership / profit distribution
• Profits “pass through” to owners’ individual tax returns
• Owner must pay self-employment taxes

C-Companies need to have a Board of Directors, Officers, Annual Meetings and Annual Reports. If something goes wrong here, the entity is liable, not the owners. S-Corps need Board of Directors, Officers, meetings and reports. Profits must be distributed according to share of ownership, regardless of “sweat equity.” IRS limits on who can own stock in an S-Corp.

When you are hiring people (including volunteers) make sure you  have additional bloggers / writers documented through Writer’s Agreements. Who owns the written material? What happens if the site ends? Other Services include web design, accountant, consultants, marketing, lawyers, etc and everything should be documented through written contracts and proposals. Think through what you want to do in each of these instances regardless of whether or not money is changing hands.

Liza covers copyrights by saying “Don’t copy other people’s work” to which the entire room burst into applause.

If you make money on a blog, you are engaged in “interstate commerce” so minimum wage laws apply to you, even if you are a small business. Overtime laws apply unless the person is salaried and is a business manager. Unless you reach 15 employees, federal employment discrimination laws do not apply; your state my have different rules.

A few notes on blog policies: A best practice so that your readers and potential advertisers know how you do business is to have one. It’s not a legal requirement but it’s recommended. Keep in mind that if you create a policy, then ignore it, the FTC considers that a “deceptive trade practice.” This is especially important is you are not a solo blogger. It’s a good idea to create them, but make sure you are doing what you say you’re doing. This helps you create trust in your online community.

Blog policies include privacy, disclosures, advertising, comment deletion, point of view. You can also create a policy describing how you do business on any topic at all. It’s highly recommended you do all of the first three listed here and then add others as they fit your blog.

What should go into a Privacy Policy?

• What information do you collect from readers and how do you use it?
• Do you provide information to others?
• How do you protect and safely store that information?

Privacy Policy and Children – If you have a site with visitors you know or should know to be under 13, make sure you are complying with the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA). The FTC enforces COPPA and will levy penalities against those not adhering.

Disclosure Policy – How can we tell if a post is your opinion, compensated, donated product, etc? How can people tell if a link is part of an affiliate marketing program? Do you have any current or former relationship that might influence your opinions even if there is no present “material relationship?”

These policies are not required but many blogs have them. You can write them in your own voice and you can change them at any time.

Susan talks about Disclosure and why it’s an ethical best practice. Susan isn’t a lawyer and she is merely presenting her personal opinion on the FTC information which she has spent a substantial amount of time studying since its release.

Susan references the Blog with Integrity Pledge. (Segment is below)

I disclose my material relationships, policies and business practices. My readers will know the difference between editorial, advertorial, and advertising, should I choose to have it. If I do sponsored or paid posts, they are clearly marked.

Why disclosure is important:

1. Tells marketers / advertisers / PR representatives how they can work with you

2. FTC compliant

You should disclose your relationship with a company or group when you are writing about them. What are your business practices? Do you do reviews? Do you accept compensation? Do you run giveaways? Do you have affiliate relationships? Do you run sponsored posts or tweets? Note your opinion disclosure, especially for efficacy claims (“This reflects my personal opinion”).

Breakdown of FTC Guidelines on Endorsements and Testimonials:

• Require disclosure on relationships or compensation.
• Impose liability for false statements on both the company and the endorser
• Relevant to blogging if you:
  • Are compensated with cash, products or have personal interest in a venture’s success or failure (silent partner, etc). To protect yourself, disclose whenever you do product reviews, consulting, paid posts, post about a trip or other benefit.

Celebrities are subject to the same FTC guidelines that we are. (believe it or not) The FTC has made it clear they are focused on companies and advertisers, not the bloggers themselves. But if a company does get investigated and you are connected with one of their campaigns, make sure they have nothing that will bring you and your blog into the investigation. Companies should include disclosure information but if they don’t, cover yourself.

Ways to disclose:

1. Blanket site policy

2. Statement or disclosure within post

3. Statement of disclosure before post (not way at the bottom).

4. Category or tag on post (ie Sponsored)

5. Easily identifiable hashtag (ie #spon or #ad)

Problematic ways to disclose

1. Color-coded icon systems (too complicated)

2. Disclosures at bottom of post

3. Disclaimer in PDF form

4. Disclaimer is hard to find (on page meant for advertisers, not readers)

5. Generic disclosures that don’t apply to you holistically. Good for a starting point, but be sure to customize it and write it yourself.

You can see the whole presentation on Susan’s site (http://getgood.com/roadmaps/) when she posts it.

