How Not to Deal with the IRS

I am raising money for a new business venture. It is a man spa called Heaven for Men. Tthe staff will be either strippers or porn stars. It will be the only place in the world where you can get a shave and a lap dance at the same time. Tipping will be discouraged, except for the lap dances of course. We will employ the world's hottest stripper chef who will prepare a menu of brats, burgers, and beer – no stinking vegetables except lettuce and tomatoes for the burgers. I am auditioning, I mean interviewing, staff now. This will be the best investment since Apple Computer. Operators are standing by for your investment, VISA, MasterCard, and AMEX accepted, but single dollar bills are preferred. Make it rain, baby.

If you ever get audited by the IRS, here are some helpful hints. First, playing the aggrieved taxpayer doesn't work. Forty million or so people before you have tried that. Second, throwing out your business records, because you don't want to remember that year, is also a bad idea. I am in the middle of an IRS audit gone bad.

This audit should have been a relatively easy exercise. I have a client who lost a bunch of money in real estate a couple years ago. By a lot of money, I mean middle six figures. Not surprisingly, the IRS wanted a little look see to see if the losses were legitimate. We knew when the notice came in, that the primary issue would be supporting the real estate losses.

Normally this isn't a complicated type of issue. We keep detailed workpapers that show the calculation of the loss. We have to be able to show proof of the sales price as well as proof of the purchase price and documentation for any expenses related to the sale. I said “normally” this isn't a complicated issue. It does become considerably more complicated when the taxpayer throws out all of his records for the year. You might legitimately ask why some numb skull would toss all his records from two years ago. I asked just that question. He responded that he had moved and didn't want any reminders of his real estate losses. So he tossed the records at the dump when he moved.

This was bad news for yours truly, but not a deal breaker for the audit. We had proof of the sales price from a bank statement and a 1099 form. The problem was going to be proving the original purchase cost of the real estate. I had a plan for this. It was such a good plan. It even stood a small chance of succeeding......

However, when the IRS audits someone who owns a business, they don't just audit the obvious issues, like the real estate losses in this case. The auditor asked for a plethora of documents supporting various expenses such as materials and subcontractors for the client's construction business. She also asked for information related to mortgage interest and real estate taxes on his residence. We had the information related to his residence in our files already. However, because of the volume of information involved with businesses, we don't keep copies of all of the canceled checks and receipts for the business. Our clients are supposed to keep that. After all, we aren't a data storage facility, although a lot of days it feels like we are.

The auditor, a newbie with very little experience, conducted a routine audit test called a completeness test for unreported income. She added up all of the deposits from the client's bank statements and compared them to the income reported on the tax return. The idea behind the test is that if the deposits into bank accounts exceed the income reported on the tax return, there is income that should have been reported that was not. Somebody owes some taxes. Of course, there are a whole bunch of legitimate reasons why the bank deposits could exceed the income on the tax return. The obvious one is loans received by the taxpayer. So if you can explain why the bank deposits exceeded the income on the return, you are in the clear.

What was interesting in this instance was the the bank deposits were less than the income reported on the tax returns. This threw our newbie auditor for a loop. Any accounting major, who stayed somewhat awake during her first auditing course, knows that a completeness test only works one way. In this case, the test could reveal unreported income but nothing else. Bank deposits less than reported income means nothing. On the surface, it may look like income was over reported on the tax returns, but what it really means is that not all income got deposited into the bank account. This can be common in cash based businesses. In this case, the test results meant absolutely nothing. But our newbie auditor smelled a rat. She insisted that the test failure was significant and needed explanation.

This wasn't my first audit rodeo. I've been bucked by a few idiot auditors in my career. I had a plan to deal with this one. My plan was to admit the test failure was an unresolved issue and offer to meet with the newbie's supervisor to discuss the issue. The thing to know about IRS employees is that the higher up you move in the IRS food chain, the better your chances of finding someone with a brain. I know the supervisor is going to want to discuss this issue with me about as much as she would like a good venereal disease. She knows that the completeness test is only valid in one direction and would politely decline my request. Then she would bitch slap the newbie back into reality for wasting her time on the obvious. That was my diabolical plan.......

