A Thanksgiving Prayer

--by Eddie Mallonen                              

 

For forests tall and oceans deep

For canyons wide and mountains steep
For sunset skies of pink and gold
For every sunrise we behold 

For Winter's snow and springtime's thaw
For Summer's warmth and Autumn's awe
For roofs that keep the rain away
For walls that hold it all at bay 

For work that puts food on the table
For health and rest to keep us able
For friends and family around us
For years to come, may they surround us 

For soldiers fighting for our peace
For days to come when wars may cease

For hope, so burdens won't enslave us
For thy forgiveness which will save us 

For feast, and those with whom we share it
For loving hands that did prepare it
For all that makes this life worth living
We take this time on this Thanksgiving 

To bow our heads and bend a knee
And pause to look around and see
For all that was, is, and shall be
We have none to thank, Oh Lord, but thee. 

Amen. 

On behalf of  GLG and Associates, LLP®, The POWER Group Organization Team®, and the "Our Small Biz World" Blog Family, I would like to wish everyone around the world a safe and prosperous Thanksgiving Day and a wonderful holiday season!

May you all continue to be blessed.

Warmest Regards,

G. L. Giddings

Chairman and CEO

GLG and Associates, LLP®

The POWER Group Organization Team®

To read more about our company and marketing team, please click here: http://anymeeting.com/thepgoteam

Tax-Advantages Of Owning A Home-Based Business

By G. L. Giddings, Chairman and CEO, GLG and Associates, LLP®

(The POWER Group Organization Team®)

I have been involved in the home-based business industry since 1979 and today make a GREAT living from home. Even though I work from the comfort of a laptop and not-so-sophisticated phone systems (2 mobile and 1 business land-line phone), I do go out on appointments with business owners, meet with potential clients, and attend many networking events. I operate a home-based business, not a home-bound business. I regularly have to itemize ALL of my business expenses, which can add up very quickly with utilities, supplies, marketing tools, travel expenses, among other things that can pop-up out of the blue and throw one for a loop!

If you ever wanted to work for yourself, starting a home business can be very challenging, but I wouldn't change it for anything in the world! I have total control of my time, no glass ceiling to worry about, no one telling me what to do, and the BEST part, I can make as much MONEY as I want, whenever I want, wherever I want! But here's the catch. If you don't take your business seriously, you'll be BROKE in no time!

Since the holiday season is here and tax time is right around the corner, I wanted to share a couple of tips any home-based business owner can do to take advantage of the many deductions available to them so you can keep the MAJORITY of that tax money in YOUR POCKET instead of giving it all to the IRS!:

 

·-- Employ your children in your home based business and pay them up to $4,400 a year per child tax free to them and tax free to you. After paying them, you can then have that child pay his/her own expenses (with the parent’s supervision) such as clothing, allowances, college funds, entertainment, school supplies, etc. There has been a court case ruling authorizing a child as young as 6 years old can work in the home-based business to qualify, but if the child can answer the phone and take messages, they are old enough to justify paying them up to $4,400 a year.

·--Deduct mileage @ $.325 per mile when driving anywhere to conduct business. In addition, mileage back and forth from your home based business to your place of employment could be deductible as a Schedule A deduction (mileage between two places of employment). Providing you conduct some kind of business before you leave your home based-business and when you get back to your home based-business. By doing this, you can now convert a lot of your non-deductible mileage into deductible mileage.

·--All telecommunications expenses (except for basic residential service) such as long distance, call waiting, call forwarding, 3-way calling, internet, pagers, cellular phones etc. can be deducted 100% if they are business-related.

·--Travel expenses could be deductible for the entire family by properly structuring & planning your travel itinerary around business activities.

·--Employ your spouse and supply them with a 100% Medical Reimbursement Plan as an employee benefit. This makes 100% of all your medical, dental & optical expenses such as premiums or partial-premiums, deductibles, co-pays, prescriptions, teeth maintenance and repair, braces, contacts, eyeglasses, cosmetic surgery, etc. (for your spouse that is employed and the entire family which includes you, the business owner).

