Putting the Thanks into Thanksgiving
Putting the Thanks into Thanksgiving
As an American National holiday, Thanksgiving has root in the 1620’s beginning as a celebration in gratitude for a much needed harvest in combination with gratitude for much needed and recently acquired freedoms. Thanksgiving is meant to commemorate a life of opportunity and abundance. But, in reality, does thanks seem to be the focus of the day? Oftentimes Thanksgiving ends up being more about turkey, pie and side dishes—this year, let’s take on the “THANKS-giving challenge” and put the thanks back into Thanksgiving.
Step one:
- Pick a person you’d like to come closer to—a significant other, friend, child, co-worker, anyone
Step two:
- Take 30 seconds daily for a time period of your choice—weeks, months, a year, etc.—and record something specific that you appreciate about this person
Step three:
- Share the results with the person you chose in step one
Darren Hardy, publisher of SUCCESS Magazine, shares about his experience in doing this activity with his wife:
“When I gave it [the journal] to her the following Thanksgiving, she cried, calling it the best gift she’d ever received. (Even better than the BMW I’d given her for her birthday!) The funny thing was that the person most affected by this gift was me. All that journaling forced me to focus on my wife’s positive aspects. I was consciously looking for all the things she was doing “right.” That heartfelt focus overwhelmed anything I might have otherwise complained about. I fell deeply in love with her all over again (maybe even more than ever, as I was seeing subtleties in her nature and behavior instead of her more obvious qualities). My appreciation, gratitude, and intention to find the best in her was something I held in my heart and eyes each day.”
We promise similar outcomes for you and the person you choose. So let’s take the challenge to put the thanks back into Thanksgiving and become grateful, appreciative people. We look forward to hearing the results.
Happy Thanksgiving and THANK YOU for being our friends and associates!
Thanksgiving: A Great Time for Estate Planning
Thanksgiving: Time for Estate Planning
With Thanksgiving and other end of the year holidays just around the corner, its prime time to get family together and prime time to get your family talking about estate planning. Yes, yes, we know that conversations about estate planning can be awkward but we know that the longterm benefit of having these talks far outweighs the uncomfortable feelings in the moment.
Many people like to keep things close to the vest and don’t share their wishes and pertinent financial information with close family members. While we respect individual feelings and beliefs about what should and should not be shared, the harsh reality of sudden accident or illness cannot be ignored. It can quickly become too late to share your wishes.
A recent article on TheStreet.com recounts the story of Margaret Padock, a Twin Cities market leader for U.S. Bank’s The Private Client Reserve. “Some 15 years ago, she watched her 53-year-old mother struggle with early onset dementia. She would get lost driving to familiar places and forget to bathe or wash her clothes. Then she lost her job as a result and was even scammed out of her life savings by a caller who’d told her she won the Mexican lottery and only had to wire $30,000 to pay off the taxes on her “winnings.” By the time Paddock and her family thought to address estate planning, she says it was far too late and — thanks to an early misdiagnosis — her mother was not able to make many of those estate planning decisions for herself.”
American families are growing more and more geographically distant so the time spent physically together around Thanksgiving and the holidays is ideal to talk about plans, wishes, etc. Its a great way to address things with everybody in the same room.
Here are some tips for a successful estate planning conversation:
-Treat it like a family meeting
-Keeping cell phones and other distractions out of the room
-Make sure everyone, even those family members who didn’t make it to dinner this year, are included. Include out-of-towners via phone or Skype.
-It is unlikely that you’ll be able to cover everything you want to talk about in one meeting. Keep it short and know that you’ll need follow up meetings in the future.
If you would rather keep the spirit light around the holidays and don’t feel that those family gatherings would be an appropriate time to bring up estate planning, its important that you make another time to talk about it. Make estate planning a priority in your family.
Read the full article over on TheStreet.com then make your appointment to come see Gary and his team at GQ Law in San Diego to get your estate planning taken care of.
Small Business Saturday
Small Business Saturday Tips
We all know the drill, it starts Thursday with the food. We stuff ourselves with turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes, rolls, pie…the list goes on. Yum! We rest it off (or walk it off hitting the early bird sales) then hit the ground running Friday and shop ’til we drop. Black Friday is known for offering some of the best prices of the year on a variety of items. You can get everything from TVs to shoes to DVDs on sale. Then comes the somewhat lesser known festivity, Small Business Saturday.
