Did you read the previous blog about the changes for online sellers? If you do any online selling (think paypal), then you need to know the changes being made about YOUR business. Read the blog here……http://www.bettersmarterricher.com/2011/10/big-changes-for-online-sellers-2/
So, what do all these changes mean to you and your business? You need to know what your cost of goods sold is.
Outright, a software company, recently asked me to share my expertise with their blog community on this subject. In this quick blog I explain why you really need to know the cost of goods sold as well as your monthly fixed costs ….. (think *profit*…I know I always do and think write off’s).
Great info…. Check it out here…. http://outright.com/blog/why-should-you-care-about-cost-of-goods-sold/
To check out the wonderful software that Outright has available for solo and creative entrepreneurs, you can find them at www.outright.com
Outright dramatically streamlines the work involved with running a small business, by helping entrepreneurs pay the right taxes, organize their income and expenses, and keep their businesses on track. We help small businesses thrive in our connected world.
Read more about what inspired them to create this software at:
 Outright software for solopreneurs http://outright.com/about/
Starting with Tax Year 2011, there are some big tax law changes coming for online sellers. All payment processors (think PayPal) will be required to send 1099k forms to online sellers who make more than $20,000 in sales AND sell more than 200 items. The forms will arrive in sellers’ mailboxes in mid-January 2012.
So, what does this mean in plain English?
 The IRS will now have an accurate record of your sales income. The IRS will know what you sold, but they have no way of knowing what it cost you to make or buy your products. As the seller, you need to keep proper records of your expenses, so that you can maximize deductions and pay taxes only on the profit that you’ve made.
Hopefully, you’ve been tracking your expenses all year and this is easy! But, if not, you should start now – as something is better than nothing. One way to go is to use a free online tool, like Outright, that does it for you by downloading your transactions into one place (disclosure: I work for Outright.com). Alternatively, you can start tracking your expenses in excel, so that you have the appropriate records. Either way, the better your tracking, the better your taxes will be at the end of the year!
About the Author:
Laura Messerschmitt is the Vice President of Marketing at Outright, a free online accounting software for small businesses. She loves helping the self-employed and small businesses to be more successful and grow their businesses.
(Now visit the Outright blog to read my guest blog that will help you understand what cost of goods sold is and why you should care about cost of goods sold. http://outright.com/blog/why-should-you-care-about-cost-of-goods-sold/ )
Most Creative Entrepreneurs suffer from Mission Creep so what is it?
Before my clients call or email me for consulting they are usually fully entrenched in mission creep. These creative clients see so many opportunities that they can hardly sit still and they bounce off into all directions. They do a little of this and a little of that, following every new idea that comes along, hoping this is the one! They eventually find themselves spread so thin in all their efforts, trying to keep all of their ideas a float that there is not time or money or energy for any of their endeavors. I believe mission creep also comes because creatives have a fear that the work they want is not attainable and more importantly a fear that there will never be enough money if you follow your dream.
Well, meaning loved ones also help with mission creep as they offer suggestions for work that is “like” what you’re real intention for work is but is not exactly what you really dreamed you would be doing. The problem is that you take a job “like” what you want to do then that leads to another “like” it but a little further away and another and another until finally you are so far away from your original mission that you are burned out.
Here is a page from the workbook, Better, Smarter, Richer. This client had a huge awakening when she sat down and finished this exercise. Do the exercise yourself and see if you suffer from Mission Creep. If you find yourself fully entrenched what can you do to avoid mission creep? (Hint: The next exercise in the workbook has all the answers to this question.)
 Do you suffer from Mission Creep?
 What is a Unique Value Proposition? A unique value proposition is often called an elevator speech but it goes deeper than that.
A UniqueValue Proposition should:
- Be unique.
- Clearly and passionately state what you do and how your work is different from others in your field.
- Confidently state the value you bring to others.
- Purposefully state how the listener can work with you.
- Possibly ask a question about a “problem” a customer would have so that they can see how your work will “solve” their problem.
If you have the book, Better, Smarter, Richer: Seven Business Principles for Solo and Creative Entrepreneurs, there are fabulous exercises on coming up with the perfect U.V.P. and if you are signed up for the Better, Smarter, Richer Mastermind then we will work on making yours even BETTER!
Share yours below….
Last week I answered some very tough questions on our Cash Flow call. The call was a huge success and we had many people on the call, we’ll do another one soon!
One of the biggest problems that solo and creative entrepreneurs have is they just don’t know where their money goes. They don’t track it and they don’t plan for it. Here are some steps to get you going in the right direction to start a positive Cash Flow Plan for yourself:
1- Start a money diary and track all your incoming money and your expenses for the next 2 weeks. Make detailed entries so you’ll know where your money is being spent. This is not about judging right or wrong on your spending habits. This is a tool to see where you can take control.
