DON'T GIVE UP!!!

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Don't give up..... One day I decided to quit...I quit my job, my relationship, my spirituality. .. I wanted to quit my life.I went to the woods to have one last talk with God. "God", I asked, "Can you give me one good reason not to quit?"His answer surprised me..."Look around", He said. "Do you see the fern and the bamboo?" "Yes", I replied."When I planted the fern and the bamboo seeds, I took very good care of them. I gave them light. I gave them water. The fern quickly grew from the earth. Its brilliant green covered the floor.. Yet nothing came from the bamboo seed. But I did not quit on the bamboo.In the second year the Fern grew more vibrant and plentiful.And again, nothing came from the bamboo seed. But I did not quit on the bamboo. He said."In year three there was still nothing from the bamboo seed. But I would not quit.In year four, again, there was nothing from the bamboo seed. I wouldnot quit." He said."Then in the fifth year a tiny sprout emerged from the earth. Comparedto the fern it was seemingly small and insignificant. ..But just 6months later the bamboo rose to over 100 feet tall.It had spent the five years growing roots. Those roots made it strong and gave it what it needed to survive.I would not give any of my creations a challenge it could not handle."He asked me. "Did you know, my child, that all this time you have been struggling, you have actually been growing roots". "I would not quit on the bamboo. I will never quit on you.""Don't compare yourself to others." He said. "The bamboo had a different Purpose than the fern. Yet they both make the forest beautiful.""Your time will come", God said to me. "You will rise high""How high should I rise?" I asked."How high will the bamboo rise?" He asked in return."As high as it can?" I questioned."Yes." He said, "Give me glory by rising as high as you can."I left the forest and brought back this story. I hope these words can help you see that God will never give up on you.Never, Never, Never Give up.For the Christian Prayer is not an option but an opportunity.Don't tell the Lord how big the problem is,tell the problem how Great the Lord is!
Heavens door open this morning, God asked me... My CHILD...what can I do for you?" and I said "Daddy please protect and bless the one reading this message.God smiled and answered ... "request granted ............

Angela Julkes

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http://al.usfreeads.com/alabama/1187072-local.html

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Good Morning, Good Morning,

Check out this recent article that I ran across today. Make sure today is a great one!!!

jG

Biggest jobs — or sales — start by doing a little each day

2008-03-24 by Hal Becker

Print this Article

Salespeople need to set goals, and I have found when consulting with companies that most salespeople do not have specific goals. What really blows me away is that it is not part of the sales manager's duties or responsibilities.
The following are some ideas to help you in setting your goals and why they are necessary in the day-to-day life of a salesperson.
Keep in mind that every goal must meet four criteria:
1. It has a specific time frame (days, weeks or months).
2. It is measurable (so you know when you've achieved it).
3. It is realistic (so you don't get frustrated and give up).
4. It is challenging (so you have a sense of accomplishment).
You can apply these criteria to your personal goals as well. Maybe you want to buy a house or put money aside for your kid's education. Whatever your goal, it boils down to the same thing.
Let's say an average sale is $1,000 and that my goal is to make $10,000 more in the coming year. This is not my company's quota. It's the goal I set for myself.
To get this $10,000, I need 10 new clients. If I make 500 cold calls, I know that 25 of those prospects will be interested and that 10 will buy and become my new clients.
So I need to make 500 cold calls. Figuring on 200 workdays in a year, I would need to make 2.5 additional cold calls a day. This is how to determine what it will take to reach a sales goal.
It's just like working out in a gym or at home. You have to set your goals and then carry them out if you want to actually achieve them. How many people actually work out three or four times a week to get the great body they want? Very few!
Most people are weak. They take the course of least resistance. The only way to reach your goal is to break it down into bite-size pieces. You must do a little bit every day.
If you ever watched the movie with Bill Murray called "What about Bob?" you are familiar with "baby steps." This is essential for the professional salesperson.
All that this means is doing a little bit each day and trying not to overload yourself. That's how anything gets done, including the biggest jobs or sales. If you don't translate your quota into a daily plan, then what are you doing a few days before the end of the month?
After the 25th of the month, you find salespeople scrambling and making frantic calls to meet the company's quota.
Why do the top salespeople always exceed the company quota? Because they are working harder than everyone else and are working consistently to meet their goals.
To be outstanding, you should say to yourself:
Here's what I have to do every day -- not every year, not every quarter, not every month, but every day.
Keep your goals achievable, and make them something that you can do on a day-to-day basis. When you do this, you will find that you are becoming very consistent in your life and what you are basically doing is making this a routine.
Then what happens is you will find yourself making many more sales calls, instead of just the once-in-a-while new sales calls or visiting some of your past customers.
The truly outstanding salespeople work hard to accomplish their goals, and they stay focused on them. So, let's not just talk about it, let's find out whether you are really focused on your goals and your career.
Here is a quiz to see how you are doing in this area of goals and whether you are really accomplishing them.
Here goes:
Where are you with respect to your sales month-to-date -- exactly -- and at what percentage of quota? (Example: 243%.) Now, where are you year-to-date with respect to your quota?
If you can answer these two questions without looking at any paperwork, you are goal-orientated!

