Outsourcing Quickbooks – Why Do You Need To Outsource QuickBooks?

Outsourcing QuickBooks has become one of the latest trends when it comes to managing business processes, and it is not because you simply deserve to another country something. This is due to consider the many benefits you can from it. For a business owner, outsourcing Quickbooks not only him to take more time for the delivery of more important aspects of its business, such as planning and marketing, but he can also spend days on to his personalLife like taking care of his family and his friends to see.

Here are some other reasons why outsourcing Quickbooks is the most sensible solution, even for small companies time.

1. Someone you can work for you at a much lower price. Whether you like it or not, if you want to expand your business, you can not work basically on your own. You also need to select someone who can help you look like on your QuickBooks accounting. The problem is, if you’re going toselect an in-house accountant, you pay not only for its content but also for the mandatory services. When you start or expand the business, accounting already eat a large chunk of your monthly budget and expenses.

May, on the other hand, if you go Outsourcing QuickBooks, you finally get someone who has experience in the field, but offer the service at a much lower price. This is because they can work in the comfort of your home and do not accumulategreat effort on your own. And if that’s not enough, you can take advantage of proprietary technology, which surprisingly, are able to sell similar.

2. You can minimize your overhead costs. Are you the operating system of your business at home? Even if you decide to expand, you do not need to rent an office and let your employees work with you in one place. You can only settle for the outsourcing of QuickBooks and then a group of people who care about the important daily operations of theYour company, such as payroll and invoices. You can even customize the performance of your company in mind your customer and inventory data, and reports to keep you with care when you need them. All in all you can as much as 50 percent of the companies save money when you try to outsourcing Quickbooks.

3. You no longer have to train them. A further substantial costs can arise if you hire someone is training. You have to pay for the material and the Time they spend will always be familiar with the program. You can not expect them to produce something on their first days, but you are already incurring costs on your side. Quickbooks Outsourcing can save you hundreds or even thousands of dollars in your online accountant does not need more training. You can only give them an overview of the business performance and the specific work you want them to do and they can even take care of the rest.

> Outsourcing QuickBooks will give you the appropriate personnel who are available 24 / 7 for you. In turn, outsourcing QuickBooks can help you transform into a much better owner for your business.

If you need help with your QuickBooks, or want more information about outsourcing, email – kim@tftservices.net

Record Retention: How long you should keep those documents!

Recommended length of time to keep books and records

The IRS says you must keep your records as long as they may be needed to prove the income or deductions on a tax return. For example, determining gain or loss on a sale or disposal of an asset, you will need to substantiate the cost, so records and receipts related to that asset must be kept as long as asset is still in service and then add 3 years.  The  IRS says the length of time to retain business documents varies depending on how honest and how accurate your tax returns have been.  If you file a fraudulent return, you must keep records indefinitely..

Reality is that destroying business records too soon or keeping business records them too long  (subpoenaed and introduced in evidence to support the claims of adversaries) has cost organizations millions of dollars in penalties, lost lawsuits, and created storage problems.  The following record retention table is  based more on business status quo rather than on authority, so use your best judgment and consult with your CPA and put together a schedule for keeping records and retaining business documents for your employees to follow.

Retention Record Schedule

As you will see under authority, most decisions for retention of documents are left up to the managers.