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Kevin Carroll (@kckatalyst) speaks on Bringing Fun and Passion to Your Work… and Life. Kevin is an author, speaker and agent for social change.

Kevin from the very start is a very engaging speaker. He starts out with a personal story that sets the stage for how he got started in life and started to really enjoy life. He had a rough start in life but he talks about how he played and how that eliminated the stress and worry of life. As a child, he would invent games to take his mind off of things. He was given the nickname “Little Fast Kid” from other boys in his neighborhood and he finally belonged after feeling isolated in life. That situation at the age of 6 evolved into a life passion for Kevin.

From there, Kevin’s life was filled with sports and he ended up getting a Bachelor’s  in sports communication and worked with the Philadelphia 76ers. Kevin also spent 10 years in the military as a language specialist and speaks five different languages. This who story lead to him working on Nike. There is a hilarious story about how he met his current wife (which is too long to tell here but so worth it).

Kevin talks about how being present is so important. Kevin began working with Nike in 1997 and became the Katalyst for them. Whatever you’re doing, you can’t talk about it, you have to be about it. Commitment on a daily basis is one of his key topics. Starting back when he was young, Kevin found solace in red rubber balls that he could use to play games and make friends. He has collected and traded for 150 balls over the years and he shows us a couple of examples of them. This is a truly inspirational moment.

Kevin says he realizes how serious and important play is. If you don’t make time for play, bad things will happen. Kevin spent time researching experts in the realm of play. He met Dr. Brown who runs the National Institute of Play and wrote a book called Play. He wrote about how play was important to people and how it has impacted other people. He asks the following question: What is your red rubber ball? What gets you excited and passionate about life? He talks about how telling our story is so important and the continued importance of “being about it.” Kevin then passed out red rubber balls and made sure that all the kids in attendance got one.

Kevin has realized that people are going to try and shut down your dreams. Through close friends and their parents, Kevin is encouraged by the mother of his best friend since he was nine years old to write books. He wrote a book about lessons learned on the playground. It’s founded on 7 principles:

1. Commit to it – until one is committed, there is hesitancy. The commitment must come from deep within as if it’s percolating up from inside you. His grandfather would ask him on a daily basis “How’s your Want to?” My Want to is good.

2. Seek out encourages – avoid the energy vampires. Who are the people in your life that encourage you; that challenge you but also lift you up.

3. Work out your creative muscle – Every one needs to think about “how do we feed ourselves so we are at our premium creative self?” How do you stay nimble, agile and ready for anything? Find that thing that replenishes you to get to that point on a regular basis. Consider resigning from adulthood. (I’m in) Kevin also brought up the book Not a Box.

4. Prepare to Shine – hard work never goes unrewarded, but you have to trust in that and keep pushing in that direction. Your shining moment awaits you.

5. Speak up – a closed “don’t get fed.” Speak up about what you need, about your dreams and where you’re heading. Have some courage and open up your mouth. Have the eyes and wonderment of a child.

6. Expect the Unexpected – Get ready for whatever is coming your way. Are you ignoring things around you that you should be engaging in? There is a primal source of joy in all of us; are you tapping into it?

7. Maximize the day – you are given a gift every single day to make a difference, to improve on something. What are you doing with your day? How are you maximizing it? Circumstances do not dictate someone’s destiny.

“The master in the art of living makes little distinction between his work and his play, his labor and his leisure, his mind and his body, his information and his recreation, his love and his religion. He hardly knows which is which. He simply pursues his vision of excellence at whatever he does, leaving others to decide whether he is working or playing. To him he’s always doing both.” – James Michener

Inspirational and Amazing. Thank you, Kevin.

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Blissdom 2010 kicked off with opening remarks presented by the co-founders of Blissdom Allison Worthington and Barbara Jones.

Ali was clearly overwhelmed by the moment and laid out what Blissdom is all about it. She talked about meeting friends for the first time in person and “getting” other bloggers even if you’ve only read each other’s blogs. Barbara introduced Paula Bruno who helped out tremendously for the 2010 Conference.

All three women spoke about nerves, lack of sleep and gratitude. Paula spoke about wanting to get involved in Blissdom because one of her passions is empowering women. She believes that women, with the right tools, can change themselves, their families, the world. Knowledge is power (amen sister) and enjoys watching women grow into who they truly were meant to be.

Lots of thank you went around including to the sponsors (more on that later). And as they continue to lay out what the sponsors have done for attendees, thank yous are definitely deserved. Ali also laid out the fact that Blissdom is really new and sponsors are taking a major leap of faith in supporting this event.

