Homespun Honolulu

Animals are such wonderful advertisers! I couldn’t resist sharing this little cutie when I saw him! He belongs to The Lead Dogs, Marketing with More Bite. With a slogan like that, how could they not have a canine represent them?

Marketing has become a hot topic and there are companies now looking to combine their Internet marketing with their other brick and mortar avenues! The Lead Dogs have listed ten impressive ways to improve on your marketing efforts here, and you can even download a copy of their $127 “Marketing Wisdom Report” for FREE! There is some very well thought out material and it’s certainly worth taking a look at! While it may not all pertain to you, there are certainly pearls of wisdom to be had.

Even though blogging is not their primary focus, you can still pick up some really useful tidbits from their site and maybe even refer your friends in need of marketing for their business to The Lead Dogs Sales Lead Management.

If you read through some of their materials you will see just how appropriate that little canine is to their strategy. They do not give up on their prospects and they’re “like a dog with a bone” — once the strategy is in motion, they don’t let go. That canine is definitely a good rep!

Most people in the self-employed world tend to be more conservative about what they deduct in the way of business expenses. (I said most.) It’s good to have someone in the know to share these things and make you feel more comfortable about what you’re doing.

Back in September, Kelly Phillips Erb from Tax Girl wrote a guest post on Problogger.net and offered:

46 Tax Deductions that Bloggers Often Overlook

Figuring out what constitutes income in the blogging world is pretty easy. But what constitutes a proper deduction is another story - and bloggers usually err on the side of not deducting enough (and not the other way around).

Don’t get caught leaving money on the table. Here’s a list of potential deductions that you might have overlooked. Consider:

1. Monthly Hosting Fees
2. Annual Domain Costs
3. Design/Logo Fees…

…Now you have to go here to get the rest of the article and Kelly’s (the Tax Girl’s) disclaimer… and to keep me from being on the wrong end of their ire! Besides, the comments are full of even more useful information and idea sharing!

There are 43 other items on that list so you have to go see it and print it or bookmark it or whatever! These guys don’t need any help from me from a link-love standpoint, but in the interest of my tax-paying, American readers, I’m sending you guys there to see for yourselves!

I thought this was a wonderful post and have been sitting on it since September. It is interesting to note that a lot of these deductible expenses are applicable to just about any line of business, provided they aren’t Blog specific. April 15th is creeping up on us quickly, just like it does every year, so I thought I would do my blog-specific, civic duty. If all else fails, call the IRS and ask them!

Garran, if you’re still there, and anyone else who’s interested, the Tax Girl addresses the AMT (Alternative Minimum Tax) issue as well.

Or, you can do what I do every year — depend on TurboTax! They will walk you through your return (self-employed or not) and answer questions for you and keep you informed about changes in the Tax Laws that may or may not apply to you!

The beauty of taking the TurboTax route is that they hold on to your information from year to year so you can refer back to it while you’re there and as you complete your current-year return. My biggest suggestion… DO NOT FORGET YOUR PASSWORD!

They will keep your return, but not your login information. It’s part of their security. If you forget it, it’s gone. So don’t forget it!

For a lot of people, it certainly evokes several of those four-letter words, or phrases (ahem). It was a painful reminder from one of the news channels last night that the IRS is going to started accepting electronic returns the other day, January 11th to be exact. Isn’t that nice of them? Hmmm… I guess that’s for people who don’t work for an employer or those who work for employers very gifted at getting those W-2’s in the mail before January 31st!

While our taxes are due on April 15th (which will sneak up faster than you think), returns for S corporations are due on March 15th! Yikes! It’s more than likely that a lot of the little businesses we blog about are S corporations. If you’ve had self-employment income, i.e. money made outside of your established employer, on a regular basis, then you’re already aware of those nasty self-employment taxes too! I thought self-employment was supposed to be a good thing. Well, according to what I have been reading, S corporations don’t pay as much of that dreaded self-employment tax.

There’s one designed for us. It’s not cheap but it beats the alternative of seeking legal assistance! Besides, my experience with the State tax office is that they are always willing to help you if you are trying to follow the rules and do things correctly. They appreciate that!

I’ll talk more about taxes, I’m sure, as April 15th gets closer.

Well, if you have champagne taste while on a beer salary, you’re bound to find out how the two go hand in hand! There’s good news and then there’s some not-so-good news.