TYPE OF RECORD	RETENTION	AUTHORITY
ACCOUNTING & FISCAL	PERIOD YEARS
Accounts Payable Invoices	3	STATE
Accounts Payable Ledger	Permanently	Administrative Decision
Accounts Receivable Invoices & Ledgers	5	Administrative Decision
Balance Sheets	Permanently	Administrative Decision
Bank Deposits	3	Administrative Decision
Bank Statements	3	Administrative Decision
Capital Asset Record	3 after sale	Administrative Decision
Cash Receipt Records	7	Administrative Decision
Check Register	Permanently	Administrative Decision
Checks, Dividend	6
Checks, Payroll	2	STATE
Checks, cancelled	3	STATE
Cost Accounting Records	5	Administrative Decision
Earnings Register	3	STATE
Entertainment Gifts & Gratuities	3	Administrative Decision
Expense Reports	3	Administrative Decision
Financial Statements, Certified	Permanently	Administrative Decision
Financial Statements, Periodic	2	Administrative Decision
General Ledger Records	Permanently	Code of Federal Regulations
Labor Cost Records	3	Code of Federal Regulations
Note Register	Permanently	Administrative Decision
TYPE OF RECORD	RETENTION	AUTHORITY
	PERIOD YEARS
Payroll Registers	3	STATE
Petty Cash Receipts	3	Administrative Decision
P & L Statements	Permanently	Administrative Decision
Salesman Commission Reports	3	Administrative Decision
Travel Expense Reports	2	Administrative Decision
Work Papers, Rough	2	Administrative Decision
ADMINISTRATIVE RECORDS
Audit Reports	10	Administrative Decision
Classified Documents: Inventories,
Reports, Receipts	10	Administrative Decision
CORPORATE
Annual Reports	Permanently	Administrative Decision
Authority to Issue Securities	Permanently	Administrative Decision
Bonds, Surety	3	Administrative Decision
Capital Stock Ledger	Permanently	Administrative Decision
Charters, Constitutions, Bylaws	Permanently	Administrative Decision
Contracts	Permanently	Administrative Decision
Corporate Election Records	Permanently	Administrative Decision
Incorporation Records	Permanently	Administrative Decision
Stock Transfer & Stockholder	Permanently	Administrative Decision
Insurance Policies	Permanently	Administrative Decision
Patents & Related Material	Permanently	Administrative Decision
Trademark & Copyrights	Permanently	Administrative Decision>
PERSONNEL
Accident Reports, Injury Claims, Settlements	30	STATE
Applications, Changes & Terminations	5	Code of Federal Regulations
Attendance Records	7	Administrative Decision
Employee Contracts	6	Administrative Decision
Fidelity Bonds	3	Administrative Decision
Garnishments	5	Administrative Decision
Health & Safety Bulletins	Permanently	Administrative Decision
Injury Frequency Charts	Permanently	Code of Federal Regulations
Insurance Records, Employees	11	INS
Job Descriptions	2	Code of Federal Regulations
Rating Cards	2	Code of Federal Regulations
Time Cards	2	Code of Federal Regulations
PLANT & PROPERTY RECORDS
Depreciation Schedules	Permanently	Administrative Decision
Inventory Records	Permanently	Administrative Decision
Maintenance & Repair, Building	10	Administrative Decision
Maintenance & Repair, Machinery	5	Administrative Decision
Plant Account Cards, Equipment	Permanently	Code of Federal Regulations
Property Deeds	Permanently	Administrative Decision
Purchase or Lease Records of Plant Facility	Permanently	Administrative Decision
TYPE OF RECORD	RETENTION	AUTHORITY
TAXATION
Annuity or Deferred Payment Plan	Permanently	Code of Federal Regulations
Depreciation Schedules	Permanently	Code of Federal Regulations
Dividend Register	Permanently	Code of Federal Regulations
Employee Withholding	4	Code of Federal Regulations
Excise Exemption Certificates	4	Code of Federal Regulations
Excise Reports (Manufacturing)	4	Code of Federal Regulations
Excise Reports (Retail)	4	Code of Federal Regulations
Inventory Reports	Permanently	Code of Federal Regulations
Tax Bills & Statements	Permanently	Administrative Decision
Tax Returns	Permanently	Administrative Decision
Sales Tax Returns	Permanently	Administrative Decision
Payroll Tax Returns	7 Years	Administrative Decision
Pension Returns	Permanently	Administrative Decision

In a nutshell, to be conservative keep documents a minimum of 7 years if the document supports
a deduction on your tax return. If the outlay or deposit of cash resulted from acquiring or selling an asset, keep the documentation for 7 years after the sale of the asset. Keep tax returns permanently (except payroll returns may be discarded after 7 years after the expense was reported).  Keep all personnel records as per schedule above and keep year end financials and general ledger and year end inventory reports permanently.

If you are going paperless it is important to stay in compliance with IRS bookkeeping and recordkeeping requirements.

