#IRS Tax Professional

[amtaxau]

Your Expert Partner for IRS Streamlined Foreign Offshore Procedures

Are you residing outside the United States and haven't been fully compliant with your US tax obligations? If so, you may qualify for the IRS Streamlined Foreign Offshore Procedures, and Amtax can help you make the most of this opportunity.

As a qualified IRS tax professional with years of experience, we understand the ins and outs of streamlined filing compliance procedures. Our team is dedicated to providing you with a hassle-free experience so that you can rest easy while we help you meet your compliance requirements.

How Do the Streamlined Foreign Offshore Procedures Work?

The streamlined filing compliance procedures allow US taxpayers to regularise their tax position without severe penalties. With the help of Amtax, we will walk you through the program's eligibility criteria, including three years of late tax return submission and six years of FBARs.

Our team understands the importance of submitting impeccable tax information. Therefore, we take you through the entire process, ensuring that your tax return outlines all your earnings and deductions. We seek your certification following specific instructions that your non-willful conduct caused the failure to report all income, taxes, and FBARs.

IRS Tax Professional: Why Choose Amtax?

As a qualified and experienced IRS tax professional, Amtax has a proven track record of helping individuals meet their streamlined foreign offshore procedures requirements. Our team of experts has hands-on experience dealing with the intricacies of international tax law and accounting practices that could affect your streamlined filing compliance procedures.

We place a high value on our client's satisfaction and pride ourselves on providing comprehensive support and expert advice at all times. By choosing Amtax, you can be sure that you are partnering with a team that understands your unique needs and is committed to helping you achieve your compliance goals.

Streamlined Filing Compliance Procedures: Let Amtax Be Your Guide

At Amtax, we understand how challenging it can be to navigate complex tax laws and requirements. Our streamlined filing compliance procedures make it easy for you to regularise your tax position and get back on track.

Don't let non-compliance with your US tax obligations cause you stress or run the risk of penalties. Instead, trust Amtax to be your partner through the streamlined foreign offshore procedures.

Contact us today https://www.amtax.com.au/service/filing-under-streamlined-foreign-offshore-procedures/  and let us help you achieve your compliance obligations and secure your financial future.

[jamesvince9898]

Professional Tax Consulting and Relief Services in Minnesota - Expert Tax Solutions for IRS Challenges

Introduction: Navigating tax issues can be overwhelming, especially when the IRS issues notices or takes action. At Best Tax Pro - Tax Consulting Firm in Minnesota, we specialize in providing effective, professional tax solutions tailored to your unique needs. From handling notices of intent to levy to addressing IRS certified letters and IRS wage garnishments, we’re here to help alleviate the stress associated with IRS-related challenges. With a team of experienced tax attorneys and consultants, we are dedicated to helping clients in Minnesota find relief from IRS back taxes and achieve financial stability.

Understanding IRS Notices and Certified Letters Receiving a notice from the IRS, such as a notice of intent to levy, can be intimidating. These notices typically indicate that the IRS is taking action due to outstanding tax debts or unresolved tax issues. Often, a certified letter from the IRS outlines the immediate steps the taxpayer must take to avoid further penalties or levies. At Best Tax Pro, our tax attorneys and professional consultants understand the importance of quick, accurate responses. We guide clients through each phase of the process, ensuring that they comprehend every detail of the communication and make informed decisions to address the issues at hand.

Why You Need a Professional Tax Consultant The tax code is complex, and any minor miscalculation or misunderstanding can lead to significant penalties. Working with a professional tax consultant brings clarity to your tax situation and provides you with an advocate who can liaise directly with the IRS on your behalf. Our consultants are seasoned in identifying tax discrepancies and strategizing effective solutions for tax relief. From filing back taxes to negotiating with the IRS, we tailor our services to the unique needs of each client, helping them avoid costly consequences while safeguarding their assets.

Addressing IRS Wage Garnishment If you’ve received notice of an IRS wage garnishment, it’s essential to act quickly. Wage garnishment can severely impact your financial stability, as it allows the IRS to directly deduct a portion of your wages to cover unpaid taxes. At Best Tax Pro, we’re skilled at negotiating on behalf of our clients to stop wage garnishment or reduce its impact. Our tax attorneys work closely with clients to develop a practical solution, often through installment agreements or tax debt settlements, to minimize the strain of IRS garnishment on their finances.

Resolving IRS Back Taxes Unresolved IRS back taxes can accumulate quickly, leading to interest charges, penalties, and potential enforcement actions from the IRS. Dealing with back taxes alone can be challenging, especially if you’re unsure of your total liability. Our team offers expert tax resolution services, ensuring that each aspect of your back taxes is carefully analyzed and managed. By partnering with Best Tax Pro, clients benefit from experienced professionals who can assess their situation and develop customized strategies, from payment plans to settlements, to bring them back into compliance with the IRS.

Offering Expert Tax Solutions for Complex Cases Every tax situation is unique, and it’s critical to work with a firm that offers expert tax solutions for complex cases. Our tax attorneys and consultants bring years of experience and a deep understanding of IRS regulations. Whether you need help with ongoing tax issues or wish to proactively manage potential liabilities, Best Tax Pro is equipped to handle even the most intricate tax challenges. By conducting in-depth evaluations and staying current with IRS updates, we can provide the guidance you need to protect your assets and achieve tax compliance.

Our Commitment to Client Satisfaction At Best Tax Pro, we’re committed to making the tax resolution process as straightforward and stress-free as possible. We pride ourselves on our transparent, client-centered approach and dedication to achieving favorable outcomes. Every consultation begins with a thorough assessment, where we explain all potential solutions and their implications, ensuring that clients feel confident in their decisions. By prioritizing our clients’ well-being and financial health, we have earned a reputation as a trusted resource for professional tax consulting in Minnesota.

[ifindtaxpro]

Daycare providers: Maximize your tax deductions and ensure compliance with these key considerations. Learn how to deduct childcare expenses, manage licensing fees, and navigate tax rules effectively. #Daycare #TaxDeductions #Compliance

[chilledstrawberrysoda]

Do you think that Neil gets to write off his "charitable donations" to the moriyama's on his taxes or would that be too big of a risk because I feel like he would almost certainly get audited if he claimed on his taxes that he was donating EIGHTY PERCENT of his total income? But if he really is making what we assume of a professional athlete that puts him in one of the highest tax brackets at like 37% annually, so are the moriyama's taking 80% of his gross income or 80% of his income after taxes and agent fees (because those will be part of his expenses).