Barbara talked about how much has changed in blogging in the past few years and how it’s easy to get caught up in the craziness of it all, but she encouraged us to really think about what our PERSONAL strategy is for our own blogs. What is the best for you personally? What do you want to get out of it? Do you even have a strategy? What do you do when you lose the love for blogging? It’s all about the bliss.

Let’s rock it.

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Just a little over two years ago, my husband and I bought our first home. We had been renting from a family member ever since we moved back to NE Ohio from New York and we were searching for a home that was a good compromise between what we really wanted and what we could live with.

Mind you, we aren’t really all that picky. We had some basic criteria in all the houses that we looked at:

• At least three bedrooms
• A nice size of property (at least an acre)
• A house that was in move-in condition

Other than that, we were pretty flexible. Seriously. And I honestly thought that I would really enjoy house hunting.

Not so much.

It seemed like every time we found a house through our diligent searching, it was either a great house on an odd piece of property or amazing property with a house that I wouldn’t wish on my worst enemy. It was horribly frustrating. There was the house that was running fans in the basement to try and hide the mildew smell from the horrible leaks. There was the house that had (literally) a high school football stadium in the backyard. There was one house I couldn’t even walk through because I had the creeps the whole time. I fondly think of that place as the Boo Radley house of NE Ohio.

The worst part was when we found a house that was great (on paper). I was unbelievably excited to see the house and I genuinely thought it was “the one” for us. When we went to see it, the house had been trashed by the previous owners (it was bank owned). I walked through the entire house (that reeked) and said I hadn’t seen a kitchen. When my husband kindly pointed out that I was standing it, I was stunned. They (or someone) had ripped out everything. Plumbing, cabinets, appliances – it was a bare room. That smelled rancid.

I was heartbroken and was really ready to throw it all in and resign myself to a life of renting. Then we came across the house that we ended up buying. It was perfect in so many ways. Yes, it needed some updates but I was looking forward to the work. I wanted to paint every room (9 total), redo some of the floor plan, put in new windows, and in essence, make the home our own.

It’s been two years and we’ve painted two rooms. That’s right; two. And we did get several new windows. Hey, we’ve been busy. But now I’m getting the urge to make this house our own. I’m starting to buy little things for the house and plan color schemes (more on that nonsense later). And all of this planning and dreaming has told me one very crucial piece of truth for my life.

I am not an interior designer.

So, this is going to be an adventure to say the least. But, at least I’m not house hunting.

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Today, my husband and mom each took one of the kids and headed out for some shopping which left me home alone.

Home alone. All by myself. I couldn’t believe it either.

So I decided that I was going to clean up my poorly neglected house and get things in order. I would give myself two uninterrupted hours of hard cleaning and then call it a day. I was going along without a hitch and decided I’d finish by vacuuming real quick. Then I’d reward myself with a cup of coffee, college football and some blogging. Oh, and carrot cake. Which of course was the biggest motivation I had.

I’m doing my normal routine: dining room, living room, home office, hallways, kids’ rooms then my room. It was as I was heading into the final room, something hit me like a ton of bricks.

I’m adjusting my vacuum routine to pacify my cats. OMG indeed.

Here is what I realized: I start with the big room because I know that my cats instantly run under my bed because they are terrified of the vacuum. So much so that if I even just open the closet door that I keep the vacuum in they disappear. Even if I’m just getting a coat out.

So anyway, they run in there and hide under my bed. They know that as soon as I head into the kids rooms, they can dart out and run into my home office because I’ve already done that room and my room is next (and Lord knows they don’t want to be in there when I go in there).

So what, right? You always vacuum that way, so they know your routine.

Not so much.

I created this routine for them. I realized how neurotic this chore makes them, so I introduced this routine to them and since it worked, I kept doing it. But I didn’t consciously do this, it just sort of happened. But now I realize what the motivation is. Until today.

I’ve become a cat lady. How did this happen?

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It never fails. Whenever I have a ton of things going on, something unexpected pops up. So, I think that I should have the right to schedule the following things:

1. Illness. This includes me getting sick, the kids getting sick and the husband too.
2. Car breakdowns. Then I can budget and plan for backup transportation.
3. Bad weather. I would plan this for days when I don’t have anything I want to do outside. Obviously.
4. Bad Moods. For me and for others. And they would only be planned for days when those in question are completely sequestered from other human beings.

I think that’s a fair list. Don’t you?

