Mobile advertising will be a $6.6 billion market by 2017. Smartphone sales are quickly outnumbering, the sales of desktop computers, and even laptops. Cell phones are used for many consumer focused activities, making the mobile platform a fantastic advertising opportunity for local and small businesses. Here are some of Corporate Tax Network’s best mobile advertising tips for small business!

Optimize Your Website For Mobile Advertising: Being mobile friendly and mobile optimized are two different things. Mobile friendly means being able to adapt to a mobile device and smaller screen. However, sites that are just mobile friendly can still be very frustrating to those trying to navigate around. Optimizing your website for mobile devices will allow your site to cater specifically to the cell phone user. Mobile optimization includes the utilization of specific techniques which allow for smooth navigation on the smaller screen.

Don’t Think In Clicks: This isn’t your normal AdWords scenario, things work slightly different with mobile advertising. Make sure you do your homework! A survey by Harris Interactive found that when nearly half of all mobile users click on an advertisement on their cell phone, it was an accident. If you are utilizing pay per click strategies, this could result in a lot of wasted money! You might want to research other techniques to advertise on the mobile platform, which may prove to be more beneficial.

Localize: Mobile advertising allows businesses to target people in their geographic location.  Google says that 40% of mobile searches are for local information. The same Google report stated that these people who are locally searching are the most highly inclined to act immediately, due to the fact that they are currently engaged in their surroundings.

Use Mobile Applications: Flurry Data reported that people are spending more than an hour and a half per day on mobile applications. That statistic is only growing, as it already outnumbers hours spent on the mobile web.

Provide Incentive: Offer a coupon or a deal! People are most likely to click on your advertisement if there is a blatant and obvious benefit for doing so.

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So you’re starting your own business? You have put countless hours of time and energy into securing your capital, have spent sleepless nights going over the details of your business plan, but haven’t yet decided on the perfect name?  A business name can be a severely underestimated and powerful tool when it comes to your company’s visibility and rise to success. Words can deliver pretty powerful messages; you want your message to be appropriate, enticing, and memorable. Here are some of  Corporate Tax Network’s best tips to consider when coming up with a name for your business!

Get Your Message Across: The name of your business is the first step in creating your company’s identity and brand image. Your name should give some sort of clue as to what service you provide or what product you sell. For example, it is obvious that “Buffalo Wild Wings” specializes in Buffalo wings. But you also need to be careful as to not be misleading. Meaning, if you are solely a sit-down restaurant, you might not want to put the words “market” or “grocery” in your name, even though they are related to your service.

Be Creative, But Don’t Go Overboard: Using a play on words or misspelling words on purpose are some creative techniques, but you need to be careful. You still want people to be able to spell your company name and to recognize it. For instance, if someone heard of the website “Flickr” and wanted to check it out, they might attempt to spell it as “Flicker” and get frustrated before they find they actually find the site.

Say It! Over And Over Again: Does it sound good when you recite the name out loud? Is it easy to say? Does it grab your attention? You want your name to stand out when it is recited in a commercial or when people are talking about it.

Do Not Be Deceptive: Often entrepreneurs try to include parts of already established businesses in their name. This is deceiving. People may believe that you are somehow related to that other company, and once they find out you are not, they will distrust your brand. In severe cases you can even find yourself getting into legal trouble with this strategy. Be cautious!

Do Your Research: Make sure that you can trademark the name you have chosen. Once you have decided on a name and have built a successful brand around it, the last thing you want is for someone to be able to benefit off of your hard work, or for you to be accused of doing so to another organization. Check out USPTO.gov to see if the name you decide on can be trademarked.

Test It Out Online: See what kind of search engine recognition your company would get with the name you desire. This will also allow you to see the companies you would be competing with for search ranking status. You can also use the “find keywords” tool in Google AdWords to find statistics on the searches being performed for similar phrases, or phrases that might lead to your company website.

Don’t forget, for more daily small business news and tips, be sure to follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Google+!

Jennifer has been with Corporate Tax Network for 2 years now, working as a Project Manager. Her favorite part of the job is “the atmosphere and my co-workers” she says. When Jennifer is not working, she enjoys activities such as fishing, darts, and golf. “I also love hanging out with Mini, my pet ferret, and jamming out to Taylor Swift!” she stated. When asked if there were any other interesting facts we should know about her, Jennifer said “I always keep at least one wig and mustache in my car, you never know when you’ll need one.”

