Summertime and the livin’ is easy…George & Ira Gershwin’s lyrics  and music from Porgy and Bess evoke the sensuality of a long, hot and passionate summer. Listen to Ella Fitzgerald. Can you feel it? Mmmmm….

Great background for a summer party. OK, perhaps an adult party. Well, this is the time of year we start gearing up for the backyard barbeques, picnics and beach parties. Some are simple pot lucks, everyone pitching in with food, goodies and fun. Those are fun, don’t cost much – and aren’t really going to be tax deductible.

But what about the more expensive parties? Well, next month, I’ll be in Las Vegas at Caesar’s Palace, throwing a dinner party for my friends. The cost will be in the low 5 figures, and will be fully deductible. Why? It’s tied to a tax conference. The invitees are TaxMama’s students, readers, friends and their guests. And if even one of those people bring along a friend who signs up for my EA Exam Review class – the party is nearly paid for.  In fact, several of the ‘guests’ have turned into students and passionate fans – and friends.

OK, so you’re not going to Vegas just to write off a party. How can you go about writing off a party in your own home or area?

Make the party a sales pitch for your business or product, or the affiliate program(s) you represent. Tupperware was famous for their sales parties. Then came the lingerie parties. Sports fans can host fantasy sports parties. You can hold read-a-thons for children, or play time with toys from affiliate programs.  Even back to school parties.

Let your imagination run wild. What kind of blatant marketing party can you throw – including prizes (samples of product) for participation – and for levels of purchases – or for new recruits.

What about the cost of spouses and children coming to such parties? Frankly, when it comes to network marketing programs, spouses and children are often fully involved. Exposing them to these experiences makes them aware of the products. And it gives them something to talk about to their friends as well.

Why do you think millions of dollars worth of advertising budgets are targeted towards children? Children are intense consumers. They exert a powerful influence on their parents’ buying habits.

What can you write off at such parties?

The products you consume from your inventory, naturally. The costs of food, beverages and any special entertainment to enhance the mood. The decorations. The invitations.

If you hold one marketing party each month, you’ll not only have a great time, you’ll meet new contacts, make new friends, and increase your sales.

What kinds of parties should you not expect to write off?

Weddings, bar mitzvahs, confirmations, graduations, Quinceañeras, etc. These are purely social or religious. IRS has a lot of experience with people trying to write off such parties.

How could you get away with it? Turn it into a training event or seminar that people pay to attend. Remember Corey Rudl? He did. Here are some more tips on writing off weddings and such.

Have a lovely, fun and profitable summer!

One of the things that I love about being a WAHM is that I have the ability to work from anywhere, even more so now that I got a broadband hotspot!  As I’ve written before, I also homeschool my son, so we’ve decided that this summer we are going to pick up and go on the road!

We always help with the Miss Earth United States pageant which is taking place in Charlotte, NC this year and ends just a few days before Affiliate Summit East.  As I’m sure you can imagine, the airfare for 2 of us from Phoenix was a bit outrageous, so we decided that we are going to make it into a cross country road trip.  He can do his school work each morning on his computer while I check emails etc, then we can get on the road!

We haven’t mapped the whole trip yet, but he has always wanted to go to Washington DC to see the monuments and the Smithsonian, so they are definitely on the itinerary for the trip from NC to NYC.  We’re making a list of friends across the country that we want to visit, in addition to the historical places we’d like to see.

One of the first places Alec mentioned was Mount Rushmore, and at first I said no, that’s way too far out of the way, but then I stopped and thought to myself, why not?  If we’re going to take this trip, why not really take it?  We do not have any set time frame to be home in.  We’ve both agreed that if we want to stay someone more than one night then we can.  If we’re having fun at a friend’s house along the way, why limit ourselves to only being able to stay one night?

A cross country road trip is not something that most people will do once in their lifetime, let alone more than once.  We have already done it once, but it was just a drive from point A to point B to move us from one coast to the other.  I want to embrace this time that I have with my son because I know it won’t be long before he’s like every other teenage boy who just doesn’t want to spend time with mom anymore.

