What is a “personal services corporation” and what are its tax implications?

A personal service corp. is a, generally, a corporation that loans out the services of a doctor, a lawyer, an architect, a CPA. Those are professions, among a few others, that the regulations specifically mention. Personal service corps. are very different from regular corporations in that net income is taxed at the shareholders’, or owners’, highest rate. Currently, the highest federal rate is 35%. So the first dollar of income from your personal service corp. would be taxed at 35%, not at graduated rates as a regular corporation would.

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101 TIPS FOR AVOIDING PROCRASTINATION

101 TIPS FOR AVOIDING PROCRASTINATION! TABLE OF CONTENTS I. INTRODUCTION 3 II. SELF-EVALUATION 5 III. PROCRASTINATION AT HOME 12 IV PROCRASTINATION IN SCHOOL 17 V. PROCRASTINATION AT THE WORK PLACE 22 VI. PROCRASTINATION AND HUMAN RELATIONSHIPS 33 VII. SELF IMPROVEMENT – A GENERAL SENSE OF WELL BEING 39 VIII. BONUS TIPS 46 IX. CONCLUSION 54

I. Introduction

On the back of the jacket of Jack Canfield’s book, The Success Principles, this quotation caught our attention: “The principles always work if you work the principles”.

Perhaps this is too simplistic a statement or merely echoes another familiar marketing “come-on”, but it does translate into a variation of the work ethic. To us, this means doing instead of just thinking.

And doing is synonymous to action, execution, implementation, carrying out – all these convey the active mode as opposed to the passive mode of just thinking.

The human brain knows no limits when it comes to thinking out ways and strategies in dealing with all kinds of problems, but if these strategies and plans are NOT acted upon, they really hold no meaning – they’re like empty blueprints camouflaged in sparkling rhetoric. And rhetoric comes cheap these days.

We’ve made up our minds to be less ambitious about this work, and called the 101 recommendations and suggestions contained in this book as simply TIPS. Tips on how NOT to procrastinate.

Procrastination pervades every aspect of our lives. And we’ve mastered it to perfection having learned a subtle form of it when we were babies.

We delayed falling asleep because our mothers wouldn’t cradle us in her arms. We’ve procrastinated in performing our duties at home, in school, in the work place, and in our most fragile human relationships. We shudder to think what the final tally of lost hours will be because we procrastinated habitually.

Some of the tips we share here may be useful and some may be irrelevant. Others will come in handy not necessarily today, but at a later stage of our lives.

Procrastination is an expensive habit. We discovered that one of the ways that will not make us procrastinate is to figure out the dollar amount of something that was not done because of procrastination.

It all points to the generally accepted idea that time is money. This alone can serve as a strong motivator not to procrastinate again. Or at least to try not procrastinate!

Jack Canfield quoted Brian Tracy to drive home the message: “Life is like a combination lock; your job is to find the right numbers, in the right order, so you can have anything you want”.

We’d be lying if we told you that if you followed our 101 tips on how not to procrastinate, you can have anything you want. It doesn’t work that way.

These tips are ideas that have come from our heads and from other people’s heads. And it’s up to you to apply them in every segment of your daily routine. Avoiding procrastination is more effective when we start with little steps. It does not mean having to change our lives drastically.

But as one writer said, not procrastinating will make us appreciate the life we have now. And as we build on the small steps, we’d be amazed at how much we can accomplish over the years.

In deciding not to procrastinate, you may want to accompany this determination with clear cut and well defined goals.

In other words, have a goal that is quantified, and not just qualified.

For example, saying “I will lose weight” is NOT as powerful as “I will lose 35 pounds in 1-1/2 years.” These are concrete data you can work with. “I will lose weight” sounds noble enough, but let’s count the ways, shall we?

II. Self-Evaluation > 101 TIPS FOR AVOIDING PROCRASTINATION

Google Adsense: Adsense allows you to earn money even if you don’t have tons of traffic. I know of someone who earns $500 per day based on 500,000 ad impressions per day, while I can earn the same amount for only 15,000 ad impressions. If I can get his number of ad impressions, I’d really really be happy.

Aside from increasing your traffic, I suggest you experiment with various factors:

1. Responsiveness of audience to the ads = A limousine service website that provides information on limousine service and rates will attract visitors looking for ways to arrange their transportation needs on their business trips or vacation. Your site provides the info, and the ads will provide your competitors’ services, hotels, travel agencies, tourist destinations, car rentals or ads that are likely to get the attention of the users of your site. This is a site that will most likely do well with Adsense. However, if you are a gaming website where the main purpose of the user is to play games on your site, then Adsense will not perform as well.

2. Ad format = some types of ads do better than others depending on your content and layout. In our case, large rectangles in the middle of the content is the best, while leaderboards do not generate as much as income. Skys are the worst for us. Experiment and measure the results via channels and see which formats work best for you.

