Find flowers, fresh flowers, floral, and floral arrangement

Find flowers, fresh flowers, floral, and floral arrangement at Flowers Forever, where we have fresh flowers and floral arrangements for every occasion and special occasion. Flowers and fresh flowers for birthdays, flowers and fresh flowers for anniversary gifts, floral arrangements for wedding and wedding gifts, flowers for every special occasion can be found at Flowers Forever.

The wording is awkward, and there is obvious keyword stuffing without conveying much real information. A better example for this company would be;

Welcome to Flowers Forever, where you'll find fresh flowers and floral arrangements for every special occasion. Whether you need a birthday, wedding, or anniversary gift, or simply want to put a big smile on the face of someone special, our fresh floral arrangements make the perfect gift-for any occasion, or none at all. Let Flowers Forever handle your birthday, wedding and anniversary needs with guaranteed-to-please fresh flowers and exquisite, hand-configured floral arrangements. Flowers Forever: because every occasion is a special one.

This version uses plenty of keywords and conveys pertinent information about the company in a natural, flowing manner. It takes practice to work keywords skillfully into your web copy, but the results will be worth the effort.

It is also important to ensure that your page titles are optimized for search engines. You should title your pages not only with the name of your company, but with a few keywords that describe what the page contains in relation to your business. The title bar of a web page carries more search engine weight than the page content itself. Again, refrain from keyword-stuffing when you title your web pages, but be as informative as possible. For example, the title bar for the main page of Flowers Forever might read Flowers Forever: Fresh flowers and floral arrangements for your special occasion. This uses three of the target keywords, and furthermore is customer-centric and sounds both pleasing and professional.

Search engine submission. If search engines don't know your site exists, they will generally have a hard time finding it no matter how well your site is optimized. Search engines will allow you to submit your site manually, but this process takes time and must be repeated every one to three months. A better alternative is to use a submission service. There are several free web services that offer simultaneous submission to multiple search engines. The more search engines your site is listed on, the more visitors you will receive.

When sending your site to search engines or a submission service, have a list of keywords and a brief two- to four-sentence description of your web site ready. The title of your page will become the clickable link in your search engine listing, and the descriptive text will follow. The keywords you provide help search engines determine when to include your site in search results, so be sure to list as many as you can-as long as they are relevant to your web site. Using irrelevant keywords to increase rankings or traffic is another practice that will get your site banned from search engines.

Still another advantage to creating and maintaining a

Still another advantage to creating and maintaining a blog is customer interaction. A standard blog feature allows viewers to post comments and feedback on individual entries. You can set your blog to allow comments from anyone, even anonymous visitors (however, if your blog provides a word verification feature, you should turn it on to avoid spam comments...oh yes, spam is everywhere).

The blog format you choose will vary according to the type of business you run. If you run a consultation practice, make note of your clients' successes as they occur (be sure to get the client's permission before you write about them!). If you are selling a product, you can use a blog to keep consumers updated about company and industry developments. You can also transform a blog into an online resource center for information relating to your product or services. Find a few interesting links every day to related web sites and give visitors something new to look forward to every time they visit your site.

How do you get a blog? You can either maintain a separate blog from your web site, or use a web host that integrates blogging software with their packages. If you set up a separate blog, be sure to link to it from every page of your web site, and link back to your web site from your blog. Most blog hosting companies provide blog accounts free of charge. The most popular blog provider is Blogger.com (powered by search engine giant Google), followed closely by LiveJournal.com. Blog hosts generally provide customizable templates in a wide variety of styles, so you can find one that matches your web site.

Plastering Your Web Site: Internet Advertising Techniques

For any virtual corporation, visibility is the key. The more people are able to find your web site, the more visitors you will be able to convert to customers. As a business owner, you must create and manage an ongoing advertising campaign to attract web site traffic. A successful advertising campaign consists of several components that work together to get the word out about your company.

