Income Tax Issues for Individual Artist/Designers Ect.

I just got back from a free seminar at the Brooklyn Business Library- it was very good! Now I'm kicking myself for missing the Organization for Home Businesses seminar a few weeks ago. It was a basic overview of how to do your taxes if you're an artist, designer and/or freelancer. I still have questions, but the good part is I found out about some of the correct wording and more questions I didn't even realize I had. So now I can call up the irs and know what to ask.

I wanted to post some links I found out about that can help other artist/designer/freelancer types like myself with their tax woes.

Free help for Brooklyn artists/designers
www.brooklynartscouncil.org

Info about using free tax return preparation by volunteers
http://www.irs.gov/individuals/article/0,,id=107626,00.html

Link to free tax preparation sites in New York City & Brooklyn (where those volunteers are!)
http://www.nedap.org/FreeTaxPrepSitesNYC.pdf ....this list is from 2005 but probably some of these places still do it, it's worth calling them and checking it out



Here's one of the upcoming seminars at the Brooklyn Business Library:


Get on the Internet and Get Business!
How to use the Web to reach out to a wide world of clients

Your computer can be the key to selling success if you know how to use the internet effectively. At this seminar Liliana Blanco from the Business Outreach Center will give you tips to E-Mail marketing and Jennifer Stevens of Stevens Consulting will explain the secrets to selling on eBay. Join us to learn:

* The benefits of marketing via email
* Using Constant Contact and understanding its features
* Choosing profitable products to sell online and pricing them right
* Creating repeat customers

Tuesday, February 19
6:00 - 7:30 pm


There's another seminar having to do with small businesses coming up on Feb 28th, it hasn't been put up on their website yet. I guess we'll have to check back on that one.

I love comments so make sure you comment if you have some advice or questions, we can help each other out!

Inspiration Saturday- Unusual Uses of Materials

This week's Saturday inspiration is all about using interesting materials in unusal ways. The materials used are concrete, wood and rubber.



I stumbled on these awesome wooden bags in a magazine (I'm not sure which one) they're by Monacca. They're made out of Japanese cedar.












and hel-lo how cute is this calculator? Definately check out their website at www.monacca.com They do furniture too.






This jewelry piece was made out of silicone rubber that was cut with a water jet. It's part of a line of jewelry called Nervous System, developed by Jessica Eve Rosenkrantz and Jesse Louis-Rosenberg. The line came out of their mutual fascination with biology and math. Check out their website for more background info: www.n-e-r-v-o-u-s.com



I spotted these great concrete rings on www.supermarkethq.com the other day. That website's chock full of interesting new designers. The inside part of the rings are made of stainless steel. The rings were inspired by "architecture and urban life". I love it! it's like a little piece of a building on your finger.