3. Ad placement - check Google’s heat map as they have tested where the best placements are.

4. Ad colors - sometimes ads blended into the content works wonders, but sometimes ads that contrast your site colors work best

5. Number of ad units on a page = we are allowed maximum of 3 ads + 1 ad links + 1 search box on a page. Maximize the allowed number based on the resulting look of your page (you don’t want an overkill of ads). Users going to your page and reading your content may ignore the banner or rectangle at the top of the page, but may click on the ad at the bottom of the article

6. Smartpricing - the big unknown in Adsense. No one knows how this actually works. But it can affect the pricing of the ads on your site. If the advertiser paid for $0.50/click - but your site is smartpriced - then the cost may be discounted lower (e.g. $0.25). So you may try to develop a site based on high paying keywords but if smartpricing gets to you, then you may not get as much per click as what you are expecting from your keywords.

What is a “Limited Liability Corporation” and what are its tax implications?

An LLC is almost a hybrid between a partnership and a corporation. The partnership part comes from the fact that income is passed through to the members of the LLC, much like an S-Corporation and a partnership. The corporation part relates to liability. LLC members often enjoy similar liability protection to corporate shareholders. In certain states, like California where I practice, state jurisdictions assess fees based on gross receipts. Here in California, the fees can be as high as $11,000 a year. And again, it is based on gross receipts, not net income. So you should be sure to check the rules in the state in which you form your LLC or in the state in which you operate. If you happen to have an LLC that was formed in Delaware, for example, but you own rental property in California, the state of California may likely asses a fee against your gross rents. So you should be sure to check with the state jurisdiction that you either operate in or that you were formed in, because fees are often assessed against gross receipts, not net income. So you could owe money, even if you have a loss.

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Deciding Where to Place Your Google Ads on Your Web Pages so That They Will Be Most Profitable

This is one of the best parts of the whole Google Adsense experience. No one else gets to make this decision except you. It’s your page. You get to decide how many (up to 3 ads per page), what colors and shapes you will use and on what part of the page the ad will be placed. Should you place your ads at the top or bottom? In the middle of the text? To the left or right?

The most important decision should be based on the needs of the visitors to your site? What are they looking for? Are they there to read or merely to browse. If they are there to read an entire article, say, you might try placing your ads at the bottom of the page so they will have something to do next. Some publishers swear by placing the ads at the top left of the page because they think customers look there first.

The fun thing is experimenting with all the possibilities. Try different ad locations and different colors for a week and note the differences in your reports. When you hit on something successful, you’ll see the difference.

Google Adsense: Keeping Your Account From Being Disabled and Useful Books About the Program

How Can I Make Sure That My Account Will Not Be Disabled?

Google Adsense Program Policies make no allowances for deceptive practices. The most important thing a publisher can do to ensure the integrity of their site is to be aware of what is happening on your site.

Google has made it abundantly clear not to click on your own ads or ask others to do so. But what about practices a publisher may not purposely carry out?

Make sure that ads associated with Google never appear in an unrequested pop-up. Don’t be talked into purchasing traffic for your site that may contain adware.

Respect the Google trademarks. Don’t use any Google trademarks or logos without their consent.

Don’t change the Adsense code. If you’re a pro at html, don’t assume you can add your own code. If you’re new to html, simply copy and paste the offered code. Don’t mess with it.

Provide a good environment for advertisers and a positive user experience. Don’t try to be deceptive in any way. Google’s rules may sound strict, but believe me, protecting the integrity of the Google Adsense Program is in your best interest as well as Google’s. After all, a positive, honest Google Adsense program means more money for all of us.

Useful Books About the Google Adsense Program For Users of All Stages

Do you need to buy a book to use Google Adsense? Not necessarily. Google’s support page has a wealth of information. But you might consider it if you want to read a personal account of an Adsense wizard such as Eric Giguere or say, if you want to learn more about HTML. ‘Who Let the Blogs Out: A Hyperconnected Peek at the World of Weblogs by Biz Stone has a lot of information on blogging as well as information about Google Adsense. The following is just a few books you can find at amazon.com on the subject:

Make Easy Money with Google: Using the Adsense Advertising Program By Eric Giguere

The Google Adsense Handbook By Angus McLeod

Google Advertising Tools: Cashing in with Adsense, Adwords, and the Google APIs by Harold Davis

Top-Paying Google Adsense and Adwords Keywords for Pharmaceuticals (In Digital Format) By W. Frederick Zimmerman

The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Growing Your Business with Google By Dave Taylor

What is a “corporation”?

A corporation is a separate legal entity that files its own tax return. You report your income and expenses on the corporate return. Some corporations pay their own taxes, and some don’t.

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Google Adsense: Dos for Using the Google Adsense Program

Google Adsense is a fun and easy way to make extra money. It’s important to follow the rules though as Google is serious about the integrity of this program. Not following the rules could result in your Google Adsense account being terminated. Here are a few Dos for using the program:

DO

Read the Terms and Conditions and Program Policies thoroughly.