Keywords and optimization. Keywords are words or short phrases relating to your business that people are most likely to use in search engines when they're looking for a company like yours. Optimization is the strategic use of keywords in your web copy in order to make your site more visible to search engines. Take note of the word "strategic." Overuse of keywords not only makes your web copy come across as stilted and awkward, it can also get your site banned from search engines.

While writing your web copy, have a list of keywords and phrases handy to refer to, and use them as often as possible while keeping your copy sounding natural. For example, if your company is Flowers Forever, your keywords might include: flowers, fresh flowers, floral, arrangements, floral arrangements, occasion, special occasion, birthday, anniversary, wedding, gift, birthday gift, anniversary gift, wedding gift.

Here is an example of poorly written, keyword-driven web copy:

When writing your web copy, keep it professional

When writing your web copy, keep it professional yet conversational. Most newspaper and magazine articles are written using approximately a sixth-grade reading vocabulary level. You should aim for the same comprehension level-not because your visitors are morons, but because the faster they can understand what you're trying to say, the more pleased and likely to place an order they will be. Also, don't intentionally "dumb down" your web copy or include a lot of "sales talk." No one enjoys reading: "This amazing, incredible product will change your life forever in just one night!" They will likely be thinking, sure it will. Let your product or service speak for itself, or include testimonials from past customers on the quality of your offerings. Sales hype can rapidly undermine your professional image. Web copy should mirror the way you talk.

Keep your sentences and paragraphs short on your web site. Long blocks of text are not only difficult to read, they tend to cause a rapid loss in interest. Again, your visitors want to be able to find what they're looking for fast. Bullets and numbered lists are good ways to break up chunks of information into digestible formats. If you have information that must be conveyed in a longer format, consider offering it as a PDF download or on a separate page-never place meandering blocks of text on your home page.

One way to make visitors feel connected to your company is by using the word "you" in your web copy. For example, instead of writing: "Flowers Forever provides its customers with memorable, high quality floral arrangements for any occasion," have it read: "Flowers Forever provides you with memorable, high quality floral arrangements for your special occasion." Talking directly to the customer gives each visitor an individual experience and makes them feel valued.

HELPFUL HINT: Are you hopeless at writing? Do your designs resemble disaster scenes? If you feel you cannot create professional-looking web pages and clear, effective web copy, don't be afraid to hire a freelancer to do it for you. Writing and graphic design are the two largest industries that use freelancers, and there are hundreds of thousands of people who make a living through contracted writing and design services. Your virtual corporation is worth the one-time cost of hiring a freelancer to do the job right the first time.

What the Heck is a Blog, And Why Should I Get One?

Blogs have enjoyed an explosion in popularity in the internet community. Short for web log, a blog is an online journal set in an archived format that allows for frequent updates. People use blogs for a variety of reasons, both business and personal. The popularity of blogs is so widespread that a new term has been coined to describe the massive collection of blogs existing online: the blogosphere.

There are a variety of good reasons to host a blog for your company. One is fresh content. By adding a new blog entry daily, or even weekly, you are constantly bringing new content to your site, which helps increase your search engine rankings. Another is to showcase your experience. You can create blog entries about projects you've done for clients, or share stories sent in by customers who have purchased your products. Furthermore, a blog provides another way to keep visitors interested by offering them information or entertainment-and keep them coming back for more.

Professionalism: The Total PackageThere are two components to

Professionalism: The Total Package

There are two components to consider in creating a professional and trustworthy atmosphere for your virtual corporation: the way your site looks, and the way it reads.

Design. The appearance of your web site is extremely important. Remember, you have only three to ten seconds to capture the attention of your visitors and get them to stay on your site long enough to make a purchase. Many people believe that flashier is better-that using Flash animation and lots of cool-looking graphics will grab visitors by their short attention spans. However, graphics-heavy pages and animation take a long time to load, and web browsers usually don't want to wait for the page to display. Many will simply click the Back button and choose another web site from the search engine results they just ran.

