Good morning! I'm not going to make excuses about why it's been so long since I've written a post here on my blog.

Note: the picture here is 3 of our grandbabies and their cousin–we had the pleasure of having them spend the night a few weeks ago…we are also expecting 2 more granddaughters and are so excited about that! So we'll have 5 granddaughters and 1 grandson (sorry my little buddy).

I've been busy working with my partners and my team (not MLM).

February of this year I had 6 Filipino's on my outsource team and only me, myself, and I in my home office. Since then my team has increased; 12 Filipino's, 3 full-time State-Side employees, 2 State-Side virtual assistants, and 1 State-Side part-time assistant.

When I quit my job in October 2009 with an "I Quit" email I had one client–yup–one!

What a leap of faith, huh? Some would call it down-right stupid–to quit a job of 17+ years with free benefits to work for at the time 1 client. But I did and I have NEVER looked back. When I sit outside in the morning and watch the cars driving by my home–with folks who are headed to their J.O.B. I am so thankful for the relationships I have developed that allow me to take 10 more steps and walk into my home-office and do what I LOVE–every day–I am more and more thankful.

I know some of you reading this are thinking how cool that Holly can work from home–but I have to tell you the truth. It's NOT a 4-hour work week, I do have clients who expect (and rightly so) that we do what we say–when we say it. I probably work more hours now than I did when I worked at the school system!!!

BUT–I can and do take naps when I want or need to. I can and do take 2 or sometimes 3-hour lunch breaks! I can and do leave the office to run errands! I can and do take time to just do nothing–and I don't have to send someone an email that I am "out to lunch" or gone shopping!

I don't have to fill out a form and get approval from 5 different people in order to get paid when I'm off.

With this "freedom" I have the responsibility to pay my team on-time, pay my vendors on-time, and get the reports for clients finished on-time.

I can't leave work at work–it's staring me in the face every day. And because all of my State-Side team are family members I consider myself responsible for their financial well-being!

Soooooo, before you go out and make the decision to QUIT your J.O.B.; remember, that even when you finally accomplish the life-long dream of working for YOU–you will still have responsibilities and dead-lines and have to be accountable to someone!

Me? I wouldn't trade it for the world–as a matter of fact, thinking that I would have to go back to a 9-5 and take breaks when I'm told, go to lunch when I'm told, work on days that I don't want to–makes me sick to my stomach!

So, I will continue to work hard for my partners and my clients and for my team!

Are you really ready to work for you?

“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!

Here is what most of you do. You start a program and you start sending emails from your gmail or hotmail account!!! OMG, STOP it already!

Get a blog started. All you need to build a list is a blog/website and an autoresponder. Some of you are worried about that cost…but I’m here to say that you’re losing more money by NOT having a marketing system.

You’re worried about the cost? BUT you can’t build a true list IF you aren’t using some type of marketing system. And do NOT even think about using the one from your company. ONLY newbies do that.

You need to start gathering leads. Here is what I suggest.

Create a web page where you gather leads. Give something away. It doesn’t have to be something big. It can be an e book. Some of you think you can’t create an e book but you can. Hell, if you ask us we’ll give you one you can give away to your opt-ins.

Then start sending out email to your list regularly. Every day, every three days, every week; it doesn’t matter as long as you’re consistent. IF you start your list by sending out a daily email they will come to expect it. If you start out irregularly you’ll get more people opt out.

Then get you a blog started. NOT a blogger account or a blogspot; not a freebie blog. You absolutely must have a self-hosted blog account.

After you get your marketing system and your blog started it is time to drive traffic. We’ll cover that in our next post.