One thing I’ve heard repeatedly is, “but isn’t it expensive?”  When you think of it in the traditional stay at a hotel every night kind of trip, then yes, it would certainly get quite costly.  We however have friends in literally every state!  We’re not always going to stay with friends, but have also decided to bring our camping gear, so that we can use our National Parks Pass and do some camping, so we will certainly cut down on the number of actual hotels that we stay at.  All it takes is a little bit of creativity and you can make anything happen that you want to!

One of the most courageous things that I’ve ever done in my life was choosing to become a “Mompreneur.” Walking away from my traditional job and set salary (albeit small) to launch a business while simultaneously caring for my 2-year old son as a single Mom, left me feeling frazzled.

The pressure to devote 12+ hours each day to my business at that point, made it difficult to achieve an effective work-life balance. Fortunately, I discovered some great tools that helped grow my business and decreased my day-to-day stress levels.  One of the best things I ever did was to  outsource my payroll, tax and human resource responsibilities to Paychex, as it ended up saving me time, money and a ton of aggravation.

The Importance of Delegating and Outsourcing

A common mistake made by small business owners is micromanaging every aspect of the business. In the early days of your business, you likely hunkered down with a detailed business plan, budget sheets, inventory reports, and marketing plans. You made all of the decisions about choosing a business location, hiring new employees, financing the business, running errands, and managing staff. As your business grows and becomes more successful, however, it is impossible to maintain that level of involvement in all aspects of your complex business. If you try to continue to oversee every decision or problem, you will quickly become overwhelmed and burnt out.

The key to small business success is to recognize that you can’t do everything yourself. That is not to say that you should give up decision making power or delegate all of your responsibilities to others. Rather, think strategically about the business activities that need to get done. If a particular task does not generate revenue or directly impact the growth of your business, consider outsourcing it.

Using Paychex for Your Payroll and HR Needs

A great example of outsourcing non-revenue generating activities is to use Paychex services to handle your payroll and human resources needs. Paychex is an online company that offers solutions for human resources management, expense reports, benefits administration, recruiting, and other small business needs.

Imagine the amount of time it takes you to monitor your employees’ hours worked, calculate payroll tax, and process paychecks. Staying on top of changing tax rates, earnings statements, garnishments, and other payroll details can quickly become a nightmare. Trying to manage this yourself means spending hours on calculations and oversight. Instead, let Paychex handle payroll for you. The company calculates taxes, sets up direct deposit, oversees garnishments, keeps a general ledger, and provides you with frequent payroll reports. Plus, Paychex has the expertise to ensure that you are correctly paying your employees as well as following local, state, and federal government regulations.

Paychex is also a lifesaver when it comes to human resources management. Many mompreneurs have limited experience in recruiting and screening applicants, hiring employees, and providing benefits. Paychex can handle every step of the process for you, from providing you a shortlist of qualified applicants to administering a benefits package. The company ensures that you comply with state and federal regulations regarding workers’ compensation, unemployment insurance, safety and loss, and COBRA. Paychex can also work with you to choose health insurance plans, provide 401(k) or other retirement accounts, set up flexible spending accounts, and provide other benefits to your employees.

Although it was initially daunting giving up control of part of my small business, outsourcing non-revenue generating tasks such as payroll and HR greatly benefited my business in the long term.

I recovered every penny of the Paychex fees in saved time and decreased stress, giving me the opportunity to focus on other aspects of my business and enjoy time with my family.

Right now, Paychex is offering a Free Month of Payroll Processing to new customers, when signing up for their payroll product. I highly recommend you check them out.

Most days I deal with an overwhelming amount of stuff. I keep track of doctor’s appointments, things to take care of around the house, brainstorming new blog post ideas, what time to pick my daughter up from school, when her after school activities are, meal planning, and the list goes on and on. It can be very easy to become overwhelmed.

Which is why I am now recommending a new technique I recently learned call a brain dump. Basically you sit down for 20 minutes, or perhaps longer, and write down all the things in your mind that need to be taken care of. It is best to do this when you can be uninterrupted.