On the flip side, a plain web site that is nothing more than a page of text is not only unprofessional-it's boring. When you design your web site, you should try to strike a balance between words and images that will load quickly, yet provide enough visual attraction to hook visitors. The best web sites incorporate a theme that ties together all the pages of the site, such as a sidebar with links to various sections, or a top header with the company name, logo, and a short, intriguing line of text. Using templates is a simple way to create a theme for your web site. You can also study several web sites you enjoy visiting and notice how they are designed. Make note of what you like and what you don't care for about the site, and then use the elements you like to create your own site.

Another important consideration in the design of your web site is navigation. Visitors should be able to move easily from section to section and quickly find what they're looking for. Side bars or floating drop boxes are good ways to provide site navigation. At the very least, you should include links to your home page, ordering page and contact page on every web page.

Web copy. In addition to your spectacular design, a professional web site needs professional copy-the text that appears on your web pages. Poor grammar and spelling is a major turn-off for web consumers; it either indicates incompetence, or says the business owner doesn't care enough about the company to bother with correct spelling. Your web copy should be carefully crafted, informative, targeted to your business, and free of advertising hype.

Font styles, sizes and colors are important considerations when crafting web copy. With the exception of your company name, which can and should be stylized, it's generally a good practice to use a standard font such as Arial, Helvetica or Times New Roman. Make sure the font size is large enough to read on the screen, but not so large that your web site seems to be shouting at viewers. Generally, 12- or 14-point fonts are good for most of your text, while you can use 16- or 18-point size for section headings, subheads, links, and other text portions you may want to stand out. Also, make sure your text color is easy to read against the background color of your site, such as white text on a black background or black text on a white or light-colored background. Bright text colors can be used for emphasis, but should not be employed for blocks of text, as they will be difficult to read. If your visitors' eyes start to water while they're trying to read your web copy, they will look for another site.

"www.AnotherCompany.com/YourCompany"This is difficult to remember, and it's a

"www.AnotherCompany.com/YourCompany"

This is difficult to remember, and it's a big-time hint to savvy internet users that you're running a small-time company. Also, free web hosts don't provide you with your own e-mail addresses. An e-mail address of flowersforever@yahoo.com is another tip-off that you're the sole employee of your business. Fortunately, you can find a good web host for a low price. A basic package for web hosting will generally run you between $5 and $10 a month at www.DomainAbbey.com far less than the cost of your internet connection.