If you are interested in speaking with Jennifer, or one of our other professionals, and to learn more about the products and/or services CTN can offer you and your small business, give us a call at 866-893-5730!

Don’t forget to meet more Corporate Tax Network Employee’s and stay tuned to our blog! Also, follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Google+ for daily small business and tax news!

Viral marketing is one of the newest online marketing crazes; we can’t say we are surprised, given the exposure viral content receives and the speed at which it spreads. But what is the best part about going viral you may ask? The web community does the work for you! If done correctly and efficiently, little to no effort is needed by your marketing team, once the content has taken off. Your viewers will simply share and spread your message for you! Here are CTN’s best tips at getting your content to go viral:

Don’t Be Afraid To Be Ridiculous: In the world of viral marketing, anything goes; as a matter of fact, the weirder the better in many cases! Some of the most successful viral campaigns have included ridiculous tactics and characters, such as, some of our favorites, the Burger King Subservient Chicken and Marcel the Shell. Something bizarre and out of the ordinary, yet something captivating, is an instant success formula for viral dominance.

Use An Attention Grabbing Title: Label your content something enticing, the first step to people sharing your content is getting them to view it in the first place.

Create An Infographic: Infographics have recently become extremely popular and tend to spread rather quickly on the internet. People tend to enjoy visually gathering information, as opposed to reading lengthy paragraphs of explanations.

Capitalize on Current Trends and Hot News: People will be excited to share content about things that have been trending or heavily circulating in the media. If you can cash in on this with your own original spin, it will attract an audience who will be ready and willing to share timely, interesting content. This will also give you a better chance of ranking higher in search engines. Many search engines, such as Google, take timeliness into strong consideration.

Partner Up With a Bigger Name: Endorsements from a brand or company with a more established audience and reputation then yourself can help you gain more exposure.

Get in People’s Heads: A memorable phrase, or a catchy jingle or song, will get inside people’s heads. When people have one of the above on their minds, they tend to repeat it, or sing it. This is a good way for word of your message to catch on and spread.

Post Everywhere! Post your content on every outlet you possibly can. Social media sites, blogs, comment on other blogs and social media pages as your company name, etc.

Liked our tips on going viral? Don’t forget to follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Google +!

How many of you have purchased a Groupon, LivingSocial, or some other sort of daily deal voucher? Did you notice that you did not pay any sales tax on your purchase?  Probably not, but don’t get too excited, this does not mean that you get to bypass the taxman. It does poses the questions, on what amount should taxes be paid and at what stage in the process? Should consumers who purchase and use daily deals be required to pay sales tax on the face value of the coupon or the dollar amount that was actually paid for it? Meaning, if a deal is purchased for $50, but is worth $100, which amount should the buyer be taxed on? And should this tax occur at the time of purchase, or redemption?

What seems to be a minor issue can actually have a significant impact on your wallet. According to Vertex, Inc., local sales tax rates are now averaging 9.6% nationwide. So if your purchase “$25 for $50 worth of food and drink,” you can see how being taxed this rate on $50, as opposed to $25, can be substantial.  Many states have already enacted decisions regarding the taxation of daily deals. New York told its residents in September, that they should collect sales tax on the full face value of items purchase by daily deal coupons, being that the coupons actually have a specified dollar amount. If they do not, for example a deal for a 30 minute massage, the consumer must pay sales tax on the amount they paid out of pocket. California however, decided to go the opposite route. They announced, in September as well, that sales tax will only be applied to the amount the consumer paid for the coupon.

The Streamlined Sales Tax Governing Board is an organization which consists of 24 states that state their mission is “to assist states as they administer a simpler and more uniform sales and use tax system,” are in the process of forming a uniform policy for the taxation of daily deals vouchers, which we may see put into use as early as the end of May 2012.

Another question posed is this; should sales tax be charged when the daily deal is purchased over the internet, or when it is redeemed. Luckily for the daily deal space, it seems to be the consensus that sales tax should be applied when the coupons are actually used at local merchants. This is similar to the way tax is applied to gift cards; the items are not taxed when they are sold, reason being that sales tax is normally applied to only tangible goods. Gift cards, as well as daily deal vouchers, are not considered tangible goods; they are considered items that are redeemable for tangible goods.

What do you guys think? How and when do you think sales tax should be paid on daily deal coupons? Give us your opinions via our Facebook, Twitter, and Google + pages! We love hearing from you!