I'm genuinely very curious about the logistics of this deal like the moriyama's had to send him something explaining once he was signed right? Did they give him an accountant so he wouldn't fuck it up or raise any red flags? I want a fic about the technical aspects of paying the mafia for your safety.

I know Neil would 100% be capable of doing his own taxes but I really think he would find it overwhelming and stressful to file his taxes and not raise any red flags that would bring the moriyama's onto the IRS radar and possibly jeopardize his safety.

Also if Neil is paying enough to the moriyama's to put him at a 17% deficit is Andrew just paying for Neil's whole life??? Would it look less suspicious to be donating such large amounts if they got married "for tax benefits"? Has anyone written a fic about this? Would it be boring to just have a whole fic that's like a meeting with Neil and the moriyama's financial division going over what would be enough for Neil to love on and how he could best go about filing taxes?

[spitblaze]

now that im actually a taxpaying adult its so funny to me how often people talk about the IRS like they're an evil mastermind organization sucking money straight out of the pockets of the american public. like they're just professional sticklers. they're nerds with accounting degrees and an attention to detail. they arent even scary unless you're deliberately committing tax fraud. "oh fuck its tax season the irs is gonna fucking get you if you do your taxes even slightly wrong" you mean they'll send me a polite letter saying that I owe them more than calculated and I can call them to set up a repayment plan??? genuinely im more intimidated by hospital billing departments than the IRS, at least the amount I pay in taxes isn't at the mercy of my insurance company.

[edenfalling]

The IRS is not your enemy. (Unless you’re a crook. Or a billionaire, which is just a rare subset of crook.)

If the IRS doesn’t have the funds to hire enough staff, you know what happens to normal everyday taxpayers? You don’t get to keep more of your money. You just get like a month of delay between filing your taxes and receiving your refund because nobody has time to review it. Do you want that? No?

Then FUND THE GODDAMN IRS.

As one of their first moves in the House majority—after their little struggle to even elect a speaker, that is—Republicans have a bill to roll back more than $70 billion in IRS funding included in the Inflation Reduction Act. In fact, fresh off his contentious election as speaker, Kevin McCarthy bragged about this plan, saying, “I know the night is late, but when we come back our very first bill will repeal the funding for 87,000 new IRS agents.” (That 87,000 number is a lie, by the way.)

Funny story, though: The Congressional Budget Office is out with its estimate of the fiscal impact of this bill cutting more than $70 billion … and it would decrease federal revenue by $186 billion between 2023 and 2032. In other words, the bill would cost more than $114

The claim here is that it’s going to help the little people—they’re even calling the bill the “Family and Small Business Taxpayer Protection Act”—because that sounds a lot better than admitting that the Inflation Reduction Act’s IRS funding is about making sure the very wealthiest pay the taxes they owe. Yes, it means hiring new auditors, but ones specifically tasked with pursuing wealthy tax evaders, not small businesses or families making less than hundreds of thousands of dollars a year.

In fact, households with earnings of less than $400,000 a year “will likely see the chance of an audit decline,” according to the Treasury Department. That’s because right now, the lowest-income households are audited at far higher rates than the highest-income ones. The money that Republicans want to repeal is intended to change that.

[phoenixyfriend]

Time for some tracts:

"How do we create jobs?" You raise the minimum wage, because if people don't need to work three jobs to make rent, those other two jobs will mysteriously open up.

"How do we support small businesses?" You raise the minimum wage, staggered to the biggest corporations first.

"How do we reduce homelessness?" You raise the minimum wage.

"How do we make sure raising the minimum wage doesn't negatively impact prices or--?"

Prices are already rising faster than wages are, this is playing catch up.

Put a cap on CEO salaries and bonuses, they can't earn more than 100 times more than their lowest paid workers. Current US ratio is 342, which is insane. (This list is mostly about the US.)

Hit corporations first, give small businesses time to adjust. McDonald's and Walmart can afford to raise wages to $20/hr before anyone else does, they have that income.

Drop the weekly hours required for insurance from thirty to fifteen. This will disincentivize employers having everyone work 29hrs a week, partly because working only 14hrs a week is a great way to have undertrained, underpracticed staff. Full time employment becomes the new rule.

Legalize salary transparency for all positions; NYC's new law is a good start.

Legislation that prevents companies from selling at American prices while paying American wages abroad. Did you know that McDonald's costs as much or more in Serbia, where the minimum wage is about $2/hr? Did you know that a lot of foreign products, like makeup, are a solid 20% more expensive? Did you know that Starbucks prices are equivalent? Did you know that these companies charge American prices while paying their employees local wages? At a more extreme example, luxury goods made in sweatshops are something we all know are a problem, from Apple iPhones to Forever 21 blouses, often involving child labor too. So a requirement to match the cost-to-wage ratio (either drop your prices or raise your wages when producing or selling abroad) would be great.

Not directly a minimum wage thing but still important:

Enact fees and caps on rent and housing. A good plan would probably be to have it in direct ratio to mortgage (or estimated building value, if it's already paid off), property tax, and estimated fees. This isn't going to work everywhere, since housing prices themselves are insanely high, but hey--people will be able to afford those difficult rent costs if they're earning more.

Trustbusting monopolies and megacorps like Amazon, Disney, Walmart, Google, Verizon, etc.

Tax the rich. I know this is incredibly basic but tax the fucking rich, please.

Fund the IRS to full power again. They are a skeleton crew that cannot audit the megarich due to lack of manpower, and that's where most of the taxes are being evaded.

Universal healthcare. This is so basic but oh my god we need universal healthcare. You can still have private practitioners and individual insurance! But a national healthcare system means people aren't going to die for a weird mole.

More government-funded college grants. One of the great issues in the US is the lack of healthcare workers. This has many elements, and while burnout is a big one, the massive financial costs of medical school and training are a major barrier to entry. While there are many industries where this is true, the medical field is one of the most impacted, and one of the most necessary to the success of a society. Lowering those financial barriers can only help the healthcare crisis by providing more medical professionals who are less prone to burnout because they don't need to work as many hours.