Despite revealing my masterful plan to the client, he became frustrated with the auditor. The completeness test wasn't the entire reason for his frustration. He was upset that she was asking for so much information that he was having difficulty producing. Of course, throwing away his records might have had just a little to do with his problems.

One afternoon during a meeting with the auditor, he went into aggrieved taxpayer mode and exploded. I have seen people go into aggrieved taxpayer mode before, and it isn't pretty. They talk about their Constitutional rights and ask why Bill Gates never gets audited. Actually we don't know if Bill Gates gets audited. Audits aren't public record. I do know the IRS at least looks at the records of a lot of large companies. When I worked at PEPCO in the 1980's, the IRS had a permanent office at PEPCO headquarters. I suspect they have one at Microsoft as well.

Facts and reason never stop someone in aggrieved taxpayer mode. It is a form of mental illness that resembles multiple personality disorder. One moment you have a sane adult in front of you. The next you have a raving lunatic mumbling about due process, the right to bear arms, and the founding fathers. My client started missing document delivery deadlines with the auditor and even pulled a no show for a meeting. There is no known cure for aggrieved taxpayer syndrome. It is frequently terminal for someone's business.

Here's something else you should know about aggrieved taxpayer mode. It doesn't work – ever. IRS auditors have an audit plan, which is a detailed set of procedures they must follow in every audit. An auditor's job is at risk for not following the plan exactly in every detail. When a taxpayer doesn't cooperate with the plan, the information requests don't just go away. They multiply. Audits are about credibility. If you can easily produce the information an auditor requests, the requests come to an end. If you can't meet the requests, you get more requests as a result and then even more requests. Aggrieved taxpayer mode finally results in a notice of assessment based on numbers compiled from failed audit tests. Surprise, surprise Gomer Pyle, when you fail audit tests, the numbers don't work out in your favor.

My dastardly plan never had a chance once the client descended into aggrieved taxpayer mode. Now I am stuck in IRS audit hell. An audit that should have been over in thirty days has taken four months, and there is no end in sight. Pray for my soul.

Last night Laura and I watched the Caps beat the Rangers at the Verizon Center in DC. I don't want to accuse the Rangers of being a bunch of wussy divers, but their team doctor is a gynecologist. I'm just sayin'....

Thanks for reading. Please visit the main S&K web site at www.skcpas.comfor real tax and accounting advice. LET'S GO CAPS!

Makeover may be just the thing

Q: My business is getting stale. My employees are just going through the motions, my competitors are gaining ground, and the bright ideas have stopped coming. What can I do?

A: A makeover could be just the thing to re-energize your business. It need not be a major overhaul; some minor tweaks may be enough. What’s important is that you recognize the need for action, and to learn all you can to make informed decisions.

In order to identify where changes are most needed, you’ll have to dig for details about various aspects of your business. Remember to focus not just on the individual elements, but also how they all fit together.

For example, has your customer base changed since you first started?  Is it broader or narrower? Older or younger? More upscale or less? You may need a new image, revved-up branding or perhaps just a rewrite of your marketing materials to address the needs of this changing customer base.

Take a hard look at whether your products or services are performing to customer expectations. Remember that your goal should be to exceed expectations, not simply meet them. Perhaps competitors are doing a better job, or maybe they’ve created add-on products and services that you haven’t. Your own customers can help with your makeover if you ask them for feedback.

If your marketing message has never changed, perhaps it’s time to reevaluate and devise a new one. Try revisiting your original business plan. You might be able to recapture some of the insight and enthusiasm you originally had from that document. Think back to your most successful promotions, presentations or sales efforts. Rather than reinventing the wheel, you might be able to update and expand an approach that has already worked for your business.

Don’t be afraid to seek out other perspectives. After all, you may be “too close” to the issues to understand the sources and solutions. Meet and brainstorm with your trusted advisors, mentors, friends, partners, employees, and outside consultants. Ask customers to give you a frank assessment of what you’re doing, how you’re doing it, and what you can do to better serve their needs. The more ideas you receive, the more options you’ll have for getting your business back on the fast-track.

For more business makeover ideas, contact SCORE, America’s free and confidential source of small business mentoring and coaching. Our next column will discuss how the SCORE SMART Squad can help with a makeover.