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I’ve been so fortunate to be able to attend Blogher 2009 today in Chicago. I’m sitting in my hotel room now with millions of thoughts whirring through my brain and it’s tough to keep up. This is a familiar place for me. It always happens when I meet other people (women in particular) who love blogging as much as I do. It’s a place where I’m most likely to come up with great ideas and actually carry those ideas to fruition.

Perhaps you know the place that I’m talking about. It’s an intersection called Inspiration and Motivation. I’m so there.

The toughest part about being at this place? Deciding what to do first. I’m a list person. And I have enough material pumping through me that I could fill up an entire notebook of ideas, task lists, items to tackle, people to reach out to and general ideas that I need to build out a bit more.

Some people hate this place. It’s too overwhelming. And I’ll be the first to admit that after I went downstairs and signed in for the conference, I came back up to my room and had to CONVINCE myself to go back down. So many bloggers and so little confidence meant I was a bit hesitant. But I can’t tell you how awesome it is when someone asks about your blog and when you tell them what it is they exclaim “I loved your post about (fill in the blank).” Wow. There’s not many other words for it.

So it’s time to get off my duff and get busy. And if you’ll excuse me, I have some lists and action plans to create.

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Many of you know that last year I walked in the Breast Cancer 3 Day with my mom in Cleveland. It was truly one of the most amazing experiences of my life. You can read all about my journey on my positive blog. Well, I’m doing it again. But maybe you don’t know why I am doing it. So here is my story.

In September of 2001, I received a phone call from my mom while a senior in college. The words “I have breast cancer” completely rocked my world. My mom, who is in so many ways my hero, was ill. I wanted to fall apart, but my mom wouldn’t let me. She says the same thing about us, but it was her inner strength that kept all of us going.

At the time, there was a lot of knowledge in the world about Breast Cancer and what could happen, both good and bad. But with events like this, I now feel like I can add to the good column. I can do something amazing that I honestly didn’t think I could do and help others in the progress. I am not the hero. I am simply someone who wants to make a difference, even a small one.

Just like with breast cancer, it’s not about starting and it’s not even about finishing. It’s about doing it once and then getting up the next day and doing it again. And we all can do it, one step at a time.

But I can’t take this journey alone. Yes, I can walk the 60 miles alone, but I need help to make it the whole way. I’m asking for people from everywhere to donate to my walk. My goal is to raise $3,000 that will benefit both breast cancer patients and their families. I know the money will help not only people like my mom and my aunt who went through treatment for the disease, but their families who watched them go through it.

My dear friend at Bella Strada Studios has generously offered to donate 20% of all the proceeds from sales of her Flying Wish Paper to my walk between now and July 15th. When you checkout, be sure to use the code “3Day” to make sure your donation is counted. You can also donate directly through my fundraising page.

Thank you so much for all you have done so far and all that I know you will do to help make this world a healthier place.

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Ever feel like you’re in an Abbott and Costello routine? I do. All the time. Because my daughter loves to ask tough questions that run me in circles.

Here is a perfect example:

Her: Mom, what does what mean?

Me (not having heard her clearly): What?

Her: Yes.

Me: Huh? What does what mean?

Her: Yes.

Me: Honey, what word did you say?

Her: What.

Me: What word did you say?

Her: What.

Me: Honey, I don’t understand. What does what mean?

Her: Yes (getting frustrated).

Me: Repeat your question

Her: What question?

Me: The question about the word.

Her: What?

Me: What word do you want me to tell you about?

Her: What.

Me: What word do you want me to tell you about?

** A full 10 minutes later.**

Me: You want me to tell you what the word “what” means?

Her: Yes.

Me: I have no idea. (Turning to husband) Can you define that?

Him: What?

Her: Yes.

And the whole thing repeats itself because I personally think it’s hilarious and I refuse to step in and clarify. Because I’m diabolical like that. So I decide to educate my daughter.

Me: This feels like an Abbott and Costello routine.

Her: What?

Me: Exactly.

Her: What?

Me: Trust me kiddo. I’m going to blog about this and when you have kids of your own, you’ll read this and think it’s hilarious.

Her: What?

Me: Exactly.

She gives up and walks away shaking her head. She’s officially convinced her mother is crazy.

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Today’s 10 on Tuesday post: 10 Celebrities I’m Tired Of:

1. Jon (of Jon & Kate Plus Eight)
2. Kate (of Jon & Kate Plus Eight)
3. Octo-Mom
4. Paula Abdul
5. Jonas Brothers
6. Spencer Pratt
7. Lauren Conrad
8. TomKat
9. Lindsay Lohan
10. Heidi Montag

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