There were loans processors in Honolulu, like Home 123, that used to have offices around town and they used to process loans for borrowers who fell just below the prime level, or worse. Although they themselves did not service the loans, this particular loan processor was affiliated with, or maybe even a division of, New Century Financial Corporation.

New Century Financial was one of the hot topics on the financial radar when they began to slip into the abyss back in March of last year. Eventually New Century went into bankruptcy, relatively recently. What about Home 123? *Poof!* Gone. There was an office of at least ten or so employees, maybe more. They lost their jobs, obviously. The borrowers? Their loans are being serviced by another company acting as a collection agency of sorts and these borrowers will be fine as long as they keep their noses clean.

Did the sub-prime fiasco hit us? Yeah, it did. But, and here comes the good news, some “real” borrowers with only the best of intentions were able to have sub-prime lenders like Home 123 bail them out of financial distress and help them consolidate their debts by making loans to them even though their credit was in the tank.

Of course the interest rates were so exorbitant you might want to call it “bale” since most borrowers in that classification now have their financial hands bound like a “bale” of hay. At least, theoretically anyway, they can now better manage their monthly expenses. Those high-interest, monthly payments are what they are, but it’s still less for those who were dealing with credit card debt!

There are still sub-prime processors around so don’t panic yet. There are also places that will help you find someone who is willing to assist you with managing your finances. And, that includes loans for people with bad credit. You can always check to see if places you run into have a local connection. I know Countrywide has offices in Honolulu and what little I have heard about them has not been negative.

There is one word of caution when dealing with those organizations designed to help you deal with your creditors. If you enlist their assistance, that too will end up on your credit report. So, beware!

The best news? Well, I was told, because I’m nosy and I asked, that some lenders “don’t worry as much about loans made to Hawaii borrowers because Hawaii has a good payback record compared to other states.” Really?!?

As much as this whole thing was and is a terrible mess, and as touchy a topic as it has become, I am so proud of that statement! Okay, so we have people who overspend and we keep getting ourselves into credit-card debt, but at least we try to pay it back to the best of our ability!

My cousin has been having legal difficulties and I ran across this thing that I really think is worth talking about. This looks like something that would definitely alleviate some of the anxiety of being in the middle of any kind of court drama.

We all know the first thing that comes to mind when someone mentions legal issues, law suits and the like — money! It’s all about the money! It’s unfortunate but all too true. There is a business called Law Max that will actually help alleviate some of the financial concerns by fronting some money based on the anticipated outcome of your lawsuit or court case. I was stunned to see a company actually offer commercial lawsuit financing — they will actually send you, and/or your attorney, an advance based on your anticipated settlement.

I have to admit that when I saw the term “Commercial Lawsuit Financing,” I was concerned that they might only be set up to assist companies or corporations with their legal battles. But, as it turns out, they not only offer this service for corporations, but for individuals as well! Of course your attorney will have to send them your case documents for their review and to get their approval but if it means having yet another set of eyes looking at the strength of your case and an advance of some much-needed funds, I think this company would certainly be worth investigating!

I had to look into it a little deeper before giving this site too much credit. I was pleasantly surprised and, to be honest, shocked that anyone would provide such a service. The thought of courts and legal drama makes me cringe! This just looks like something to help ease at least some of the anguish. I’ve added this to my bookmarks (Favorites) just in case, and so I don’t have to try to find them again!

Did I tell you guys that I got a new camera for Christmas? I’m hoping that the pictures will be improved since the mega pixel count is more than double what it was on the old one. The beauty of blogs is that those pictures we try very hard to get just right, stick around for a very long time. The photo albums of yesteryear are wonderful but the photos fade over time.

I have an old photo of my father that I will need to do something with before it is gone forever. I know there are people locally who do photo restoration. I’m afraid of that because this is the only real picture that I have of him, as I remember him. But, photo restoration may be my only option. Old photos are certainly worth restoring or preserving somehow!

This photo is what my father looked like during the latter years of his career as a history professor at UH Manoa. You can barely see it on the right of his face (case in point) but he is smoking a pipe. Like I said, it needs to be preserved, and restored, somehow.

Another thing that I ran across while I was searching around was a company that will actually take a photo and paint an artist’s rendition of it in oil! I have heard of this before but I have never really seen it in action like this. “Paint Your Life” — what a great name! Well, they certainly paint a person’s memories! Neat stuff and the videos on their site show you what they do step by step.

