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Recently read a blog post ranking Madison, WI as one of the top ten emerging music scenes in North America.
Read more to see where Madison ranks in the top ten. 
Okay, so you filed your taxes, you expect to get a return and now you want to know when you should be checking the mailbox for that special envelope.
In general, if there are no delays or hang-ups, on average your return will take somewhere around 3 weeks to arrive upon filing. However, in our instant-gratification society it's easy to be anxious and still want to track where that return is at en route. Luckily, the IRS has some useful tools that can help you with estimated tax refund dates. The internet allows you to easily check the where your refund is -- use the IRS website's, 'where's my refund' tool. There are easy-to-follow instructions there to get you to your answer. There's always the good old telephone to check on the status of your refund. However, know that your ability to check the status of your refund may be dependent on how you filed your income tax return. As you may have imagined, there is also an app for that. You can download the IRS2GO app for your smartphone to check on your refund while you're out and about. This app is available on Apple and Android devices. If you're looking for the quickest way to get your refund the recommended way to file your taxes is to do so online vs. by mail. Another way to shave some time off of your waiting is to request direct deposit for your tax refund. This way your refund ends up right in your bank account and you do not have to spend the extra time it takes to run to the bank to deposit your refund with a paper check. posted by: Nick Venturella
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Here we are at the end of January. By now you should have received all applicable W-2 forms from any employers you had throughout the previous year.
The next step is to actually prepare and file your taxes. That’s not always a fun task, but there is reward to those who take action now vs. waiting until closer to the April 15th tax filing deadline. For one thing, the earlier you file means you’ll get any tax return you have coming your way sooner than the majority of people who wait until the last minute to file. Plus, if you procrastinate then you feel rushed at the last minute to get things done and that's when errors are most likely to happen. That can cause a whole chain reaction of other issues and delays. If you’re like me you may want to ensure you have some help when filing your taxes. H & R Block is an established and trusted brand when it comes to tax preparation and filing. Their goal is to help you maximize your tax return while making the process as affordable as possible. That’s why you may want to get a discount at H & R Block Online. It’s an opportunity to reduce the cost of your tax preparation and filing. The H & R Block discount is likely greater if you file sooner and less if you wait closer to April 15th, so there is incentive to take action now. With H & R Block you can file online yourself through their platform or you can go to your local H & R Block office and work with them in person. Got those W-2's? What are you waiting for? Posted by Nick Venturella
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 Come join me and my musical friends on Friday January 30, 2015 for a fun and relaxing night of acoustic music. This will be an unplugged show and in the round with area songwriters Beth Kille, Teddy Davenport & Keith Hampton (and me). Here are the details: Tuvalu Coffeehouse & Gallery Midwinter Acoustic Song Swap 300 S. Main St. Verona, WI Fri. Jan. 30, 2015 Start 7pm  image from http://www.colipera.com Hiring ambitious, passionate employees is a good idea for your company.
Such employees, though they're employed by someone else, view their career and personal brand as their own entrepreneurial venture. They have passion and motivation to be and remain ambitious. Check this out from the HR Industry Link, LinkedIn Group. posted by Nick Venturella For any individual, and certainly small solo-entrepreneurial business people, predicting cash-flow – the timing of your anticipated income and expenses – is a big deal. Most people don’t like too many unexpected surprises when trying to manage cash-flow. That’s why being able to predict your annual income tax refund can be important to your own personal finances. Many people rely on their tax refund to afford certain projects or purchases that are planned. However, it’s difficult to plan purchases if you can’t predict things like your income within a particular month or series of months. Being able to predict your tax return can be one source of ‘planned’ income that can potentially be relied upon as you outline your personal or business objectives. If you haven’t already, you may want to try the tax refund calculator mentioned in the linked article to get an accurate prediction of what you can expect from your tax return. If you’re looking to invest that tax return back into your business, or if you’re considering starting a business using your tax return as initial seed money, accurate planning is really the only way to carefully predict your ability to afford it. The flip side is also true – knowing that you will owe money on taxes can help you plan how to pay them. Sometimes you haven’t paid enough into the government to cover all taxes. This can happens sometimes when you change jobs and adjust your tax deduction amounts with a new employer. It can also happen when you are self-employed and have not accurately estimated your quarterly taxes. Again, either way, understanding what your return will be can help you plan better. Posted by Nick Venturella   Did you work for more than one company this past year? Or maybe you’re an entrepreneur who took the leap in the last year from full-time employee to self-employed?
If so, you may have multiple W-2 forms that you’ll need from employers in order to compile and calculate your taxes this year. It’s extremely helpful if your current, and/or former, employer allow you to access your W-2 forms online. Also, if you are now an employer, you may want to consider online W-2’s for your employees. Either way, check out this article about how to find your W-2 form online. There are a few reasons why it’s important to access your W-2 forms via the internet.