I prefer sitting down with a pen and a legal pad, but you can use whatever technique works for you. Microsoft Word on your computer. Evernote on your iPad.

Then set a timer for 20 minutes and just start writing. Whether it is business or personal, just write it all down. There may be things in your mind that you didn’t even realize where there.

When you have everything that you can think of written down, now it is time to come up with a plan for dealing with it all. Take a look through the list and cross off anything that is just not all that important or is something that you really don’t want to do (and that will not negatively impact your personal life or business). Categorize things personal or business. Then add them to lists for doing this week, this month, the next three months, and the next year.

You will feel refreshed to finally get everything out of your head and written down. Plus you will have created a fresh set of to do lists and have an action plan for moving forward.

You can do a brain dump whenever you feel the need. It is just one of the great tips I learned from reading the book Getting Things Done by David Allen.

No matter what your business is today there is a very likely chance that at some point you’re going to have to write something. Words are such an important part of everything we do.

You might be writing any number of things…

• product descriptions
• advertisement copy
• blog posts
• articles
• scripts for sales reps
• emails to customers or potential clients
• social media snippets

Don’t Fear Writing

People often say, “But, I’m not a writer.” That’s okay… you can be. You have to want to write and you have to be willing to keep at it even if you feel unsure.

Not everything you write is going to be a masterpiece. Guess what? That’s totally okay.

Get the Creative Juices Flowing

Sometimes your creativity just needs a little push. Writers of all levels use various techniques to get their writing started and flowing onto the page. Writing exercises can get you writing, keep you writing, and over time they can even improve your writing.

Try Freestyle Writing

Personally, I’m a big fan of using this type of writing exercise. In my world, it’s the cure for what most people consider to be “writer’s block.” Get a clean sheet of paper or open a blank document on your computer, set a timer for 10 minutes, and write anything for 10 straight minutes.

In this exercise it doesn’t have to be on topic, it doesn’t even have to make sense. You just write. It can be complete and total nonsense. Start with the first thing that comes to mind and just keep going following little trains of thought down rabbit holes and around corners until the timer beeps.

When the 10 minutes is up look over your page and see what thoughts stand out to you. Take one of those thoughts to a new document or a fresh sheet of paper and reset your time to 10 minutes. Spend 10 minutes expanding that thought. Rinse and repeat until you have something you can work with.

Practice Makes (Almost) Perfect

Honestly, no writing is ever perfect. In most cases it doesn’t have to be. Stretch your writing muscles here and there, even when you don’t have to. Challenge yourself to write at least one thing per week that will help you grow and/or market your business in some way.

Write an article, write a blog post, write a new product description, write a letter to the editor, just write something. It doesn’t have to be long, it doesn’t need to be perfect, it just needs to get done.

They are all passionate about their craft. They are (were in Freddie’s case) extremely successful and yet they still keep on “working”. Freddie basically worked until the day he died, or as much as he could. Bruce Springsteen doesn’t need to perform any longer, he is set as a legend in the music industry. Tom Hanks doesn’t need to keep making movies. They all achieved the pinnacle of success.

I’ve been watching Tom Hanks for a long time, he could have quit years ago. But he consistently keeps acting. He does it because it is what he loves. You could never say he “phoned in” a performance. Actors stop acting for many reasons of course. And others stay in it for the money and staying on the A list. Tom doesn’t need the money or the recognition.

Freddie Mercury, I watched a concert on television the other night and he is running around on a stage in nothing but tight little white shorts. He didn’t care what people thought, he gave a great performance and he did it his way. And it worked.

Bruce Springsteen was the keynote for SXSW in spring 2012. It streamed live on the internet and we watched it. He was inspiring to new musicians. Heck, he was inspiring to me! Go for it, don’t let people tell you that you can’t do something, keep digging until something works, learn from your mistakes, surround yourself with good people. You can see the passion in his face. He exudes energy.

Believe in what you are doing. Don’t try to impress anyone, do it your way, learn from your mistakes. And never “phone it in”. People can see the difference. Stay real.