Starting a business? One of the first steps you will take towards establishing a solid business plan and foundation will be legally incorporating your business entity. Determining which legal structure is right for you and your startup is crucial, and will play a significant and consistent role throughout the duration of your company’s lifetime, especially when it comes to how your business will be taxed. The three most popular forms for small businesses are C corporations, S corporations, and Limited Liability Companies, more commonly known as LLCs. Every entity type has their advantages as well as disadvantages. It is important that you are knowledgeable on how each type will affect your company structure, as well as your bottom line.  Give us a call today if you would like for one of our accountants to walk you through this process!

C Corporations: When a small business incorporates, it automatically becomes a C corporation, also known as a regular corporation. A C corporation is legally viewed as an individual entity, meaning an entity separate and apart from its owners, who are referred to as shareholders. Since a C corporation is legally viewed this way, the IRS views  it this way as well, making this corporation type eligible for double taxation; once as a corporation, and then again as a shareholder when dividends are distributed.

When entrepreneurs are faced with the decision of which entity type to incorporate under, many view this as a huge downfall of choosing a C corporation.  However, if you do choose a C corporation, double taxation is not an inevitable fate. If owners who are working for the business are taking reasonable salaries for themselves, the corporation can deduct these salaries, allowing for the owners to pay taxes on the money they receive. The passing of the Jobs and Growth Relief Reconciliation Act in 2003 allowed for lower tax rates on dividends and has eased the impact of double taxation.  Also, there is limited liability offered under the C corporation option. Shareholders are only personally liable to the extent of their holdings in the corporation. As opposed to business forms such as partnerships or sole-proprietorships, their personal assets are not on the line. Another upside to a C corporation is that there are more incentives to attract investors, due to the fact that they have available stock to sell and there is an opportunity for dividends. Other advantages include the ability to deduct fringe benefits, and the continuance of existence, which means that transfer of stock or death of an owner, will not affect the corporation.

However, if you still feel as though the C corporation is not the right fit for you and/or your small business, if your business qualifies, you can choose S corporation status upon incorporation.

S Corporations: S corporations, whose name is derived from electing Subchapter S of the Internal Revenue Code, is popular among many business owners because it allows a corporation to avoid double taxation. Generally an S corporation does not pay federal corporate taxes; selecting subchapter S allows a business to pass all income, losses, deductions, etc., directly to shareholders, whom will then be liable for claiming tax responsibility on their personal tax returns. This allows the corporation to bypass being taxed as a separate entity.

However, not all corporations are eligible to become an S corporation. The company must have no more than 75 investors, who all must unanimously agree to the decision and sign the necessary paperwork, and all investors must be US residents or citizens. Also, certain types of companies are restricted to filing Subchapter S tax election by the IRS.

The major benefit of forming an S corporation is avoiding the double taxation impact experienced under C corporation status. However, S corporations have their downfalls as well; paying taxes on “absent” income, eligibility to be taxed on fringe benefits, and liability for state, as well as, local taxes.   Another thing for S corporations to watch out for is ensuring that the salaries paid out to those stockholders who are working for the corporation are “deemed reasonable” by industry standards. If they are not, the IRS can require stockholders to pay payroll taxes on total income received from the corporation.

Limited Liability Company (LLCs): The Limited Liability Company is looked at as somewhat of a mix between a partnership and a corporation. The main difference between corporations and an LLC is that LLCs are usually taxed the way that partnerships are. Owners of an LLC are referred to as members; members may be individuals, corporations, or other LLCs or entities. Similar to an S corporation, an LLC provides limited liability and allows for all income, losses, deductions and credits to be passed on to the owners, allowing LLCs to avoid double taxation as well.  Members may allocate these items any which way they like, providing much more tax flexibility then corporations. The structure of an LLC is not as restrictive as that of an S corporation, making Limited Liability Companies a very popular option for startup companies. Seeing as they are similar to partnerships, they allow much more management flexibility as well.

Before deciding if an LLC is the right choice for you and your small business, be sure to remember that rules and regulations regarding LLCs differentiate in every state. Make sure your state regulations are a right fit for you as well. It is also important to keep up with the laws regarding Limited Liability Companies, being that they are a fairly new practice in the US; legal standards are still being perfected. Also keep in mind, there are some businesses that do not qualify to for LLC status, such as banks, insurance companies, and nonprofits.

Each type of business structure has their advantages and disadvantages. It is important to find which structure will be the right fit for you and your small business. Understanding the tax code and laws applicable to each can be a challenging task. Be sure to thoroughly discuss all of your options with your CPA before moving forward with incorporating your business. If you need a CPA, tax advice, or help incorporating, call Corporate Tax Network at 866-893-5730! Also, be sure to follow us onFacebook, Twitter, and Google+ for more small business and tax tips!