2- Put together a reasonable budget for a month. Personal and Business. List all your outgoing bills and estimate what they were for the last couple months and what you anticipate them to be for the next couple of months (remember to take in to account that warm months and cold months can make utilities fluctuate a bit.) Now calculate what your monthly incoming money has been for the last couple months and what you anticipate it to be the next couple of months (take in to consideration if your business has a seasonality to it.) Don’t forget to include a budget for entertainment and eating out. Setting a budget is a great tool to give you the courage to raise your prices to meet your budget needs.
3- Pay yourself first. Make sure you include yourself in your budget and make sure it’s not starving artists’ wages. If you have to start off small, that’s ok but include yourself in the monthly bills.
Repeat after me: “My money is the tool to give me the life that I want!”
Knowing exactly what money is coming in and what money is going out is a great start to treating your business like the success you want it to be.
We want to hear how you are doing with this. Click the buttons below and leave your comments.
“Now you know.
And knowing is half the battle.”
-GI Joe
 Where does all my money go?
- Over the years my clients have asked me the following questions:
· Why should I care about Cash Flow?
· I have my bank balance isn’t that enough?
· My problem is not having enough work-how will this help?
· My clients don’t pay on time, that’s MY cash flow problem?
· I look at my profit and loss quarterly, what’s different about cash flow?
· What’s a good way to keep track of all of this information?
· I never have enough cash, how can a cash flow plan help?
· I barter a lot, does that affect cash flow?
· I never have enough cash to plan- it’s totally hand to mouth; how can this help?
· I am so busy doing projects, how can I possibly make time to make a cash flow plan- and won’t it take away from my work?
· What do I need to know to make a cash flow plan?
· I just got a great big contract, isn’t that all I have to worry about that? I thought all I had to do was do the work and he make sure he pays me on time?
· Why doesn’t the bank balance in my head, match the bank balance on my statement at the end of the month?
If you related to ANY of these questions then you don’t want to miss the CASH FLOW call I will be doing on Sept. 13th at Noon PST.
This call is FREE and we want you to invite everyone you know that is passionate about making money doing what they love. This is a MUST hear call for all solo and creative entrepreneurs, put it on your calendar now and don’t miss it.
Call in number is 507-726-4240 passcode 101311#
Sept. 13th at Noon PST
The call will be 60 minutes. The last 15 minutes you can log into Facebook and ask questions on the Better, Smarter, Richer page and I’ll answer them. I do this because if you have the question, I guarantee there are more that have that exact question or need to hear that question and the answers will help everyone.
If you would like your questions to be anonymous you can email your questions ahead of time to Sheri Joi at bp@speakeasy.net and I’ll address them on the call.
Use the buttons below to share on Facebook and email your friends. Time to get Better, Smarter and Richer!
 Cash flow? What cash flow? Do you have a Cash Flow Plan?
I believe that a solopreneurs business operates on a continuous flow of energy. There are many types of energy including the creative process and the relationship you have around your work. For many solopreneur’s these are the comfortable aspects of their work but, there is another flow of energy that goes throughout your work that is often ignored or misunderstood. In fact only around 5% of my clients know how to deal with this energy and turn it into success. What might this be?
It’s Cash Flow! Cash flow describes the money that comes in and goes out of your business. It is not a static document, such as a financial report or profit/loss statement. Instead, it represents where you are currently and where you want to be well into the future. Considering that so few solopreneurs have a cash flow plan it’s my goal to teach you how to create one so that you can reach all of your financial goals and so that you can open your business cash flow energy and reach all of your financial goals.
Stay tuned for an exciting announcement about how you can immediately:
1) Learn exactly how to make a profit on every service or product you offer
2) Learn how to put together a positive and profitable cash flow plan
And you will never again say,
3) “Where does all my money go?”
Make sure you and your friends that are creative entrepreneurs and solopreneurs are on the newsletter list for the announcement.
If you need more customers and some incredible business tools, strategies and tips for making your business financially successful, then check this out TODAY. This is a short conversation about how you can be Better, Smarter and Richer. At the end of the call Sheri Joi asks me to give three MUST DO tips for all Creative Entrepreneurs, listen and make sure you are doing all three……..
Jackie talks about how you can be Better, Smarter and Richer (click the link to listen now)
I really wish I had known these business principles from the beginning of my advising. It would have made life SO much easier for me to advise creative entrepreneurs how to be more successful . But I have them now and I’m passing them on to you.
1- Creative Entrepreneurs and Solopreneurs are notorious for not charging enough. Can you raise your prices? YES!
I have become known lovingly to my clients as Jackie “Raise Your Prices” Peterson. I find that often my clients are charging far less than what they should be for their products and services. By developing a deeper niche and focus with them, we have successfully been able to raise their prices. The more of a specialist you are, the more you can charge. This is another time when a community of innovative thinkers can help brainstorm your expertise.
