yellowhighlightermarketing.com » PR

Need Help With Your Taxes?

meredithe — Fri, 13 Apr 2007 19:41:13 +0000

Tax time is looming. For many of us, that means that we will be savoring those extra 2 days and finishing them up this weekend. Did you know that there are volunteers that will help you with your taxes for free? One of my all time favorite jobs was recruiting volunteers and customers for the Fairfax County CASH Program which provides free tax assistance for people with incomes of less than $39,000 per year. Even if you make more than $39,000 and don’t live near Fairfax County, free help is available. If your adjusted gross income is less than $39,000, I would start by going to the Internal Revenue Service webpage and typing in Volunteers In Tax Assistance (or VITA) for a list of sites near you. The AARP (American Association of Retired Persons) offers more extensive assistance to people with higher incomes or more complicated returns. You do not have to be under 55 to take advantage of their services.

2. Tax Tips For People Who Don't Make A Lot Of Money

meredithe — Fri, 12 Jan 2007 12:39:22 +0000

One of my most worthwhile work projects is marketing the Fairfax County CASH (Creating Assets Savings and Hope) program. The program is part of the national Volunteers In Tax Assistance program that helps low income with taxes. I know, it sounds boring — but it is scandalous to me that big tax companies actively market high interest refund anticipation loans to people who can’t afford them and that big tax credits that could amount to thousands in extra refunds are hidden so well that over a quarter of the people eligible to take them don’t. Uncle Sam keeps the money instead of having it go toward groceries, medical bills, health insurance, etc.

Here are some tips on how you can make the most of your taxes even if you don’t make a lot of money.

Five Tax Tips for People Who Don’t Make A Lot of Money

1. You Can Have Your Taxes Prepared for Free if you make less than $39,000 per year. The Volunteers In Tax Assistance program trains and certifies volunteers to help you prepare your taxes and get all the credits and refunds to which you are entitled. Free online filing is also available. Go to irs.gov for more information.

2. Promises of “Instant Refunds” are really just loans. Every January, commercial tax companies run ads for quick refunds based on your paystub (not your W-2). These instant refunds are really very high interest loans (with rates up to 20%).

3. You can get your refund in less than 2 weeks if you use direct deposit. You can even split your refund between your savings and checking accounts.

4. You can give yourself a dollar and hour raise by taking the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC). The EITC is the federal government’s largest anti-poverty program and a quarter of the people eligible don’t claim it. The maximum EITC credit is $4400. The average is $1400 (the equivalent of a dollar an hour raise).

5. You can save money on medical and child care expenses. Flexible spending accounts offered by many employers allow you to set aside up to $5000 per household for medical and child care expenses. This amount you choose is taken from your paycheck (tax free) and put into a special account. You submit receipts and your expenses are reimbursed from your account

Get More Publicity in 2007

meredithe — Wed, 03 Jan 2007 17:44:22 +0000

Want to let more people know about your business or organization in 2007? One of my favorite “virtual gurus” — the Publicity Hound has packaged up her tips of the week in a free e-book. Here is what you can learn how to do:

–Create or update your online media room or press kit

–Compile a list of the most influential bloggers that blog on your topic, then pitch them

–Think beyond the “adult angle” when pitching. Can your pitch be tweaked and turned into a story that would appeal to parents, or can you turn the pitch into one with a kids’ angle?

–An easy way to double your media placements

–Offer statistics to journalists so they can create things like maps, bar charts and pie charts to accompany their stories

–Tie your story to celebrities, an almost guaranteed way to generate instant publicity.

You can download the ebook at http://tinyurl.com/y4dnwr

Happy pitching and happy New Year!

Never Eat Alone: Book Review

meredithe — Wed, 13 Dec 2006 19:52:35 +0000

On the surface, Never Eat Alone by Keith Ferrazzi is yet another networking book. However, digging deeper the book is more about how, in the end, it is our connection to people and our ability to help others that matters. From humble beginnings in rural Pennsylvania, Keith, with the help of his father and countless others who took an interest in his success managed to graduate from Harvard Business School, have a successful career in corporate marketing and finally start his own marketing consulting firm. By following the plan he outlines for us in his book, Keith Ferrazzi has built up an impressive network of thousands of corporate leaders, celebrities, politicians and other influential people.

In Never Eat Alone, Ferrazzi lays out a plan to “win friends and influence people” based on today’s technology. He exhorts readers to come up with short and long term goals and figure out who can help them to reach those goals. However, the idea is not just to find people to use, but rather to find people that you can help. Everyone has something to give – by helping others you cement your relationships and doors open to you because of these relationships. Ferrazzi is a big believer in keeping in touch systematically by remembering birthdays, calling people when you are in town and trying to use your network to help others. He is also a big believer in asking for what you need. A lot of times we are afraid to ask – but if you don’t ask you will never know if someone is in a position to help.

Never Eat Alone also tells you how to work a conference. Silly me, I always thought that the point of conferences was to hear the speakers. Well, no… the point of the conference is to meet new people. One of the best ways to do that is to hold your own dinners for folks that interest you.

In truth, I am a bit of an introvert and I am also pretty terrible at keeping in touch. Although I don’t see myself being quite as systematic in doing pre-research or keeping prioritized lists of contacts, Never Eat Alone has inspired me to reach out and “ping” some of my friends that I haven’t heard from in awhile. Even if I don’t end up getting a new job or landing new clients for my efforts, at least I’ll keep in touch better with some pretty terrific friends.

Microsoft Says Vista Will Create 100,000 New Jobs (spin, baby spin…)

meredithe — Tue, 12 Dec 2006 15:03:28 +0000

Microsoft recently commissioned a study showing that up to 100,000 new technology jobs will be created by the new Vista operating system. The study, which was performed by IDC, also estimates that for every dollar of Vista-related revenue that Microsoft takes in next year, $18 will be generated for the technology industry as a whole.

Initial reaction: yeah! more jobs more money in the economy – hurrah!

More cynical reaction: Are Microsoft’s PR people insane? Aren’t they basically saying that Vista will be so difficult to use that companies will have to spend $18 for every dollar they give to Microsoft to hire additional staff to make the new OS work? That’s not such a good thing….

Have any of you started playing with Vista? Is it that much more difficult to use?