Read everything you can about Google Adsense. Learn from others’ experiences and mistakes.

Learn how to optimize your site for the most enjoyable and profitable Google Adsense experience. Realize it does take some time and hard work. That’s why it’s so important that you write about something you care about. Hard work is even harder if you don’t like what you’re doing.

Visit other sites that are benefiting from Google Adsense. Click on the ads only if you are truly interested in the product or service being advertised. Read other people’s blogs and comment on them. Only offer a comment though if it is truly sincere.

Google Adsense: Don’ts for Using the Google Adsense Program

DON’T

Never, ever, ever click on your own ads. Google Adsense makes it very clear this won’t be tolerated.

Don’t ask your friends and family to click on your ads. Rather, earn money by referring them to the Google Adsense program.

Don’t participate in the Google Adsense program strictly for the money. This is not a get-rich-quick scheme. It will take time and hard work to make a profit.

Don’t worry if you don’t understand everything the first day. Although the Google Adsense program is extremely user-friendly, it may take a little time to integrate all the facets of the program. Be patient and above all, have fun!

Hopefully, these helpful tips will ease you into using the program and help you avoid mistakes that could possibly cost you a lot of time or money.

What is a “C” corporation and what are its tax implications?

A “C” corporation is a separate legal entity. A C Corporation is also a tax paying entity. The C corporation pays tax on its net income. The C Corporation’s tax is assessed at graduated rates, in 2007, up to 35%. The states, generally, will assess taxes on “C” corporations as well. There are restrictions on the number of shareholders that an “S” corporation can have but there are no such restrictions on the number of shareholders a “C” corporation may have. When looking at publicly traded corporations, for example, they are always “C” corporations because of the number of shareholders. “S” corporations can work. Currently 75 or less shareholders are permitted for an “S” corporation.

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Many web site owners are getting their Google Adsense account terminated when they have done nothing wrong to deserve the punishment. Considering the money that they are getting from Adsense, they would certainly want to get back into it.

Considering the money to be made with Adsense, it is no wonder that they would want to get back into it.

It is that same consideration why the Google Adsense click fraud is thought of and why many people are getting into it.

Click fraud is the act of clicking on ads for the purpose of costing the advertiser money. It is simply the same as paying out cash for false leads. Many people website owners are aware of this fraud and are sharing the same sentiment that this is the one big problem that Adsense is facing.

How do you prevent being involved in this fraud?

Majority of web hosts are offering access logs. Once this is offered to you, it is necessary that you hand it over to Google as well. This allows them to look for any suspicious activity on your site. Problems like this are very serious and giving it to them is saying that you would want to help them in any way you can in solving the problem.

It can also help if you have a click monitoring software. If you do not have one yet, you should try and get one. There is absolutely no major factor preventing you from having one because most of this software is free.

As usual, all the information you have received should be turned over to Google. This is showing Google that you too are fighting against click frauds and is in no way a part of it.

Study your server logs and watch for any activity that seems suspicious. Report anything that you may find odd, may it big or small thing.

You may want to consider disabling ads for your own IP address and local geographic area. This will certainly prevent accidents and will not make Google mistake another user as you. You can do through a htaccess file. This will avoid Google mistaking as clicking on your own ads and be kicked out because of it.

Keep your Adsense off on pop ups and pop unders. Your ads should not be displayed on content sites that promote illegal activity or tampering of the legal rights of other people or business. Included in this are the content that is considered adult and gambling ones. If you think that you may be breaking this rule, immediately remove your content or Adsense from the web page.

Be truthful and confess up to Google about times when you might have clicked on your own as, whether accidentally or intentionally. Or the times when you have done something that is against the Terms of Service that they are implementing. Be honest about anything that you may have done that is wrong. Confessing is way better than Google learning about it eventually. It would mean eventual termination and no getting back what you have worked so hard for.

Do not tell your family or friends about Adsense on your website. Chances are they may start clicking on them to help you make money without you knowing it. They may be doing more harm to you than help by trying it in the first place.

If ever someone you know chanced upon your Adsense, make sure they understand that they cannot click on your ads under any circumstances. It would be wise to brief them on important things about Adsense and what not to do with them.

Most pay per click networks have different measures in hand to protect website owners against click frauds. Other search engines can track more than 50 data points, IP address, browser’s information, user’s session info and pattern recognition. They also have “systems” available that detects fraud. Not to mention the specialized teams monitoring how things are going and helping advertisers stop click frauds.

Google offers suggestion on how to avoid click fraud. Using “negative keywords” can be used to keep your Adsense showing on products and services that are in no way related to yours. Adding tracking URLs to your links so you can track the traffic coming from Google.

Do not be caught in the Google click fraud. Be aware and be wary.