Other than the ability to have your own domain name, there are several things you should consider when selecting a web host.
* Free e-mail addresses: you@yourdomain.com. Paid web hosting services generally provide you with a certain number of e-mail addresses that match your domain name. You can configure them to be sent to an offline e-mail program such as Eudora or Outlook Express, or to any web-based e-mail account like @yahoo.com or @msn.com. You can also distribute free e-mail addresses to any employees or contractors you hire, and configure them to be sent to their primary e-mail address. As mentioned before, having multiple e-mail addresses helps you to create virtual "departments" that make your company look bigger and more competent.
* Storage space. Web pages you create are stored on a file server maintained by your web host company. You should ensure your web host provides you with sufficient storage space for your files. If you plan to have several dozen (or several hundred) pages with product pictures or other multiple images, you will need more storage space than if you run a consulting service or other business that relies on text-based information.
* Bandwidth. Though not as much of a problem as it once was, you should make sure your web host provides enough bandwidth to keep your web site running smoothly. What is bandwidth? Technically, it is the amount of information that can be sent over a network connection in a given period of time. In plain English, it is whether or not your web site traffic will exceed the limits of the web host's server. If you have limited bandwidth, at some points your site may become unavailable for viewing. Customers trying to visit your site will view either a generic Error 404 Page Not Found message, or a customized message from the web hosting company stating that your site has exceeded its bandwidth allowance for the day, and they should try again tomorrow. Most will not. If your site is graphics-heavy, you should look for a web host that offers a higher bandwidth allowance (sometimes referred to as "data transfer allowance").
* Design options. Unless you are already a graphic designer or a computer programmer, you probably don't know enough HTML coding to build a web site from scratch. Many web hosts offer customizable page templates or easy-to-use drag-and-drop design programs for site building. Templates are a great way to create a professional-looking web site with a minimal amount of fuss. If you plan to use an application like Microsoft FrontPage or Macromedia Dreamweaver to create your pages, you don't need this option. However, you will need an FTP (file transfer protocol) program to upload the pages to the hosting server.
* Term contracts and discounts. Some web hosts require that you sign a contract for a certain term of service with them, usually 12 or 24 months. Others offer service on a month-to-month basis. It is better to find a host without a contract; that way, if you are dissatisfied with the service you can switch web host providers (and keep your domain name) without having to pay a cancellation fee. Also, many web hosts offer discounts for long-term customers or those who pay for several months of service up front. A few offer bundled packages, such as a web site and a shopping cart system for one lower combined price.
* Customer service and technical support. Just as you plan to provide outstanding customer service for your clients, your web host company should provide outstanding customer service for you. Be sure the company lists a phone number on their main web site, and has 24/7 technical support available, either by phone or live web chat. Because your virtual corporation exists mainly in cyberspace, you will more than likely need technical support at some point-and you don't want to have to wait until "the next business day" to find out why your site is suddenly displaying Japanese characters or empty boxes with little red X's where your images used to be.
* Expandability. As your business expands, your web site should have the ability to grow with it. A good web host will offer the option to upgrade your hosting package to include more storage, bandwidth and features as you need it. If you find that your company has outgrown your current host's capacity, it can be a nightmare trying to switch your domain name to another providers and transfer all of your files to another server. You can eliminate this potential for disaster by ensuring the web host you choose is flexible and reliable.
* Add-ons and additional services. Would your customers be interested in knowing their local weather and news headlines when they visit your site? How about taking a fun poll and seeing instant results? Or the ability to listen to audio clips? Many web hosting companies offer a variety of fun, free add-ons to make your site a great place to visit. You can get free traffic counters, site-specific search boxes, interactive forms, and even mini-games that display right on your site. Some web hosts also offer additional services such as web tracking (so you can find out how many people visited your site and how they found it), shopping cart services (which automates your purchasing process for you without relying on a third-party payment system) and more.

You should give careful consideration to your domain

You should give careful consideration to your domain name before you register it with a web host. A domain name should be easy to remember, easy to spell, and use as few characters such as dashes and underscores as possible. If customers can remember your domain name and type it into their address bar without having to go through a search engine, they will be more likely to visit your site right away. Search engines produce multiple results, and if potential customers have to search for your site every time, they may find another web site they like better.

If you can use the name of your company as your domain name, that's great. However, if you've decided to name your company Google or Yahoo, you're probably out of luck as far as domain availability. When you're choosing a domain name, list several of your top choices and include breaking characters (yes, you should still avoid them as much as possible, but if your company's name is Flowers Forever and you have to choose between flowers-forever and something entirely irrelevant to your business, by all means use dashes!). You can then go to www.DomainAbbey.com or another domain search site to find out if your choice of domain names is available. If the .com name you want is taken, don't forget to check for availability in other web extensions like .biz, .net, .cc, .org and .info.

Once you've determined what your domain name will be, it's a good idea to check on other web sites with similar domain names before you register yours. For example, if you choose flowers-forever and then discover the web site www.flowersforever.com offers exactly the same products and services you plan to offer, you may want to consider something different. If there are existing web sites with only a character's difference between them offering the same thing, customers may end up at that other site and stay there. Try reversing the words if it still makes sense (forever-flowers), or coming up with a creative domain name that is not the name of your company but still reveals what your business does (FlowerArrangements or BestFreshFlowers).

You can register your domain name through any of a number of companies that provide domain name reservation. Most of these are free services. However, it will save you a step-and possibly some trouble-if you register directly through the web site host you plan to use like www.DomainAbbey.com

Selecting a Web Host: The Good, The Bad and The Ugly

With thousands of web hosting companies to choose from, you have plenty of opportunity to select the one that's right for your business. It is always a good idea to research web host companies before signing on with one, especially one that requires a certain term of service.