Be sure to implement paperless document procedures and utilize software that will will ensure an accurate and complete transfer of the hardcopy original document with a high degree of legibility and readability when displayed on a monitor and when reproduced in hardcopy the  electronic storage media must index, store, preserve, retrieve, and reproduce documents provide reasonable controls to ensure the integrity, accuracy, and reliability of the electronic storage media provide reasonable controls to prevent and detect the unauthorized creation of, addition to, alteration of, deletion of, or deterioration of electronically stored books and records create and adhere to an inspection and quality assurance program evidenced by regular evaluations of the electronic storage system including periodic check of electronically stored books and records. The information maintained must be cross-referenced to and  provide support for the taxpayers books and records The procedures relating to the use of the electronic storage system must be in writing and resources (personnel, software/hardware)  must be made available to the IRS for locating, retrieving, and reproducing the books and records. It must not be subject to any agreement that would limit or restrict the IRS access to and use of the Electronic Service System

Free Demonstration.

Retention Record Schedule

As you will see under authority, most decisions for retention of documents are left up to the managers.

TYPE OF RECORD	RETENTION	AUTHORITY
ACCOUNTING & FISCAL	PERIOD YEARS
Accounts Payable Invoices	3	STATE
Accounts Payable Ledger	Permanently	Administrative Decision
Accounts Receivable Invoices & Ledgers	5	Administrative Decision
Balance Sheets	Permanently	Administrative Decision
Bank Deposits	3	Administrative Decision
Bank Statements	3	Administrative Decision
Capital Asset Record	3 after sale	Administrative Decision
Cash Receipt Records	7	Administrative Decision
Check Register	Permanently	Administrative Decision
Checks, Dividend	6
Checks, Payroll	2	STATE
Checks, cancelled	3	STATE
Cost Accounting Records	5	Administrative Decision
Earnings Register	3	STATE
Entertainment Gifts & Gratuities	3	Administrative Decision
Expense Reports	3	Administrative Decision
Financial Statements, Certified	Permanently	Administrative Decision
Financial Statements, Periodic	2	Administrative Decision
General Ledger Records	Permanently	Code of Federal Regulations
Labor Cost Records	3	Code of Federal Regulations
Note Register	Permanently	Administrative Decision
TYPE OF RECORD	RETENTION	AUTHORITY
	PERIOD YEARS
Payroll Registers	3	STATE
Petty Cash Receipts	3	Administrative Decision
P & L Statements	Permanently	Administrative Decision
Salesman Commission Reports	3	Administrative Decision
Travel Expense Reports	2	Administrative Decision
Work Papers, Rough	2	Administrative Decision
ADMINISTRATIVE RECORDS
Audit Reports	10	Administrative Decision
Classified Documents: Inventories,
Reports, Receipts	10	Administrative Decision
CORPORATE
Annual Reports	Permanently	Administrative Decision
Authority to Issue Securities	Permanently	Administrative Decision
Bonds, Surety	3	Administrative Decision
Capital Stock Ledger	Permanently	Administrative Decision
Charters, Constitutions, Bylaws	Permanently	Administrative Decision
Contracts	Permanently	Administrative Decision
Corporate Election Records	Permanently	Administrative Decision
Incorporation Records	Permanently	Administrative Decision
Stock Transfer & Stockholder	Permanently	Administrative Decision
Insurance Policies	Permanently	Administrative Decision
Patents & Related Material	Permanently	Administrative Decision
Trademark & Copyrights	Permanently	Administrative Decision>
PERSONNEL
Accident Reports, Injury Claims, Settlements	30	STATE
Applications, Changes & Terminations	5	Code of Federal Regulations
Attendance Records	7	Administrative Decision
Employee Contracts	6	Administrative Decision
Fidelity Bonds	3	Administrative Decision
Garnishments	5	Administrative Decision
Health & Safety Bulletins	Permanently	Administrative Decision
Injury Frequency Charts	Permanently	Code of Federal Regulations
Insurance Records, Employees	11	INS
Job Descriptions	2	Code of Federal Regulations
Rating Cards	2	Code of Federal Regulations
Time Cards	2	Code of Federal Regulations
PLANT & PROPERTY RECORDS
Depreciation Schedules	Permanently	Administrative Decision
Inventory Records	Permanently	Administrative Decision
Maintenance & Repair, Building	10	Administrative Decision
Maintenance & Repair, Machinery	5	Administrative Decision
Plant Account Cards, Equipment	Permanently	Code of Federal Regulations
Property Deeds	Permanently	Administrative Decision
Purchase or Lease Records of Plant Facility	Permanently	Administrative Decision
TYPE OF RECORD	RETENTION	AUTHORITY
TAXATION
Annuity or Deferred Payment Plan	Permanently	Code of Federal Regulations
Depreciation Schedules	Permanently	Code of Federal Regulations
Dividend Register	Permanently	Code of Federal Regulations
Employee Withholding	4	Code of Federal Regulations
Excise Exemption Certificates	4	Code of Federal Regulations
Excise Reports (Manufacturing)	4	Code of Federal Regulations
Excise Reports (Retail)	4	Code of Federal Regulations
Inventory Reports	Permanently	Code of Federal Regulations
Tax Bills & Statements	Permanently	Administrative Decision
Tax Returns	Permanently	Administrative Decision
Sales Tax Returns	Permanently	Administrative Decision
Payroll Tax Returns	7 Years	Administrative Decision
Pension Returns	Permanently	Administrative Decision

