How to Drive Safely During the Holidays

Contractor Expenses Explained When you are working as a contractor,there are certain expenses you’ll incur,for example travel,gear or even entertaining customers. Unlike working for an employer,you won’t need someone there to cover the invoice for you,which means you are going to have to deal with two choices as to the way to treat those expenses moving forward. As a contractor you can eitheroffset a few of the expenses from your tax invoice,or recover the costs from your end customer. But beware,the two choices aren’t always possible. {Read on as - explains the Intricacies of contractor expenditures.|} By definition,business expenses are prices which you have incurred purely for business purposes. While a few are more prevalent,like travel costs,others are more specific and can easily be missed. When considering how to care for your expenses,it is important to comprehend the gap between claimable and offsettable business expenditures. Claimable expenses are prices you can get back from the customer. On the other hand,offsettable expenses can be offset against tax. While you used to be in a position to do both through an umbrella company,after a set of clamp downs,many contractors are at present unable to cancel any expenses while working through an umbrella. If you have a great deal of offsettable expenses,then it is well worth considering working through your own Limited Company. If your expenses will be low or could be claimed back from your end customers,then an umbrella company is a good option to pick. How can IR35 influence expenses? An important thing to note is that you can not offset expenses through eithera limited company or an umbrella in case you are operating inside IR35 (most public sector workers). Limited companies operating outside IR35 can still benefit from offsetting expenses,while contractors inside IR35 can only claim administration expenditures,some work-related subscriptions and their pension contributions. This means that for those caught by IR35,the hassle of administering a limited company for little taxable advantage is too great,with the majority opting to use a umbrella instead. If you are simply claiming back a cost from your customer then you will be reimbursed in fullfor your cost and will incur no tax upon the payment. However,offsetting expenses from tax is not quite as straightforward. In essence,your expenses are deducted from your earnings,to find your true income degree. Consequently,in the event that you earned £5,000 per month on your contract and spent a total of £1,000 on business expenditures,you would pay tax upon the £4,000 actual income you earned with £1,000 tax-free. {Having this amount of your earnings without tax essentially repays you for the money you spent on the expenses in the first place.|} This is only a general example,but and does not take into consideration the intricacies of PAYE taxation or dividend payments. It is always best to seek expert help from an accountant if you are dealing with taxation and expenses. With that in mind,this rest of this post will concentrate on offsettable expenses. Here are the various things you can maintain for as a offsettable business investment… Throughout a contract awayfrom their regular workplace,contractors can claim for travel costs. They do so at a speed of 45p per mile up to 10,000 miles in a fiscal year. {That’s the tax year,which runs from 6th April to 5th April the following year. |} After you have travelled 10,000 miles, you can only maintain 25p per mile. The mileage allowance covers fuel and vehicle running costs. However, you could also claim for parking costs and any congestion charges or toll roads. Contractors can also claim tax back 5p per mile if they are a passenger in a vehicle. However,it is important to be aware that you can not claim for parking or speeding fines. Other transportation If you are traveling by motorcycle,you can claim back tax at a speed of 24p per mile. {Travelling by bike,on the other hand,can be claimed for in a rate of 20p per mile. |} {Contractors can claim back the tax for the cost of the journey on public transport too. |} To accomplish this,you’ll need to keep your receipts or tickets with prices on. You can maintain for any mode of transportation,while it’s bus,train or airplane,but it needs to be the most appropriate,cost-effective mode of transportation for your trip. For trains and airplanes especially,tickets should be market class and reserved in advance in the best speed,where possible. Accommodation In the event you have to keep overnight for a couple of nights to operate on a contract,you can claim back the cost of the hotel as a cost. Again,this should be reserved in advance to get the best speed,where potential. {While there is no set limit,any accommodation costs claimed as a cost must be considered’reasonable’. |} So,spending tens of thousands of pounds each night when cheaper alternatives are available a similar distance awayfrom your place of work could be reversed to be an unreasonable expense. Meals It might surprise you to know that meals could be claimed as expenditures. When you are working out in a remote site or remaining overnight for function,you can claim back the cost of breakfast oran evening meal in which it is’reasonable’. Be sure that you keep any receipts,as you will have to claim meal prices separately. You can not claim backthe cost of food for the whole day. Reasonable meal prices can also be claimed back when entertainingclients. Therefore,you can return the VAT if you choose potential customers for lunch. Clothing Should you wear your normal clothes to operate,you can not maintain anything back as a cost. This includes matters like suits,which you might not consider’normal garments’ since you do not wear them in your home. The differentiation comes with clothing that are essential to the job you are carrying out. Including branded pajamas with a company logo on or protective garments like hard hats or high visibility items. Office prices Leasing and running a workplace is just one of the largest expenses for some contractors. Luckily,your lease,business rates,energy bills and insurance can be claimed as expenses. Other office equipment could be claimed too,so long as it is something which is going to be used for less than two years. Therefore,while permanent furniture or computers Can’t Be claimed,you can claim expenses to the following: Telephone bills Internet invoices Postage costs Stationery and printer ink Software used for over two years or software that is renewed regularly over periods shorter than two years Training In some cases,you might want to complete training to improve the caliber of work on a particular contract. To maintain this back as a cost,it must be relevant to this contract you are working on. { Quick and easy umbrella comparison |} Together with -,you can compare umbrella firms with no hassle at all. Just create an account and you’ll have the ability to weigh upthe very best umbrella provider for you and get the amount of service you deserve. Contact now to find out more.

