I have had so many subscribers ask me to do a live blog training; and I am hearing your. I have teamed up with my good friend @marjwyatt and we are going to share with you everything we know about blogging!

Are you ready? Beginning Monday, August 3, 2009 at 10:00 PM EST we are going to give away all of our blogging secrets. I will be out visiting a friend during the second week; but I promise you the class will still be held.

So, if you’re ready to get trained head on over to Live Blog Training for the details. We’d love to have you in our training class.

Holly Powell--Straight Up

I received an email this morning from my good buddy, Ron Mueller over at Home Business Tax Savings. I’ve had the privilege of having Ron as a guest speaker for several calls over the last few years for my readers and he always has good advice. I received this email this morning from Ron and I know he will not mind my sharing with my readers; as we need to get the word out.

“Start of email…

Because of the urgency of this post I’m pasting his email exactly as I received it. Please tweet, retweet, share; whatever you have to do to get the news out.

Rarely do I send an “Urgent Alert,” so when I do it means something.
You should be worried if you…

(a) live in California AND/OR if you
(b) are an Independent Contractor AND/OR
(c) if you know that “Whatever happens in the ‘land of fruits ‘n nuts’ (that would be CA) gets copied everywhere else”…

YOU SHOULD BE WORRIED!!!
The California Assembly passed SB 17 on a majority vote which contains a provision for a 3% withholding tax on Independent Contractors.

If this bill becomes law, all of USA who contract with IC’s  will be required to withhold 3% of the monthly check of every IC and remit this amount to the state, just like a payroll withholding tax. Throughout history, across the country, Independent Contractors have been exempt from withholding taxes because many of their expenses are deductible. This legislation sets a dangerous precedent that other states, and even the Federal Government,
could follow.

If you share my concern — even if you are not a CA resident — please voice your opposition to this bill ASAP by contacting the CA Governor and CA Senate President Pro tem Darrell Steinberg and let them know how you feel.

A sample letter appears below for your convenience, but your communication will be most effective if you use your own words.

Contact info for the CA Governor and Senate President appears below.
Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger
State Capitol Building
Sacramento, CA 95814
Phone: 916-445-2841
Fax: 916-558-3160

The following is Senate President Pro tem Darrell Steinberg’s contact information:
Senate President Pro tem Darrell Steinberg
State Capitol, Room 205
Sacramento, CA 95814
SAMPLE LETTER:
Dear [ ]:

Unfortunately, once again, the California Legislature is considering an Independent Contractor withholding proposal, which would place a HUGE burden on my family business.

[Tell your personal story in your own words]
I have been an Independent Contractor for more than [Insert the number] years. Originally, I became an IC because [fill in reason].  Now my family depends on this extra income to cover our cost of living in California.
I am not opposed to paying my share of taxes, but it makes no sense to me to send the State my money, and then have the State send it back a year later to me when I file my tax returns.

I need every dollar I make to run my business. I have to pay my business expenses from the income I earn. While I, of course, support the need to pay taxes, withholding up-front on taxes I may never really owe, will cause severe, and unnecessary, cash flow problems for my small home-based business.

Making a living at my business is already difficult enough. If you burden us with more administration and paper work, it only serves to make the business more difficult and less attractive, and therefore it will be more difficult for me to make a profitable (taxable!) income.

In the end, the State will not end up with any more money, but less. How will the State benefit by forcing legitimate mom-and-pop businesses out of business in the name of “tax reform?”

Please do not support any budget resolution that contains Independent Contractor withholding. It would hurt my family and my business as well as tens of thousands of others in my occupation.

Sincerely,
Your Name

“End of email”

So folks help me get the word out…share this with your followers. I’ve made it easy for you with the ShareThis plugin. Oh, and please if you like the plug-in make a donation!

You know I could toot my own horn about the services I provide at NonStopSocialMedia but you would probably turn a deaf ear. That is why it’s so important to build relationships with other marketers.

You see when I talk about my services; you don’t know if it’s all about self-promotion; but when you hear from others it makes a difference. So here are some recent comments I’ve received from others:

Gavin Mountford created a blog about our services at NSSM. While you’re looking over his site; be sure to subscribe to his site. I’m telling you that this guy knows what he’s talking about and is a success in his own right.