In a nutshell, to be conservative keep documents a minimum of 7 years if the document supports
a deduction on your tax return. If the outlay or deposit of cash resulted from acquiring or selling an asset, keep the documentation for 7 years after the sale of the asset. Keep tax returns permanently (except payroll returns may be discarded after 7 years after the expense was reported).  Keep all personnel records as per schedule above and keep year end financials and general ledger and year end inventory reports permanently.

New Features in QuickBooks 2010

What new and enhanced features and excitement are built into this new release of Pro, Premier and Enterprise?

• Fully Integrated Document ManagementElectronically “paperclip” your documents to QuickBooks
  transactions to stay organized and save time. Organize
  receipts, contracts, statements and more by attaching
  electronic or scanned files to any customer, vendor,
  employee, account, or transaction
  
  • Store receipts, statements and more online (in the internet cloud)
  • for easy sharing
  • Easily attach documents to any customer, vendor, employee, account or transaction
    
  • Scan dozens of documents at one time – simply insert blank pages in between and QuickBooks creates individual files
    
  • Keep important documents at your fingertips and backed-up online
  • Streamline collecting and matching documents from clients to specific transactions
• Rapidly Add or Edit Multiple List Entries from One Spreadsheet ViewSave time by entering and editing your customers, vendors, item, or account information in bulk. You can even copy and paste data from other spreadsheets.
• Redesigned Report CenterGet the insights you need to make more profitable business decisions. Now it’s easier than ever to find just the report you need to understand how your business is doing — and spot opportunities to cut costs and boost profits. You can also tag your Favorite Reports to instantly access the reports you rely on most.
• Customize Your Company SnapshotStay on top of your business from a single screen, with data presented just the way you want it. Choose at-a-glance reports that are most crucial for managing your business. New report options include yearly expense and income comparison, detailed expense and income breakdown, and a top customer list.
• New: Favorites Menu
  Create shortcuts and get there faster. Get one-click access to your everyday tasks using the Favorites Menu
  • Add shortcuts directly to specific functions
  • Personalize favorites for each user
  • Access the Favorites Menu from anywhere in the QuickBooks
• Improved! Installation Enhancements
  Get up and running quickly and easily. Installing QuickBooks 2010 is easier
  than ever for both new users and upgrades with our installation improvements.
  • Simplify installation choices with a New Installation Manager
  • Choose from Express and Custom installation options
  • Reduces installation steps for upgraders by copying existing configuration
• Improved! Clean Up Company Data
  Reduce the size of your QuickBooks file. Maximize efficiency with the Clean Up
  
• Create a Consistent, Customized Look Across All Your Business FormsEnsure that your invoices and other forms get the attention they deserve. Access new FREE professional designs that you can customize for your business. Create a distinctive look and apply it across all your invoices, statements and other forms all at once.

