This is a guest post by Lisa Robbin Young.  Lisa Robbin Young is a certified direct sales marketing coach, teaching direct sellers to grow their business like a real business instead of an expensive hobby. Sign up for her free weekly ezine at http://www.homepartysolution.com/

5 Tips to Save on Your Taxes

By Lisa Robbin Young

As a business owner, at least here in the United States, Ben Franklin reminds us that there is at least one certainty in life: taxes. As a direct seller, you may have opted to build a small “side gig” to earn a little extra operating funds for trips, to give your family a little “more” or just to fund your shoe shopping habit.

Ultimately, though, if you’re producing revenue, you’ve got a business, and Uncle Sam wants his due. Even if you’re not profiting from your direct sales business, there may be some taxable situations that will effect you.

Mind you, I’m not a tax professional, but my friend, Scott Lovingood is, and he shared some great tips on his call  for the Small Biz Super Summit this Spring. While the deadline for filing your taxes for 2010 may have passed, now is a great time to consider ways to get your finances in tip top shape this year.

1. Keep good records. Even if you put all your receipts in a shoe box, at the end of the year, you’re going to need to refer to them to prepare your taxes. The better records you keep, the easier it is to complete your taxes and defend yourself should an audit occur. One particular area that Direct Sales Pros tend to overlook is mileage. Keep a mileage log so that you can track all the miles you drive to and from your shows. It adds up over the course of a year, but if you don’t keep track, you can’t claim the deduction! At 50 cents a mile, every two miles you drive is a dollar back in your pocket come tax time!

2. Be aware of special deductions. Certain entities (like an LLC, for example) can alter your taxable benefits. Home based businesses have special deductions. Knowing this can save you thousands on your taxes.

3. Tax rules change all the time. One of the first tasks to outsource may very well be your bookkeeping. Tax pros spend all day every day staying on top of the tax code changes. They can take that responsibility off your plate so you can focus on making money.

4. Run your business as if the IRS were going to audit you at any time. Chances for an audit are small, if you fall within the “norms” the IRS uses to evaluate businesses. However, a business can be randomly selected for an audit at any time. If you’re running a real business, keeping business and personal expenses separate is just one way to help the IRS see your business as a going concern. Setting up a business account, having a business phone (that’s only used for business) are not only potential deductions, they help the IRS to see that you’re serious about growing a real business, not just having an expensive hobby. Hobby income must be reported, but hobby expenses are NOT deductible.

5. Close your books at least quarterly, if not monthly. By balancing your books each month, you have a better look at cash flow projections, income and expenses BEFORE the end of the year. If you have a major influx of income, you might even be required to pay quarterly taxes. If you are not balancing your books each month, you should at least balance them every quarter (most businesses do). You may avoid some of the tax penalties that can occur if you don’t pay those taxes on time.

Running a business from home means a lot of potential tax savings – trips to fun locations for your national conference could become deductible on your taxes at year end – but only if you’re running a business and keeping good records (other rules may also apply). It is up to you as the business owner to keep track of everything. Start now (if you haven’t already) to see success the next time your taxes are due. When in doubt, consult a tax professional to help you get the most out of the tax benefits a home business provides.

© 2010 Lisa Robbin Young.

If you have read any of my posts before you know how I feel about Time Management. Basically, I believe that since you cannot control time, it’s difficult to manage it, but you CAN manage how YOU use time.

Those persons who work outside of the home, or who did so in the past know how interruptions from co-workers, phone calls, an unplanned meeting and vists from co-workers who always seem to have less work to do than you can derail your schedule for what you hoped to accomplish that day. Working from home can present similar challenges: an unexpected call from your child’s school, phone calls – related or unrelated to work, or your neighbor who ‘knows you’re home’ and stopped by to chat.

How do you manage phone calls so they do not interrupt your flow of thought or work? This is especially challenging for those of us who are in Direct Sales or any kind of sales as we know that our clients expect to speak with us directly when they call. Recently I found that a number of my clients no longer leave messages, they just hang up and expect that I’ll see their number and return the call. Has this happened to you? How do you handle that?

To avoid the vicious cycle of phone tag, voice mail funnel or as one author describes it “voice mail hell” following are five tips:

1) On your outgoing voice mail, let people know when you will return calls. You could choose to mention that you are in your office and will return calls between ___ and ___ or you could just say that you are on the other line and will return calls between a stated time period. When you reach a voice mail leave a message with the best time for the person to return your call.

2) Schedule specific call times and work at sticking to it.

3) When you reach your caller, practice good telephone manners by asking if this is a convenient time for your caller to talk. It can be frustrating to start a conversation and outline what you’re calling about then to be told by the person you called that they are busy and be asked if they can call you back. You should also indicate to the person you’re calling that your time is limited, but you wanted their input or response on the reason for your call.

4) If you are annoyed it will be reflected very loudly in your voice. Before you pick up the phone, smile! The person who receives the call or the voice mail message will have a totally different feeling than if your voice radiates annoyance. Their response to you will also be more favorable.

5) Have you ever tried listening to a long, rambling voice mail? Make you voice mail as brief, but as concise as possible and don’t forget to include the best time you can be reached.

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Yvonne Jones is a home-based Entrepreneur and Direct Sales Consultant who works with small business owners and entrepreneurs to build and maintain relationships with their clients through regular communication.  To learn more about how this can be done easily and effectively, visit her website at http://cardsuccesscircle.com.

She also partners with women to develop a skin care program to meet their specific needs. To learn more, visit her blog at http://www.yvonneajones.com