Most businesses spend little time thinking about marketing, let alone planning an entire event around it. Marketing should be a huge part of your business and not something considered when everything else is done. It is important to spend some time each month brainstorming marketing ideas. Here is a quick list to help you get started.

1. Gather 1 or 2 of your closest associates in the area being brainstormed for a period of no less than 4 hours.

2. DO NOT meet in anyones office. Instead use someones home, backyard, or a quiet bar.

3. Set the 2 most important rules - no straying from topic and no ideas are bad ideas.

4. Layout all the facts you know, and those you would like to know on a big white board.

5. Identify 3 overall goals for your brainstorming session.

6. Set a reasonable amount of time to discuss each goal. (minimum of 1-hr each)

7. Allow people to relax - some may want a beer, others like music in the background....allow people to be relaxed and comfortable.

8. Don't treat this like an official business meeting - do not allow position or rank within company to control or dominate any discussion or topic.

9. Have the Internet and other related materials readily available and research what your competitors and similar business models are doing.

10. Have fun - brainstorming should be fun, low stress, and most importantly PRODUCTIVE.

Hope these help! Stay tuned for much more in the area of Marketing!

Chris Bache - Founder - Marquis Advertising, Inc.

When it comes to death and taxes, most of the focus lately centers on Congress' ongoing battles over the federal estate tax. But many states impose their own taxes and costs when residents die. Estates too small to trigger the federal tax can easily rack up thousands of dollars in state death taxes and probate costs. Far from being repealed along with the federal tax, this state burden is on track to rise over time.

• Some states have their own estate- or inheritance-tax systems that are independent of the federal estate tax system.
• Another group of states is imposing new estate taxes to make up for revenue from the waning federal tax.

The federal estate tax is scheduled to phase out over the next few years and disappear entirely in 2010 -- only to return in 2011 when the temporary repeal expires. Opponents of the estate tax are struggling to make repeal permanent, but are facing stiff opposition in the Senate. (The House has already voted to permanently repeal it.)

A number of states have estate or inheritance taxes that are independent of the federal system. State estate taxes, like the federal version, are assessed on the estate as a whole. But states can have different rules about who pays.

In the past, most of the other states haven't had to impose separate taxes to get a piece of their residents' estates. Instead, the states received a portion of what the estate owed the federal government. This "pickup" tax raised state coffers without the estates owing any extra tax. However, states are losing this boost. The federal law temporarily repealing the estate tax has already phased out the states' ability to take a portion of said tax. That cost states billions in lost revenue. So it's probably not surprising that many states are trying to hang on to their piece of the pie by decoupling their estate tax system from the federal system. In effect, they're pretending that the repeal isn't happening and taking from their residents' estates some of what they used to get from the federal government.

Some states made their decoupling temporary, hoping that revenues would improve enough in coming years so that they wouldn't miss the lost tax. The states also might get a break if efforts to make the federal repeal permanent fail. The full state death-tax credit would return, along with the rest of the federal estate tax system, in 2011.

Regardless of how this issue plays out, properand thoughtful estate planning can serve to minimize the impact of estate taxes while maintaining one's privacy and bypassing probate.

In the coming years, there will most likely be a lot of changes to the way states impose their estate taxes. For example, the substantial changes to the federal estate tax laws enacted in 2001 under the Economic Growth and Tax Relief Reconciliation Act (EGTRRA) include the gradual phase-out of the state death tax credit. This means that states with only a pick-up tax in place will entirely lose their estate tax revenues unless additional state estate taxes are enacted (which many have already done). Just keep in mind that the billions of dollars of associated lost state revenues will have to be made up somewhere. (Translation: look for some form of higher state taxes imposed to make up the shortfall.)

My appreciation for the Thanksgiving holiday has matured over the years.  There was a time when all Thanksgiving really meant to me was a great meal by my grandmother that inevitably turned into an eating contest with my younger brothers, followed by a football game on TV as we lay on the floor, writhing in the bloated discomfort of our engorgement.  Then we had pie.

I find myself a lot more contemplative these days about Thanksgiving.  It really isn't about the turkey dinner or the football game anymore.  And, while my thoughts during Thanksgiving - and the entire holiday season, for that matter - turn increasingly toward my family, I am also reminded that sincere expressions of gratitude are a tremendous source of both internal and external power in business settings as well.

The most common question associated with the Business Credit Builder Program is "what type of business credit will be available to a business owner with a newly formed entity that does not require a personal guarantee?"  Good question!  The lines of business credit we begin with are carefully chosen based upon the following criteria -

1. The business line of credit must report to the major business credit reporting bureaus.

2. The business line of credit must report positive credit experiences to the major credit reporting  bureaus. (many business lines of credit only report late or missed payments)

3. The business line of credit must report on a monthly basis to the business credit reporting bureaus. 

Additional considerations for choosing vendors exist of course, but these three examples provide insight into the knowledge our Credit Coaches have access to that insure our clients have a positive credit building experience.  Not only do we recommend the vendors, we have the applications available to insure our clients are truly put on the "fast track" to building corporate credit. 