Though there are a large number of free web hosting services, there are many reasons to select a paid hosting company. In order to be a professional and successful virtual corporation, you need your own domain name. If you use a free service, your domain name will be something like

Regardless of where your employees live, you must

Regardless of where your employees live, you must provide all regular employees with a W-2 at the end of each tax year.

Contractor Tax Issues: The independent contractor is responsible for all of his or her own taxes. Therefore, most virtual corporations prefer to work with contractors, or as they are often called, freelancers. As a virtual business owner, your only tax responsibility for freelancers is to provide them with a Form 1099 at the end of the tax year, provided you paid them more than $600 in the year. You must keep track of any outsourced work you purchased so you can report it on your own tax forms.

NOTE: If you're not sure whether a person who has done work for you is an employee or a contractor, the IRS provides a set of 20 questions to help you make that determination. Basically, if you directly control the way the work is done (you are in direct supervision of the person working for you), you should treat them as an employee. If you simply assign a task and do not control how it is done, but rather receive a finished piece of work after a specified time period (such as web copy writing, site design, or outside bookkeeping services); the person handling the work is considered a contractor.

TOOLS OF THE TRADE

You have your home office. You've filed your business certificate. You have goals for your company, and you know exactly how you're going to meet them.

Now what?

When all of your planning and preparation is complete, it's time to start building the virtual foundation of your business: your web site. Whether you're just starting out, or already own a business and want to expand, the following techniques will help you make the most of your virtual corporation.

Your Web Site: Like a Building, Only...Not

Because your web site is the primary liaison between you and your customers in a virtual corporation, you must put as much time and work into it as you would constructing a brick-and-mortar store or office. Your web site is a showcase for your company, your products and your services. A poor web site will turn away customers faster than a poorly laid out store or office. Customers and clients arriving at a physical location are more reluctant to go elsewhere because they would have to get back into their cars and drive there. On the internet, finding another company to do business with is just a few clicks away.

Market research shows that web sites have between three and ten seconds to entice visitors to stay. Therefore, first impressions count, big-time. There are two stages to making a successful business web site: first, the design and content placement; next, attracting visitors. Each stage has several important steps. You can choose to invest either time or money, or a little bit of both, in creating a dynamic web site that will support your virtual corporation.

Naming Your Domain

Often your domain name will be the first thing people discover about your virtual corporation, whether through advertising, word-of-mouth, or search engine results. The domain name is whatever comes between the www and the .com in your web address: for example, in www.google.com the domain name is Google; and in www.big-money-from-mink-oil-extract.com the domain name is big-money-from-mink-oil-extract. A domain name is located in the address bar of a web browser, and may be different from the title of your web page, which is the text that appears at the top of your window in the left-hand corner of the uppermost bar-appropriately called the title bar.

The Golden Years: Retirement Planning for the VC

The Golden Years: Retirement Planning for the VC Owner

With a traditional employee business model, you are often provided with a retirement package-which may or may not be sufficient for you to actually retire in this lifetime. As a business owner working for yourself, you hold the retirement reins. By investing in a retirement fund, you can set your own standards of retirement living, and even determine at what age you want to retire-whether it's at 50 or 90 (hey, if you love your career, you're not going to want to stop working!). There are a number of retirement plan options for the virtual entrepreneur to choose from:
* SEP-IRA: The Simplified Employee Pension-Individual Retirement Account is a versatile retirement program that allows you to contribute up to 15 percent of your earnings to an interest-bearing account. One benefit of the SEP-IRA for virtual business owners is that you can adjust your contribution amount, so if you earn less in one year you can put less into the plan. Starting a SEP-IRA is a simple matter of filling out one form (Form 5305-SEP) and filing it with the IRS.
* Keogh Profit Sharing: The Keogh plan is similar to the SEP-IRA. It is a bit more complicated to set up, but allows you to contribute a higher percentage of your income: up to 25 percent. Keogh profit sharing is widely used among high-earning professions such as law firms and medical professions. However, if you can afford to put away 25 percent of your income, you can retire comfortably wealthy.
* Roth IRA: The Roth IRA is an excellent retirement plan. While most contributions to retirement funds are made before income tax is levied, you contribute to a Roth IRA post-tax. This means at retirement time, the entire amount in your Roth IRA, including interest, can be withdrawn tax-free. You can contribute up to $3,000 annually to a Roth IRA, and there is no age limit on the account-so if you choose a late retirement, you can continue to fund your Roth IRA.