Be sure to ask your employer if they support online W-2’s, and what the process is for you to access them. Getting your taxes compiled and completed sooner than later in the first quarter of the new year helps you get this annual requirement off of your plate so you can concentrate on other goals. Posted by Nick Venturella As a multi-faceted creative entrepreneur, I have a soft spot in my heart for others who move beyond the bounds of a single creative discipline. In fact, most creative people I know cannot box themselves into a single creative discipline. There is too much fluidity in creativity -- often one creative pursuit spills over and inspires another. The individual creative process of any one discipline tends to follow a similar framework from one to another. However, the execution and final artistic output ends up being different given the creative discipline one is working in. All that is to say, it makes perfect sense to me why creative individuals like, Vashmere Valentine, can move easily, and be successful in, film direction, screenwriting photography and more. An even more extraordinary feat for creatives is not only their ability to produce quality, professional-level work, but also their ability to gain entrepreneurial success with their endeavors. The mix of art and commerce that balances artistic integrity with audience appeal allowing the creator to yield income from their work is often more rare than simply finding great artists who can produce wonderful work. That's the main difference, in my opinion, between creative entrepreneurs and those who create... Creative entrepreneurs focus on compelling stories and the right process to produce their final vision. However, they also are able to understand, balance and interweave the business of bringing their creation to their intended audience. This extra nuanced knowledge intertwined within the creative process helps keep a project in scope for the desired creative and business outcome. Those who want creative success must find a way to produce great work and understand how to bridge the gap between beautiful art and value for which people are willing to pay. Posted by Nick Venturella
 Recommended Reading  I love discovering and learning about new businesses. I recently found Exquisite Streetwear Shop, which has a unique apparel-pairing business. If you're a fan of shoe brands like the famed Nike Air Jordan, then you know wearing those shoes demands an entire fashion ensemble. That's where the Exquisite Streetwear Shop comes in. Exquisite helps you pair t-shirts, hoodies and hats with your favorite sweet shoes. If showcasing your collection of Lebron X, KD 6 or Stussy X Vault by Vans footwear is important to you, Exquisite can help you complete the fashion package with shirts and hats from brands like Retro Kings, OutRank Apparel and Original Rufnek. Here's what I like about Exquisite Their website focuses a lot on informing their audience about the shoes they love -- when new versions are to be released, background about the collaborating companies that developed the design, etc. The stuff that streetwear shoe enthusiasts want to know. They also know that shoe enthusiasts like t-shirts and other apparel to coordinate with their shoe choices. Thus, Exquisite has found an interesting business niche by concentrating on the shoes their audience already love and introducing them to t-shirts and other apparel that can enhance their customers' shoe showcasing experience. Why is this powerful? Shoe enthusiast care about their shoes, but they also care about coordinating the rest of what they wear with their shoes. Exquisite provides a recommendation engine of apparel to match one's shoes. It helps shoe enthusiasts make apparel choices quicker and easier. Think of Amazon.com's recommendation engine. When you search Amazon for various products, or you purchase something there, the site will soon recommend other products that may be of interest to you as a result of your purchase. It's a great way for customers to discover the 'perfect' item to go along with their recent purchase. posted by Nick Venturella  There is something simple and refreshing about service businesses that much of the general public understands. Accountants and accounting firms for example, are service businesses. Most in the general public grasp what accountants do. There is not a huge need to educate the market about what accountants do to help introduce their service to a local economy. I love businesses like that, mainly because they provide a service that requires a certain amount of training and skill to perform, which commands reasonable rates/profit that can adequately cover business expenses and accounting services are almost always in demand. Take Weller & Zimaro Chartered Accountants (http://www.wzaccountants.ca/), an accounting firm I came across while conducting research for this post. Their website keeps it about as straightforward as you can get with accounting services. The one major threat in such an ideal type of business, is that there is a lot of competition. While there is plenty of business to go around retaining business year after year from loyal clients takes differentiation, trust and great service, and that typically takes time. Differentiation is how an organization stands out above its competitors in the marketplace. Trust is built by listening and being of value to the potential client even before they are officially a client, and even if they never become a client. Great service is more often then not doing what you promised you would do at the on-set of the engagement, which got the client to sign up for your services. Certainly, it goes beyond that, but you'd be surprised how many clients jump ship because their current provider didn't hold up their end of the agreement. Great service also is an extension of your integrity and the trust your clients have in you. Do you go out of your way to do the right things for your clients, not just because it's your job but because you care about your clients' success? Posted by Nick Venturella |
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