Assisting our clients in establishing the initial set of vendors provides them with the momentum needed to generate the purchase / payment activity.

Purchase / Payment Activity = Vendor Reporting Activity = Credit Score

The Credit Coach supports the process through regular follow up and additional vendor recommendation.   

Next Week - Vendor Progress Tracking

Last may, the IRS announced that it was to stop collecting federal excise tax on long-distance telephone service.  Since 1898, the IRS has collected a tax, which was 3% at the time, on all long distance communications.   Courts have ruled that long-distance communications of yesteryear are not the same thing today, and ruled that the tax is improper.  The result is that taxpayers can file for a refund of all federal telephone excise taxes paid after February 28, 2003, with interest

The IRS has published information to instruct and assist taxpayers on this issue:

1. Telephone Tax Refund Questions and Answers for Small Business and Tax-Exempt Organizations
2. IRS Announces Standard Amounts for Telephone Tax Refunds

Don't get sold on frequency or branding. Radio stations sales people will tell you this because it will get a longer contract and will let you think results may not appear until weeks have passed. But your not Pepsi or McDonald's and branding and frequency campaigns are sure to do one thing...break you.

The fact is you need immediate response and revenue from your campaign. Welcome to the world of Direct Marketing.

A wise man once said, "All of the easy things have already been done; from here on out it is high adventure." 

Those of you who run your own businesses will certainly agree that the process is high adventure.  But what about the easy stuff?  There is no reason to re-invent the wheel.  Fortunately for us, many business topics have already been written about in depth by experienced authors.  These books can be a valuable asset to any business owner.

Compliance - the act of adhering to, and demonstrating adherence to, a standard or regulation. Compliance is KEY in the business credit building process and can make the difference between a client’s ability to establish lines of business credit or being declined. Potential vendors and commercial lenders seek to verify and validate specific information when a corporation submits an application for business credit. The most common compliance issues a corporation must address before applying for business credit is as follows:

The US Department of Treasury has published a one-page summary of impact that increased taxes will have on millions of Americans if permanent tax relief is not passed by Congress.  To summarize a summary, unless permanent tax relief is passed, by 2011:

• A family of four with two children making $60,000 in annual income today will pay 58% more taxes.  If the family makes $50,000 per year, the taxes will be 132% higher.
• 115 million taxpayers will average a tax increase of $1,716.
• 26 million small business owners will average a $3,637 tax increase

The Internal Revenue Service today issued guidance emphasizing the need for employers to track the amount of expense reimbursement allowances paid to employees on a per diem basis.   Revenue Ruling 2006-56 tells employers that if they routinely pay per diem allowances in excess of the federal per diem rates, but do not track the allowances and do not require the employees either to actually substantiate all the expenses or pay back the excess amounts, and do not include the excess amounts in the employee’s income and wages, then the entire amount of the expense allowances is subject to income tax and employment tax. 

Please accept my thanks and appreciation for the opportunity to share the knowledge NCH has afforded me the opportunity accumulate on Building Business Credit.   I look forward to sharing my experience through the use of this weekly post in an effort to raise awareness about Business Credit.

I have a healthy appreciation for businesspeople who invest time in improving themselves and their businesses.  It is too easy to get caught up in the day to day transactions and status quo; consequently putting off planning and associated change.  The fact is that businesspeople who perform regular self-evaluations and then take action to correct areas of weakness are those who break from the pack in their respective industries.

The Washington D.C.-based Small Business & Entrepreneurship Council released their annual survey which ranks the policy environment for entrepreneurship across the nation.  The Small Business Survival Index 2006 ranks all 50 states in order of their respective friendliness to business.  This ranking is based on 29 major government-imposed or government-related costs imposed on small business.  The top 5 states in the 2006 Index are:

1. South Dakota
2. Nevada
3. Wyoming
4. Alabama
5. Washington

I understand the top three on the list, but I am going to have to read the report to see how Alabama and Washington show up that high.

Samuel A. Donaldson, Associate Professor of Law at the University of Washington has published an abstract that explains the several developments in federal income, estate and gift taxes that effect individual and small business taxpayers.  His summary contains updated information covering a period from August 2005 through September 2006.  And, it is free, which is always good.

Today, the Internal Revenue Service issued the 2007 mileage rates used to calculate the deductible costs of operating an automobile for business, charitable, medical or moving purposes. Starting January 1, the standard mileage rates for the use of a car (including vans, pickups or panel trucks) will be:

• 48.5 cents per mile for business miles driven;
• 20 cents per mile driven for medical or moving purposes; and
• 14 cents per mile driven in service to a charitable organization.

The standard mileage rates for business, medical and moving purposes are based on an annual study of the fixed and variable costs of operating an automobile.  As such, the mileage reimbursement has been increased to reflect rising gas prices. Runzheimer International, an independent contractor, conducted the study for the IRS.

See Revenue Procedure 2006-49 for further details.