·--Deduct the business use % of all expenses associated with your house and/or apartment such as mortgage or rent, utilities, improvements and/or repairs, insurance, real estate taxes, security systems, lawn care, etc. (This deduction is one of the smaller deductions and can only be deducted to the level of gross receipts for your business. The amount remaining would roll to the following year.)

·--Deduct 50% of all entertainment & meals when in the activity of conducting or discussing business.

These are just a few of the many tax deductions available to you in a Sole Proprietor home-based business. Of course, you need to visit a tax professional in your state to get the details on each of these deductions.

To read more information about this topic, watch this short YouTube video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7wRgCPDbG-w&feature=colike

 

Guide to Making the Most of Black Friday 2011

November 20, 2011

By Stacey Bumpus 

Black Friday kicks off the biggest shopping time of the year as people begin racking up Christmas gifts for family and friends. Of course, everyone knows Black Friday offers the opportunity to save money with amazing discounts on popular items, but with the growing popularity of online shopping, many retailers have started offering their deals prior to Black Friday, especially via their websites.
Let’s take a look at some ways to get a head start on the biggest deals of the year.

 

The History of Black Friday

Shoppers have viewed Thanksgiving as the traditional start to the holiday shopping season for over a century, as this has long been the time that retailers start advertising their best deals. However, the term “Black Friday” is actually derived from one of the largest financial scandals of the 19th century.

In Sept. 1869, a stock-market panic set off by plunging gold prices rocked the nation. Known as the Fisk/Gould scandal, a group headed by James Fisk and Jay Gould sought to make profits from cornering the gold market while the government was temporarily issuing large amounts of money that was backed by nothing but credit. They purchased large amounts of gold, reducing its availability and increasing prices.

To read the entire article, click here: http://www.gobankingrates.com/savings-account/black-friday-guide-2011/

Using Social Media and Email Marketing to Grow Your Business

By G. L. Giddings, Chairman and CEO, GLG and Associates, LLP®
(The POWER Group Organization Team®)

Social Media isn’t just for updating your friends and sharing your latest photos; it can help you grow your business! I use it daily to help GROW my marketing team across the U.S. and Canada.

Recently, Facebook approached its 700-millionth signup. You don’t even have to tweet to enjoy Twitter. Whether you tweet 100 times a day (please don’t) or never, you still have access to information about what interests you. Many people like myself simply use Twitter as a way to keep up with friends and acquaintances, share the latest information on your interests, and to keep potential prospects and clients updated on various events, promotions, and services.

According to a SocialWare survey, 79% of the largest Fortune 500 firms use Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, LinkedIn, MySpace, or corporate blogs to communicate with customers and others. And 69% of them report that their companies have gained measurable business benefits from social technologies, including more effective marketing, more innovative products and services, better access to knowledge, lower costs of doing business, and higher revenues.

To read the entire article, click here: http://www.venturestreet.com/thepgoteam/articles/ 

How free Wi-Fi can put you at risk

By Analisa Nazareno, CreditCards.com

Private data, including credit card numbers, can go public quickly from your corner coffee shop. Here's what you need to know to stay safe.

If you use a free Wi-Fi connection in an airport, cafe, hotel or some other public space, you may be taking a big risk with your credit card information and other important data. But the good news is there are steps you can take to secure your information.

About one in five people who surf the Internet have used free, public wireless Internet connections (or Wi-Fi), according to JiWire, a San Francisco company that directs advertising toward Wi-Fi users. In doing so, those Wi-Fi users were taking a chance -- whether they realized it or not -- that their computers wouldn't be hacked and their identities stolen by another person sharing the same connection. Experts say that's because anything you do while you're on a public connection is less secure than when you're logged in at your home or office.

To read the entire article, click here: http://money.msn.com/identity-theft/how-free-wi-fi-can-put-you-at-risk-credit-cards.aspx

Holiday fraud—How not to be scammed

Reprint from November 18, 2010

in Crime Prevention, Cybercrime, Fraud, identity theft, theft

Crime in America.Net

We passed around material from the US Department of Justice recently on the investigation of computer crimes. The documents are profoundly detailed and indicate that the justice system is taking the issue very seriously.