Additional new features found in QuickBooks Enterprise 2010 only:

Additional Custom Fields with Improved Reporting

You know better than anybody what business data you need to track and how you want to use it. More custom fields have been added for customers, vendors, employees and items so you can capture, track and report on the custom data you need. Set custom fields to accept certain formats such as date, phone number, or select from list to reduce data input errors and improve the quality of your data output. Plus use advanced filtering and sorting to run reports on the custom field information you care about.  Exclusive to QBES!

Twitter Might Start Adding Comments & Location-Based Information to Each Tweet

Twitter Might Start Adding Comments & Location-Based Information to Each Tweet

Shared via AddThis

What Are the 7 Reasons You Should Write Goals?

What Are the 7 Reasons You Should Write Goals?

5/9/2009 1:54:00 AM

Reason 1, thinking about your goals enough to write them out causes you to consider where you want to go in life. If you do not make those decisions, life will decide for you. Stay in charge of your life.

Reason 2, when you write your goals, a part of you starts the process of believing and accepting the goals you set for yourself.

Reason 3, with goals, you can plan the details to reach your goals. Without a destination, how do you know what path to take? Remember an airline pilot would never take off without filing a plan. You should not either. You are the pilot of your life. Take the controls.

Reason 4, When you are working toward the future to your destination, planning the steps you need, you will be better able to skip the steps you don’t need. This will shorten your path to your goal!

Reason 5, When you can see the path to your goal, you lesson the risk of failure and increase your opportunity for success. The saying “You make your own success” is absolutely true. Go make it!

Reason 6, when you know where you are headed, you can see opportunities you might not have considered to advance you more quickly to your goal. Whether a strategic alliance or an opportunity comes up, if you don’t know where you are going, you will miss these opportunities because you will not recognize them for what they are.

Reason 7, finally, without goals, how will you know if you have arrived? Why not choose to arrive in style?

via OpenZine.

Amazon Connect: A must have if you are an author selling on Amazon!

Welcome to AmazonConnect

AmazonConnect is Amazon’s special program for authors and artists where they can create and maintain a blog on Amazon.com. Your blog is given prime placement on the detail pages of your books and CDs and your own special blog page. If you’ve already got a blog, just provide your RSS feed and all of posts will update automatically to your AmazonConnect blog.

To sign up, all you need is an Amazon.com account if you don’t have one already.

How to Sign Up

To register you for AmazonConnect, you need to verify your e-mail address and your body of work. This verification process enables us to protect our artists and customers. First, we connect you as an artist with your Amazon.com customer account by verifying your e-mail address. Then, we verify with a trusted third-party that you are an artist whose work is for sale on Amazon.com.

In order to speed up the process, please ensure you have the contact information for contacts who can verify the works you claim. You will need their name(s), company name, e-mail address(es), and phone number(s). After you submit your verifier information, an Amazon.com representative will contact your verifier directly to confirm the titles you registered. Upon confirmation of your work you will be officially enrolled in AmazonConnect.

In 2009, many exciting changes are coming to Connect so now is a great time to sign up and start a dialogue with your readers and fans

To Sign Up go to : http://www.amazon.com/gp/help/customer/display.html?ie=UTF8&nodeId=15700651

Urbis: Judging the Books Without Covers

Urbis: Judging the Books Without Covers

http://urbis.com/-  The ability to express one’s ideas through storytelling is such an amazing gift, yet at the same time it can be very difficult to convey one’s message through writing. Also, finding the right criticism for your writing is often easier said than done. However don’t fret, Urbis is a new online network that allows you to post your creative writings for others to see. Founded by the New Yorker Steve Spurgat, Urbis enables you to: find people who enjoy your type of writing and collaborate with them, help others out by sharing your own thoughts on their writing through constructive criticism, or just browse the community for a good read. (MySpace for writers anyone?)

With the seemingly never-ending amount of social networking websites emerging online these days, it’s getting tough to distinctly categorize the good, the bad, and the ugly. So let’s begin. Urbis’ foundation and backbone is, of course, its society and users. The more users there are, the more interaction there is, the more chances there are for your pieces of writings to be found. In turn, this results in more opportunities for people to critique your writing. However, here lies the main dilemma I have with the web application.