Being Better, Socially Speaking

In the past, most brands relied on advertising to promote their brand. It was all about making sure that people recall you when they see your ad on TV or hear about it over the radio. The more that people hear or see your ad, the more likely they are to buy your products and services.

Times have changed, however, and people aren’t as easy to convince as they were before. Also, the competition among brands has become fierce, since many similar products and services have become available on the market. Whether you’re a personal or a small business brand, you really have to do your part in standing out from among the crowd to ensure that you’re noticed, so that people will buy from you. Advertisements don’t work well anymore – what works nowadays is social or word-of-mouth marketing.

The success of your brand now relies on how effectively you socialize and engage with your customers and audience. You need to build a relationship with them, and not simply consider them as random people you need to convince to buy from you.

This is the reason why brands have invaded social media. Since this is where most people are whiling away their time, it’s become essential for brands to connect with their audience using these platforms.
Of course, it’s easy for brands to create a website or a blog, to get a Facebook or Twitter account, and to start creating boards on Pinterest. But the challenge lies on how to connect and build a relationship with your audience within these platforms.

Here are some tips to help you:

     1. Update regularly

Nothing’s worse than an abandoned blog or an abandoned Facebook page. If you don’t plan on posting at least once a week, then you may need to reconsider your social marketing strategy. People need regular content from you in order to interact and engage with your brand. So make sure that you regularly update your blog and other social media accounts, so you can continue to have a good number of followers and readers.

     2. Respond to your audience

Interaction needs to be a two-way street, so it’s essential that you respond to your audience whenever they comment or make suggestions in your blog or your other social media accounts. When you respond to people’s comments, they will feel appreciated and validated. You can also pay special attention to people who comment and interact frequently with you, since these people are typically loyal to your brand and can easily become your brand advocates.

It’s a good idea to monitor mentions of your brand’s keywords so that you can respond to them. You can easily set up Google Alerts or do a search on Twitter to see who’s mentioning you. This helps you interact with people who have questions, comments or suggestions regarding your products or services.

You can also comment on your audience’s blogs. People typically leave their URLs whenever they comment, so it’s very easy to simply click the link and leave a reply on their page.

     3. Follow your audience back

Your audience will be flattered if you follow them back. So discover their other social media accounts and follow them on Twitter or even on Pinterest. This helps you connect and interact with them, since no one wants communication to be a one-way street.

     4. Ask an open-ended question

A great way to interact with your audience socially is to ask an open-ended question that’s related to your brand. This helps create buzz and conversation around your brand, and also helps you learn about what your audience wants and what they think of your brand.

     5. Create a poll

Many people enjoy answering polls, and these polls help you gain insights regarding the products and services you’re offering. Once the poll results are in, make sure to talk about the results to create conversation and buzz about your brand.

There are so many ways for brands to connect with their audience. Advertisements may continue to bombard people every day, but right now, it’s the people who choose to interact with a brand or not. So to succeed in this world, it is essential for your brand to be socially interactive.

Don’t focus on selling your products or services. Instead, focus on building a great relationship with your audience. The more they get to know you and the more you interact with each other, the more willing they will be to avail of what you’re offering.

When you become better at word-of-mouth marketing, your brand can really become successful.

Pinterest and Your Small Business Service Brand

Pinterest is fast becoming one of the most popular social networking sites in the world. More and more brands are using it to effectively promote their products or services within the site. As a small business service brand, would it be worthwhile for you to sign up on Pinterest?

Well, it depends. Some small business service brands can be highly successful in promoting their brand on Pinterest, but there are others who may not garner the same success and may be better off promoting their brand elsewhere. So if you’re a brand who’s offering services, not products, should you consider social marketing on Pinterest or not? Here are some things you should think about:

     1. Do your services translate well visually?

There are certain small businesses that offer services that translate well visually. Photographers, for example, can effectively utilize Pinterest’s virtual pinboard by showcasing their best photos and shots. Wedding coordinators can create pinboards of the weddings they’ve organized, as well as other pictures that inspire them to organize wonderful weddings. These visual displays can help people learn more about your work and determine whether your services fit their requirements.

Lawyers, on the other hand, may not be able to promote their brand effectively on Pinterest. Sure they can create boards of the things they love and the things that inspire them, but it’s not going to let people know how effective they’re going to be in the courtroom.