Throughout this site we have made an effort to warn consumers that computer based fraud is increasing. We’ve stated that 8 million households experience identity theft and noted a 31 percent increase in credit card theft, see http://crimeinamerica.net/2010/07/02/8-million-households-experience-identity-theft-31-percent-increase-in-credit-card-theft-prevention-resources-available/. We also posted methods and sources to protect you from computer crime. All of our previous cybercrime posts are at http://crimeinamerica.net/category/cybercrime/. We are deeply concerned that offenders are gravitating towards the internet in increasing numbers; it’s easy, there are endless targets and the risk of violence and apprehension is low.

Preventive information from the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is below as to what you can do to keep the scammers from scamming you during the holidays. We’re not suggesting we know more than the experts, but the bottom-line seem to be:

• Don’t give out personal or financial information on the internet;
• Deal directly with reputable websites and stores;
• What appears to be a huge bargain is a fraud.

To read the entire article, please click here: http://crimeinamerica.net/2010/11/18/holiday-fraud%E2%80%94how-not-to-be-scammed/

Medical Identity Theft

Credit to Insurance Fraud.org

Identity theft, the fastest-growing crime in America, has spawned a vicious new strain: medical identity theft. Thieves steal your personal information to line their own pockets with fraudulent claims against your own health policy.

Medical thieves can heist your health-insurance number, Social Security number and other personal information. Often the information is stolen by employees at medical facilities, and resold on the black market. Thieves also may hack into medical databases or break into medical facilities.

Medical ID theft can cost you thousands of dollars, constant stress, and even threaten your life and health. Unless you check your medical records closely, you may discover you were defrauded only after the damage has been done.

As many as 500,000 Americans have been victims of medical identify theft, says the World Privacy Forum. And this crime is spreading fast: The Federal Trade Commission received almost 19,500 reports of medical ID theft from January 1992 to April 2006. About one every four reports came in 2006 alone.

To read the entire article, click here - http://www.insurancefraud.org/medical_id_theft.htm

Joblessness Hits 9.5%, Deflating Recovery Hopes

By PETER S. GOODMAN
Credit to New York Times
Published: July 2, 2009

 
The American economy lost 467,000 more jobs in June, and the unemployment rate edged up to 9.5 percent in a sobering indication that the longest recession since the 1930s had yet to release its hold. “The numbers are indicative of a continued, very severe recession,” said Stuart G. Hoffman, chief economist at PNC Financial Services in Pittsburgh. “There’s nothing in here to show that the economy and the market are pulling out of the grip of recession.”


The Labor Department’s monthly snapshot of employment, released Thursday, challenged visions of a recovery already taking root. The numbers intensify pressure on the Obama administration to show returns on programs aimed at improving national fortunes — not least its $787 billion stimulus plan.

To read the entire article, click here - http://www.nytimes.com/2009/07/03/business/economy/03jobs.html

Bank of America Denies Breach

Detroit Cardholders Likely Affected by Third-Party

By Tracy Kitten

Bank of America branches in Greater Detroit were reportedly flooded this past weekend, after several BofA debit cardholders noticed fraudulent transactions on their accounts.

According to one local news report, the incident involves more than $100,000 in fraudulent debit transactions. Over the weekend, Detroit BofA branches were working to assess the geographic breadth of the incident, the news report states. How the cards may have been compromised, such as via a skimming attack, also was not known.

BofA spokeswoman Diane Wagner says BofA has not released any information about debit fraud, adding, "There was no breach at Bank of America."

BofA does not provide details about potential debit compromises, Wagner says. "If we think a customer's card has been compromised at a third-party location, we'll block and reissue the card, which is what we did in this case," she says.