Lori Thomas says, “So, glad I met Holly on Facebook when I was looking to update my website.  She was so helpful in answering my questions and I ask a lot.  Her marketing techniques are not only current but also relevant as she takes the time to really care about her client’s success.

I ended up getting so much more than expected with a new blog site and at the same time, I learned much more about social media marketing. Thanks again, Holly, for your time and efforts.” Lori T

Yes, we helped Lori with her site.

So listen if you’re holding back because you think you can’t afford to have a self-hosted blog you haven’t seen what I have to offer. My blog packages start at $47.00. So head on over to NonStopSocialMedia and see what’s happening!

Just a quick update. I just got back from having a nice quiet evening out with my hubby. We started at Bella Cucina. Jesse had Orange Glaze chicken wings and I had lemon pepper wings. Yes, they were good. My husband is a Chef there and we have not eaten there together since he started working there.

Then we went for a drink at a new Irish pub here in Southport, NC called Slainte’ (I think I spelled it right)

Anyway, it was a nice evening; but I wanted to update you on something I’m working on…with my friend @marjwyatt. I can tell you that it has to do with blogs (duh!) and using your blog to build your online brand. I am so looking forward to delivering this product to all of my online friends.

While I can’t give you too many details–as we don’t want to ruin the surprise–I will tell you that you are going to learn so much about the blog platform and why we love it so much.

And don’t even try to get the answer from my friend Marj. She’ll be as tight-lipped as I am. You’ll just have to wait.

When Armando asked my team to create the graphics for his “new” look I was honored. I consider Armando not only a good friend; but an incredible marketer.

He has a passion for helping people. Make sure you visit Armando’s new blog and tell him Holly sent ya.

This is my first Facebook video. I also wanted to clear up the issue about my hair. Yes, I said hair. So many of my friends have told me they love my new profile picture. Well, does Holly have long hair or short hair?

Watch the video you’ll find out.

And, I had to get something off my chest about well my title. Are you in the feeding frenzy of every guru’s launch? Do you implement the training that you’ve spent $1,000′s for?

Comment here on my blog and let me know the training that you have purchased. Let me know if it is clogging up your hard drive or if you have actually implemented your training. If so, with what results?

We all know that we have 1440 minutes in a  day right? How do you get paid for that? Yes, I asked how to you get paid

Time Is Valuable

What is your time worth? Is it worth $10 an hour? $50, $100, $1000?

Have you figured it out? If you haven’t figured it out you’re going to continue to work on menial tasks worth about $2 an hour and you’ll get nowhere fast. I know I have worn those shoes–I wore those shoes out til there were no soles left.

I did finally get smart. And now it’s time for me to help you. I know for a fact there are folks who are charging $1000 for 60 hours of outsourcing help. I say, “To hell with that!” How can the average person pay that? The saddest part of that is…the one’s who do shell out that kind of dough don’t really have it to spend. They just do it because someone told them they had to in order to be successful.

That is a big, fat lie! You can get outsourcing for a whole lot less and still receive as much value. I guess I like to watch out for the little guy. I’ve been where you’re at. So I ask you this:

What is your wish list? What do you do daily that you know you could outsource?

I talked about this in a previous post. What can you outsource?

You could hire someone to…

• Set up your social profiles
• Write a few blog posts
• Submit articles
• Create generic videos for marketing
• Add new friends on YouTube
• Blog commenting
• Link building

I could go on and on and on. The biggest issue is YOU! Most folks just can’t let go; and if you can’t do that…then you’ll continue to fill up those 1,440 minutes a day with $2 an hour tasks as opposed to those $1,000 an hour tasks.

With that said I am giving you the opportunity to test the outsourcing waters for a very small investment. You can hire my team today for NOT $1000,  NOT $500, NOT $100, NOT $50.

To hire my team who are already trained it will only cost you $27.50 for ten full hours of time! That’s right. 10 full hours of time to do that small project you’ve been meaning to finish but never have time to complete. But wait at this rate I simply can not continue this forever. So don’t delay.

How do you hire my team?

Visit NonStopSocialMedia and check out the outsourcing package. While you’re there be sure to get started as an affiliate so you can recommend these services to your friends and YES you’ll make money when they purchase outsourcing.

Holly Powell--Straight Up