As you’ll see,there are many ‘flavors’ of affiliate marketing: different approaches,different platforms,most of which can rightfully be termed “affiliate marketing”.
You probably have your own notion of what affiliate marketing looks like,what comes to mind when you think about the business of affiliate marketing – product review sites,Amazon affiliate links placed on a blog or within articles,promoting affiliate products to a mailing list,etc.

This is not intended to be an almanac of disparate affiliate marketing tactics.

Overview

1. Choose Your Niche / Topic
2. Develop Your Keyword List
3. Create Your Content
4. Build Your Website
5. Monetize Your Website
6. Drive Traffic
7. Optimize & Improve
8. Expand

Conceptually,affiliate marketing like this is fairly simple & straightforward: Choose your topic,determine which keywords & phrases are used to search in that topic,write articles optimized for those keywords,build the site using the content you created,add links to related affiliate products,then get the attention of people interested in the topic. For additional help on this affiliate marketing process:-

Visitors show up to browse the content,and some percentage click through and buy from your affiliate links,thereby generating your profits.

Here,we will break this down into a series of digestible and doable steps,building one on top of the next,until you have your business up,running,and generating revenues.

None of these steps is terribly complex or mystical; in fact,most have many ways to accomplish them,even many ‘right’ ways. But the difference between just ‘doing’ them,and doing them in a way that gets the results we’re after,while often subtle,are absolutely the difference between success & failure.

There are many ways to choose a niche,build a site,and drive traffic,but only a few will that result in strong,continuous conversions – the sales that produce your profits.

What is a niche anyway?

Your niche or topic is the basis of your website – it’s what your site will be about,it’s “Reason For Being”.

Choose the ‘wrong’ niche,and the best you can hope for is a constant struggle; more likely you’ll simply fail.

Choosing the ‘right’ niche won’t,by itself,insure success,but it is the single biggest determining factor,and what drives all subsequent steps.

If there’s anything ‘hard’ about picking your niche,it’s having to choose from so many excellent potential opportunities.

Once you know how to come up with and qualify niche ideas,the real fun begins – because as you’ll see,there are a near-infinite number of
good,lucrative niche site ideas waiting to be exploited. Your biggest problem will be deciding which to pursue

That said,I often hear from people who are just starting out that choosing a niche is difficult or frustrating – even mindboggling.

The four most common “complaints” I hear are:

1. Not knowing where to begin;
2. Not being able to come up with good ideas;
3. Not knowing if an idea will be profitable;
4. Not knowing if an idea is achievable.

One of the most important aspects of choosing your niche or topic is your “Reason For Being”.

Your Reason for Being is the reason your website exists,the justification for visitors to go there. Without a good,clear Reason for Being you’re sunk before you even begin.

Reason for Being answers the question “why would someone take the time & effort to visit your site”,shapes the approach you take,and dictates your content.

Suppose I have a passion for animals,and decide I want to create a site in the ‘pets’ niche.