And even if those grants aren't total, guess what! That higher minimum wage we were talking about is a great way to ensure students have less debt coming out the other side if they're working their way through college.

------------------

Linda P requested something either really interesting or really silly and this is... definitely more of a tract on a topic of interest (the minimum wage and other ways business and government are both being impeded by corporate greed) than on a topic of Silly. Hope it's still good!

[zenithtaxpro]

Zenith Tax Pro is one of the CPA firm and provide expert Tax & Accounting LLC services in Florida. Contact us today +1 (772) 236-7536. Our dedicated team offers Expert Tax Planning and Preparation, Meticulous Bookkeeping and Financial Reporting, Payroll Management, and Small Business Accounting support. We’re here to assist with Financial Planning and Analysis, QuickBooks Consulting & Implementation. https://www.zenithtaxpro.com/

[jamesvince9898]

Navigating Tax Challenges with Best Tax Pro: Your Ultimate Solution for IRS Issues in Minnesota

Introduction

Dealing with tax issues can be one of the most stressful experiences, especially when the IRS comes knocking. From receiving an IRS certified letter to facing the fear of wage garnishment or a notice of intent to levy, these situations can feel overwhelming. At Best Tax Pro, we understand the complexities and nuances of tax laws and offer comprehensive solutions to help you resolve your tax problems effectively. Whether you are dealing with IRS back taxes or need expert tax solutions, our professional tax consultants and experienced tax attorneys are here to guide you through every step.

Understanding the Notice of Intent to Levy

One of the most daunting notices that taxpayers can receive from the IRS is the notice of intent to levy. This letter serves as a final warning before the IRS begins to seize your assets, such as bank accounts, wages, or other personal property, to satisfy an outstanding tax debt. Understanding this notice is crucial for anyone facing back taxes or other tax-related issues.

Our team at Best Tax Pro specializes in handling such critical situations. With our professional tax consultants, you can get the right advice and action plan to resolve your tax issues quickly and effectively. We work diligently to prevent the levy from taking place, negotiating with the IRS on your behalf to reach a favorable resolution.

Decoding the IRS Certified Letter

An IRS certified letter is another form of communication that can cause anxiety among taxpayers. These letters typically inform you of significant actions that the IRS plans to take, such as initiating an audit or demanding payment for back taxes. They are formal notifications that should never be ignored, as they often signal urgent matters that require immediate attention.

At Best Tax Pro, we help clients decipher these certified letters, providing clarity on the contents and necessary steps to respond appropriately. Our professional tax consultants and tax attorneys have extensive experience in communicating with the IRS, ensuring that your rights are protected and that you are taking the right actions to mitigate any potential consequences.

Facing IRS Wage Garnishment

When the IRS enforces a wage garnishment, a portion of your paycheck is withheld to pay off your tax debt. This can severely impact your financial stability, making it difficult to cover basic living expenses. At Best Tax Pro, we understand the gravity of such situations and offer robust solutions to help clients avoid or stop wage garnishments.

Our expert tax solutions focus on negotiating with the IRS to arrange alternative payment plans or settlements that are less financially burdensome. We provide strategic guidance to manage and reduce your tax debt, ensuring you retain control over your finances.

Addressing IRS Back Taxes

IRS back taxes occur when you owe unpaid taxes from previous years. These debts can accumulate quickly due to penalties and interest, making them harder to manage over time. Ignoring back taxes can lead to severe consequences, including liens, levies, and wage garnishments. Best Tax Pro is committed to helping you resolve your back taxes efficiently and effectively.

Our professional tax consultants work closely with clients to analyze their financial situation, identify the best resolution strategies, and negotiate with the IRS. Whether you need an installment agreement, an offer in compromise, or penalty abatement, we provide personalized solutions tailored to your specific circumstances.

The Role of a Professional Tax Consultant

A professional tax consultant plays a vital role in navigating the complex landscape of tax laws and regulations. At Best Tax Pro, our consultants are highly experienced in handling various tax issues, from filing accurate tax returns to representing clients in IRS disputes. We stay updated on the latest changes in tax laws, ensuring that our clients receive the best possible advice and representation.

By choosing Best Tax Pro, you are partnering with a team that understands the nuances of tax codes, the IRS's inner workings, and the most effective ways to resolve your tax problems. Our professional tax consultants are dedicated to minimizing your tax liability, protecting your assets, and providing peace of mind throughout the entire process.

Expert Tax Solutions for Complex Issues

At Best Tax Pro, we pride ourselves on delivering expert tax solutions that are customized to meet the unique needs of each client. Our team of tax attorneys, tax lawyers, and consultants work collaboratively to develop comprehensive strategies that address both immediate tax issues and long-term financial health.

Whether you are dealing with a complex tax matter or need proactive planning for future tax seasons, our experts are here to help. We leverage our extensive experience and deep understanding of tax laws to provide innovative solutions that save you money and reduce stress.

Conclusion

When it comes to handling serious tax issues like a notice of intent to levy, IRS certified letters, wage garnishments, or back taxes, you need a partner who is experienced, reliable, and committed to your success. Best Tax Pro is here to offer you the professional guidance and expert solutions you need to navigate these challenges confidently. With our team by your side, you can rest assured that you are taking the right steps toward financial freedom and peace of mind. Contact us today to learn more about how we can help you resolve your tax issues efficiently and effectively.

[simply-ivanka]

Tim Walz’s Progressive Tax Experiment

The Minnesota economy is no success story on the Governor’s watch.

By The Editorial Board - Wall Street Journal

Our friends in the press don’t seem to care about Tim Walz’s economic record as Governor of Minnesota. But Americans might be interested since it foreshadows where a Kamala Harris-Walz Administration would take the country with their policies.

Minnesota boasts a low employment rate (2.9%), but that’s less impressive than it seems. Nearly all of its job growth under Mr. Walz has been in industries that rely on government spending. Since he entered office in January 2019, Minnesota has added a net 41,500 jobs. This includes 43,900 in healthcare and social assistance and 12,600 in government.

Private industries have lost jobs, including finance, information, professional and business services, retail, manufacturing and leisure and hospitality. Such job losses started before the pandemic but accelerated during Mr. Walz's prolonged lockdowns and have increased during the last year.