Yes, I know there’s Kat Vondee with her tattoo-artist’s eye, but this is art on canvas, not skin… and with oils! If you want to, you can have them stretch the canvas, mount it, frame it and wrap it for shipping. Maybe this is another thing to add to my shopping page. Even though it’s a little late for Christmas, there are still the other occasions for gift-giving and this would certainly make a great birthday gift!

Those birthdays are coming along fast a furious too! Egads!

There’s one thing people in Hawaii love to do and it doesn’t matter which island you’re on or which side of town — we love to eat! Restaurants are a great thing but our menu items are often, much like us, an ethnic blend of recipes we have tweaked and morphed to our own liking. This is where our local grocery stores come into the picture and take on the highest priority!

I never noticed this sign until I was walking around with a camera. I never noticed the other half of it either… Safeway has been in Honolulu as long as I have! I knew there was something good about this place. Works for me!

It was three and a half years ago that I wrote a letter to Safeway’s corporate office in Arizona. I couldn’t think of any other way to let them know how pleased I was with my favorite grocery store. I opened the letter saying,

“Sometimes it really pains me that there is nothing that can be done by a consumer to fully show their earnest appreciation for the staff of an establishment like this one.”

Read the rest of this entry »

Let’s see, what do you do on a Sunday afternoon, in Hawaii Kai, when there’s a marathon going on and the streets are pretty well blocked off? You find a place to have some lunch! When all else fails, eat!

There are several places we could have gone but being that travel was a little… less than convenient, we decided to try something different to make the afternoon just a little more interesting.

So, we opted to visit the Kona Brewing Co. in Koko Marina Center. We had eaten there before but it was a long time ago, so we were due for another visit. It was kind of nice because, it was pretty empty. Most of Hawaii Kai had either gotten out of town or decided to stay safely ensconced in their homes.

Even though the day started out rainy and gloomy, the skies continued to clear up and it was actually turning out to be a nice afternoon.

It was still overcast but not like it had been in the early morning hours when the runners all started out drenched.

It was actually kind of nice to be in a restaurant on a slow day. It was quiet and the staff were helpful and moving at a more comfortable and relaxed speed but still getting us fed. I was hungry!

They had a lot of interesting looking things on the menu, like this Greek pizza.

I opted for this grilled fish… not sure what kind of fish it was but it talked about grilled and guava in the description and it was accompanied with steamed vegetable that I happen to like a lot, so it wasn’t hard to choose!

Sometimes it’s fun to eat at places that seem to cater to tourists because they have fun things to eat… like this mango sorbet. It was a nice, smooth dessert that was good tasting and not too sweet. It was just enough to top off the fish and kill any sugar craving without be too overbearing.

Big Island Steak House that used to be in Aloha Tower Market Place downtown had a mango sorbet that was excellent! I’m not sure what happened to them but they closed their doors some time back. There was another restaurant that opened in that same location but they’re gone now too. It was on the second floor so that may be a bad location with a lot less foot traffic than the eateries downstairs at Aloha Tower.

Anyway, at Koko Marina Center in Hawaii Kai, the Kona Brewing Co. provided us with a very nice lunch. The restaurant is clean and inviting, and even the ducks like to swim by for a visit. The atmosphere was warm with their Christmas tree up by the front entrance and their little stockings hung across the walkway. Simone was our waitress and she was very patient with us as we kept asking questions while we were trying to figure out what to eat. Thanks Simone!

It suddenly dawned on me that “Kona Brewing” sounds like we’re talking about coffee. Not exactly… the Kona Brewing Co. brews ales, i.e. beer. Those are hand crafted ales, according to the little coaster under our drinks, and they’ve been doing this since 1994. I almost forgot that I wanted to include their little statement on that coaster. This gives you a feeling for the personality of the company:

The Powerful Volcanoes, the inviting waters of the Pacific Ocean and the free spirit of Island Surfing inspire us to brew our Liquid Aloha.

How can you go wrong with that?

Black Friday is over and for those who weren’t able to get to the malls either because you had to work, or because you were just burnt out from Thanksgiving the day before, or because you were anxiously awaiting that nail-biter of a football game between the UH Warriors and the Boise State Broncos, relax! It’s Cyber Monday… and cyber all week long!