So if the services you’re offering translate well visually, then definitely  consider promoting your brand on Pinterest.

     2. Is your target audience on Pinterest?

Majority of Pinterest users are women, so if your small business service brand caters to women more than men, then you should definitely consider adding the site to your marketing mix.

Of course, this doesn’t mean that if your services cater more to men, that you shouldn’t be on Pinterest. But you may have to think twice and consider other options so you can reach your target audience better.

     3. Are you willing to devote time on the site?

Just like other social networking sites, it’s important to devote time and effort to your page on the site, so that you build a good number of followers. You want to make things interesting for your audience, so you should regularly post, comment and reply to people, and make sure to follow, share and like other pinboards as well. You can’t build a following if you’re not going to update regularly and if you aren’t willing to devote time to interacting with your audience.

After you’ve considered these three things, here are some tips to help you market your small business service brand on Pinterest:

       • Too much self-promotion is a No-No

Too much self-promotion on Pinterest isn’t going to earn you points on it. Remember that it’s still primarily a social networking site, so it’s important that you make sure to share other things in addition to the services you’re offering.

What you can do is create interest in your services by sharing content that’s inspiring and based on a broader theme. This helps build a community around your brand, and doesn’t hint of over self-promotion.

       • Connect your Pinterest with your other social media accounts

To effectively convert buzz to bucks, you should definitely connect your Pinterest with your website, your blog, and your other social networking sites. This helps promote your page and drive traffic to your website. You want to direct people to the place where they can become your clients and avail of your services.

       • Be more personal

The best thing about Pinterest is the fact that you can show off who you are and what you love. Personalize your page – take the time to update the appearance of your Pinterest page so that it reflects who you are and what your brand is all about. And again, don’t be all about business – lighten up. Show people what inspires you and create boards that are funny and interesting. Social marketing is all about connecting with your audience, and the best way to connect with them is to show them the personal side of you.

Your small business service brand can definitely benefit from maintaining an account on Pinterest. So don’t be too quick on dismissing this popular medium. Pinterest is fast becoming an excellent platform for marketing small businesses.

Tracky and Your Brand

Managing your time wisely is absolutely a great challenge and adventure! In addition to work, you have to monitor your social media accounts, manage your teams and projects, network with other people, promote your brand, connect with your partners or employees, engage with your customers and clients, not to mention still have time to sit back, relax, and enjoy time with your friends and family.

So how do you manage it all?

Very likely, whenever you’re online, you have all these browsers, windows and tabs open, so you can check and monitor all your accounts. You have to pay attention to every single one of them, so you go back and forth, check your email and social media accounts, manage your blog, make sure to reply to your customers regarding their questions, as well as chat with employees who need your attention.

Isn’t there a better way to manage all of these?

Of course there is. There are many online management and collaboration platforms that can help you monitor and manage your different accounts as well as your team members. One of the latest and most promising tools that has entered the arena is Tracky.

Tracky is an online collaboration platform where you can do practically anything – collaborate on projects, share files, manage your calendar, assign tasks, chat with your team members, and so on. It’s an excellent way to have every one of your tasks organized in one easy-to-use platform, so you don’t have to have multiple windows and tabs open, or have to go back and forth to check and monitor different sites.

Tracky founder and CEO, David Goose, has been developing the platform with his wife Jennifer as well as their excellent team for more than 18 months now, and they have finally unveiled what they’ve come up with recently.

The thing that really makes it stand out from other online collaboration platforms out there is the fact that it offers you a way to network with other professionals within the platform. Unlike other sites where you’re closed off with your team members working and collaborating on a task, Tracky allows you to search for potential service providers you can work with.

This means that Tracky offers a lot of benefits for both personal and small business brands. For example, if you’re a wedding coordinator, you can actually look for people you can collaborate with on a wedding you’re planning within the site. Or even if you’re the one getting married, you can actually look for service providers using Tracky – you don’t have to go too far to find the perfect team for your wedding. The site has a geo-location feature, so you can find local service providers that fit well to your specifications.