Manufacturing employment has declined by 7,500 over the past 12 months, while professional and business services have shed 22,700 jobs. This is especially notable since Mr. Walz last spring signed a giant tax increase, including a 1% surcharge on investment income over $1 million. He also reduced standard deductions for businesses such as for net operating losses.

At the same time he expanded myriad tax credits such as for rent, film production, dependent care and families. Minnesotans can even get a $150 refund for contributing to state political parties and candidates. Such tax credits shrink the tax base so much that Democrats have to keep rates high. Minnesota’s top rate is 9.85% not counting his one-percentage point surcharge—which sends the rich or retired out of state.

Households with roughly $5 billion in adjusted gross income left Minnesota between 2019 and 2022, according to the most recent IRS data. Minnesota in 2022 ranked eighth in income loss among states as a share of overall AGI, after Illinois, New York, California, New Jersey, Alaska, Maryland and Massachusetts.

Top destinations for Minnesota refugees include zero-income tax Florida, Texas and South Dakota. South Dakota’s rate of job growth has been more than four times higher than Minnesota’s since Mr. Walz took the helm. At least overtaxed and jobless Minnesotans can vote with their feet. If Ms. Harris wins, all Americans might have to live by California and Minnesota rules.

[unhinged-diaries]

Business Guide:

How to get started

When you have a business name in mind look up the domain name to see if it’s taken. You don’t want to spend money on an LLC just to find out that your name is taken. Thats a waste of money because you also have to pay to dissolve it.

If the name is not taken, great, don’t file an LLC yet. Go online and get a virtual business address. Why? If you’re running your business out of your home like I am, just know that it’s public information if you use your address to file your LLC. A virtual address should cost like $10-$20 a month. Use that to file your LLC.

Once you’ve filed that LLC get your Ein. That’s your Employee Identification Number. It’s your businesses tax id. It’s free to file on the IRS website. Don’t fall for the scam websites you guys.

Once you’ve gotten your EIN go to Google domains and get your website name aswell as 3-4 emails. An email for your social media accounts, an executive email for yourself, an ecomm@businessname.com for things like your business bank account, Shopify account, etc; and maybe a customer support email. I use the social email as a customer support email. All of this should be like $50/month.

Once you’ve don’t that get on Canva and make that logo bookie. Personally I paid someone on Fiverr to make mine because I’m a “soft business life” kind of girl and I’d rather pay the professionals. Thats just me though.

Once you’ve got your logo go ahead and get them social media accounts going. Instagram, tiktok, Facebook.

Alright now this is where it gets specific to clothing brands because that’s what I own.

Time to find a manufacturer. Head over to alibaba and search what kind of product you want to sell. Be sure to add “oem” if you want a manufacturer that customizes. Look for the amount of orders they’ve gotten on that product. If it says zero orders that’s ok. Some styles are new and thus haven’t been ordered yet. Check any reviews they have for other products. Also check the total revenue they’ve done. It’s on the store profile. I can’t tell you what the sweet spot is yet bc I’ve only used one manufacturer so far but I’d look for mid six figures and up if you wanna be real safe.

Chat with them and order a sample. Even if you buy from a vendor list you’ll need your own sample to make content with. I suggest buying one and first. It’s worth the wait because if you buy multiple and end up not liking them you’d have wasted money that could’ve gone into testing a different manufacturer.

Do not launch with more than 2 products. Even 2 is a stretch, wallai start with one.

This is because if you’re doing the preorder, which I suggest, you’ll be depending on customer orders to pay for the bulk order. Manufacturers do their moq by color or style. If you have too many options in your website and customers order a mix of things, you better pray you have enough money to cover the bulk for all those different styles. Stay safe and give them 1-2 options to choose from.

Pre order method is great if you don’t have a lot of cash to start with because the orders pay for themselves. Bulk orders start to wrack up. Especially if it’s a custom style or material. You don’t want to break the bank for something that might not sell.

Once you’ve gotten and approved your samples choose a launch date. 2-3 weeks before that launch dates post consistently. At least once a day but remember quality over quantity. Now don’t be tricked. Quality doesn’t mean a full cinematography. It means connecting with your audience and relating with them to a point where they’re like “this business gets it”. Either that or attaching yourself to an identity they want to have. “It girl ig influencer”, “feminine soft life babe” “clean girl Pilates princess” whatever the fuck it is embody ur as best as you can. When customers attach your product with an identity that is aspirational to them they will buy it without rationalizing. It’s why the luxury market makes so much off of ppl who can’t afford to buy it twice.

Focus on the backend

If you have a goal of getting an influx of orders and making a lot of sales, be sure that your business is structured in a way that can handle it happening at any given time. You know those tiktok businesses that get one viral video and sell out over night? That could be you but if you’re not prepared ppl are going to be upset. I suggest working backwards:

A customer service platform/inbox so that you can answer them right away with frequently asked questions.

Have stock so that you have something for customers to buy once they finally land on your website.

Have a well presenting website so that ppl don’t think you’re a scam. I’m going to do a post on this bc some of these business websites drive me fuckin nuts. Color theory ppl, color theory.

A social media page with some kind of social proof ie reviews from customers in some way shape or form. Ppl are going to be looking for what others have to say about your brand. Hire UGC creators to make videos that you can post on your page. They’re cheaper than influencers but still know how to convey the message well. You’ll have to have extra samples and items on hand to send them. Also check out their usage rights. Some will allow you to use their videos in ads but you have to pay extra and it’s only for a certain amount of time. But if they do it right, you’ll get a great return. Scared money don’t make no money.

A social media page that shows the products in movement and different lighting. I need to be able to imagine myself in the item before I buy it. Where would I wear it, how will it fit on me. Even when I’ve already ordered something I stay going back to the businesses social media page just to see the clothes again. I might even search it up to see other ppl wearing it.

Packaging

No need to go crazy with the packaging in the beginning. Don’t get me wrong, branding is important but as a beginner you may not have the money for that yet. You need to focus on spending money on what will give you the best return. Just get regular poly mailers from Amazon in your brand colors. You’ll also need:

A stack of 6x4 shipping labels

A thermal printer

A scale

When your manufacturer sends you the clothes they will most likely be in their own little bags. If not you can get those from Amazon too.