If you want to retire "over the rainbow", you'll need to start work on your pot of gold today!

Micro-Management: Legal Handling of Your Scattered Employees

You may not have any employees at all. However, from time to time you may find it necessary to bring in some extra help. When you do, you have two choices: hire an employee, or enlist a contractor. Both of these methods have different tax concerns-and because they are far less complicated for contractual help, most virtual corporations choose to outsource the services they can't provide themselves.

Employee Tax Issues: Any business owner knows an employee is an investment. If you're running a virtual corporation, in the beginning stages it's almost always better to outsource extra work. However, as you grow you may want to consider hiring someone who will work with you on a long-term basis and know your company almost as well as you.

In regards to taxes, as an employer you must pay Social Security, Medicare and unemployment tax for any permanent employee. One concern related to the virtual office is the physical location of your employee. You may choose to hire a telecommuter-someone else who works from home. If your employee(s) live in another state, you must file a W-2 (standard income tax form for employees) with that state. This costs an additional fee, but usually no more than $10 annually.

Fortunately for the virtual corporation owner who works

Fortunately for the virtual corporation owner who works from home, there are a number of deductions you can claim throughout the business year to ease the tax burden. The most common of these are:
* Office space: If you operate your business from a home office, you can deduct a portion of your rent or mortgage payments, utility bills, insurance costs, property taxes, and even improvements to your property from your income tax. You will have to determine what percentage of your home is used "exclusively for business" (this is the percentage of physical space your home office takes up, which the IRS allows for as much as 25 percent). You can then deduct that percentage of your home bills from your tax returns and pay far less.
* Equipment and supplies: The IRS allows business deductions for all equipment and supplies related to your business use. This can include your computer, your desk and chair, any of the furnishings in your home office, office supplies such as printer cartridges and letterhead, your internet service provider, and even your vehicle-as long as you use it for business-related purposes, such as to drive to the office supply store and pick up printer cartridges. Major equipment like cars and computers can only be deducted once. Replenishable supplies should be kept track of and tallied up each year.
* Driving and travel expenses: Again, if you use your personal vehicle for company business, you can claim deductions on your income tax. Other than the one-time equipment deduction, you can claim a portion of your gas usage, insurance payments and repair bills. To figure out your travel deductions, you can either determine the amount of money you spent on gas actually used for business-related driving, or keep track of your business mileage and use the standard IRS per-mile deduction rate listed on the IRS web site.
* Retirement plans: Retirement plans are not only a great idea for the owner of a virtual corporation; they're tax deductible! Most funds put into a retirement plan are tax-deferred, meaning you do not pay taxes on it until you withdraw from the policy. Retirement plans will be discussed further in the following sections.

If your business loses money in the first few years-and many do before they become profitable-you can file a loss claim with the IRS and avoid paying income tax for the year; and you may even qualify for a refund.

Why You Need a (Virtual) Accountant

You may be tempted to handle all of these tax concerns and legal hoops on your own. However, if you and you alone are running your business, you may want to consider developing a relationship with a professional accountant-or at least investing in some professional-grade accounting software.