At my house, during summer break, it seems there is a constant feeding frenzy. Someone is always hungry, someone is always “starving”. I don’t know where the food goes, but it seems like 2/3 of my day I’m spending making food for someone.

You don’t have to get stuck in the rut of constantly feeding your kids. Instead, give them the task of making their own snacks and meals from time to time. Buy foods that are easy to manage with “mom approved” health benefits and you’re kids will be spending time coming up with fun snacks they are proud to say they made themselves!

Some food ideas your kids will have fun making themselves

Make your own Lunchables – cut meats, cheeses, fruits and veggies and store in separate containers. Every day can be a new lunch building adventure as your child decides which items they want to include AND they’ll have fun building their own snack.

Easy microwave meals – not all kids are old enough to manage the stove without supervision, but the microwave is pretty simple once they know how to use it. My almost 5 year old can make her own popcorn, there’s a popcorn specific button, but she feels like a popcorn rock star making it herself! Put together pre-made microwave meals with a time taped to the lid, ready to pop in the microwave and enjoy.

Snack mixes – mix together cereals, dried fruits and nuts to create your own snack and trail mixes. Your kids will love helping you put these together and then you can store in individual snack sized bags so they can grab and go whenever they’d like.

Smoothies – who doesn’t like a smoothie? You can make your own yogurt smoothie mixes by freezing yogurt in an ice cube tray and then placing the frozen chunks of yogurt in bags with frozen fruits and other ingredients, in ready to use bags. Your kids can then add the contents of a single bag to the blender, add the juice and blend… all on their own!

Science and Snacks – let your kids do a little experimenting with food and fun this summer. Popsicles are a great place to start. Does fruit juice freeze as fast as a yogurt smoothie in a popsicle mold? How does lemonade taste as a popsicle vs orange juice? What happens if you mix 5 kool-aid flavors together? Many fruits turn into fun frozen snacks all by themselves. Try putting grapes or bananas in the freezer for a refreshing healthy treat the kids will love! Frozen grape pops are a favorite of ours!

In our house we have a “snack drawer” where we put all our snack foods such as granola bars, snack mixes, etc. The kids (and their friends) know where this is and know the limits. If you show your kids how to do something, you might be surprised how much they will do themselves.

As a work at home mom, you make your own schedule, enjoy flexible free time, pursue your passion, and provide for your family. While it would be great if every day were perfect, some days you just don’t feel motivated to work. Other days, you face distractions or feel ill. You might even over commit yourself and face missed deadlines.

If you’ve ever received a reprimand from a client or lost a client because of a mistake, it’s easy to blame that person or blame your family instead of taking responsibility. Instead, it’s time to stand up, take responsibility, and stop making excuses. Or as I tell my kids, when you mess up fess up.

Oh Crap, I Just Missed My Meeting!

You’ve overslept or allowed yourself to become sidetracked by a phone call. Because of your mistake, you miss a meeting or allow a deadline to pass without submitting the project. As soon as you realize your mistake, apologize. Set up another appointment, and mark it in your planner in bold letters or highlight the date. Consider using a different calendar or notification system, or set alarms in your phone that remind you of appointments.

While everyone can usually forgive one missed deadline, you jeopardize your reputation, income, and future when you habitually miss important meetings. Maybe you need to accept less work or prioritize your schedule better. Do everything in your power to prevent missed deadlines and meetings by organizing your schedule and consulting your appointment calendar daily.

Wham, Bam, Thank You Mam

Your goal is to produce the best product you can muster, and you are hired based on your skills and abilities. When you decide to submit a project that’s not your greatest work, you cheat your customer who paid for top quality work and you cheat yourself out of future income and a good referral. You can’t afford to lose customers or give a sub-par performance for any reason.

For those times when you do submit a project that doesn’t meet quality standards, apologize to the client and offer compensation or ask to resubmit. Offering a free product or a discount on the next service might keep them coming back to you. If nothing else, you’ve made an effort to admit your mistake and make it right. This wise choice will help you admit future mistakes and builds your resolve to do your best every time.

