Business News

The better the job, the more meetings it probably took to get it.  This month I’d like to talk about the level of effort it probably will require to identify and negotiate a super career opportunity.  We’d all love it to be as simple as just mailing a resume or application, having a quick interview and getting an offer. 

Cheri Fleming has a busy schedule, no doubt between owning the Valencia Acura car dealership and devoting countless hours to various community service obligations.  She gives to organizations like the Henry Mayo Newhall Memorial Health Foundation where she is a director and past chairwoman and the Soroptimist International organization, as a leader, as well. 

Benjamin Franklin developed a list of virtues that he felt were necessary in his daily living.

He said “Lose no time, be always employed in something useful, cut off all unnecessary actions.”

A new law signed last December makes Health Savings Accounts (HSAs) more attractive to taxpayers.  The Tax Relief and Health Care Act of 2006 offers new ways to create an HSA and increases the amount you can contribute. 

 Selecting a financial advisor is one of the most important decisions you will make.  I encourage you to follow the five P’s in selecting an advisor for your investment goals.

Wills and trusts are legal documents which should be prepared only by a qualified lawyer.  However, many other professionals and business representatives may become involved in the estate planning process. 

Do we try to manage our technology ourselves or bring in experts to provide the needed technology advice?  Technology companies differ significantly.  Some have experience and the mindset to effectively manage your network, servers and PC’s while others have the experience and ability to help you decide the best course for your business and how to use technology effectively and efficiently to advance and grow your business. 

If you’ve opened a newspaper or watched the news in the past month or so, you’ve seen a lot of news about sub-prime mortgages and what is happening with both the lenders that give them and the buyers that have used them to purchase homes.  These sub-prime loans have been called risky and basically unacceptable.

Last month we discussed the growing problem of identity theft and the importance of protecting your personally identifiable information, or PII.  Underscoring this, McAfee recently announced that since Feb. 2006, more than 100 million people have had their personal information stolen or wrongfully exposed. 

The average home shopper knows very little about the whole credit scoring process.  There are ways to improve credit scores and obtain a loan for the home you really want.Begin by reviewing your credit report.  Consumers may now receive one free credit report annually.  Go to...

The IRS caught a big fish.  The federal tax-collecting agency settled a dispute with drug-maker Merck & Co. and its subsidiaries.  The bottom line is Merck will pay $2.3 billion in federal taxes, net interest and penalties to resolve a dispute regarding tax years 1993 to 2001.

What is SEO?  Well, Search Engine Optimization, of course.  SEO is basically the art and science of optimizing your website to get the best possible listing in search engine results.  Now, this isn’t something most business owners would know much about let alone be educated in, so it’s time to call in the experts.

City Manager Ken Pulskamp was awarded the League of California Cities prestigious Diversity Award last week at the annual City Manager’s Conference in San Francisco last month. The Diversity Award recognizes individuals who are instrumental in encouraging diversity in the workplace and in their communities.  Pulskamp was honored for his work in several areas including:  efforts with the Sister City Program in Santa Clarita, the Human Relations Forum, work place practices and programs and the City’s Newhall Community Center.

It’s very possible that the approximate $8 million dollars spent by the City of Santa Clarita over the past eight years in an effort to fight the installation of a massive gravel mine in Soledad Canyon may have been money well-spent given the recent truce declared between the City of Santa Clarita and Cemex, a gravel mining giant.  Only time will tell.

Have you ever been told that if it sounds too good to be true, it is?  How many times have I found myself looking for the very cheapest item I can find when shopping, only to discover later that it broke or it didn’t work right because “you get what you pay for?”  We are always caught in the middle of paying too much and feeling stupid or paying too little and not getting any value and wasting our money.  This is never more true than in the mortgage industry.

Write-offs are the government’s way of rewarding taxpayers when they’ve done something the government likes.  And to judge by the write-offs, the government likes it when people borrow money to buy a house.  There are write-offs aplenty, many of which people often forget.  Make sure you take advantage of every break the IRS will give.  Here are a few we tend to forget:

As co-owner of Keller Williams VIP Properties here in Valencia, I understand the importance of building relationships.  We started Keller Williams in 2003 with eight associates and are fortunate to now have over 200 licensed realtors that consider Keller Williams VIP Properties their home.  We strongly believe the primary reason for our growth is our acknowledgement that the most valuable people in our company are the associates themselves.  We emphasize in our company the importance of building long-term relationships with our clients.

Later this month, Microsoft will be releasing its newest Operating System for sale to consumers and small-to-medium business customers.  Large Business customers had access to Vista the end of November 2006.  If you run any custom or special software or if you use any older hardware on your computer, do not rush out to upgrade to the new OS without spending time to test to ensure that your current software and hardware are compatible with Vista.