CBS Sunday morning featured a story this morning about the very successful authors, economists and radio personalities Steven Levitt and Stephen Dubner authors of the book Freakonomics. They have sold more than 4 million books, and even have starred in a documentary about their first book Freakonomics.
From CBS Interactive:
So what is Freakonomics?
Basically, Levitt and Dubner have boatloads of fun upending the known world using economics, lumping together apples and oranges. They've compared sumo wrestlers and Chicago teachers. The common denominator? Some cheat.
They prove that, contrary to popular opinion, unconventional baby names don't doom their recipients.
"I think a freak, to me, is someone who's different, but usually freaks rejoice in their differentness," said Levitt.
"We're not really encouraged or trained or given the opportunity, really, to think for ourselves," said Dubner. "And I think that's what a freak is, is simply someone who's able and willing to think for yourself."
Want more business success? Think a little differently. Eight years ago I was forced to rebuild my business. The father and son partnership that had purchased my practice three years prior, had filed bankruptcy against me. To add insult to injury they then proceeded to sue me blaming me for their failure. They lost by the way. Suddenly, I was forced to go back to square one. Looking back after many years of tax preparation and not looking forward to creating a new practice from scratch, it appeared at the time to be a very uphill battle. Do I look for a job or do I start over? After much soul searching I made a very significant realization and obviously a decision to go back into business.
What was my light bulb moment? I am not in the tax preparation business. I am not in the payroll and sales tax business. I am really in the anxiety reduction business. The IRS is a very formidable foe. Deliberately so with much institutional power designed to get your serious attention. My goal was to provide my clients protection, trust, and most importantly I implemented a five star customer service plan that I continue to follow today.
Understanding this concept, thinking differently about what business I am really in, has helped my business grow. 2014 was our best year yet. Smoother in many ways. New clients asked us for help preparing their returns thanks to your referrals. We filed more extensions than we have in the past. Want more business success? Think a little differently.
Each year I like to write a newsletter about mistakes that our clients made on their taxes the previous year, hopefully helping you avoid the problems these clients painfully learned the wrong way. I am in the middle of writing the 2014 version. One mistake is the failure of some clients to simply not pay enough tax during the year. That is why we double check your withholding on your salary this month. That means there might be a change this month. If you have questions, please don’t hesitate to call me.
The demand for our services drops dramatically after April 15th. We are open from 9 to 3 Monday through Friday and at any time you call and make an appointment. Our office will be closed Monday, May 26, 2014 for Memorial Day.
Help us to a better job. We need your notices from the government now not later. If you get something in the mail from them send them our way. By the way we have a drop door built into our back door if you miss us and want to drop off your notice.
Can we link to your website? Along with our sister company Planet Travel we own six websites that generate more than 25,000 Central Illinois visitors each month. Want us to link to your site? Call us.
Simply put, if you have a business today, you need a website. Period. In the U.S. alone, the number of internet users (approximately 77 percent of the population) and e-commerce sales ($165.4 billion in 2010, according to the US Department of Commerce) continue to rise and are expected to increase with each passing year.
At the very least, every business should have a professional looking and well-designed website that enables users to easily find out about their business and how to avail themselves of their products and services. Later, additional ways to generate revenue on the website can be added; i.e., selling ad space, drop-shipping products, or recommending affiliate products.
Remember, if you don't have a website, you'll most likely be losing business to those that do. And make sure that website makes your business look good, not bad -- you want to increase revenues, not decrease them.
We can help you save money on your credit card processing. At no charge and for no obligation we will analyze your credit card processing fees. In some cases, including ourselves, we have discovered that you can save hundreds of dollars from what you are paying now. We live in a debit card world. If you have considered accepting credit/debit cards for you business the rates are now extremely competitive. And if you are currently accepting not credit cards you are not married to your current processor. Call our office for details.
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