And let’s not forget the excellent platform that Tracky offers. Individuals, small business owners, and large corporations can all take advantage of the site so they can organize their busy lives properly. From to-do lists and task management, to live-chat and cloud-based storage, there are so many things that Tracy offers you that will make managing your life and work so much easier – so you have more time to do the things you enjoy.

And the best part of it all is that you can easily get started managing your tasks and team members for free, up to two groups per person. If you want to have unlimited groups and users, you only have to pay $5 per user per month.

Tracky also has a mobile application, though it’s currently only available on iOS. Mobile users can take advantage of the app so they can manage and organize their time and teams wisely.

Only time will tell, however, if Tracky is going to stand out among its many different competitions. Since it’s only recently launched, there are still some bugs to its system, though the Tracky team is continuously improving the platform as they obtain feedback from its users. The site currently has 4,000 users already, and it hopes to reach 700,000 by the end of the year.

So why make it difficult for yourself to manage all of your accounts, collaborate with your team members, and look for potential partners or service providers? Try out Tracky today and see how it can help you manage your busy life so you can have more time to spend doing the things you enjoy the most.

So You Want to Start a Non-profit

Over the past few years, the Washington Nationals drafted Baseball Jesus I (Stephen Strasburg) and Baseball Jesus II (Bryce Harper) to deliver them from the cellar in the National League East. This year the Redskins drafted Football Jesus, RG-III, to deliver them from.........RG-I (Rex Grossman). Coach Mike Shanahan so believeth in RG-III that he drafted another quarterback, Kirk Cousins, in the fourth round so that he shall not perish as a coach, but have everlasting life, if RG-III can't quarterback any better then John Beck. So much for believing in your plan A. I don't know how to segue that into my topic for this installment except to say that I am starting a non-profit support group for Redskins fans called, Save Our Skins (S.O.S.). Please give generously. Operators are standing by.

Your business is going well, and you feel the warm fuzzy glow of success. That might just be one vodka tonic too many, or it could be a genuine urge to help those less fortunate and brilliant than you are. Your next thought is ,”I'd like to give back to the community by creating a non-profit foundation to cure the world of compulsive nose picking.” You know from World Health Organization statistics that nose picking is the leading worldwide cause of congenital grossness, and you are determined to do something about it. What better way to serve your fellow man than eliminating the scourge of public nose picking?

Last week I had a meeting with a man whom I had assisted a year ago in forming just such a non-profit. I helped him complete form 1023, which is the I.R.S. form you use to apply for non-profit status. Completing, and having the I.R.S accept, the form gives you the ability to accept tax deductible donations. You are what is known as a 501(c)(3) organization.

Completing from 1023 is a daunting task. You list the names and addresses of your board of directors. Yes, you have to have one of those. If you are a new organization, you submit a budget out three years into the future. You also get to answer a few million questions about your organization structure and policies. For instance, you need a conflict of interest policy and must include it with your application. After you complete the forms and compile a six inch high stack of supporting documents, you ship all of this to the I.R.S. people in charge of granting non-profit status. Then you wait.....and wait....and wait a little longer.

Finally the I.R.S. responds. What you are hoping for is an envelope that is, in size, the exact opposite of what you hope your kids receive when they apply to colleges. A thin envelope, in this case, is good news. A thick envelope means the I.R.S. wants more information before accepting your application. A thick envelope is the norm. I'm not certain who appointed the I.R.S. to be gatekeepers to the philanthropic world, but they take their appointment VERY seriously. I once talked to an I.R.S. employee, concerning an application, who wondered aloud if the world really needed another – insert your type of organization here-. I don't know what sort of training I.R.S. employees get in making these deep judgments about the worth of an organization's mission, but I suspect it doesn't involve sitting at the feet of Mother Teresa.

After a little difficulty, we succeeded in getting my client's non-profit application accepted. Nearly a year passed, and he called urgently asking to set up a meeting. We met in the middle of an afternoon a couple days later.

When he came in, I asked him what we would be discussing. He told me, “I am dead broke, totally out of money. I don't know how I'm going to pay the office rent in a couple weeks. I need your advice on how to raise some money.”

I called up, on my computer, the budget we had presented to the I.R.S. a year ago. Then I replied, “So you're telling me your revenue isn't meeting what we expected a year ago – correct?”

“Well sort of. There hasn't been any revenue.”