To read the entire article, please click here - http://www.bankinfosecurity.com/articles.php?art_id=3479&rf=2011-03-29-eb

Protect Your Business From Identity Theft

By Barbara Weltman

Individuals aren’t the only targets of identity thieves. Businesses – small businesses in particular – can become victims of security breaches through their computers. According to the Internet Security Threat Report (ISTR) from Symantec for activities in the first half of 2005, phishing (a method of stealing confidential information such as passwords, credit card numbers and other financial information) grew by an average of 2.99 million messages a day to 5.70 million – a 40% increase over the second half of 2004.
 But you don’t have to remain exposed to identity thieves. You can take security measures to thwart their attempts to breach your systems.

Create a Security Plan

Take a long hard look at your business practices to see if you may be vulnerable to attack. Are customer information and your company financial data secure? To make certain of this, follow these steps (adapted from Symantec’s recommended security practices for small businesses at www.symantec.com/smallbiz)

To read the entire article, click here - http://www.smallbusinessadvocate.com/small-business-articles/protect-your-business-from-identity-theft-1529

2011 Top Ten Resolutions for Small Business Owners

How to juggle multiple projects and keep your cool.


By Janet Christy January 05, 2011


Social Marketing: Creating online content and conversations to engage customers


1) If a task or decision is nagging at you, take action. New for 2011 Most likely if something is stuck in your brain and thwarting your good mood or continuously hammering at the edge of your thoughts it needs to be dealt with. If there is some chore or project that you know you should handle, then handle it. If there is a decision that you have avoided but continue to think about, make the decision. If it is bothering you it is probably important and may be the missing piece in a larger puzzle. Taking action will not only put the nagging voices to rest, it will probably move you forward on some significant goal. You will also save mental, and possibly physical, energy because you are doubtless spending more time and effort evading than you would doing.


To read the entire article, click here - http://www.smallbusinessadvocate.com/small-business-articles/2011-top-ten-resolutions-for-small-business-owners-2443

Facebook in the Workplace: Privacy

7 Privacy Tips for Safer Social Networking

By Upasana Gupta

Every day I hear from employees accessing Facebook in their workplace about how a friend tagged them in a photo that caused an awkward position with their bosses, and how could they avoid it?

We all know that on any social media network, the audience is unlimited, and the content is permanent. An employee may post one photo or get tagged in another and quickly remove it, but someone could still archive the page or make a copy, and that could result in their career and job being in jeopardy.

For employees using Facebook at work, whether to connect with friends during their lunch break or to develop relations with potential clients, I suggest a few privacy tips based on my conversation with Amber Yoo, director of communications at the Privacy Rights Clearinghouse.

To read the entire article, click here - http://blogs.bankinfosecurity.com/posts.php?postID=858&rf=2011-01-24-eb

Phishing Attacks Pose Heightened Threat

'Spear-Phishing,' Risky Behavior and Poor Protections To Blame

By Tracy Kitten

What's on tap for fraud in 2011? Quite a bit, unfortunately. The list of schemes and trends hasn't shortened from 2010.

The good news: most banking/security leaders are more aware of the risk management and security items they need to check off their to-do lists.

One area where they will inevitably spend investment dollars and time relates to the fight against phishing. Like most fraud, phishing attacks are increasing in number and sophistication. Banks know these are a problem, but fighting back is becoming increasingly difficult.

According to our own research, phishing and vishing rank among the top three fraud threats banks and credit unions currently face. About half of the respondents to our Faces of Fraud Survey say phishing and vishing are major concerns. Interestingly, only 20 percent say they feel prepped to fight and prevent those attacks against their customers and brands.

Part of the concern stems from emerging channels, such as mobile, which are more often used to access online banking.

To read the entire article, click here - http://blogs.bankinfosecurity.com/posts.php?postID=855&rf=2011-01-18-eb

The Faces of Fraud: Fighting Back

See How Financial Institutions Respond to the Latest Threats

From skimming and POS attacks to ACH fraud and payment card hacks, 2010 was "The Year of Fraud," and the year's incidents have left banking institutions and their customers anxious for new solutions to prevent fraud in all its forms.

In response to the growing fraud threats – and to the demand for new solutions – Information Security Media Group just concluded its latest survey, "The Faces of Fraud: Fighting Back."