After brainstorming,looking around online,thinking about my own experiences,etc.,I decide to create a site about keeping pets for apartment dwellers. Having lived in big cities and being a pet lover,I know there are unique challenges and restrictions for pet lovers in the city. Large or very active dogs,for instance,don’t typically do well living in an apartment. If it’s a walk-up,that poses additional challenges. Even tropical fish can pose problems – very large aquariums are immensely heavy and require firm,strong flooring underneath.

If I were to simply build a site without consideration of my Reason for Being,it would end up being a hodge-podge of marginally-related articles,with little cohesion or connectedness.

Looking at this example,however,I can come up with a clear,strong Reason for Being: addressing the specific challenges facing apartment dwellers who want to have a pet or pets. Now,instead of assembling a hodge-podge of articles,I can map out a strategy that will dictate my content:

• Dog breeds that adapt well to apartment living
• Desensitizing your dog to noise & activity
• Treadmills: exercising your dog when you can’t take him out

Your Reason for Being provides the reason for someone to visit your site. The clearer and more specific your Reason for Being,the better off you’ll be.An easier,obvious example is a review site. A site reviewing coffee makers would have as it’s reason for being,comparing different coffee makers in order to make a purchase decision.Improving the Reason for Being,we might instead build a review site around a narrower,more specific choice,for example “Home Espresso Makers”.

While there may be less people looking,it will be considerably easier to get and convert visitors looking to find out about and purchase a “Home Espresso Maker” than just a generic “Coffer Maker”.Taking that a step further still,”Home Espresso Makers For Price-Conscious Shoppers” is a clear,direct,and specific Reason for Being.

Someone looking for a low-priced home espresso maker will literally light up if they find a site devoted to “Home Espresso Makers For Price-Conscious Shoppers”.Examples of strong Reason for Being’s include:

Review & comparison sites

‘How To’ and tutorial sites

‘Top X’ and ‘best of’ sites

Unique solutions (i.e. ‘home remedies’,or our example above,etc)

Expertise sites

Unmet needs

‘Better mousetraps’

Whatever niche or topic you decide on,make sure you frame it with a clear,specific Reason for Being.

What should you perform in NYC? We asked some New Yorkers. They gave us their best tips on how to explore the Big Apple,from getting on the subway to finding the city’s best bagels to definitely (definitely) leaving Manhattan

# 1: Get out of Manhattan

Manhattan is wonderful. But locals note that it’s only 1/5 of NYC– you’ll find much of New York’s coolest places to visit in the other four boroughs.

Besides Manhattan,where should you go? Locals say it depends on your travel style. Our trip planners say that Brooklyn is a great place to enjoy local breweries,that you’ll find fantastic Asian cuisine in Queens (dim sum!!),and that the Bronx Botanical Garden is really fantastic.

Plus,you can easily get on a train to an entirely different universe– upstate New York! Not far from the city,you’ll find fantastic nature,hiking trails,small towns,and places to camp. We have local trip planners in the Hudson Valley and the Catskills. They can help you plan a visit. Learn more.

So if you’re trying to find cool things to do in NYC,catch the train. Cross a bridge. You’ll find a lot to do beyond Manhattan.

Local tip: Staten Island gets a bum rap,but taking the ferry there is free– and the island offers some cool hikes.

# 2: Wander through Times Square …

Locals tell us they get it. If it’s your very first time in NYC,you’re going to want to go to Times Square. (They note,however,that you won’t see any local New Yorkers there.).

Wander through,take a look at the lights,and snap a selfie. But then walk a few blocks. There’s a lots of cool stuff nearby.

If you walk about fifteen minutes south,locals say you’ll get to Koreatown– and delicious Korean food. Walk a few blocks to the west,you’ll hit the Hell’s Kitchen neighborhood– and more fantastic restaurants. Our trip planners say you’ll also find some great museums within walking distance,including some hidden gems– like the beautiful Morgan Library.

# 3: Have a hotdog (or some halal food).

Sure,you’ll find plenty of incredible restaurants in New York. But there’s something special about NYC street food. Maybe it’s because everyone in New York has somewhere to become,that makes these grab-and-go meals a vital part of city life.

Locals can provide you some direction when it comes to their favorite street food snacks. Hot dogs,obviously,are iconic. (Especially NYC’s so-called “dirty water dogs”.) Or,visit a halal cart to grab a delicious meal of chicken or lamb over rice. (Our trip planners in New York recommend getting white sauce and hot sauce).

