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How To Succeed At Online Product Creation The Easy Way

Product creation could be a frightening subject for a lot of Internet marketers to face. Some folks who get in the game with the intention of making a full time income are completely ignorant as to how an online business operates. One of the most profitable ways to create online cash is by creating a product that others are happy to pay for.

Product creation is legitimate method of generating money through internet marketing but many entrepreneurs get it wrong. They start by imitating their Internet marketing gurus by creating information products on Internet marketing in hopes of getting rich the way their heroes did. The problem is that they usually don’t know what they are doing and enter a highly competitive niche with very little marketing experience or connections.

Here are a few tips for effective product creation that may help you get on the right track:
Start by finding a profitable niche with low to moderate competition. If you conduct some rudimentary market research and keyword research, you’ll find many opportunities in areas that will surprise you. Amazon and eBay are two great places to brainstorm for product ideas.

Developing Your Product does not have to be a difficult project. You can find experts in the right field for your niche and pay them to write the material while an artist designs the packaging and website or blog. You can outsource the entire product creation part of the project after you conduct the research and testing to ensure profitability.

Sales and marketing strategies should be created while developing the product and learning about the market. Some experienced marketers use pay per click to drive traffic to their offer page; some folks outsource the entire marketing campaign to affiliates through ClickBank or other affiliate programs.

Product creation does not need to be hard, particularly when the merchandise is electronic. E-books, videos, audio and multi-media products sell very well. They are distributed immediately to customers electronically. Once you have a good feel for a niche market, try to service your customers with associated products and upgrades. If you want to earn money online through product creation, you must understand supply and demand. The majority of new online marketers fail miserably because they go after highly competitive markets or forget to research their chosen niche properly. You have to create your products according to the needs, wants and desires of the prospective customers.

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Tax Time: Tax Reporting Requirements for Property Managers

The beginning of each calendar year is a very busy time for many businesses, and Property Managers are not left out of that category! Whether you are a large Property Management Company or an individual Property Manager, this is the time when all tax forms should be issued for funds paid out to Rental Property Owners or Vendors during the previous calendar year. The form that is used to complete this task is the 1099-MISC, and this form must be submitted to the recipient and the IRS by a specified date each year. When 1099s are submitted to the IRS, they must be accompanied by a summary form, Form 1096, to meet the tax filing requirements.

- Why is the 1099-MISC necessary?
The IRS uses 1099s to monitor any income source that is not filed on a traditional W-2 form, which only shows income received as a salary or wage. This is a way in which the IRS captures any income received by an independent contractor or rental property owner that may otherwise go unreported. A Property Manager or Property Management Company is acting as a reliable source for the IRS to help enforce that all income is being reported.

- Who should receive a 1099-MISC?
• Rental Property Owners – all rental property owners that have received $600 or more in rent disbursements in a given calendar year should be issued a 1099-MISC.

• Vendors – all independent contractors or vendors who are unincorporated and have received $600 or more in a given calendar year for services provided should be issued a 1099-MISC.

- When does a 1099-MISC NOT need to be filed?
Every situation has exceptions, and tax filing and reporting is no different. Here are some of those exceptions:
• If the total payments to a rental property owner or vendor are less than $600, a 1099-MISC does not need to be filed.
• If a rental property owner is a corporation, a 1099-MISC does not need to be filed.
• If a vendor is an incorporated business, a 1099-MISC does not need to be filed.

- What information is required on a 1099-MISC?
• Tax ID # – this can be an individual’s SSN or an EIN for an unincorporated organization.
• Address – this is needed for the 1099-MISC to be sent to the recipient.
• Funds Paid – this includes a total of all income paid to a vendor or individual rental property owner during the previous calendar year. (Remember, only if the total is greater than $600)

- What boxes are used on a 1099-MISC to report income?
• Rental Property Owners – all income collected that was for rent should be reported in box 1 “Rents” on the 1099-MISC. Any additional income paid (late fees, utility bill reimbursements, NTQ fees, etc.) should be reported in box 3 “Other Income” on the 1099-MISC.
• Vendors – all payments made for vendor services should be reported in box 7 “Non-employee Compensation” on the 1099-MISC.

It is also good practice to send all rental property owners a copy of their financials for the previous calendar year so they can see where the amounts in each box on the 1099-MISC were derived from.

Not filing 1099s when required can lead to penalties and fines by the IRS, so it is very important to keep accurate records of amounts paid to each vendor and rental property owner and request any necessary forms that you may need to file the tax forms to be compliant in this process.

Postage Meters For Small and Home Based Businesses Save Time and Money

How Home Business Can Take Advantage of a Pitney Bowes Postage MeterHome businesses are expanding throughout the world and with this evolution, a postage meter, such as those from Pitney Bowes (who produces 90% of the postage meters on the market) can add a dimension of professionalism. The Internet has given just about anyone who wants to, the opportunity to operate their own business from the comfort of their own home. Still, although these home-based businesses do not have the same overhead as traditional businesses, each one still needs to monitor its expenses and eliminate unnecessary ones when possible.Home businesses do not necessarily have to be web-based businesses. A hair stylist can run her operation out of her home as can a music instructor. When this happens, though, one factor is almost inevitably overlooked as a way to cut expenses and that has to do with postage. A postage meter offers many advantages to home business owners.When a home business owner needs to communicate with clients, sometimes this requires letters or invoices or any number of forms of paper transactions. Advertising that is mailed also requires stamps. This requires postage – and usually trips back and forth to the post office. Many home business owners claim they do not mind these trips, as it gets them out of the house. When one trip per week becomes two or three, then you are not only detracting from the time you have to promote your business, but you are also spending money on gas to get to the post office and back home.It is easy to overlook just how much a small business spends on postage. A Pitney Bowes postage meter, however, has the ability to track the number of letters and the amount of postage that was spent in a given period of time. When it comes time to track these expenses at the end of the month, there will be no more need for guesswork.A postage meter also eliminates the need to wonder how much postage to place on a given letter or package. A postage meter can weigh the parcel and determine, based on the destination zip code, how much postage is needed. Right down to the penny. How many times in the past have you thrown an extra stamp on a letter because you did not want it returned due to insufficient postage? When you run a business out of your home, the temptation to do this increases dramatically.Another advantage for home business owners that a postage meter offers is the look of professionalism. It is bound to have happened where you receive a letter from a business that was handwritten with a traditional stamp. The look and feel of the letter speaks of being unprofessional. By adding a metered stamp, your home business will look like any seriously professional business operating today. After all, image does mean a lot in the world of commerce.People want to feel that they are doing business with someone who is professional. A postage meter, such as those from Pitney Bowes, will not only save you money and time, it will also add that aura of professionalism people respond to in a positive way.