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Attention MLM, Network Marketers, Everybody, Etc....

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Looking for likeminded, progressive individuals to join me on a mission to break the "traditional" way we were taught to think. Go to my profile to get my email address, send me your information, and let's discuss exactly what I mean, and why I am willing to "Go Broke!!!" Immediately for a Lifetime of Satisfaction!!!

jG

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Happy Friday

jG$$$

http://www.comingtotravel.comI have always made it a point to celebrate the closing of a week. The excitement of enjoying family and friends is a great starting point for any weekend. Rich or poor, we must be part of a bigger picture to live the whole experience of life. I believe that person can change the world. So, Happy Friday, keep networking and following the plan towards prosperity and success in all we desire.

jG

Excellent Article on the Value of Tax-Planning

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Tax-Planning Expert Sandy Botkin

Hire your children, write off your golf game and other legal tax deductions that you might not know about

February 25, 2003By Laura Tiffany

So you think the government is out to rob you of all your hard-earned money? Every time you hear the word "tax," you recoil in fear? Cheer up! It's not that bad--especially if you're a business owner. Tax expert Sandy Botkin, author of Lower Your Taxes Big Time! and a former IRS attorney, says there is hope for all us saps who just hand over our paychecks to Uncle Sam. Read on for Botkin's tips on taking advantage of tons of business tax deductions--all within the letter of the law.

You say that home based business is one of the few legal tax shelters left. What does that mean?

Sandy Botkin: First of all, understand something: We have two tax systems in this country. [Many] times people think there's one for rich and one for poor. That is a huge myth. What the systems are is one for employees--people who don't know the rules, which are designed to take your wealth--and one for self-employed people, [the rules of] which are designed to create economic growth. The reason for that is, small business generates over 70 percent of the jobs in this country. So Congress passes good tax laws. And there are good tax laws--let me emphasize this--for small business. Let's say your business generates a loss. If that loss exceeds the income from that business, you can use that loss against any form of income you have: interest, dividends, rents, wages, pensions, anything. Say you make $50,000 in salary and you have a small business that creates a $10,000 loss. You only pay tax on $40,000. Let's say the loss exceeds your whole income. You can carry back all business losses in 2002 five years and actually get a refund from the last five years' federal and state income tax you paid. In 2003, by the way, that number is going down to two years. Or you can carry forward all business losses 20 years and offset the next 20 years of earning. So you never lose a properly documented business deduction.

What if your home based business is profitable? How can you still save on your taxes?

Botkin: By having a profitable home based business, you can set up a host of fringe benefits, many of which I include in my book. You can set up a self-insured medical reimbursement plan and write off all your deductibles, eyeglasses, co-insurance, pre-existing conditions. Usually that stuff has to exceed a certain threshold [7.5 percent of your adjusted gross income] to deduct anything. With a self-insured medical reimbursement plan, you get a deduction regardless. It's dollar for dollar.

What other deductions do people not typically know about?

Botkin: As an employee, you have to pay [taxes on everything]. As a self-employed person, you don't pay tax until all your deductions are over. So [if you're an employee making] $60,000 a year, you've got to pay Social Security on 15.3 percent of $60,000. You've got to pay income tax on $60,000, regardless of your employee business expenses. [But] if you're self-employed--let's say you have $40,000 of expenses on that $60,000, you only pay tax on $20,000. You pay tax on your net. See the difference? So what are some things you can do? If you have a child and you want to send them to college, that isn't deductible. And if you pay for their wedding, is that deductible? The answer is no. But if you were to hire your children in your business and pay them [the same] wage you'd pay an assistant, that's deductible. And if they use that money to pay for their own college or their own wedding or their own car, aren't you in essence getting a deduction for those things? And by the way, children under 18--if you hire them in a sole proprietorship business--are exempt from Social Security and federal unemployment taxes, and the first $4,700 they made in 2002 is exempt from income tax. Result? You get a deduction, and they get that money tax-free.

So to protect yourself, you need to do the same paperwork as you would a normal employee?

Botkin: Good point. You want to have things like time sheets or a tax diary showing what your kid did. So for example, you might say Matthew, my son, sorted files and made 3-by-5 cards for four hours on February 3. That shows what he did, when he did it and how long he worked. You also want to pay by check--none of this under-the-table nonsense, because [checks] establish a payment from you to your child to your child's bank account. You want to have the appropriate paperwork done. There are W-2s you have to file once a year and 940s and 941s for unemployment and Social Security. But I recommend using a payroll service, because people don't want to do all this paperwork. They will do all the payroll, all the forms, all the filings. You also want to have a contract for services showing you hired your kids and what you're paying them, a normal contract like any other employee.

Does all this apply when you hire your spouse as well?

Botkin: Yes, it's all the same. Now for hiring your spouse, you can set up a self-insured medical reimbursement plan. I can deduct all my medical expenses, dollar for dollar--not because I'm paying medical, but because I'm providing a medical reimbursement plan for my employee, who I happen to be married to. And the IRS has approved this, by the way. It's not some loophole I thought up.