As for the most important meal of the day? Locals assure us you’ll find fantastic breakfast carts on almost every corner. Proceed and grab a bagel,muffin,or donut before power walking your way through the city streets.

Local tip: Definitely check out New York City farmers’ markets. And in the summer,go to Williamsburg to eat lunch at Smorgasburg. They have dozens of vendors all with different sort of food.

# 4: Catch a live show.

Broadway is cool and you should go. But locals tell us that you’ll find live shows throughout NYC. Everything from underground (and free) comedy clubs to Shakespeare in the Park to immersive theater experiences. NYC draws creatives. And the result is that you’ll find shows all over the city,every night of the week.

If you love music,see what a like-minded local says about their favorite venues. Our trip planners tell us that the historic Blue Note is great for jazz. If you love indie-rock,go see a show at Baby’s All Right. More into traditional music? Visit the NY Philharmonic or the Metropolitan Opera.

Local tip: If your New York City budget is not Broadway sized but you want to see a show,try to get discounted tickets at TKTS.

# 5: Eat as much iconic NYC food as you can.

Yup,another must-do in New York City has to do with eating. There are just so many incredible eats here.
Both big ones? Bagels and pizza.

You’ll have so many choices for these in New York,so get some local advice. Our trip planners tell us that 2 Bros Pizza,Joe’s,and DiFara’s are all great. And those $1 slices always suffice.

For bagels,they tell us it really depends. Some people prefer the smaller,chewy style of Bagel Bob’s. Some prefer the fluffier fare at Leo’s. But all can settle on the NYC magic of a fresh-baked everything bagel with generous globs of cream cheese.

Local tip: There are up to 800 languages spoken within the 5 boroughs which means you can likely find whatever type of cuisine you want. You’ll find Ukraine food in Brighton Beach; Shanghai snacks in Flushing; and Polish dumplings in Greenpoint.

# 6: Bask in Central Park …

We’re all about leaving the beaten path,but the well-known and well-loved Central Park is absolutely worth a visit. Plus,this park is full of so many twisting trails that it is possible to wander from the main drag.
Locals suggest wandering the thirty-six miles of the Ramble,sunbathing in Sheep Meadow,or simply wandering around. You’re bound to discover some treasures.

# 7: … but make certain to explore Prospect Park too.

Is Central Park incredible? Yes. Is Prospect Park in Brooklyn more incredible? Possibly– even Frederick Law Olmsted,who designed both parks,saw Prospect Park as his “masterpiece”.

And locals love Prospect Park. They tell us that it’s quieter than Central Park,and feels more like a hidden gem than its well-traveled Manhattan sibling.
What to do here? Our trip planners suggest wandering the trails,watching the dogs splash around Dog Beach,seeing a show at the bandshell,or visiting the beautiful Brooklyn Botanical Gardens.

# 8: Get on the subway.

The subway may seem intimidating. But locals tell us that New York’s prime form of transportation is safe,simple to use,and extensive. It’s a must if you want to explore every corner of the city.

So get that Metrocard! If you’re going to be using the subway often,our trip planners suggest getting a 1-week unlimited pass. They also note that,at many stations in Manhattan,you don’t need a Metrocard at all. You can tap your charge card or your smartphone to enter the turnstile.

# 9: Wander through as many museums as possible.

Museums play a huge role in New York’s status as a hub of art and history. Locals love them just as much as tourists. They suggest visiting the Met and the MoMA obviously,but also highly recommend branching out and visiting some of the less-touristy spots– like the Guggenheim,the New Museum,the Museum of Sex.

# 10: Discover the hidden gems– see NYC like the locals do.

New York City is huge. Huge,and constantly changing. That means that new places are popping up constantly. Guidebooks and Internet lists simply can’t keep pace with everything going on in this particular dynamic city. When you work with a local to plan your trip,they’ll let you learn about the activities they adore. Maybe it’ll be the Greenmarket at Grand Army Plaza. Or maybe catching a show at Rough Sell Williamsburg … or maybe … Basically,there’s a New York City that the tourists see … and an entirely different city that the locals love. Why see New York City like a tourist when you could see it like a local?