Later on you can go to alibaba and find a manufacturer to print you custom poly mailers for that extra edge. Put your logo, a cute message, and your social media handles on the bag and that’s it. Good to go.

You can also design your own thank you cards as well. I won’t be doing that.

Little things to remember

Don’t feel like you have to keep up with big brands. You don’t need to launch something every two weeks. As a matter of fact I advise against emulating super fast fashion brands. I only launch a new item once the pre ordered items have been shipped out to customers.

Be nice to your customers. You’d think this was obvious but it’s not. Some ppl are rude, ghetto, and uncouth. If you hate authority and have a smart mouth I think you should either take a customer service course or hire a virtual assistant from the Philippines to do your customer service for you because no customers = no money.

I’ll update this as I learn and grow:

12/18/2023

Influencers

Not every influencer with a mass follower base is going to be your influencer. It’s possible that you pay $5000 for an influencer with 75k followers to post your product on her page but that post makes you less than $3k. That means you’ve net negative $2k. What a fuckin waste of money.

This is why it’s important to develop a persona for your brand. What is your brand identity? Who is your target audience? What are their psychographics?

Where do currently shop? What are there favorite social media apps?What is their race? Their age? Their ethnicity? Are they in college or highschool? Do they have parents that support their lifestyle or are they hustlers? Are they concerned about price or quality more? Are they married? Do they have children? Are they environmentally conscious?

You need to embody Joe Goldberg and peer at them through their window. Acquaint yourself with every part of their life.

Also, you might not be your target demographic yet and that’s ok. The girls that shop with my brand have social lives. They go out with their friends and need outfits to wear. I don’t have a social life. The only clothes I wear are my work clothes to go to work and my robe when I’m at home.Or a sweat set and a bonnet to run errands.

Don’t think to yourself “ I would never wear that.” “I would never buy something at that price point”. That’s fine cuz someone else will. A lot of people will.

Another thing is your demographic could change once you start your business. It might be that you create content that attracts a different type of person than what you originally planned and that’s cool too. We don’t live in a perfect world. As long as they’re close enough to what you had predetermined it’s ok. Sometimes our business comes out different than we hoped but it’s just as good if not better. It’s like child. Don’t destroy its greatness trying to turn it into something it doesn’t want to be.

User generated content

Love, love, love her down. She’s that sweet spot between making content yourself and having an influencer with a large following make the content for you. UGC is a form of social proof which is something you need for an e-commerce brand especially. Ppl can’t just pop into your store and try on your stuff so they need the opinions of “regular” people to sell them on it. They want to see that person try it on, do a close up of the fabric, wear it to a social setting, etc;

What I like about UGC is that I can pick someone who fits into my brand persona to represent my brand even if I don’t. Someone that appears aspirational but still relatable. Like I said previously, you yourself might not embody your brands persona but you can pay someone who does.

A little translate for yall: I do not live in a nice apartment. My room is small, and dark, and filled with boxes. My living room has mix matched decor and I myself am not the body type I’d like to be (pls don’t hit me with body positivity babe). What I can do is pay a girl with the opposite of all those things and knows how to sell a product.

I have a girl right now that I’ve inquired to make posts for me and she’s got it all. Her rate for one video is $100 with an extra $30 for 90 days of usage in ads. $100 is the new 50 and for the return I’ll get on her, THATS A STEAL.

If you need to find a UGC creator search it up on tiktok and Twitter. Most of them have a portfolio of past work they’ve done. If you feel like they match your brands vibes, keep their info for when you’re ready.

I suggest to have a roster of them because if ppl keep seeing the same person over and over, the thought that that person is just a regular degular customer leaves their mind and you lose the magic of UGC.

Update 12/21/2023

I’ve been sick but yall ain’t paying me so it’s ok. Here’s the update.

Website

Your website is your home babe and when you’re preparing for guest you can’t have your home looking any type of way. Not only does it need to be clean but it needs to be cohesive and inviting.

You know how many times I’ve opened someone’s booking page on Instagram and I click off. Not only am I not reading through all of that small ass text but my head hurts cuz you’ve got a black font on a hot pink background.

Some of yalls websites to not comply with accessibility guidelines so pay attention to that bc you can be sued. Ppl should be able to read what you have on there without getting a headache.

Good rule of thumb is to have one primary color, and then black and white. Don’t over complicate it. Your primary color will be your logo, think twitters blue, then your secondary colors should be black and white, for your text. You might have an accent color like gold or silver, this should be used sparingly for a little dazzle.

If you’re a clothing brand like me, keep the text short and sweet. Think about it, when you go shopping on your favorite website are you bombarded with a soliloquy on how the collection came to be? And even if you are do you stop and read the whole thing? I don’t bc I don’t care. That’s what your Instagram story is for.

All I want to see is the attention grabber and a short,but convincing, tagline.

Example: Ski Resort 2023-“Stun the slopes and stand out on the ski lift with best sellers spotted at St. Moritz”

Let you images tell the rest of the story.

Don’t overwhelm them with options

Guys this is so important. The more options ppl see the less they buy or the less likely they are to buy. Why? This is the thought process.

“Omg the stuff on this website is so cute! Let me go through their catalog and add to my cart as I go”

5 minutes of scrolling

“Ok I have too many things in my cart let me just save to a wishlist instead”

Another 5 minutes of scrolling

“Ok I’ll just stop here and go back to my cart and decide what I’m going to get rn”

Goes to cart

Spends 10 minutes deciding what she’s gonna get bc there’s so many good options

Takes 10 items out of her cart and only buys two basics bc she knows those are less likely to disappoint.

And scene

That is if she didn’t leave after the second five minutes of scrolling. Nowadays five minutes on a non stimulating website is a lot, don’t let it take that long.

Obviously this also depends on the customers budget. Some people have the money to just buy everything in their cart (I wish- one day), but most are just window shopper you hope to convert with your nice styles, images, and prices. Don’t make it harder for people to give you their money.

I have more but I’m tired of writing so I’ll update yall tmrw.