What are some other techniques for taking deductions?

Botkin: A lot of people don't know that when you're in business, you can deduct your fun. IRS says in their regulations that you can deduct 50 percent of your fun and 50 percent of your [business associate's] fun if you talk business within the same 24-hour day as the fun. Say you invite a prospect over to go to a football game. You talk business over the phone and then pick them up two hours later. Is that talking business within the same 24-hour day? The answer is yes. Say we go to a restaurant and I talk to you in the car about our business or try to get referrals and then we go to a nice theater. Is that talking business within the same 24-hour day?

The answer is yes.

You also don't need receipts for entertainment if it's under $75 per expense. Now when you do entertain, the IRS requires certain documentation. So with entertainment, you have to write down what I call the four Ws and an H

Who: name and occupation
Where: We went to Greasy Lloyd's restaurant.
Why: Why did you take that person out?

And here's one of the biggest mistakes self-employed people make. You must be specific in the documentation. The word "prospect" isn't specific enough. "Good will" isn't specific enough. Specific would be "try to get a referral" or "talked with a reporter about my book." Don't be general.

What: What was the date, and was it for breakfast, lunch or dinner?

And finally, how much.

If you write down all five things, you'll never have to worry about an IRS audit again. If you leave out any one of the five, your deductions will be disallowed and the IRS will hit you with a 75 percent penalty, plus interest.

Why is it so important to make yourself aware of these things?

Botkin: What amazes me is, say you look at your credit card statement and there's a $200 charge you never saw before. Aren't you going to call the credit card company and find out what's going on? And you might spend an hour on the phone doing that. Yet taxes are the number-one expense in this country. They exceed what most people pay for food, clothing, lodging and transportation combined. [But] 99 [percent of people] give it a 10-minute thought. And the reason is, there's a huge myth in this country. "My accountant takes care of my taxes."

What are some audit red flags that people need to avoid?

Botkin: The number-one red flag is failing to report all your income. The IRS matches all those 1099s you get from your bank accounts, your stock brokerage companies, whatever. If there's a mismatch--suppose you made $30,000, but you only report $28,000--then you're calling attention to your tax return. The second thing you want to do is do not use cents in figuring out your tax return. Always round. Mathematical errors cause some of the biggest scrutiny of your tax return because things don't match up. If you use cents, you're just increasing your chance of making an error. If you do your own tax return, for the most part, you increase your chance of being selected for an audit. The IRS figures if you do your own return, you don't know what you're doing, unlike accountants who might do hundreds of returns. People tend to make more mathematical mistakes when they do their own returns than accountants make. Third major tip to reducing your chance of audit: Always, always send in your tax return with a return receipt. And if there's a check, send it registered mail or FedEx. There [have even been] cases where if you do send it FedEx [and it is lost], the IRS will waive penalties.

I'll give you another nice tip. Many times people call the IRS for information, especially during this time of year. The problem is, the IRS isn't bound to anything they tell you. However, there is one situation where you can call IRS and if you get a bad answer, they'll waive penalties. But you've got to get six things when you call them: The person's name, their badge number, the date of the call, the time of the call, the nature of the question and the answer. If you write down all six things and you get a bad answer that IRS relied on, they'll waive penalties.

Excited...........go to http://www.comingtotravel.com, and let's get started.

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Here is an interesting commentary by a mentor of mine

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Who Do You Feed???

Greetings Champions,

I address you as Champions. Yes, Champions. You do realize that You are a Champion. There is a coward inside of all of us however, there is a Champion, a Leader inside of all of us as well. The question is, who are you feeding?
Who do you see when you look in the mirror? Is it the coward or the Champion? The coward will reason or rationalize with you to accept defeat long before defeat is here. The coward will tell you to just give up and NOT try, that you never should have even thought that you could Win. The Champion inside of you tells you to go on. Push ahead, even when you clearly cannot see how you are going to achieve your goal. The Champion inside of you tells you that if anyone can do it, You Can. Do it, Go. Do it, Go. Go on and be Great.
Who do you feed, who do you give nourishment? Who do you want to see when you look in the mirror? I believe it was Maya Angelo who said, as we travel down the highway of life on our journey to WHO we choose to become, many people just pull over and park. Park on the shoulder of the highway of life, and don't even turn on the emergency lights: they don't want to cause attention to themselves. You see if the flashers were on then perhaps someone would stop and offer assistance. “Hey do you need some help? I believe there is a service station ahead, do you need a jump?" The flashers are not on because many people have pulled over on their way to fulfill their destiny, and don't even know it. They are just sitting there, afraid. Wanting no help . . . just sitting there. Parked.
Feed the Champion inside of you. What do Champions eat? They eat encouragement, the word of GOD; they read and listen to tapes instead of watching TV. Choose your destiny!! If you are Parked, get back on the highway and put it in gear. Do not let the Coward tell you to get started next week, next month, or next. . . Feed the Champion inside of you. The Abundant life awaits you and your family for generations to come.

The Harvest is Plenty. . . James Prewitt

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