The fact that you’re reading this at all is probably a good indicator that you may be one of those people, like me, who avoids the big shopping malls altogether and goes to specialty shops, shops at Ross, watches QVC, or just shops online… whenever possible!

Whatever the case, I’ve decided to make a little page with shopping ideas for you to do your Christmas shopping! Let me make this clear, I would NOT have a business listed here if I did not trust the products or services that these vendors provide and/or if I had not experienced them for myself before telling you how wonderful they are.

What follows below is the start of our Shopping Page. We will build on it as we are able. Happy shopping, or at least browsing!

I can’t even begin to tell you about the variety of stuff that Hawaii Vacation Gifts sells. The scents are wonderful, the body products don’t cause itching or other skin irritations, and the customer service is “on it!”

HVG’s artistic creator has become a good blogging pal and I became a small customer of her products.I was lucky enough to receive a bit more than I ordered in my package so I know what I’m talking about. I have tried other similar products but have been left cold and unimpressed. There’s no unpleasant residual left behind from these products — neither in feel or in scent.

Go ahead and browse around the site and check out the products she has to offer! Everything from a bar of soap to an entire gift basket and more! Wait until you get to touch and smell her soy candles! They are clean and fragrant and they just feel good when you hold them! It’s weird, I know, but I like keeping them around just to smell them… without even burning them. They really do smell that good.

This is not the usual tourist keepsake place you find in Waikiki — this is the real thing! The products are designed and made here and not mass produced.

Visit Hawaii Vacation Gifts’ blog too!

How about giving a Ninja for Christmas?

A thought went through my head while I was reading something by our next gift idea. This little guy will let you give a blog as a gift! As I was reading it suddenly dawned on me, “What an awesome gift!” As much as we bloggers love our blogs, I think we can all vouch that this would be something awesome to receive, especially for someone who loves to write but doesn’t have one yet!

Not only is this a great gift idea, it is extremely cost effective! In fact, they will do it all for free! All you need to do is sign up for hosting with one of their partner links. Hey, you would have to pay for that part anyway. The most effective way to tell you about this gift, is to get it straight from the horse’s mouth… excuse me, the Ninja’s mouth.

Here’s where I tell you the best part of this gift suggestion. I know and trust this vendor and have worked closely with him for nearly a year. This “Ninja” comes with my highest of recommendations! Interested? You’ve got to at least be curious! Read on!

Ninja Blog Setup

We setup and configure blogs. It’s our goal to provide professional WordPress blogs without you having to even think about all the technical details.

A step by step overview

1. You fill out a simple form to give us the information we need to setup your blog
2. A Ninja will begin your blog setup including:
   • creating a professional email address for your blog (eg. yourname@yourblog.com)
   • testing your new email address
   • creating WordPress.com account for you so you can use the Akismet Spam protection plugin
   • creating a FeedBurner account for you so you can take advantage of FeedBurner stats with your RSS feed
   • installing WordPress on your hosting count and domain name
   • configure WordPress:
     • increase the size of the post writing box - makes writing posts much easier
     • setup search engine friendly URLs (permalinks) - more traffic
     • add a complete list of services to the ping list - tells various websites every time you write a story
     • install a robots.txt file - secures your WordPress admin pages from search engine spiders
     • create your user account within WordPress - so you have access to write and administer your site
     • delete the standard links (blogroll) that are included in WordPress
   • install and activate over 20 essential WordPress plugins ( see list of plugins )
   • setup an automatic WordPress database backup to be delivered weekly via email
   • install over 50 theme choices so you can easily change the look and feel of your site (see the themes)
3. We’ll mail you all the details of your installation including a short roadmap of optional configurations that you may want to setup.
4. You’ll receive a video guided tour of the WordPress administration area so you can easily learn your way around.

That’s it. From your point of view, you just fill out the form, and about 24 hours later, login and start blogging on a fully configured WordPress blog.

You can get started by signing up for hosting with one of our partner links:

http://www.ninjablogsetup.com/blog/wordpress-blog-hosting/

Or if you already have hosting or would like to use a different company, you can contact us to inquire about rates and other options.

What did I tell you? Is that an awesome gift idea or what?