[tsams-and-co-memes]

TMGAFS Monty Canon Info

Updated - 11/10/24

Monty’s likes:

Winning

Screwing with people

Trains

Tea

Aggressive humor

Earth

Money

Frolicking

Monty’s dislikes:

Clickbaiting people

Fire

Their favorite season is winter

Kids (<- their thoughts and feelings towards kids may or may not be different now)

Their dad

Stitchwraith

Eclipse

Bloodmoon

El Chip

Miscellaneous:

Monty is gender-fluid and bisexual

Their dad is British. It’s probably fair to assume that by extension, that makes Monty British, too

They have a sister who is a lawyer in Germany

Their mom is dead, and Monty was the one who handled most (if not all) of her funeral arrangements and expenses

They get extremely competitive over gaming

They have a temper and swear a lot

They have ADHD

Monty’s father and sister are human, but were genetically modified to look more like gators. Fazbear's merely bought their dad's likeness and used it to create Monty (<- partial retcon, it seems that Millie is an animatronic like Monty now. Everything about their dad is still pretty concrete)

Monty’s sister’s name is Millie

Their parents used to argue frequently

They once worked as a bartender

Monty’s sister (Millie) is very professional, even outside of her working hours (according to their dad)

Monty’s dad was a horrible parent

They con and rob NFT bros

They don’t pay taxes - they apparently owe $8 and some odd cents to the IRS

Monty built an off brand Vegeta animatronic and a husky animatronic

Monty had a kill switch at one point from Fazbear’s to shut them down if they did anything super bad, but the kill switch no longer works

Monty and Millie play Minecraft together and talk just about every other day, which would mean they have a decently close relationship

Monty plays D&D with Puppet sometimes

Monty hires a photographer to take pictures of them every few months, and the photographer charges $10,000 per picture. They then pay off the photographer with Monopoly money

They had a dragon ball phase

Monty used to sell food to the cartel

Apparently Monty’s nemesis is hip Yoda

Monty knows how to drive and seems to be a better teacher than Sun. It's implied that Monty also knows how to fly planes

Monty knows what Millie's job is, but they don't know the specifics about it

Monty is Francine's godfather

Monty apparently smells like hand sanitizer, according to Earth

Monty’s a fan of alcohol and drinks every so often

Monty has killed an entire population of smurf people

Funtime Freddy had a habit of looking through Monty’s window at night and watching them sleep

Monty recently sold a Chili's to Moon (implied, since Moon recently bought it and Monty said that they recently sold it)

Monty swears more when drunk

Monty shows up late for work and then leaves early

Monty knows Spanish

Monty's tail gets stiff when they are angry (fact yoinked from the wiki)

In the past Monty had asked out Glamrock Chica but ended up getting rejected (fact yoinked from the wiki)

Their tail has been said to be magnetic meaning that it can take it off and move it around. Lunar liked to play with it (fact yoinked from the wiki)

Apparently, they are banned from Switzerland for some unknown reason (fact yoinked from the wiki)

They nuked Sweden for unknown reasons (fact yoinked from the wiki)

They are the ones who updated the daycare and have access to cameras (fact yoinked from the wiki)

They had a space station at one point, but it was destroyed by meteors (I think?)

Monty sold a space apartment/house to Sun once, but the place was also destroyed

Monty’s been to jail before

Monty experiments with "medicinal stuff" (with there being implications that the "medicinal stuff" is actually weed. There are two bongs in their new house, and Foxy even picked one of the bongs up and directly referred to it as "weed paraphernalia")

Despite being an animatronic, Monty has functioning taste buds

Monty knows how to pilot (?) a ship

Monty is a grill master and is good at cooking

[mostlysignssomeportents]

Brinkwhump Linkdump

I'm on tour with my new, nationally bestselling novel The Bezzle! Catch me in TUCSON (Mar 9-10), then San Francisco (Mar 13), Anaheim, and more!

Once again, I find myself arriving at the weekend with a giant backlog of links, triggering a linkump, the 15th such dumpage, a variety-pack of miscellany for your weekend. Here's the previous editions:

https://pluralistic.net/tag/linkdump/

Let's start with the latest incredible news from KPMG, the accounting and auditing giant that is relied upon as a source of ground truth for a truly terrifying share of the world's economy. KPMG has a well-deserved reputation for incompetence and corruption. They first came on my radar in 2001 when they sent a legal threat to a blogger for linking to their website without permission:

https://memex.craphound.com/2001/12/05/reason-4332442-not-to-ask/

The actual link was to KPMG's corporate anthem, which remains, to this day, a banger:

https://web.archive.org/web/20040428063826/http://chkpt.zdnet.com/chkpt/uknewsita/http://anthems.zdnet.co.uk/anthems/kpmg.mp3

Don't miss the DJ remixes (and the Nokia ringtone!) that the internet thoughtfully provided when KPMG decided that it didn't want the world to know about "Our Vision of Global Strategy":

https://web.archive.org/web/20011128153057/http://corporateanthems.raettig.org/

Now all this is objectively very funny, a relic of the old, good internet from one of its moments of glory, but KPMG? They were already enshittifying, even in 2001, and the enshittification only intensified thereafter. Nearly every accounting scandal of the past quarter-century has KPMG in it somewhere, from con-artists selling exhausted oil fields to rubes:

https://www.desmog.com/2021/06/03/miller-energy-kpmg-auditors-oil-fraud/

To killer nursing homes that hire KPMG to audit its books – and to advise it on how to defeat safety audits and murder your grandma:

https://pluralistic.net/2023/05/09/dingo-babysitter/#maybe-the-dingos-ate-your-nan

They're the architects of Microsoft's tax-evasion plot:

https://www.propublica.org/article/the-irs-decided-to-get-tough-against-microsoft-microsoft-got-tougher

And they were behind Canada's dysfunctional covid contact-tracing app, which never worked, but generated tens of millions in billings to the government of Canada, who used KPMG to hire programmers at $1,500/day, plus KPMG's 30% commission:

https://pluralistic.net/2023/01/31/mckinsey-and-canada/#comment-dit-beltway-bandits-en-canadien

KPMG's most bizarre scandal is literally stranger than fiction. The company bribed SEC personnel help its own accountants cheat on ethics exams. The corrupt officials were then given high-paid jobs at KPMG:

https://www.nysscpa.org/news/publications/the-trusted-professional/article/sec-probe-finds-kpmg-auditors-cheating-on-training-exams-061819

I mean it when I say this is stranger than fiction. I included it as a plot-point in my new finance crime novel The Bezzle (now a national bestseller!), and multiple readers have written to me since the book came out a couple weeks ago to say that they thought I was straining their credulity by making up such an outrageous scandal:

https://us.macmillan.com/books/9781250865878/thebezzle

But all of that is just scene-setting (and a gratuitous plug for my book) for the latest KPMG scandal, which is, possibly, the most KPMG scandal of all KPMG scandals. The Australian government hired KPMG to audit Paladin, a security contractor that oversees the asylum seekers the country locks up on one of its island gulags (yes, gulags, plural).