Urbis is focused around credits. Credits are their type of currency within the network and also, coincidently, is the only way that you’re able to pursue getting any feedback on your writing from others. Basically, the method behind their madness is this: The way to help your writing become more well-known within the community is to participate. While I have no problem with openly participating, it comforts me to know that I have the choice of whether to participate or not. Participation is the golden rule to Urbis, and by rule I mean necessity. You’re dependent on credits to reveal any reviews that have been made about your work, however to gain additional credits you’ll be obligated to review other people’s writing.

Before you even enter a page containing an author’s work, a default amount of credits that can be earned is specified. This number is calculated simply by the amount of words in that particular piece of writing. The amount of words that your review consists of is also put into the equation. The sum of these two variables equal the amount of credits you’ll earn for the review you give the writer. Pretty much what I’m getting at is: the more time and effort you put into it, the more you’ll get out of it. (fancy that) The only other way to gain some credits is to invite other people to join Urbis. (go figure) So the endless (and essential) cycle of: uploading your work, reviewing other people’s work, and spending credits to see what others have said about your writing will have to become somewhat of a routine for you if you plan on frequently using Urbis.

Also, the reviews that you construct have to follow a set of standards. To make it so people get the most out of Urbis, (and also so they don’t cheat the system) Urbis’ management has come up with a set of guidelines for when someone reviews someone else’s work. To summarize the rules briefly, no short: “Great post!” reviews, no bashing an author within reviews, and you’re not allowed to use exceedingly, unnecessary large quotes from the context of the author’s writing just to gain more credits.

Following in the footsteps of the plethora of social networking websites already populating the online world, you also have the ability to invite other members of Urbis to become your friends. This helps congregate people who might have similar interests in certain types of writing as you. You’re able to check up on your friends and see if they have any new pieces of writing. Also, if you prefer to keep some of your writing more private, you can specify it to only be viewable by your friends. Along with that, Urbis offers the normal features such as simple statistics which track the amount of reviews you’ve completed, comments that were made, credits earned, credits spent, etc. They have also implemented a simple goal system in which you can obviously create and keep track of goals for your writing, nothing overly extensive in this department though.

I actually enjoyed the time I spent on the network. I’m a writer myself and I believe they did a nice job thoroughly thinking out the website. So, to give my general impression on Urbis, it goes as follows: Urbis provides a great way for anyone from novice to experienced writers to share their writing while additionally helping others by criticizing their writing through reviews. The only thing is, is that it doesn’t bring anything notably new to the table. With the traffic jam of social networking websites being released all over the internet, finding new innovating features is a rare gem. However overall, yes, it’s a great network and I encourage people to sign up and at least give it a fair shot. Who knows, it may just be your cup of tea. Authors of all ages have signed up to Urbis so you will find a variety of depth and style between each author, but if you’re just there for a quick glance, I can’t promise you that you’ll come across the next James Patterson.

Posted by Matt Wilson on Friday, December 15, 2006 at 1:23 am.

Twitter: What’s all the Hype?

Twitter is quickly becoming the “must have” social network of this decade. Every radio station, news channel, TV show and celebrity now seems to have a Twitter Account. You can’t go a day without reading or hearing about it. So what’s all the hype?

Twitter is a “micro-blogging” network.  Simply put, it’s texting on steroids. Twitter even has it’s own language, with dictionaries now posted everywhere (Twittonary, Twictionary). Founded on a “less is more” concept, Tweeps (twitter for people) tweet (post) information in 140 characters or less. Tweets are anything from daily activities to marketing campaigns. People post quotes for inspiration, jokes, tips, links to other articles and more.

Technorati Tags: Twitter,Social Media,Networking,SMM

They have successfully found a way to bring all people to an equal level. An everyday Joe can now see exactly what his favorite celebrity is doing. A job seeker can interact with the CEO at a company he would like to work for. Entrepreneurs can instantly market and network with people all over the world. Anybody can find like minded individuals to chat with or help using the simple search feature. It doesn’t get any easier than Twitter!

