TaxCoach Briefs:    December 29, 2008 — Combined Holiday Edition

Volume 3, Number 50

• Member Success: I Dare You to Target This Market!
• TaxCoach Presents: January Teleseminars
• TaxCoach Holidays: Holiday Schedule
• Member Q & A: High-Income Seminar Kit?

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MEMBER SUCCESS STORY (EAL)
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I DARE YOU TO TARGET THIS MARKET!

2008 can't end soon enough for most of us. The economy decided not to wait for New Year's to start binge-drinking, and promises to usher 2009 in with one monumental hangover. The economic news isn't just getting worse, it's getting weird. Case in point: apparently, the new status symbol in New York is getting ripped off by Bernie Madoff -- with the "status," of course, being the clout that investors needed to get in on Madoff's Ponzi scheme in the first place.

But not all the news is bad, and we're seeing TaxCoach members succeed with proactive tax planning in all sorts of areas. Steve Schuneman wrote us on December 19 with a report on his success marketing to real estate agents in Las Vegas:

"We’ve been busy, to say the least. Right after Thanksgiving I hired one of my long time clients to go to work for me marketing the Tax Coach plans. She is currently in her fifth week, and so far has set 9 appointments, 4 of which I have seen. Sold 3 planning engagements for $5,500, did 3 corporations at $795 each for paralegal work, and have 5 more appointments to see between now and January 7th. She is focusing mainly on a list of 250 realtors that were the top producing realtors in the 3rd quarter of the year, according to the local Board of Realtors."
Steve Schuneman
Henderson, NV

I'd be excited to share Steve's success with you under any circumstances. But I'm especially excited here because his target market has gotten crushed in this economy. In fact, many of you would dismiss it without a second thought. Real estate agents? In Las Vegas? Might as well look for three wise men and a virgin in the middle of the Strip.

Part of the credit has to go to Steve's new assistant. He tells us she has "a ton of marketing experience as a mortgage wholesaler for Countrywide, which also made her quite familiar with the real estate community here in Las Vegas." But setting the appointment is only half the battle. Steve's the one who closed three of those four appointments. He's the one who had the confidence to ask -- and get -- $7,885 in new fees from one of the hardest-hit markets he could have picked.

(Before we go on, are you thinking Steve's new assistant "stacks the deck" in his favor? Are you thinking her access is so unique and valuable that you could never duplicate his success? If so, ask yourself how hard it would be to find an underemployed realtor or mortgage broker in your area to set appointments? This may be an ideal time to bring in an accomplished salesperson who would work for little or no draw, and introduce you to markets where he or she is already a fixture.)

I would actually give just as much credit to Steve's list: the 250 top-producing agents for the local board. These agents are hurt by this economy, so they're open to a message of "change." At the same time, they're still making enough to need (and afford) his service. (One of our Hall of Fame members in Oklahoma is also targeting real estate agents, and he's having similar success with a list of the top-producing 350 agents in his market.)

Here's the lesson from Steve's success. Don't be intimidated by this lousy economy. Don't think that the "macro" trends you read about in the news mean you have to accept lousy results for yourself. If Steve can find this sort of success using TaxCoach with real estate agents in Las Vegas, you can certainly find success using it with at least some market in your area. And remember -- if your competitors aren't marketing, that means opportunity for you.

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TAXCOACH PRESENTS (EAL)
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JANUARY TELESEMINARS

We all know that crunch time follows close on the heels of New Year's. So we want to give you something help ease the sting -- and how about something normally reserved for our All-Stars and Hall of Fame coaching and masterminding groups?

We're pleased to present three teleseminars this month -- for all TaxCoach members -- before you bury yourself for "the season":

• Thursday, January 8: Identity Theft. Identity theft is more than just a crime, it's an international growth industry. But how can identity theft affect you and your practice? What land mines do you need to recognize in your day-to-day business? How can you help your clients avoid the risk and liability associated with identity theft? Our guest speaker, Phillip Hughes, has spoken on identity theft to numerous audiences, and will answer those questions and more.

• Thursday, January 15: Cost Segregation. Many of you are familiar with how cost segregation lets property owners accelerate depreciation deductions for immediate tax savings -- without having to invest a dime more into the property. That alone makes costs segregation worth investigating in this economy. But did you also know that cost segregation can save clients big on property taxes and even insurance premiums? Jack Peters will join us from Engineered Tax Solutions with a timely update and strategies for identitying opportunities for your clients.

• TBA: Financial Fraud. Those of you from the New York area may remember "Crazy Eddie" Antal as the electronics dealer whose prices were insaaaaaane! You may also remember him as perpetrating one of the biggest securities frauds of his time. Now his cousin Sam Antal, former CPA and CFO of that company, speaks to business and accounting audiences about what he calls "chilling straight talk about the mind, motivations, manipulations, and techniques of a fraudster." (He also encourages 'hard-nosed' challenging questions.) This is the first time we've invited a convicted felon to be part of the TaxCoach community, and we're looking forward to scheduling his appearance.

Keith and I realize you'll be very busy very soon, and we're pleased to present some "food for thought" before it begins. Save the dates; we'll have call-in information as we get closer.

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MEMBER Q & A (KAV)
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Q: I have a question regarding the seminar kits. Are there any plans to add a seminar for high income individuals (executives, independent professionals, etc.)? This is a market I am now targeting.

A: No, not specifically. The reason is that it's complexity, not income, that makes a client a good tax planning candidate.

Ed tells a couple of anecdotes to illustrate this point. In the first case, he helped a self-employed plumber with an AGI of $28K save over $3000 in taxes in the first year. In the second case, he helped an NYC executive with W-2 income over $500,000 save virtually nothing. And so the seminar kits target markets not by the amount of their income, but the source -- because that's where the planning opportunities lie.

You may have access to high-income individuals in groups via a club or civic organization, but they are best marketed to by the strata that they fit into within that group. Hence the variety of seminar kits TaxCoach offers: separate versions aimed at business owners, market investors, retirees, and real-estate investors. Note that a "professional" could potentially fit into any one of those categories.

That said, as long as you're a TaxCoach member you certainly have license to take any of the seminar kits and adapt and focus it to a specific group you know well.

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HOLIDAY CALENDAR (KAV)
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Here's our schedule for the remainder of the holiday season:

• Tuesday, 12/30: Business as usual
• Wednesday, 12/31: Office open, reserved for 2009 system updates
  (no coaching appointments)
• Thursday, 1/1: Office closed
• Friday, 1/2: Office open, reserved for 2009 system updates
  (no coaching appointments)

We'll be back in the office for business as usual on Monday, January 5. Until then, we wish you and yours the happiest of New Years!

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We're happy to answer your questions on TaxCoach content, features, or marketing. While we give first priority to our All-Star and Hall of Fame members, we work to answer all questions. For best response, email support@taxcoachsoftware.com. If we think the answer will be useful to all of our members, we'll publish it (anonymously) here in the 'Member Q & A' section of TaxCoach Briefs.

Regards,

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