Out-Smarts Marketing Services

Its tax time again and with the deadline looming the online tax tools like QuickTax are getting slower and slower as more people log on to get the inevitable done and filed. What better a time to consider some Canadian on-line tax tips:

• All income should be recorded and reported even Second Life income - if you sell property or make money on any of the virtual worlds remember to record it
• To speed up processing, use Netfile and or Corporations Canada online to file your taxes online.
• All expenses incurred to promote and grow your company on-line should be included in your returns.
• If your business is solely an online entity, be aware that tax rates are the same in the virtual world as they are in real life. Remember to claim expenses for your home office if applicable.

For more information on the tax considerations for e-commerce and the Internet go to CRA and Canada Business and if in doubt contact an accountant.

The sun is shining, the daffodils are blooming and Spring is in full swing.  If these weren’t enough reasons to be cheerful then here are some more on the Internet front.

The main reason to be cheerful this month is the release of the latest WordPress blog software - version 2.5.  I only started using it today but so far so great - my spacing problems have been resolved as have my cut and paste issues.I am looking forward to finding out what other goodies version 2.5 brings.  

Another discovery this month was the ThoughtFarmer knowledge sharing solution.  Aimed at providing organisations with an Intranet portal that enhances knowledge sharing and collaboration, ThoughtFarmer combines the best of wiki technology with social networking to allow organizations to deploy a unique and highly usable portal.

Suitable online invoicing systems are few and far between.  Some are good at handling expenses, others good at tracking time but I haven’t found one that does both well, one that is easy to use, customizable and can link to Paypal. Canadian online invoicing provider Freshbooks may just be the solution.

Looking for any easy way to involve your visitors on line?  PollDaddy is a great code generating tool that allows you to create a poll on your site (you define the question you want to ask and the answer criteria). Simply cut and paste the code to your web site and start polling your audience.

Another easy way to enhance your site and make the user experience more enjoyable is to add forms. Wufoo simplifies this by giving you a catalogue of templates to choose from (everything from customer surveys to registration forms).