This is the Executive Summary of the survey results and what they suggest for fighting fraud in 2011.

One of the most telling responses of the survey is to this question:

When is a fraud incident involving your organization usually detected?

To read the entire article, click here - http://www.bankinfosecurity.com/surveys.php?surveyID=9

Card Skimming Trends for 2011

Mag Stripes, POS Are Top Vulnerabilities to Fraud

By Tracy Kitten

Payments card fraud is not expected to slow down anytime soon, especially from skimming attacks. Industry experts say card skimming at ATMs and points of sale is quickly reaching a tipping point in the United States, where lingering magnetic-stripe technology is making U.S. cardholders easy targets.

At the ATM, card skimming remains the No. 1 fraud threat. But as distinguished Gartner analyst Avivah Litan points out, skimming at point of sale devices is becoming increasingly troublesome. "POS fraud is rising, and it's likely because of skimming," Litan says.

Top Threats

Today's two most common skimming attacks occur at the POS, either by employees who use hand-held skimmers or fraudsters who swap legitimate POS devices for devices that have been manipulated to skim and transmit card data. That so-called swap attack is what led to the card compromise at Hancock Fabrics, reported earlier in 2010.

Pay-at-the-pump terminals and ATMs also rank high in the skimming chain because they are unattended. As Litan says, "They are usually a fraudsters' easiest target." Pay-at-the-pump has proven vulnerable because of easy accessibility. Default codes used to open gas pump enclosures have been exploited by criminals posing as technicians, for instance. Once inside, the criminal can install a skimming device and connect it directly to the terminal's key pad and card reader. It's undetectable from the outside, giving the device ample opportunity to collect card data in real-time, as the card is swiped and PIN entered.

To read the entire article, click here - http://www.bankinfosecurity.com/articles.php?art_id=3199&rf=2010-12-21-eb

More Americans Say They're Cybercrime Victims

11% of U.S. Households Report Computer-Related Crime in Past Year

By Eric Chabrow

Americans are nearly as likely to be victimized by an Internet-based crime as they are of other forms of nonviolent theft. At least that's the perceptions expressed by Americans when asked about crimes committed against themselves and their families.

Eleven percent of American adults report that they or a household member fell victim to a computer or Internet crime on their home computers in the past year, according to a Gallup Poll released Monday. By comparison, over the previous seven years, the percentage of Americans saying their were victimized by computer or Internet crimes ranged from between 6 percent and 8 percent.

Gallup says:

 "At 11 percent, computer/Internet-based crime is edging closer in reported frequency to the most common traditional forms of crime involving nonviolent theft of personal property and vandalism. Further, the increase is an exception in the overall crime picture, in that Americans' victimization reports have been fairly steady over the past several years. Not only has the overall percentage of Americans experiencing any type of crime been fairly flat, but Americans' reports of specific crimes have been flat as well."

to read the entire article, click here - http://blogs.bankinfosecurity.com/posts.php?postID=820&rf=2010-12-14-eb
 
 

Military Overuses PII Raises ID Theft Risk - MUST READ!!!

Report: Uninformed, Cavalier Culture Limits Efforts to Curb PII Use

By Eric Chabrow, Executive Editor, GovInfoSecurity.com

The military's use of Social Security numbers and other forms of personal identifiable information such as birth dates places service members at a higher risk of identity theft than the population at large, and efforts to limit their use are meeting resistance by an "uninformed, sometimes cavalier" military culture.

That's the thrust of a paper written by four senior Army officers and West Point faculty members, entitled The Military's Cultural Disregard for Personal Information, which appears on the website of Small Wars Journal.

"In an era when an individual's Social Security number and date of birth have become the keys to identity theft, the ubiquitous use of the Social Security number by the military services is reckless," the paper says. "The problem is compounded by an uninformed, sometimes cavalier, culture and attitude surrounding the protection of PII that is common in the military."