Ever since, Paladin has been the subject of a string of ghastly human rights scandals – the worst stuff imaginable, rape and torture and murder of adults and children. Paladin made AU423 million on this contract.

And here's the scandal: KPMG audited the wrong company. The Paladin that the Australia government paid KPMG to audit was based in Singapore. The Paladin that KPMG audited was a totally different company, based in Papua New Guinea, who already had a commercial relationship with KPMG. It was this colossal fuckup that led to the manifestly unfit Singaporean company getting nearly half a billion dollars in public funds:

https://www.theguardian.com/business/2024/feb/24/incredible-failure-kpmg-rejects-claims-it-assessed-the-wrong-company-before-423m-payment-to-paladin

KPMG denies this. KPMG denies everything, always. Like, they denied creating "power maps" of decision-makers in the Australian government to target with influence campaigns in order to win contracts like this one. Who knows, maybe, this one time, they're telling the truth? After all, the company whose employees gather to sing lyrics like these can't be all bad, right?

The time is now to lead the way, We share the same the idea That may win by the end of the day. Our strength is here to stay. Identity, one energy, One strategy, with sympathy. These are the words that will lead us into a new world.

https://everything2.com/title/KPMG+corporate+anthem

You may find it strange that I'm still carrying around the factoid that KPMG once threatened to crush a blogger for linking to its terrible corporate anthem, but that's just my "Memex Method," which helps me keep track of literally everything that seemed important to me through most of my adult life:

https://pluralistic.net/2021/05/09/the-memex-method/

One of my favorite quips from the very quotable Riley Quinn is that "leftists are cursed with object-permanence" – that is, we actually remember what just happened and use it to think about what's happening now. The Memex Method is object permanence for 20+ years worth of stuff. A lot of those deep archives never see use, but there's a surprising number of leading indicators buried in the stuff that happened in years gone by.

Take James Boyle's 2014, XKCD-style comic about the experience of driving a notional Apple car:

https://www.thepublicdomain.org/2014/11/07/apple-updates-a-comic/

Apple, it turns out, spent the next decade working on just such a car, and while that car has now been canceled, Boyle's comic correctly anticipates so much about the trajectory Apple's products took. It's uncannily accurate – real "don't invent the torment nexus"/"cyberpunk was a warning, not a suggestion" stuff:

https://knowyourmeme.com/memes/torment-nexus

But no matter how many times we insist that the torment nexus shouldn't be created, the boardrooms of end-stage capitalism continue to invent them. Take HP, the poster-child for enshittification, edging out even KPMG in the race to turn everything into a pile of shit. After years of tormenting people to punish them for wanting to print things, HP has announced a new service that so mustache-twirlingly evil that it lacks verisimilitude:

https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2024/02/hp-wants-you-to-pay-up-to-36-month-to-rent-a-printer-that-it-monitors/

Here's the pitch: HP will sell you a printer that you don't own. In addition to paying a monthly fee for your ink – which you pay no matter whether you print or not – you will also pay a monthly fee just for having HP's printer on your premises. You are absolutely, positively forbidden from using third-party ink in this printer, and must use HP's own ink, which sells for about $10,000/gallon.

But while you aren't allowed to use this printer in ways that are bad for HP's shareholders, HP is absolutely free to use the printer in ways that are bad for you. When you click through the signup agreement, you grand HP permission to surveil every document you print – and your home wifi network more generally – and to sell that data to anyone and everyone.

What's more, HP reserves the right to discipline you with punitive credit-card charges if you disconnect this printer from the internet, on the basis that doing so makes it harder for them to spy on your printer.

I'm sorry, this is just more torment nexus shit, the kind of thing you'd expect to drop on Apr 1, not Feb 29, but I guess this is where we are. I can only conjecture as to whether HP's businesses strategists are directly taking direction from my novella "Unauthorized Bread," or whether they're learning about it second-hand from a KPMG consultant who converted it to Powerpoint form and charged $1,500/day for the work:

https://arstechnica.com/gaming/2020/01/unauthorized-bread-a-near-future-tale-of-refugees-and-sinister-iot-appliances/

All of this cartoonish villainry is the totally foreseeable consequence of a culture of impunity, in which companies like HP and KPMG can rob, cheat, steal (and sometimes even kill) without consequence. This impunity is so pervasive that the exceptions – where a rich criminal faces real consequences – become touchstones: Enron, Arthur Anderson, Theranos, and, of course, FTX.

FTX was arguably the largest-scale corporate crime in world history, stealing more than $10 billion dollars, mostly from rubes sucked in by hype and Superbowl ads. When news that FTX founder and owner Sam Bankman-Fried was convicted of fraud and was in for a lengthy prison sentence made a huge stir, because criminals like SBF usually walk away from the wreckage with their hands in their pockets, whistling a jaunty tune.

One of the very best commentators on cryptocurrency scams generally and FTX/SBF in particular is Molly White, whose Web3 is Going Just Great feed is utterly indispensable. White's newsletter, "Citation Needed," dives deep into the wrangle of SBF's sentencing:

https://www.citationneeded.news/issue-52/

Bankman-Fried's parents – prominent law professors at top law schools – helped brief the court this week on their son's punishment. According to them, SBF faces 100 years in prison, but should be sentenced to 5.5-6.5 years at the most. Why? Because he is a vegan, who is not greedy, and feels remorse, and cares for individuals (recall that SBF presented himself as the avatar of the batshit "effective altruism" philosophy while privately admitting that he used this as a smokescreen).

