Because I love all my readers who ARE bloggers (and the ones who aren’t but might be interested) I’m posting my notes from the Taking Care of Business seminar at BlogHer08 unedited (because I don’t really have time to perfect it.)

Defamation - reasonable listener - something wrong with my meal and manageer was extremely rude and gave examples that it’s false - truth is an absolute defense against defamation - doing it with malace and to harm reputation. If your just saying but this is just my opinion that’s not enough continually show that it’s jut your experience and oponion.

Copyright Law a work is considered copyrighted and protecgted by the law as soon as it is created. Labeling is great, but whether you label it or not, it is copyrighted.

Fair use has to do with commentating and criticism and there have been cases in the news AP case and Harry Potter case. You can see both sides of it but there are 4 factors that the court looks at - what are the factors?

* Nature of the Work

* Amount taken

* Purpose of the Work

* Effect on the Market - really huge. effect on competition. Original creators right can be stiffled by someone else using pieces of their work in a non-fair mannor.

Creative commons - started the org. nonprofit, objective really allow for online digital remixing and creativity to occur even though we live with this weird copyright system. A way for online digital creative commons liscense - some rights reserved license - hand out - restricting access but always getting attribution. Urge everyone to look into that.

Respecting trademarks, likelyhood of confusion,not using it exactly but if it’s in your same market and it could confuse consumers that is a problem.

Liabilities. Starting or in business, comes with responsiblities and costs - not a single answer. What are the tax implications? Selecting management structure going to be like, what your assets are - just for yourself. What can you do from a financial standpoint and personal liabiliy. Limits your personal liabilty from the assets of the company - house and car protected from a claim from a preditor - corporate veil respected and running it as a company.

Terms of use: appropriate rights and taking care of liability.

Allocate risk in agreements everyone shoudl know they can negotiate an agreement. Read it understand it and ask question if you dont understand it and negotiate it. Not boilerplate the way it is.

Collaberative blogs, Silicone Valley Moms blog - not thinking through all issues- coblogging agreement.

Kelly Philips Erb - TaxGirl.com, b5media channel editor

4 times the length of the bible - the tax code.

Income is like everything you get, (even stuff to review) - unless it’s excluded.

1099s - paid you more than $600. If company doesn’t give 1099 you don’t have to report income - NOT TRUE.

IRS is prety smart - claiming large deductions for your work in blogging

Keep track yourself, report all income - worldwide taxation.

Includes services and products - very aggresive review on product reviews - if it’s disposable it’s not income for me. If I eat them it’s not income.

Like to see matching up - reporting deduction and income.

Ordinary and Necessary

Don’t be afraid to claim a duduction.

If you were not blogging yuou would not be at BlogHer - ergo BlogHer deductible.

Business Cards - that’s a deduction, except for your blog.

Laptop just for me and my work - deduction.

Expenses can be prorated amount of time for use on the blogg

Home office key is that it has to be soley where you work. Section is fine, dedicated works space. Caviate city occupancy tax - chome office deductions will expose you to business occupancy tax for the city. Tax your home office.

Have your income offset by your deductions - not uncommon to have a loss - if I lost $1,000 you can carry it forward for the next year. Do you have a business or a hobby? do you have a motivation to make money? Just for fun not marketing or treating it like a business.

Scan reciepts save it in shoeboxes - know your good with. Don’t buy the software if you’re eally going to shove the reciepts in shoeboxes.

Giveaways - a wash.

If you can physically control something the IRS cares.

Sabrina Parsons, CEO Palo Alto Software - We exist to help people succeed in business. Tools content and advice.

HOW DO I MAKE MONEY? How to I make my blog a money generating activity.

You should be putting a SALARY in the books as a loss. Biggest mistakes poeple make is not paying themselves a salary. Don’t actually have to pay myself $15,000 but put it in the books. Once you start making money you can take that money out of the next year . Figure out some price for the things you do.

Biggest thing you have to do is look at what you’re doing as a BUSINESS. No reason you should be working for free. Take it seriously. Make it your business and once you do that figure out your business goal and figure out what it’s going to take.

1st step to pricing your services.

Connection with freelance writing and consulting services. Seeing you as a person or expert. See what your competitors are doing. Just ask and they’ll tell you and there are salary websites. Salary calculators online.

Freelance websites where people are posting. Type in freelance writer in Google and trying to be a journalist and product reviews. There’s going to be people who want to have your attention. Maybe you’re charging them a commission.

Break it down: I want to make $10,000 then what’s my quarterly goal $3,300.

Become the spammer - contact the companies business development person and then say who you are and what they want. Go out and contact them - be in control of what you want - pick out the top 10 websites and present them with a package. they are soliciting it. Go out and soliciting it. Here’s who I am, this is how many page views I get, here’s my demographics. Use google analytics, you can do all kinds of things to prove what it’s worth.

My stuff is worth what I say it’s worth! Give it a shot - I’ll give it 8 weeks, to be in a relationship. We both bring something to the table. show them how they will be better off. Taking a few risks, maybe some free stuff to prove themselves. Make sure you set it up if you give it for free, you don’t have to give it for free forever.

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Best night ever.

So tired.

Anonymity gone.

Meet wondrous interesting souls. Women. Talk interesting. Fabulous.

Some people know me. Know who I am. Read me. Feels good.

Tomorrow 2:30 is big day.

Met panelists and BlogHers that I love to read.

Foot in mouth?

I hope not.

Caught smoking?

Only when I drink. I quit.

Note to BlogHer - PRINT A BROCHURE!!! Feeling lost or scribbling my own agenda on scrap paper may be more “green” but it kinda pisses me off that I’m mostly feeling lost about where to go next.