In an interview, one of the paper's authors addresses the ubiquitous of Social Security numbers in military life. "We use the Social Security number in every aspects, both mundane and sensitive," Lt. Col. Gregory Conti says. "We use the Social Security number as an identifier and as a password. Children 10 years old and up have a military ID card with their sponsor's Social Security number on it. It's in every facet of our lives. It's in our recycling bins. We shout it out in formation; we thumbtack it to bulletin boards. It's everywhere, so we're courting disaster in how we us it."

To read the entire article, click here - http://www.govinfosecurity.com/articles.php?art_id=3150&rf=2010-12-08-eg

Top 3 Payments Trends for 2011

Experts Eye Mobility via Social Networks, Partnerships, ACH

Tracy Kitten, Managing Editor

The payments landscape is poised for big changes in 2011. The top three trends expected to have the greatest impact: payments facilitated through social networks, partnerships between financial institutions and innovative non-financial vendors, and investments in new options for mobile transactions and Automated Clearing House .

From a mobile perspective, the expected adoption of the EMV chip & PIN standard, as well as heightened use of prepaid cards, will play significant roles, too.
The EMV discussion is not new. Some industry experts, including Randy Vanderhoof, executive director of the Smart Card Alliance, say mobile and EMV-like chip payments go hand in hand.

"By 2011, we can expect to see more NFC (near-field communications) enabled devices," Vanderhoof says. Once that happens, the connection between mobile and contactless chip payments will be bridged. With an estimated 75 million contactless chip cards already in use in the United Sates, Vanderhoof says it's time for the payments industry to have serious discussions about linking contactless and mobile.

From the prepaid angle, the link to mobile has already been established, and competition is closing in, says Cindy Merritt, assistant director of the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta's Retail Payments Risk Forum. "We're seeing a lot more activity on the part of telecoms, which are starting to provide services on a prepaid basis via the mobile channel," she says. "They are allowing consumers to make payments and have those payments appear on their phone bills."

To read the entire article, click here - http://www.bankinfosecurity.com/articles.php?art_id=3148&rf=2010-12-07-eb

WikiLeaks: Stronger Access Mgt. Needed

Was a Process Failure Preordained?

By Eric Chabrow

Not adequately implementing access management - deciding who should gain entry not only to an IT system but to specific data, as well - is a major process failure that led to the WikiLeaks leaks, the unauthorized access and downloading of 250,000 sensitive and classified diplomatic cables and other files.

Simply, if properly configured, an access-governance system might have prevented an Army private from extracting the diplomatic cables. The government alleges that Pfc. Bradley Manning, an Army intelligence analyst, illicitly downloaded the files through a Secret Internet Protocol Router and saved them to a disk, which he provided WikiLeaks. Though Manning had security clearance - his job was to route intelligence reports to his superiors - it's unclear why he would or should have authorization to access and download State Department reports.

To read the entire article, click here - http://blogs.govinfosecurity.com/posts.php?postID=806&rf=2010-12-02-eg



 

Four Home-Based Business Myths

By Lesley Spencer Pyle


Published December 01, 2010

WomenEntrepreneur.com

The home-based business industry is buzzing with new startups, products and services. If you are considering launching a home-based company, it's a good idea to have all the facts. There are a lot of misconceptions about what it takes to run a successful business from home.

Separate fact from fiction, and find out whether these oft-repeated notions are just myths.

Anyone can start a home-based business.

While anyone can launch a home-based business at virtually any time, not everyone will succeed. It's not as easy as you might think. So before you jump in head first, make sure you're in touch with reality. First of all, building a business from the ground up is a slow and sometimes tedious process. You will not become a millionaire overnight.
There is a lot of information to take in and a lot of junk to filter out. The truth is that running a home-based business is, in most cases, a trial by fire. Lots of people throw in the towel before they ever see any real money.

It doesn't cost anything to start a home-based business.

If you are offering a service, this might be true. Emily Suess, a freelance writer in Indianapolis, launched her business virtually overnight without any startup fees. "I already had a laptop and a high-speed internet connection," says Suess. "The only thing I needed was to find my first client."

To read the entire article, click here - http://www.foxsmallbusinesscenter.com/sbc/2010/12/01/home-based-business-myths/