Unlike other Social Media Sites, Twitter is simplified. It’s easy to update without a lot of frills. It’s also very easy to find, follow and be followed. New apps are making it more and more useful with the ability to form groups, post videos and share music. It’s easy to add to your FaceBook, LinkedIn, or other accounts. While it seems a bit overwhelming at first, once you get started you just can’t stop.

The successful Tweep builds a network by “following” others and by being “followed”. The tweets of those you follow show up in your stream, so you want to make sure that they are interesting to you. Likewise, those who follow you will see your tweets in their stream. Networks are built by using apps such as TwitterGrader and Twellow to find people that share common interests. Most will follow you in return – a sign of respect and a way of saying thank you in the Twitter community. Another great way to grow is by following recommendations and by being recommended on #followfriday (an event where Tweeps recommend others they feel would add value to their followers network).

The entire experience reminds me of a quote by the late J.G. Ballard:

“Twenty years ago, no one could have imagined the effects the Internet would have: entire relationships flourish, friendships prosper. … There’s a vast new intimacy and accidental poetry, not to mention the weirdest porn. The entire human experience seems to unveil itself like the surface of a new planet.”

Twitter is quickly becoming what email once was – new and exciting. with some embracing it while others fear it. If you are one of those who simply cannot understand the hype why not give it a try – it’s fun, interesting and addictive!

About the Author: Kimberly Smith is an independent PR Rep, Social Media Consultant and Blogger. She lives in Newark, CA with her husband and two teenage boys. Follow her on Twitter http://twitter.com/kimberlyrsmith to get inspirational quotes, marketing tips, breaking news and more. More articles can be seen on her blogs: The Daily Brief and TFT’s Insider.

Today’s Inspiration: Staying Young at Heart!

Quote of the Day:

“We don’t stop playing because we grow old; We grow old because we stop playing.” George Bernard Shaw

Do you remember the when you were a child playing – the exhileration you felt on the swing, the rush of wind as you sped down the slide, the freedom as you ran barefoot through the grass?  Somehow as we grew older those things happened less and less.  We let the monotony of every day life take over, believing that “mature adults” just don’t play.  No wonder depression is so prevalent in today’s society!

While there is a balance to maintain there is no reason why we can’t, as adults, keep a piece of our childhood! I still love riding roller coasters, the magic of the circus, the sense of accomplishment when building a sand castle – why should I stop just because I’m a mom myself now?  My kids love that I can honestly enjoy those things with them.  I have always made an effort to make time for things I enjoy doing, no matter how silly they may sound.  I believe that the key to being a happy adult and a good parent is to never forget being a child – stay young at heart and every once in awhile just let lose and play!

Today’s Inspiration: Be Yourself!

Inspirational Quote for Tuesday, 4/20/09:

To be yourself in a world that is constantly trying to make you something else is the greatest accomplishment. –Ralph Waldo Emerson

Today’s inspiration ties in to my post about the current Ms. USA “scandal”. We can all learn a lesson from Carrie Prejean, Ms. California 2009. When asked by Perez Hilton, an openly gay gossip blogger, if she believed in gay marriage her reply sparked a national debate and an onslaught of criticism from the pageant, press, and public in general:

“We live in a land where you can choose same-sex marriage or opposite. And you know what, I think in my country, in my family, I think that I believe that a marriage should be between a man and a woman. No offense to anybody out there, but that’s how I was raised.”

There, in front of hundreds of thousands of viewers, she spoke out in support of her belief. Not what the judges wanted to hear, not what the audience wanted to hear. How many can honestly say they would do the same? It takes great courage to do what she did, knowing her answer would most likely cost her the crown. Despite all the pressure to say, do or be what everyone around her would want she remained true to herself.

In today’s world it is easy to give in and be what others want you to be, say what others want you to say. After all, who wants to go through such public attacks? A click of a button and the world knows not only what you said, but everyone’s opinion of what you said. It truly is an accomplishment when you can look back and know that despite everything you were and are yourself. Carrie Prejean is an inspiration to people everywhere. Be yourself, remain true to your beliefs – no matter what anyone around you says!