“Back then, didn't we discuss that you would be able to bill Medicaid for nose picking prevention services?”

“Yes.”

“Do you have a lot of unpaid bills from Medicaid that you are trying to collect?”

“No. I haven't billed them at all. I found out they didn't support that type of service. Flatulence prevention has sucked up all their funding.”

After I got over my moral outrage over Medicaid denying nose picking coverage to the indigent, I asked where he thought his revenue could come from. He didn't really know. He asked me if I knew any grant writers who would work on contingency. In other words, he wanted someone, who would work for free unless she wrote a grant that brought in money. From my experience, the success rate on grants is about 10% with a competent, motivated grant writer. In other words, one out of ten grant applications gets accepted, best case. Sign me up for working for free 90% of the time – no thanks I'll pass. Here's a hint. Grant writers expect to get paid for every application they submit – and they should.

Let's take a little inventory of the mistakes my client has made. I see lots of people make these errors. The first is not figuring out where his revenue was coming from. I would not expect a successful business owner to make this mistake. In this case, my client was a life long employee, and not a very senior one at that. He was a nose picking treatment technician. He had no experience running a department let alone an entire organization. So I guess his total lack of knowledge of basic business principles, such as revenue really matters, shouldn't be so shocking. I would expect few of my successful clients to make this mistake.

His second mistake was believing everyone in the world would care about his mission. He believed grant writers would be so impressed with his will to help mankind that they would work for free. I know he expected his attorney, and probably me to some extent, to work for discounted rates. Back in the 1990's Paul and I had a partner in an office in Newport News, who wanted to approach a software company for free accounting software for a non-profit client. She thought they would be ecstatic about the chance to help a charity, she believed in, that was struggling financially. Paul and I let her know that wasn't the case. One of their major markets was selling to non-profits. Why would they give the software away in a target market? Nonetheless, she insisted on making an ass of herself and tried, predictably with no success.

Here's a helpful hint for you. Out of the seven billion people on the planet, very few are going to care about your mission – maybe not even your family. You can go to the IRS web site (http://www.irs.gov/charities/article/0,,id=249767,00.html) to get a list of charities that qualify for tax deductible donations. There are somewhere in the neighborhood of four trillion charities in the United States. Well maybe I exaggerate a little. There are so many that the IRS no longer publishes a list. You have to run a search from the site above to check on a charity. My point is that there are so many charities competing for money and attention that you shouldn't be surprised that no one cares about yours.

The third and most common mistake was believing he could run a non-profit organization without any such experience. Even successful business owners make this error. A typical business owner believes that because he successfully runs a doggie do do pickup business, he can run a non-profit organization. Applying business management concepts to non-profits is all the rage these days at non-profit conferences and in their magazines, but non-profits are fundamentally differ from for profit entities.

One of the major differences is groveling for money. Business owners attract revenue by selling goods and services that benefit (hopefully) customers. Non-profits aren't selling a direct benefit to their contributors. They are trying to separate potential contributors from their money for a good cause. Groveling is such a harsh word, but it is a hurdle most business owners can't get over. For instance, my client told me he hated asking people for money. I said, “If you won't ask for money, why will people just give it to you?” He didn't want to stain his soul with groveling. Fund raising for non-profits has a few things in common with marketing for businesses, but many more differences.

I have a suggestion for you that will satiate your philanthropic urges, while giving you the opportunity to actually do something good for the planet. Don't start a non-profit. Join one that already exists. If your passion is eliminating nose picking, there are probably five hundred organizations already doing good work in that area. They already have knowledge and infrastructure you would have to create from scratch. In the nose picking arena, such knowledge is invaluable. These organizations know how index finger pickers differ from pinkie pickers. Who knew, except for me, that such things are important. Don't blame me. Your parents told you education is a life long endeavor. At least I'm not writing masturbation jokes – yet.

The one thing you'll give up in joining an existing organization is being in charge, at least initially. If your philanthropic urges are sustainable and pure, this shouldn't matter that much. If your aim is to do good, you'll adapt. Over time as you learn about an organization, you can choose to take on more responsibility. Time will give you a good chance to learn not just about your organization, but how managing a non-profit differs from your day job. Lastly, if working in someone else's gig really isn't for you, consider just giving money. I see the tax returns of would be charitable entrepreneurs. Often they donate next to nothing to charities. Just how pure are their philanthropic instincts? Yes, I am judging your moral worth to humanity when preparing your tax returns.