Why pay money for something you can handle yourself (albeit with an investment in understanding the rules on your part)? The answer is twofold. First: as a business owner, your time is money. The more time you have to spend on routine yet daunting form-filling and record-keeping, the less time you will be able to spend concentrating on making your company profitable. Therefore, it makes sense to pass on some of the workload, even if it's to an automated program. And second: having your records managed professionally can save you a ton of money down the road, especially if the IRS decides to audit you, and you can't find your tax records among all the client paperwork and various projects you might have lying around the home office. Keeping your tax information separate from the daily function of your business is your best protection against tax disaster. The cost of an outside accountant or good accounting software is minimal compared to the expense and disruption of a tax audit.

Online Sales Tax: To Charge or Not to

Online Sales Tax: To Charge or Not to Charge?

As a virtual corporation, sales tax is a sticky issue for you. Because the rules for online sales tax are still changing, it is difficult to determine whether you should charge a sales tax for your product or service. Some virtual corporations don't charge sales tax on anything, which is legal at the moment but is very susceptible to change. To be on the safe side, most online businesses charge sales tax only to customers and clients who reside in the state-or states-in which they do business.

You may be thinking that since you are a virtual corporation and your products are available worldwide via the internet, you are "doing business" in every state. However, according to the federal and state governments, you are only considered to do business in a state if your company has an office, warehouse, distribution facility or retail location in that state. If you work from home, you are only doing business in the state you live. Therefore, you would charge sales tax only to residents of your state.

There are a few exceptions to this rule as well. Certain states are forming partnerships to force virtual companies to collect sales tax from residents of the partner state. Currently there is such an arrangement between New York and Connecticut, as well as eight Midwestern states who have formed the Midwest Border Tax Compact to enforce sales tax collection in multiple states. So, if you are doing business in New York, you must charge a sales tax to both residents of New York and residents of Connecticut for your product or service; and vice versa.

Check with your state government and the IRS for specific rules regarding sales tax in your state. It is important to stay current with sales tax laws.

NOTE: Remember when it was mentioned that you must file sales tax reports, even if you haven't sold anything yet? State governments are suspicious of businesses who do not file quarterly sales tax forms. As a business, you are required to file this form every quarter, by the deadlines of March 20, June 20, September 20, and December 20. If you're just starting out and haven't set up for sales yet, you can fill in 0's on this short, easy-to-understand form and either mail it to your state tax office or file electronically from their web site.

Uncle Sam Wants You! Tax Tips for the One-Person Show

If you have never owned a business before, you may not be paying yearly income tax. Many taxpayers receive income tax refunds each year, especially if they have children (or, as the IRS so fondly deems them, "dependents."). However, most business owners must pay income taxes each year, because unlike a traditional employment scenario, taxes are not automatically deducted from your paycheck when you work for yourself.

Though income tax filing generally occurs once a year, some time between January and April, the federal government will allow you to make quarterly payments against your anticipated income tax. Isn't that generous of them? Actually, it is a good idea to set up quarterly payments for your business, because you avoid having to come up with a large chunk of cash at the end of tax season. If you can afford to pay ahead, you can estimate the profits your business should see during the tax year and overpay-and still enjoy a refund in April.

Regardless of these precautions, partnerships are the most

Regardless of these precautions, partnerships are the most difficult business entity to manage and often the first to dissolve. Never form a partnership-unless you really, really have to.

Corporations. A corporation is the most costly and complicated business entity. However, for your virtual corporation it is often the best choice. In a corporation, control of the business is in the hands of the primary stockholder. Individual business owners can form corporations, because if there is no business stock, they are automatically considered the primary stockholder, as they have the greatest stake in the business.

The prime disadvantage of a corporation is the expense in setting it up. You should always engage a lawyer to handle the incorporation of your business, and legal incorporation fees can run anywhere from $200 to upwards of $1000, depending on the level of complication involved in setting up the corporation. If you are just starting out, you may not be able to afford the incorporation fees, and should therefore begin as a sole proprietorship with intent to incorporate.

The advantages offered by the corporation business entity are numerous. One is liability in the event of loss. With a sole proprietorship, if your business goes under then you as the owner are personally liable for all remaining financial responsibilities of the company. This means your creditors will be able to seize your personal assets if you are unable to pay. However, a corporation is maintained as a separate entity from the business owner, and your personal assets such as your house and car cannot be seized to fulfill financial responsibilities for the business.

