All Voices Seeking Contributors

I know a lot of people who make money online. Legitimately. From the people who make a little extra spending money through survey sites to the big players who earn their income through affiiate marketing, there is a lot of money to be made. Part of the problem is that if you get into a site too late, you may not have the chance to earn as much as people who got in early.

I heard of a new site today called All Voices that is looking for contributors. From what I can tell, you basically write articles on their site and get paid based on the number of people who read your articles. That’s a simple version. The real details involve the number of articles you write, how many people become a “fan” of your work, etc.

It’s an interesting concept. If you are the least bit interested and have any desire to write for money, you should try it out. It doesn’t cost anything to sign up, so you have nothing to lose. If you do sign up and write anything, come back here and leave a comment so that we can go check you out!

Mom Hits Affiliate Summit

I’ve just returned from Affiliate Summit and am already making plans for Affiliate Summit East 2009 in New York! It will take place August 9-11 at the New York Hilton. If you are a mom who is trying to make money blogging or through internet marketing, attending Affiliate Summit is a MUST. Not only will you connect with merchants but you will learn so much. By biggest take-aways from Affiliate Summit West were new contacts, search engine optimization help, and fabulous ideas about how to drive more traffic to my sites.

Do you need a platinum pass for Affiliate Summit? Maybe not if you just want to hit the exhibit hall to get information. But if you are looking to network, meeting up with people at breakfast and lunch is HUGE! I had an opportunity to have meals with some very important people in the industry, and I just know that I will see results from it.

If you have never been to an Affiliate Summit, you should absolutely investigate the possibility of attending. Affiliate Summit turned my websites from a hobby into a small business. If you book now, you will even get an early bird discount!

Want to Cash in Gold for Money?

I have to admit that I haven’t yet tried it myself. However, a lot of my friends have been doing that thing where you mail in broken gold jewelry and they mail you a check. Some of them have gotten hundreds of dollars! I don’t have a lot of old jewelry, but I definitely have some broken necklaces and bracelets that I am never going to use again.

If you are interested in sending in your broken jewelry, there are a few different sites that you can use. One that has been seen on TV a lot is Dollars for Gold. I’ve looked at their terms closely, and there doesn’t really seem to be any catch. Just understand how much you are insured for if you send in lots of jewelry at once.

You can sign up to have Dollars for Gold send you a package and instructions for free. It doesn’t hurt to check it out!

Tax Time is Just Around the Corner

Are you one of those people who puts off your taxes until the last possible minute? I’m one of those people who actually loved my tax class in law school! Although my handing out tax advice over the Internet would be in violation of some pretty serious state licensing laws, I’d still like to be able to help in any way that I can.

First of all, the mother of all tax websites–the Internal Revenue Service! Whether you are an individual, a business, a corporation, or a non-profit, you will find advice in both legal terms and layman’s terms on this website. You may even qualify for Free File, an electronic tax preparation service with online submission. 1040 Central has advice on tax law changes, files and forms, and fraudulent schemes. With IRS eFile, you can file your return online and have your refund direct deposited quicker than ever.

Parents have special tax needs and must know the credits and deductions available to them. The IRS Parents site includes information on the child tax credit, education credits (including the Hope Credit and the Lifetime Learning Credit), child and dependent care, and adoption .

Need a little help putting your return together? You have three main choices. The first is paying a CPA. If you were going that route, you probably would not have been searching online in March or April for tax advice. So we will talk about the other two choices–tax software and online tax preparation.

H&R Block offers a variety of different choices. They offer a Tax Calculator and also break down the Tax Law Changes. H&R Block’s Signature Online Tax Product lets you complete your tax return online or with tax software. Either way, you can electronically submit your return to an H&R Block tax professional who will review, correct any errors found, sign and e-file your return at no additional charge. TaxCut Standard is software that you load onto your computer that takes you through a series of questions to compile your return. Although it does not feature the professional review, it will still help you maximize your deductions.

The main difference between an online tax product and tax software is that you must be connected to the Internet while you use the online product. You will create a username and password and will connect to the program through your Internet browser. Sometimes you will be able to download information from previous years or even W-2 information rather than having to retype it. While I personally prefer an online tax service, you have a wider range of options with the stand-alone software.

Other tax programs can be purchased from many different sources. Walmart.com and Target.com sell various tax programs.

And after all of this, don’t forget about your state taxes!  Visit your local library or your state’s website for state-specific information. Many of the programs listed above will help you file your state as well as your federal return for little or no extra cost. Whatever you choose, just make sure that you file. If you owe, you are better off filing and working out a payment plan than letting it build up and paying penalties in the years to come. And if you are owed a refund, why let the government hold it for one more minute?