Indie Business Blog

Your Money And Your Life

Resources To Help You Build Your Bottom Line

Indies have to be especially careful about how we spend our money. It sounds good to enjoy small business tax deductions, but we can't overlook the fact that we have to make money before we can deduct it! We must be careful with every dollar, whether someone pays it to us or we pay it to ourselves.

      

If you've enjoyed either of the resources featured here or you have your own favorites to share, please post a comment and let us know. If you do so by midnight on December 1, 2007, you'll be entered to win a copy of Jean's book, "Make Money Not Excuses."

Resources Mentioned In This Show

Dave Ramsey
Jean Chatzky

Cosmetics Labeling For The Rest Of Us

I've known Indie Beauty Network Member Marie Gale of Chandler's Soaps for many years now, and had the pleasure of working with her as colleagues and friends. Marie is also the president of the Handcrafted Soap Maker's Guild and we had a blast at the conference (photos here) she hosted in May. (That's me and Marie enjoying a quick photo op.) Her new book, Soap and Cosmetic Labeling: How to Follow the Rules and Regs Explained in Plain English, is right on the money for anyone who needs to understand and implement the US Food & Drug Administration's labeling regulations for soap and cosmetics makers.

Marie first learned how to make soap in 1998, then launched her first website in 1999. By 2001, she had built her own soap making workshop and in 2003, she opened a store in downtoan Myrtle Point, Oregon. As busy as all this keeps her, she's also the twice elected president of the Soap Guild, and in the midst of all this, she took some time to answer some questions about why she wrote the book and how it can help Indie beauty business owners.

A Word To The Wordy

As a former full-time attorney, I have several dysfunctions. Apparently, one of them is using 50 words when I only need 28. I was delighted when Marcia Yudkin (pictured) responded to my request for tips on brevity by describing my writing as "strong but repetitive". She then published "Shorter: Say It In Fewer Words," 40 pages of tips and case studies to make your writing more concise and reader friendly. In it, Marcia cut the the introduction in my Lifestyle CEO Book by 44%. Yikes!

Marcia is also knowledgable about getting free publicity for your business. You can enjoy my Indie Business Radio interview with her on this topic here (using Windows Media Player). I also recommend Marcia's book, "6 Steps To Free Publicity." (Click to purchase from Amazon.)