Yes, I am drinking my own Kool Aid. I sit on the board of directors of Christian Relief Services. Not surprisingly, I am chair of the audit committee. They gave me something to do in an area where I might actually be competent. I have opinions on all sorts of areas like fund raising, but wisely they generally ignore me.

While I am shamelessly self-promoting, the web site is www.christianrelief.org. The organization has four major programs: Running Strong for American Indian Youth, Americans Helping Americans, Bread and Water for Africa, and a plethora of low income housing initiatives. Please take a look at the web site to see the national and international reach. I am really proud to be associated with the organization.

While writing this installment, my philanthropic urges kicked in again. I have decided to start a second non-profit called Running Strong to Keep RG-III healthy. We will be raising funds to pay three hundred pound linemen to keep him safe. The Redskins don't seem to care so much about that. Maybe they'll bulk up Kirk Cousins to three hundred pounds to make him really good in pass protection, but I doubt it.

For real tax and accounting advice, please visit the S&K web site at www.skcpas.com. Thanks for reading.

Can We Just Hangout?

Google+ may be the newbie in the social networking scene, but the excellent and unique features it offers within the site is really becoming popular among its users. One of the best features of the site is the Google+ Hangouts, which lets you video chat with up to 10 persons privately, and even do an “on air” broadcast that any viewer in the world can see. As a personal or small business brand, how do you use this to your advantage in social marketing? Here are some tips:

     1. Interact with your clients and customers without having to meet with them in person

Sometimes, it just isn’t convenient for you to meet with clients and customers in person. Exchanging emails and even talking over the phone seem to be too impersonal, so why not use Google+ Hangouts so you can interact with them virtually face to face? This is a great idea especially if you plan on talking to numerous people at the same time because you won’t have to repeat instructions to multiple people over and over again. Video chatting lets people get a real glimpse of you too, which helps you connect better with them.

     2. Organize a meeting

If you want to meet with your business partners or employees, but there’s just no time for everyone to gather in the office or meet in a certain place, then why not organize a meeting using Hangouts? It allows up to 10 people to have a private video chat, so you can talk, shop, and discuss things with your partners and employees even in the comfort of your home. This gives everyone the chance to become more at ease unlike in a regular meeting in a conference room. And the more relaxed people are, the more likely that they’ll be inspired with more ideas.

     3. Schedule a free seminar or demonstration

The “on air” feature of Google+ hangouts allows any person in the world to tune in to your page and watch you. By offering a free seminar or demonstration, you can really promote brand awareness and even convert buzz to bucks. For example, more and more musical performers are using the “on air” feature to promote themselves and their music. Using this feature is truly an excellent marketing strategy for personal brands and small businesses since it allows you to reach more people and effectively market your brand.

     4. Announce events

With the “on air” feature of Google+ Hangouts, you can announce new products and upcoming events, effectively creating buzz around your brand. You can invite your target audience to tune into your page at a certain time, so they can learn about the things you’re planning for your brand.

     5. Offer customer support

You can even offer customer support through Google+ Hangouts. This enables you or your representative to come face to face with the person who has an issue or a problem, and be able to offer the best solution. They can even show you exactly what the problem is, and you can demonstrate how they can fix it. This helps build trust with your brand, since customers are able to see you or your representative face to face.

     6. Network with brand advocates and influencers

One of the best social marketing strategies is to empower and reward your brand advocates and influencers. These are people who are loyal to your brand, and will go to extra lengths for you. Google+ Hangouts can help you network and connect with them, so you can let them know that their efforts in sharing your brand with others are very much appreciated.

     7. Record videos for playing later

Another excellent feature of Hangouts is the fact that it integrates with YouTube, and you can record your broadcasts and easily share it in the video sharing site, effectively reaching a wider amount of audience.
Beyond video chat, there are so many other things you can do with Google+ Hangouts to effectively promote your brand and change buzz to bucks. So don’t ignore this excellent feature – learn what you can about it, use it wisely, and effectively market your personal or small business brand using it.