My first Etsy Sale!

It's time to celebrate! My first etsy sale today! What a feeling to finally break thru! Seems like I've learned so much in the 5 weeks that I've been listing items. From learning how to take and edit better pictures, learning all about forums, chats, blogs, teams, twitter, flickr-the list is endless! sometimes my head is spinning! I need some time to create too! I've been learning to prioritize-I try to keep up with a limited number of blogs every day-would love to read more-and I usually do on the weekends. during the week I try to spend a little time in the forums and chat rooms-they are a wealth of information. If you haven't spent much time in them I suggest you check out the forums-if you have a question, people have answers! Forums are a good place to test out your ideas, and get critiques on your items.

Business Basics 101-Naming your business

A couple of great sources of information are the IRS website: www.IRS.gov and the Small Business Administration website: www.sba.gov. Locally, many states and counties have organizations set up to help small business start up. These are great places to check out and get information as well as mentoring! Lets start today with a little bit about naming your business: There is more to naming your business than just coming up with something that sounds good and you happen to like. Thought must be given to state and local requirements and making sure you don’t infringe upon the rights of someone else’s business name. Legal Requirements And Implications Picking a name for your business requires much more than just creativity and a working knowledge of your target market. First you'll need to decide which business structure you will use, since each structure has its own peculiarities. For example, many states require a sole proprietor to use their own name for the business name unless they formally file another name as a trade name, or fictitious name. Read more about How Business Structure Affects Business Names. Similarly, you will need to determine whether your trade name will be the same as the full legal name of your business. Of equal importance is finding out whether your name or a very similar name is being used by another business, and if so, what rights they may or may not have to use the name in the area where you do business. Keep in mind that some businesses only file trademarks within their locality, so it's possible that the same name can be used elsewhere. Here's some information on Trademark FAQs. Search And Registration Trade names can be registered through state Secretary of State offices, and for wider marketplace protection, through the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO Trademark Search). Businesses should first use the USPTO's online system to search all state and federal trademark registers to see if their proposed name is being used. Domain Names For many businesses that operate on the Web, trade names are synonymous with domain names, such as Amazon.com and Monster.com. Domain names are not registered through state or local government; rather they can be obtained through numerous online businesses, most of which will allow you to conduct a name search prior to purchase to make sure your chosen name isn't taken.

I got a Treasury tonight!

I got a Treasury tonight-I'm so excited! Take a few minutes to browse these finds! Here's the link http://www.etsy.com/treasury_list.php?room_id=35339 Have a great evening!

Death and Taxes...well taxes at least!

One of the things people are interested in is "what can I deduct on my income taxes?" As an accountant I do need to caution you, that the advice I'm giving you is general advice...the best thing for you is to consult an accountant or experienced tax preparer who is familiar with YOUR situation! We'll explore a lot of business areas-setting up your business, the types of entities available to you and their pros and cons, income and deductions, reporting requirements, record keeping, licenses, all sorts of good stuff! If you have any general questions-just let me know-I will try to post the answers here.

Wow-Have I got a lot to learn!

Well the blog is up and running...sort of! I've managed to add my Etsy mini and while in the forums found some other new bloggers-I' going to follow them and it will be interesting to see how we all progress. I've been thinking that I need to get outside a little more this winter. It's so pretty with all the snow we've had here in Michigan, but it just been soooo cold! I want to take some more pix-i like having pictures of nature scenes to look at for inspiration. Sometime when I'm stuck for color combinations I just look at some of my favorite pictures-and Voila! I'm still working on my blog page set up-if you have some tips to share Id love to hear them.

Welcome to my world of blogging!

Well I've finally taken the plunge! I decided one of the things I needed to do in order to promote my shop on Etsy was to set up a blog. Follow along with me as I learn about blogging and I'll fill you in on how I progress as a blogger! Right now-go take a look at my shop at www.fishprincessdesigns.etsy.com Have fun.