Lower taxes are another advantage to corporations. Though the percentage of tax against your income does rise when your business earns more profit, it does not go nearly as high as that of a sole proprietorship. You're not likely to pay more than 30 percent of your income in taxes with a corporation, and generally it won't be more than 20 or 25.

Special considerations for incorporation of a virtual company arise when considering the state of incorporation. A common practice among businesses is to incorporate in a state with notoriously lax income tax laws, such as Nevada. However, this practice is generally far more hassle to you as a business owner than any benefit you might receive. You should discuss out-of-state incorporation with your attorney before considering it for your business.

C or S: What's That Letter Mean? Unfortunately, they don't stand for Complicated and Simple. There are two different types of corporations: the C corporation and the S corporation. Actually, the C corporation is less complicated; basically, with a C corporation all taxes are the responsibility of the primary shareholder (in other words: you, the business owner). S corporations are also referred to as "pass-through" corporations, because some of the tax burden passes through to individual shareholders.

This description may seem as though the S corporation is the better choice. After all, who wouldn't want to pay less in taxes? However, there are many regulations and restrictions on S corporations that make this model inefficient for the virtual business owner, and can actually work against you. Generally, you will be better off incorporating as a C corporation. You should consult a tax attorney who specializes in small business tax law to determine which incorporation entity is right for your company.

Typecasting: What Will Your Business Be?For tax purposes,

Typecasting: What Will Your Business Be?

For tax purposes, the first thing you must decide when opening your virtual corporation is the type of business organization you will file under. There are three basic types of business entities in the United States: sole proprietorship, partnership, and corporation, which can be further divided into "C" and "S" corporations. The type you choose depends on the industry you're working in and the arrangement of your company's personnel (if any).

Sole Proprietorship. In a sole proprietorship, the owner and the business are interchangeable. You are the company. The owner of a sole proprietorship is completely responsible for all business functions and unquestionably controls every aspect of the company. In other words: it is a corporate dictatorship.

One of the advantages of a sole proprietorship is that it's the easiest and least costly to set up. The only requirement for this type of business is for you to declare, "I am a business, and this is my business name." However, it is helpful and favorably viewed by the government if you file a DBA (Doing Business As) certificate with your local county clerk's office-particularly if you plan to earn more than $600 a year with your company. Filing a DBA is a simple, inexpensive process. You will need the name you plan to operate your company under, an official photo identification such as a driver's license, and a fee of around $50 (fees vary from state to state; check with your local county clerk for specific fee rates). When you file your DBA, have a few variations of your business name ready in case the one you want is taken.

There are some disadvantages to sole proprietorships, particularly in the area of income taxes. The percentage of your income you will pay in taxes is roughly equal (somewhere around 20 percent) until your income passes a certain point-when the percentage for a sole proprietorship begins to rise, and can reach as much as 50 percent. For this reason, many businesses choose to start out as a sole proprietorship for the ease and low expense, and then make the move to a corporation a few years into operation.

Partnerships: A partnership is a company whose ownership is split evenly between two people. The best advice to those considering forming a partnership business entity is this: never form a partnership.

A partnership business entity lies somewhere between a sole proprietorship and a corporation in tax levels as well as the startup and filing costs associated with it. In a partnership, each partner acts as a sole proprietor, but neither partner can make decisions or take action without the consent of the other. If you must form a partnership, be sure to draw up an extensive legal agreement-with an attorney-to cover the following areas of concern:
* The type of business you are operating
* The amount of investment equity each partner will contribute, including cash, equipment, and supplies
* Division of profit or loss (usually 50/50)
* How long you intend the partnership to last
* How you will split the business assets in the event of dissolution
* How you will resolve disputes between partners
* Who is in charge of what (restrictions of authority)
* What will happen to the business in the event one partner dies or becomes incapacitated