Note to most other professional conferences: there IS a way where you can acknowledge children exist - free childcare as BlogHer is providing, or not freaking out if children show up when the sitter cancels. Just ask Lesbian Dad.

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Aren’t his mirrored sun glasses great? I’ve been striking a pose in them all week. Little kissy face, little dramatic tossing the scarf around my neck, little boogie dance, little check out my cleavage in this top, don’t you wish I had 5 more?

We’ll tourist some more until this afternoon, when I get to go to the speakers training for BlogHer08!

They’re going to teach me proper etiquette when sitting on a panel of four with audience participation.

They’re also having a boxing competition on the Wii at the Speakers Reception. Winner takes Wii home. I’ve been taking that kickboxing class. . .so maybe I stand a chance.

We went to the Exploratorium and I was challenged to drink out of a toilet drinking fountain. This is me pretending to do it. It would have been no problem except for the floaties. I just couldn’t do floaties.

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Thanks to That Girl for guest posting on Blog Fabulous today. That Girl lives in Louisiana and mothers two sons and a husband. She writes Hey You! Remember Me? where she takes us down memory lane with recollections about teenage life in the ’90s. Read her latest post Wannabe. I would post her beautiful photo, but she’s incognito due to the drug use and teen sex that comes up in bloggy memoir.

A couple of years ago my husband and I went through a pretty rocky spell. By rocky, I mean that I was constantly hurt and wondering Who is this man? How can he act like such a jerk while claiming his undying love for me? As I drove home from running an errand one night, I heard Bill and Pam Farrel, relationship experts, discussing their waffles and spaghetti theory on the car radio. It was a revelation for me and theres no doubt in my mind that God intended for me to hear it. In their book, Men Are Like Waffles–Women Are Like Spaghetti: Understanding and Delighting in Your Differencesthey explain how:

A man is like a waffle (each element of his life is in a separate box), why a woman is like spaghetti (everything in her life touches everything else), and what these differences mean. Then they show readers how to achieve more satisfying relationships.

I havent read the book, but just hearing their radio interview opened my eyes to our communication flaws. According to the Farrels, men compartmentalize everything while we see everything as never ending series of related events. Just like a bowl of spaghetti, our experiences and emotions are all intertwined. Ladies, this completely explained these kinds of fights:

Me: How many times are you going to go to bed early and leave me w/ the housework and putting the kids to bed?! (@#$^#%@!)

Him: Whats your problem, Im tired tonight!

Me: Me too! You ALWAYS do this!

Him: No, I dont! Get off my back Im tired and Im going to bed.

Me: Its not just tonight! Its every night!

Him: Quit over-reacting! Dang! Quit being a @%^#*! Just because Im tired and want to go to bed!

See, from his waffles standpoint, we were arguing over his actions on just that one night. (Which, granted wouldnt have been so horrible if it had been placed in its own little compartment out of context) But the way I saw it over in spaghetti-ville, we were arguing over a patternsomething repeated something that had been buildingsomething linked to related events from the past.

Later that night, I discussed this waffles and spaghetti theory with my husband and it has really helped our levels of communication and understanding. I told my husband that for women, there are no isolated events within a relationship. Each builds on the last to create the big picture. He takes stock of our relationship on more of a day-to-day basis, whereas I gather my conclusions from the complete experience.

The Ferrals also discussed the beauty of how these differences might complement one another within a marriage if we can learn to respect and appreciate them. For instance, men are better at focusing on one task at a time while we excel at multi-tasking. Also, those compartments become very handy when a man needs to tuck his fear into a nice little compartment to, say, rescue his family from a dangerous situation. And since we are so good at seeing the whole picture, we are the natural nurturers and caretakers. Of course, Im not saying that women are incapable of rescuing their families, nor am I saying that men are incapable of nurturing. Im saying that if you dont want to keep on having the same fights over and over, it helps to understand and appreciate your partners natural inclinations and emotional tendencies.

Does this theory ring true for anyone else? Do you notice your husband easily isolating his emotions into separate compartments? Does he ever have a problem seeing how events are related to one another when its such an obvious connection to you?

I want to say a big THANK YOU to Bill and Pam Farrel for flipping a major switch in my own marriage.

For more information about the Waffle/Spagetti theory visit MasterfulLiving.com

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Thanks to Mary Emma Allen for guest posting on Blog Fabulous. Mary Emma Allen writes four blogs for b5media: Alzheimer’s Notes Quilting and Patchwork, Home Biz Notes , and One Book Two Book.

“Setting my kids up for Alzheimer’s! No way! I’m a good mom,” you exclaim. “All the kids play soccer and football and sports like that.”

When I saw my granddaughter and her teammates stopping soccer balls with their heads and taking whomping hits, I cringed. That’s not how we played soccer in my day. (Yes, I did step into a depression on the soccer field and broke my leg during PE class. But not my head.)

Then there’s all that head contact when the kids play football at school and on community teams from a young age through high school. I’d wondered what damage results.

We generally wouldn’t let our kids beat their heads against a wall, no matter that we often hear that old adage about stone walls. So why in sports?

Is long term damage incurred in young minds and brains with head banging and concussions? Studies have come out that apparently connect football players’ brain injuries with memory loss and possible Alzheimer’s in older age.

The NFL, Concussions and Alzheimer’s disease

Ex-NFL players suffering from Alzheimer’s qualify for assistance.

Is this information something for parents to consider when they encourage their youngsters to participate in these sports, especially when there is so much pressure for winning teams, personal recognition and college scholarships?

What are your thoughts? If your youngsters play football or soccer or other head contact sports, does this concern you?

(c)2008 Mary Emma Allen

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