Not exactly what you had in mind? How about something a little simpler? How about a t-shirt, or several t-shirts… the kind with attitude! These are as homegrown as you’re going to find and you can’t get them in a regular store.I went looking for Pure Breed Clothing Company because I was so sure they actually had a store in Mapunapuna. I don’t know where I got that idea, ’cause they don’t.

But, they do have a website. In addition, Henry, Christine and their three adorable children will be attending several shows and fairs between now and Christmas.

Here’s the schedule that I have been made aware of:

• 12-1 at Hilo High School fair
• 12-2 at Castle High School fair
• 12-8 at Moanalua High School fair
• 12-8 also at Aiea Elementary School fair
• 12-14 to 12-16 at gift fair at the Blaisdell Center

Go ahead and attend some craft fairs! While you’re there, look for the Pure Breed banner, pick up the perfect shirt to match that friend or family member with all that attitude, and cross a few more names off that list!

Electronic items always make good gifts! But, who do you trust? Where do you shop? I found one! I finally faced up to the fact that my computer needed more RAM or I wasn’t going to ever get out from under the software shutdown problems I was having.

The problem was that my computer is “old” by industry standards and, get this, they have stopped making the memory upgrades!

There were two companies online that had the memory that would fit and work in my computer. I couldn’t get through to a live body on the phone, but I was left with the option to have my call returned. Only one company, Edge Tech Corp, returned my call. Therefore, they got my business and my recommendation!

Their shipping was quick and the product has made me and my computer friends again. So, I list them here because they’ve got memory and they’ve got neat stuff too!

Their customer service was excellent and they have a lot of Cool Tech Gadgets and Free Shipping too! 

Edge Tech Corp has “all the tools needed to promote memory upgrades, digital media cards, flash memory devices, portable hard drives, and other technology gifts and gadgets.” In other words, they have toys in all price ranges!

• Memory for desktops, laptops, printers, servers ($15 to $2,000+)
• Digital Camera Flash Memory Cards ($15 - $190)
• Digital Memory Card Readers ($20 to $35)
• MP3 Players and Digital Music Accessories ($21 - $65)
• Portable Hard Drives ($100 - $360)
• USB Flash Drives ($18 - $190)
• Technology Gifts and Gadgets ($40 - $230)

Volcano Island Honey Company is a great place for gifts ideas and for the Christmas dinner table as well. Here we have the unusual gifts for the people who look at things a little differently than we do.

Hawaiian Airlines was awarded $80 million and Mesa Air Group, the owner of Go! Airlines must pay up! The bankruptcy judge was obviously no admirer of Mesa Air Group’s cutthroat tactics. Hawaiian wanted $120 million but I’m sure they’re just as happy with what they got! I, for one, appreciate the message sent by this decision: we don’t like ugly business practices and we won’t tolerate it!

Aloha Airlines is also going to take legal action against Mesa some time in the spring. They have different issues than those of Hawaiian Airlines, but there are issues nonetheless.

I know, I know, the airfares are going to go back up and the airlines need someone to keep them honest, etc. BUT, that’s okay… the Hawaii Superferry is back in business as of earlier today and they will give them that competition! The Hawaii Legislature voted 39 to 11 to pass a bill that will let the Alakai run while the environmental study is in progress. Of course that bill will now go to Governor Lingle for approval but I think we all know it’s a done deal!

At least with the Alakai, we get a company with a little more respect for the law and more open lines of communication. They’re not out to undermine their competition, they’re just trying to make a living and provide some jobs for Hawaii residents in the process. After a two-month delay, the Hawaii Superferry is back in the water and their management says they should be running again in another couple of weeks — another November event!

Did I tell you I’m writing a novel? In November? Tick, tock… tick, tock… tick, tock… *Gasp!* The writing frenzy that is NaNoWriMo begins at 12:01 am… in just a little less than two hours. I’ll keep you guys posted on the progress throughout the month. Maybe once a week or something I will try to share some of the chuckles as we move through November. It’s going to be a busy month!

I can’t wait to share some of Chris Baty’s wisdom. This book makes me smile and has even made me laugh out loud. So far so good! :)  Did I mention that Borders in Ward Center said they had five copies coming in?  If you need or want to get one, you might wanna get down there and put one on hold, or grab one off the shelf quickly if they’ve come in already! Otherwise, click on the book pictured above; Amazon is very good about getting things to us in the mail these days!