Split Testing: First and foremost, you want people who visit your website to subscribe to your company emails. This will, hassle free, add more recipients to your database, leading to more potential clients as well as website traffic. Split testing allows a marketer to test different combinations in campaigns as well as a company’s website, in order to see which combination might lead to the most subscriptions. For example, you can try different colors, different placements of the opt-in button, etc. You can also split test by broadcasting messages. This allows you to try different combinations of variables such as your call to action, or the subject line of the email. Since it is a broadcasted message, this can give you a lot of useful feedback when attempting to optimize your campaigns.

Ask, And You Shall Receive: If you are beginning an email campaign, that means you must have a database of customer contact information. Take advantage of this, it is a great tool! This gives you a way to mass communicate with your customers and ask them questions. Set up an email survey, get their feedback, see what they believe will work best.

Get Permission! Do not send emails to anyone who does not wish to receive them. Make sure everyone on your contact lists have willingly opted in to your subscription. Sending emails without permission can result in numerous negative consequences. For one, your company reputation is at stake; you risk being blacklisted by ISPs, coming off as spam, and losing respect from your customers or potential customers. Also, why waste your time and money sending your emails to people who do not wish to receive them, therefore, most likely will not open them?

Stand Out From The Crowd: When most people login to their email account, they are bombarded with numerous unread messages in their inbox. When presented with this situation, most of us tend to skim the subject lines, hence why it is so vital. During this “skimming session” is where you need to shine. Experts say a subject line should be no more than 50 characters, and should aim to answer the question “what’s in it for me?” Having an original, catchy, yet concise subject line, will increase the chances of your email being opened.

Have A Blatantly Obvious Call To Action: You want the call to action to scream from the body of the email. Maybe use a graphic, or oversized, dramatic, font. You should regularly experiment with your call to action and test the results to see which works best for your goals.

Link Your Social Media Accounts: This provides more paths for the recipient of the email to end up at your company website. Not to mention, it will increase your social media followings as well.

This is NOT a Sales Pitch: If your emails come off too pushy or sound too much like a sales pitch, people will view them as annoying and spammy. Your recipients will most likely unsubscribe, stop opening them, or send them directly to their junk mail. Yes, it is true that in the end, the main goal of email marketing is to obtain more business, but that is something you should focus on later. Your emails should focus on strengthening customer relationships and showing them the value of opting in. Give them information that they will be interested in and want to read; therefore they continue to want to open your emails when they appear in their inboxes.

Custom Tailor Your Messages: In your database, you should be able to separate your contacts into different lists. The more specific you can categorize your contacts, the more custom you can make your messages. Say your company sells a few different products; most likely, each product will have a different targeted niche, with different interests, and different needs. Take this into consideration when formulating the body and content of your email.

Don’t Waste Your Time and Money: There are programs that will allow you to see the people who are not opening your emails. Get rid of them! “Spring clean” your contact lists every so often.

For more small business news and tips, be sure to follow Corporate Tax Network on Facebook, Twitter, and Google+!

Our employee of the month segment has returned! We know you missed it! This month, CTN presents, Melisa Venegas, of San Pedro Sula, Honduras.

Melisa is an Operations Specialist here at Corporate Tax Network, and has been with our company for 2.5 years now. When asked why she enjoys her job, Melisa says “I love being able to work on different projects, there is always something new to do.” Some of her favorite projects include integrating new services, working on client newsletters and surveys, and reporting. When she is not working, Melisa loves going to the movies, riding her bike (when it is not cold of course!) playing soccer, and exploring the city. “I love finding new restaurants and places to listen to live music,” she says. She also enjoys traveling and learning new languages. As a matter of fact, Melisa plans on learning Portuguese in 2012!

Don’t forget to keep checking our blog for an opportunity to meet more of our fantastic employees. You can also check it out on our Facebook, Twitter, and Google+ pages!

If you are not yet familiar with Pinterest, it is the invite-only social network which has taken the social media world, unexpectedly, by storm.  Pinterest ranked as one of the top ten most visited social networks of 2011. According to a recent study, it’s receiving 260 million visitors monthly, and driving more traffic  to sites then YouTube, Reddit, Google+, and LinkedIn.  Pinterest is a “virtual pin board.” It consists of images, linked to sites, which people “pin” and categorize into customized boards of their choosing. Boards range from animals, to wedding planning, to recipes, to fashion ideas, to really, anything one desires.  If you are a small business and have not started pinning, what are you waiting for?! Here are some ways in which Pinterest can benefit your small business!