With all the big box stores setting their prices at rock bottom on Friday, how can us smaller businesses compete? Meet Small business Saturday! While its very unlikely that small businesses can match or compete with big box Black Friday sale prices, we can offer more than human trampling, fighting over children’s toys and mad chaos. We can offer what we always do, good quality products, fair prices and excellent customer service. We can even throw in a sale or two!
According to a recent Accenture survey, forty percent of Americans plan to spend more on holiday shopping this year than they did in 2014. This is good news for retailers of all sizes! With consumers out there wanting and willing to spend more money, Small Business Saturday is the prime time for small businesses to shine.
Here are a few tips to make sure you get the attention you deserve this Small Business Saturday, November 28th.
- Host a special event: Get customers in the door or to your website. Once they’re there entertain them- offer discounts, snacks, promotions, etc.
- Get Contact Info: Run a raffle or other prize drawing promotion, its a great way to get contact info. A couple weeks after the event, follow up by sending a thank you email to participants and extending another offer, coupon or invitation.
- Make sure you’re updated online: In order to get found online you need to be up to date and fresh. Consider a full review of your website. Update old information and get some new, fresh content out.
- Support other small businesses: Team up! Promote each other on social media. Host an event together. Point shoppers to other small businesses. Share the small business love!
- Hashtag: Use #SmallBizSat #ShopSmall and #SmallBusinessSaturday. Encourage customers to Tweet, post and share about it too. Last year more than 126,000 Tweets were sent in support of the initiative, 10 percent more than in 2013.
For more ideas on how you can take advantage of #SmallBusinessSaturday check out this entrepreneur.com article.
To get your business listed on the American Express Small Business Saturday site, get support and request free promotional materials click here.
Estate Planning Fatigue
Estate Planning Fatigue
According to a recent survey conducted by CNBC.com, more than one-third of high-net-worth families have not set up a basic estate plan to protect and provide for their loved ones when they die.
The survey found that 38 percent of millionaires with investable assets of $1 million or more have not established an estate plan with the help of a financial expert. Millionaires with $5 million or more were more likely to have an established estate plan with 68 percent having one.
The survey also found that Republicans were more likely to use (more…)
Tax Season Prep: Choosing a Tax Preparer
Tax Season Prep: Choosing a Tax Preparer
While tax season may be one of the last things on your mind this time of year, there is no better time than now to find a good tax preparer. A good tax preparer can advise you on how to best finish out this tax year now and ease your tax filing stress come tax time. Once the end of the year comes and tax season begins, tax professional get busy and it will be harder to “shop around,” get advice, etc.
In a recent IRS Newswire release, the IRS gives some tips that can help taxpayers as they select a tax preparer:
Look for someone ethical:
You will give the preparer a lot of personal information so you want someone who values your privacy and will also help you complete your return honestly. (more…)
Amazing Customer Service
Amazing Customer Service
Experience #1:
After spending some time in the yard, my brother-in-law, father-in-law and I decided to head to Subway to get some lunch. My father-in-law was nice enough to foot the bill but unfortunately he’d forgotten his rewards card at home. The cashier told him not to worry and that he could get a new card, go online and merge it with the old one once we got back to the house.
After 45 frustrating minutes of trying to get the two cards merged online, we gave up—I’m a tech savvy guy and I literally couldn’t figure it out.
Contrast that to another experience.
Experience #2:
In an effort to find a movie online, I decided to check out Amazon Video. As I clicked around, I’m not sure what I did, but I accidentally signed up for Amazon Prime. Accidentally. It was that easy. So then, since it was an accident, I decided to cancel my Prime membership. I called Amazon’s customer service line and this was how it went.
Amazon: “If you’re calling about Prime memberships, press 1.”
Me: *1*
Amazon: “Please enter the last 4 digits of the credit card attached to your account.”
Me: *####*
Amazon: “If you’d like to cancel your membership, press 1.”
Me: *1*
Amazon: “Your account has been cancelled and a confirmation email will be sent to your email account on file. If you don’t need further assistance, feel free to hang up.”
Me: *End*
Phone: *Email alert*—“Amazon Prime Member Ship Cancellation”
Done.