2- Both the Creative and the Solopreneur often give up or treat their business like a hobby. Do you have a business plan in place? Do you have a cashflow plan? You need one!
Creative entrepreneurs are famous for treating their business as a hobby. They think because they don’t have a corporate sign that their business doesn’t need to be ran like a serious business. They dabble in several different ventures. They never put the time and effort or money for that matter into the training, planning and focus required to build and maintain a successful business. These creative’s are also known for giving up before they really get going. When this happens the world misses out on something amazing. Usually they give up because they don’t know the essential business principles for a solopreneur and they lack the confidence to take the risk. Accountability for these principles is key to making money as a creative entrepreneur. The first step is to know these principles the next is to implement them and the most critical is be accountable to your dream.
3-Often solopreneurs don’t understand their target market. Do you know who your best client is? Do you know what you provide that your target market will pay more for? The most important thing to financially succeed as a solopreneur is to know who your clients are and how to market to them.
Your talent for your business is imperative but knowing how to sell to your target market is also a vital talent that must be developed. It is key to communicate with those customers in a way that makes them want to buy from you instead of selling to them. Solopreneurs also struggle with not listening to what their customers want. They tend to get stuck in their own ego and have the Field of Dreams mentality that if you build it they will come. In reality you need to get into the mind of your customer and really understand them so that you can understand why they will buy from you. Another downfall in marketing is the consistency. You have to remind your customers constantly that you are the solution to their problem.
Paying close attention to these 3 things can turn your hobby into a successful business. The best way to make these changes is to work with a business advisor and an even better idea is to create your own community of solopreneurs that focus on becoming better, smarter and richer. Having a group that believes in making money doing what they love can inspire new ideas on where to take your business, they can hold you accountable for actions you need to take and they may see holes in your business plan that you haven’t seen.
I have been successfully leading Better, Smarter, Richer Study Groups at PCC for the last year and I am ready to take these groups to the next level. If you are serious in taking your business to financial success and want to do that in the next 6 months sign up now for a Mastermind Group that will take your business to the next level: professionally, financially and globally. Space is limited and is only for those really dedicated to making money doing what they are passionate about. I know that you really can make a living doing what you love and together we can all be Better, Smarter, Richer.
Be sure to click the buttons below to share with other like minded solopreneurs and creative’s that will benefit from avoiding the mistakes above.
For over 35 years I have been advising Creative Entrepreneurs and Solopreneurs in how to make money doing what they love. There are some that succeed and there are some that do not.
I have found there is a common theme in those that do not succeed. Do you fall into any of these categories?
- You don’t have a clue what essential business principles are necessary to succeed as a solo or creative entrepreneur. YOU treat your business like a hobby.
- You have bought the book, Better, Smarter, Richer and have even read the book and you were inspired BUT you have not done the exercises. YOU are afraid to commit to success.
- You have no one to hold you accountable. YOU fail to make changes.
- You don’t have anyone to bounce your ideas against. You don’t have anyone to help you develop your unique value proposition or to review your budget and your pricing. It is hard to go it alone. YOU need outside help.
- It is easier to stay in the status quo. It is scary to make changes and to look at the assumptions that are holding you back. It is hard to get rid of that old programming that told you that you will never “make it” as an artist. YOU don’t know that you can succeed.
As you can see the common theme is YOU.
So is it time that YOU invested in yourself and your business and started making money doing what YOU love to do?
Better, Smarter, Richer is the answer for your success.
If you are dedicated to your success click here to learn more about my exclusive Better, Smarter, Richer, Mastermind Group.
It’s time you asked yourself some tough questions.
Is it time for you to get serious about success? Is it time you KNOW the essential business principles for creative entrepreneurs and solopreneurs (hint: they are not the same as traditional business)? Is it time you did the work in the book you bought? Is it time for accountability? Is it time for a team dedicated to everyone’s success? Is it time you found out that you truly can succeed doing what you love? Is it time for you to join this mastermind group?
If you need to know more….check out the 7 Reasons to Join This MasterMind.
Make sure you share this with your friends with the buttons below so that together we can all be Better, Smarter, Richer.
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Podcasts/Radio
Listen to Jackie on the Take Five Radio Show with Julie Fast on the topic: Creative Entrepreneurs and their Importance in Today's Economy.
Listen Now
Click on the arrow to listen. Right click to listen in a separate window.
Testimonials
"Jackie taught me how to see my time as part of my business. She helped me charge exactly what I'm worth when I work with clients and truly helped me get clear on how to make money doing what I love. I used to give away my talents and then felt resentful of my clients! Jackie said, "What are you thinking!" and helped me change. My belief in my work has always been strong, but I know I was not working to my full potential financially. It's truly amazing to feel good about the business side of my career!" - Janice Patrino
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