My Dog Ate My Homework

Whether you misplaced a client’s phone number or lost a vendor’s bill, admit your careless bookkeeping. Employ a better organizational system for filing important paperwork, and make at least a weekly appointment to file and organize your desk. You also need to learn how to store and retrieve phone numbers from your phone, and make sure it is charged every night before you need it the next day.

I’d Rather Be…

Face it, it is sometimes easier to surf the web than concentrate as you work by yourself behind your desk. If you’ve made a poor judgment and chose to play instead of work, admit your mistake. Decide how you will make a better choice in the future.

You might need to motivate yourself to meet deadlines and complete large projects by rewarding yourself more frequently. Consider taking a five-minute break every hour. Play your favorite online game, walk around the house, exercise or meditate. Every day, reward yourself for meeting the day’s goals. Anticipating a bubble bath, favorite beverage, or a phone call to a friend helps you stay on target and prevents you from choosing play instead of work.

When you make a mistake, it’s easy to lie about it or blame someone else. Telling the truth, however, shows your clients and your family that you are willing to take responsibility. You earn their trust as you apologize for your mistake and take measures to prevent yourself from making the same mistake in the future. As you commit to making no more excuses, you’ll be a more responsible and trustworthy woman of character whom clients will want to hire. You’ll also produce better work and be a wiser work at home mom.

A lot of affiliates consider “CPA Networks” to be a breeders of spam links, especially when they all claim to have “exclusive” offers and the “highest payouts”. I ethically cannot promote a “Free iPod” offer to my readers to earn a buck for their email address because we all know that no one is going to get a free iPod out of the deal, and my loyal visitors would lose trust in me.

So, here is a list of CPA networks that in fact offer legitimate offers. I personally belong to and get paid monthly by each of these networks:

1. EscalateNetwork – contests, coupons and free offers
2. Infostable – earn $1 per sweepstakes registration
3. Logicalmedia – various offers including printable coupons and surveys
4. MySavings – more coupons and legitimate free sample offers
5. RevResponse – pays $1.50 per free trade magazine subscription

What CPA Networks are your favorite to use?

Disclosure: This post contains affiliate links that may yield referral commissions at no cost to you. All opinions are 100% my own.

Most people I know have a “To Do” list of some kind. Whether you start each day or week with a set of tasks that you need to accomplish or just write down a few things that you do not want to forget to do, you probably have some kind of checklist or reminder system. The problem with being self-employed and having those types of lists is that the lists just keep getting longer, and that can sometimes be demoralizing. Or worse–you work all day long and never manage to cross a single thing off the list because you got distracted by so many other more pressing responsibilities. By evening you are exhausted and a little resentful of “the list.”

I’ve mentioned before my incredible Mastermind Group that includes Todd Farmer and Eric Nagel. At some point in the last couple of months we started making “Done” lists instead of just “To Do” lists. (I don’t even remember who gets the credit for it, it just started emerging and now we all do it regularly.) We simply keep a Notepad file open throughout the day and add to it everything that we do–personal or business. We even take it a step further and send it to each other so that we can make our group meetings more streamlined and also hold each other accountable. That part isn’t even necessary if you are not in a similar group.

So many great things come out of my “Done” lists. First, I’m able to see in any given day just how much I really got done, even if I didn’t get much checked off of my “To Do” list. I feel better about my accomplishments for the day, which makes me overall happier with my work. It also helps me to shut down in the evening when I have had a super productive day. Second, the list lets me see where I might be wasting time that would be more productive elsewhere. I don’t track what I did down to the minute, but I do add anything to the list that took me more than 10 minutes or so (including keeping track of how many emails are left in my inbox). Lastly, I’m able to look back at lists from week to week to see how my productivity runs. Eric and I both came to some interesting conclusions last week about when we tend to get the most work done and when we start slacking off.

What kind of lists do you use to keep you on track with your business? Do you view checklists as a challenge or an inhibitor? Try out a “Done” list for a week and see what you learn from it!