This is not an effort to bag on one company and promote another but is a case to get us thinking about our own customer service. How easy is it? Is the process so simple that you could accidentally figure it out? Or is your tech savvy friend going to struggle? What steps can we eliminate? How can we automate this to make it fast?
This next week take note of every customer service experience you have and weigh it against your company. Then, come back and see what changes you can make. Think in terms of the question: “How can we make this effortless?”
Hopefully these experiences can help you reconsider your processes and get you on your way to amazing customer service. Good luck!
Mobile Marketing for Small Business
Mobile Marketing for Small Business
Successful mobile marketing is a delicate balancing act. It is easy to set up and automate but can quickly overwhelm and turn off customers if the messages are sent too often or with the wrong type of content.
A recent Bloomberg Business article noted that most cell phone owners are willing to share their personal data with merchants if (more…)
Content Marketing: The Rule of Thirds
Content Marketing: The Rule of Thirds
Competition for a customer’s time has never been higher. But at the same time, jumping into the marketing mix has never been easier. But how much do I spend? And where do I spend it? Michael Brenner, owner of NewsCred, a content marketing software company, shares his formula: the “Rule of Thirds.” We’ll break it into three steps.
First: Assign a marketing budget
The amount is up to you and depends greatly on your industry…but have something! The key is to allocate a certain amount of money each month, quarter or year—depending on your budget cycles—and to use that strictly for getting your business’ name out there.
Second: Split your marketing budget into thirds
- One-third on technology / infrastructure
- One-third on content
- One-third on paid distribution
Third: Split your content budget into thirds
- One-third on licensed content
- One-third on original content
- One-third on User Generated Content (UGC) or co-created content with employees, influencers and/or customers
With the rule of thirds in place, you’ll have the money set aside, the right allocation of funds to drive your plan and the diversified and targeted content to captivate your customers. Good luck and we look forward to seeing your plans in action!
No Kids? Get an Estate Plan!
No Kids? Get an Estate Plan!
A recent US News article recently reiterated one of our GQ Law mottos- Everyone Needs an Estate Plan! This particular article targets those who do NOT have children. Often times, people get an Estate Plan to protect their minor children, make sure their kids get their assets after they die, etc. Having children creates an urgency about Estate Planning. So, what about those without kids? Do they still need an estate plan? YES!
Heirs or not, you cannot take your assets with you and if you have an opinion about who gets your stuff, you need to have an Estate Plan. US News quotes Jean-Luc Bourdon, a certified public accountant in Santa Barbara, California, “When it comes to what you’ll leave behind, there are only three buckets: Uncle Sam, charity or individuals.” Since most of us don’t really want Uncle Sam getting all of our hard earned assets when we kick the bucket, we’ve got to set up a proper Estate Plan to make sure as much of our assets as possible go to charities or individuals of our choice.
Many people with children create a will to make sure their kids are cared for but a Will can be just as important for people who don’t have children. Whether you want to leave money to a charity, your pets or other loved ones, a Will is the key. Bourdon emphasizes that establishing a will early is a good idea, in your 30s or 40s. He also reiterates that writing a will is not enough.
For most people, a complete estate plan covers a lot more than just a simple Will. One important thing to consider is a healthcare directive. What would happen if you were to get in an accident that leaves you unable to communicate your own healthcare wishes. Who will make decisions about your medical treatment? Beyond that, considering HIPA privacy policies, who can get information about your health care situation?
GQ Law can teach you about the various documents available to protect your assets, your health and your life. Call us today to come in for a free consultation to get your estate plan going, kids or not! 858-549-8600
Tax Return Extension Deadline TODAY
Tax Return Extension Deadline TODAY
Thirteen million taxpayers requested an extension (more time) to file their federal tax returns. TODAY is the deadline for most of those people, an automatic 6 months after tax day, April 15.
If you are one of the many who took advantage of the extension, here are a few things you should know.
–File online. You can still hurry and file you return online (aka e-file) with IRS Free File via IRS.gov through midnight tonight. E-file is a safe, easy and accurate way to file your taxes. There are also a variety of tax filing programs that can help you e-file and make sure you get the maximum refund.
–Use direct deposit. If you are due a refund, sign up (more…)