The most bizarre note in the 100-page filing is SBF's mother declaring that her son is an "angel of mercy," apparently unaware of the grisly meaning of that term:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Angel_of_mercy_(criminology)

America's prisons are a travesty and I wouldn't wish them on anyone, but that's not the argument SBF's parents are making; rather, they're arguing that their special boy doesn't deserve the treatment America metes out to poorer, less white people who merely steal hundreds or thousands of dollars. A crook who steals ten billion should be handled the way a casino handles a whale – with concierge service.

The problem is, there are so many of these remorseless, relentless crooks that there's no way we could scale up that white-glove treatment when we finally round 'em all up and make them pay. Writing for The American Prospect, Maureen Tkacik tells us about the ransomware attack that shut down America's pharmacy system last month:

https://prospect.org/health/2024-03-01-zoomer-hackers-shut-down-unitedhealthcare/

The attack brought down Change Healthcare, part of the monopolist Unitedhealth, which serves as the "pharmacy benefit manager" to a vast swathe of American pharmacies. PBM is one of those all-American finance scams, a middleman garlanded with performative complexity put there to make you feel stupid for asking why independent pharmacies all have to pay rent to this malicious, unaccountable – and now, manifestly incompetent – gang of crooks.

Tkacik's breakdown of this scam – and how it rendered Americans' ability to get the drugs they depend on to go on breathing – is characteristically brilliant. Tcacik is fast emerging as my favorite Explainer of Scams, a print version of John Oliver or Adam Conover. You may recall her work from my post last week on how private equity has taken a wrecking ball to America's hospitals:

https://pluralistic.net/2024/02/28/5000-bats/#charnel-house

I always try to finish these linkdumps with some upbeat news to carry you through the weekend, and this week brought two genuinely wonderful – and totally underreported – pieces of amazing news.

The first is that Starbucks has sued for peace in the war against its workers' unions. Hundreds of Starbucks stores have unionized in recent years, but not one of them had a contract. Instead, Starbucks had waged dirty war on their own workers, from denying gender-affirming care to unionized employees to simply shutting down whole stores after they voted to unionize:

https://www.cnbc.com/2022/06/14/starbucks-union-company-threatens-that-unionizing-could-jeopardize-gender-affirming-health-care.html

But the workers held fast and after years of this, Starbucks has caved, promising contracts for all unionized stores and an end to its campaign of terror against workers seeking to unionize more of its stores. In a postmortem for Jacobin, Eric Blanc rounds up "seven lessons from Starbucks workers' historic victory":

https://jacobin.com/2024/02/starbucks-sbwu-contract-bargaining/

This is the kind of listicle I can get behind. According to Blanc, the Starbucks unions won by deploying worker-to-worker organizing, a tactic that many of the new unions that are shaking up formerly impossible-to-organize jobsites are using (Blanc has a book about this coming from UC Press called "We Are the Union: How Worker-to-Worker Unionism Can Transform America," so he should know).

Other tactics that made the difference for Starbucks unions: new digital training and support tools and partnering with established unions for support and infrastructure. Blanc also calls out the success of "salting" – the venerable but largely disused tactic of union organizers applying for a job at a non-union shop in order to organize it.

Blanc also mentions government policy, including the outstanding work of NLRB general counsel Jennifer Abruzzo, a shrewd and committed tactician whose understanding of the technicalities of labor law have let her push for bold measures. For example, in Thrive Pet Care, Abruzzo is arguing that when a company refuses to bargain in good faith for a contract with its union, she can step in and order them to honor the terms of a contract at comparable unionized competitors until they produce a contract of their own:

https://pluralistic.net/2023/09/06/goons-ginks-and-company-finks/#if-blood-be-the-price-of-your-cursed-wealth

Abruzzo is one of several smart, competent tacticians in the Biden administration who are working to kneecap corporate power. Another is Rohit Chopra, chair of the Consumer Finance Protection Bureau, who just announced another bold, important initiative that will help Americans fight corporate corruption and get a fair deal:

https://prospect.org/economy/2024-03-01-public-option-credit-card-shopping/

Chopra is taking aim at credit-card comparison sites that purport to show you where you can get the best deal. If you're an affluent person who doesn't carry a balance, this might not matter to you, but if you're an average working stiff, high interest rates can gobble up a massive share of your paycheck. What's more, credit card margins are higher than they have ever been:

https://www.consumerfinance.gov/about-us/blog/credit-card-interest-rate-margins-at-all-time-high/

The most expensive credit cards come from the big, monopolistic banks, but you wouldn't know it from the leaderboards produced by Credit Karma, NerdWallet, LendingTree, and Bankrate. All of these sites take bribes from the big banks to list their credit cards above those offered by credit unions – who are typically 10% cheaper than the big banks' cards.

The new CFPB rule prohibits this fraudulent ranking, but the Bureau is going even further. They're using their administrative powers to force banks to report their rates to the Bureau, which will publish them on a publicly funded, neutral website – what David Dayen calls "a public option" for shopping for credit cards.

This policy makes a perfect bookend to the last CFPB initiative I wrote about here: a rule that forces banks to allow you to transfer your account to a rival with a couple of simple clicks, importing all your history, payees, and everything else you need to switch to a better bank:

https://pluralistic.net/2023/10/21/let-my-dollars-go/#personal-financial-data-rights

Combine that ease of switching with reliable information on which banks will give you the best deal and you get something that will directly transfer millions and millions of dollars from giant, wildly profitable banks to low-income people who've been tricked into paying them punitive interest rates.

So that's it, this week's linkdump. I promised you I'd end on a high note, and I did it. The world may be full of all kinds of terrible things, but workers and regulators are scoring big, muscular victories in battles where the stakes are real and important. Have a great weekend – we've earned it.

And remember!

The time is now to lead the way, We share the same the idea That may win by the end of the day. Our strength is here to stay. Identity, one energy, One strategy, with sympathy. These are the words that will lead us into a new world.

If you'd like an essay-formatted version of this post to read or share, here's a link to it on pluralistic.net, my surveillance-free, ad-free, tracker-free blog:

https://pluralistic.net/2024/03/02/macedoine/#the-public-option

Image: Stacy (modified) https://www.flickr.com/photos/notahipster/4402860361/

CC BY 2.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/