Send Traffic To Your Website: By doing as little as creating an account and pinning photos from your site, if just one person clicks on that photo, it is linked to and sends that user directly to your company website or landing page.

New Design/ Product Approval: Are you launching a new tangible product? Maybe you are a magazine and have multiple cover ideas for your next issue, or maybe you own a production company and have a few options for the DVR cover of your new movie. Uploading these images to Pinterest will instantly give you feedback on the visual appeal of your products. People “repin” what they like; see how many repins your images get and that will be feedback in itself. Not to mention, Pinterest has a commenting and “like” feature, which will also add value for your company. Being that the site is not as main stream as Twitter or Facebook, not yet at least, you will be able to filter the results more easily.

Start a “Best Board” Contest: Many brands have been initiating “Best Board” contests. For example, if you are an online clothing retailer, you can propose that contestants create a “look-book board” using images from your site. Maybe the task is to create the best board of “Working Girl” looks using items you sell from your site, and the winner receives a$100 gift card. Each image pinned during the contest will create a back link to your webpage.

Is Your Brand Image What You Thought? See what categories people are pinning your products into. This will tell you how people are viewing and categorizing your brand, services, and products. You might be surprised!

Connect and Relate: Pinterest gives companies a great opportunity to connect on a more personal level. For example, let’s say it is Thanksgiving and you are a recipe site. You can challenge visitors to your site to create a “Thanksgiving Dinner Board” and give a prize to the best one. It also can give companies a chance to connect to the cities they are located in. For example, The Washington Post has a board dedicated to the city of DC.

Showoff! Pinterest is a great way for you to show people out there what you are doing! Time Magazine began posting its legendary covers on the site, and the Wall Street Journal has a board specifically for its striking signature hedcut drawings! Check them out and check out other examples of how brands are showing off on and utilizing pinterest!

For daily small business news and tips, don’t forget to follow Corporate Tax Network on Facebook, Twitter, and Google+!

Crowd funding is defined by Wikepedia as follows: describes the collective cooperation, attention and trust by people who network and pool their money and other resources together, usually via the Internet, to support efforts initiated by other people or organizations. Crowdfunding occurs for any variety of purposes, from disaster relief to citizen journalism to artists seeking support from fans, to political campaigns, to funding a startup company or small business or creating free software.

The concept described above is responsible for stirring quite the debate on Capitol Hill. This new internet-savvy way of gaining capital pushes boundaries in regards to many rules, regulations, and decades-old securities regulations. But times are tough out there, and it is quite difficult for many startup companies to obtain the loans that they need to begin their business ventures. In order to stimulate economic growth and provide more attainable funding for those who wish to pursue their entrepreneurial dreams, Congress is debating whether or not to make exceptions to the laws which have been prohibitive to crowdfunding across the nation.

For example, Jared Hardy, co-founder of Fargo Beer Co., obtained the capital that his company needed by utilizing a crowdfunding site called ProFounder Financial Inc. However, this company, based out of West Hollywood, California, was recently forced to shut down by California securities regulators. “They were acting as a broker without being licensed as a broker dealer,” says Preston DuFauchard, the commissioner for the California Department of Corporations. By this statement, DuFauchard is referring to the fact that PrFounder had technically been providing online sales of equity stakes in small businesses, without being licensed to do so. Or were they?  The organization says that their site simply provides a way for entrepreneurs to tap into their friends, family, or other networks for money, in exchange for stakes in the businesses. Jessica Jackley, co-founder, says “If every [Web] start-up had to become a broker dealer to raise money for small businesses, it would be too prohibitive,” she says.

You may be asking why these companies do not just register to become broker-dealers? Well, the answer to that comes back to the very problem these companies are trying to solve; they don’t have the money! Costs of taking the necessary actions to register could total from anywhere to an extra $10,000-$30,000 a year! Congress is starting to sympathize. A bill which will let companies sell up to $2 million in equity online, with investors buying stakes of up to $10,000 year, or 10% of their annual income, whichever is less, was approved by the house two weeks ago. However, while this bill will please many crowd funding companies, it is upsetting many who have taken the necessary actions and have gone through the broker-dealer registration process.

Do you think that crowdfunding companies should have to register as official broker-dealers? Corporate Tax Network wants to know what you guys think! You can give us some feedback by checking out our pages on Facebook, Google+ and on Twitter!