Victoria Nicks offers Email Archiving Advice

Article by Victoria Nicks:

Archiving Email Files: Avoid PST Headaches for Your Organization

What are PST files? When you download emails from the main server, and read it on a mail client (Outlook, for example) on your computer, your computer saves the email, as well as any attachments, calendar events and other mail information to .pst files on your computer's hard drive. Why is this a problem? The PST files can take up huge amounts of space, and searching through them can take time you don't have in the event of a lawsuit or compliance problem. Your best bet - archive the email files into a single location, and stop saving PST files on individual computers.

Use Bookkeeping Templates to Make Accounting Easier!

Need some bookkeeping templates? Use these free samples to simplify your accounting processes and save money for your small business.

Small business bookkeeping templates are valuable additions to the desk of an entrepreneur or office manager in even a medium-sized business that is working to establish an accounting department. Using free sample accounting forms lets you organize your company's finances while saving money. Take accounting and bookkeeping classes, and gather enough information to use and customize all your forms so that they reflect the needs of your individual business.

Filing for Unemployment in New York

New York's Department of Labor has some strict guidelines for filing for jobless benefits, but you can file online as long as you have all of the information that you need.

What do you need to file online?

• Social Security Number or Alien Registration Card Number
• New York Driver's License or ID Card Number
• Information about your previous employer, including EIN and contact information
• Routing info for your bank if you want direct deposit.

When Will You Start Getting Benefits?

Even if you file the moment that you lose your job, it will be at least a week before you start getting benefits, since NY has a one-week unpaid wait period. After that, if your application takes longer for approval, you'll receive past benefits as soon as it is approved.

Your best bet: File for unemployment right away, even if you think you have another job lined up. Worst case scenario: You have to decline benefits because you have another job.

Quick DIY Credit Repair Tips

So you finally bit the bullet and checked your credit score... and now you wish you hadn't. All those over-the-limit credit cards have really brought your score down, but you need it higher to qualify for a loan or even a new apartment lease. What now? It's time for some quick credit fixes:

Quick Fix One: Pay Down That Debt! Don't close your existing accounts, just pay down the balances. The further you are from the credit limit, the better your score will be.

Quick Fix Two: Pay Your Bills! OK, so it's not very quick, but it's something you can start doing right this minute. You can create a monthly bill-paying chart if you have trouble remembering to pay the bills, or set up an auto-debit to your bank account, but you absolutely must pay your credit card bills on time if you want your credit score to go up.

Quick Fix Two: Dispute any incorrect information on your credit report. Go through it carefully, line-by-line, to make sure that all of the accounts are correct, any documented late payments are correct, and that the current balances are correct. Dispute incorrect information, and your score will improve when the issue is resolved.

Are Free Credit Reports a Myth?

Every time you click on a "Free Credit Report" ad, you get asked for your credit card - or bamboozled into signing up for some kind of credit monitoring service. So how on Earth can you get that free report that everyone talks about? Is it just a myth?

Annual Credit Report site
Annualcreditreport.com is the only site that is authorized by the Federal Trade Commission to actually provide free reports to U.S. consumers. You're entitled to a free report from Equifax, Experian and Transunion each year. Don't get them all at once - apply for a free report from one reporting agency, wait three months and then apply for a report from the second agency, and so on.

There really is an absolutely free credit report, you just have to know where to look!

Too Much Business Debt? Get Consolidated with the SBA!

Did you know that the Small Business Administration will help you consolidate your business loans?

Why Consolidate?

If you've run up a bunch of high-interest business credit cards, or you've got a number of small-business-loans with various lenders, consider asking the SBA to help you get them consolidated. You can end up with lower payments, lower principal and even lower interest rates, and you'll save time and stress when all your loans are in one place under one set of terms.

About Small Business Consolidation Loans:

The SBA does not provide the loans, they just guarantee the loan to help you get approval from a private lender. Consolidating your small business loans can save you a ton of time, money and stress, so don't hesitate - contact your local SBA chapter ASAP!

SBA Jobs Tour - Coming to your town?

The Small Business Administration is going on tour. Want to attend one of the SBA Small Business Jobs Act events? Check out the dates and locations of the SBA Jobs Tour, and mark it on your calendar. When you're starting up a small business, you should never turn away a resource. The SBA is an incredible resource for business owners - they'll help you get financing, and work on your business plans.. and now, with the STEP program, they may even be able to help you get a grant to start exporting your products! Check it out, you won't regret it!

Starting a Small Business

Tired of the daily grind? Sick of the suit and tie, paying for babysitters and missing out on the beautiful weather? Or.. Maybe you just can't find a decent job! With wages dropping, and unemployment and underemployment rates going higher all the time, you're not alone.

Small Business Options

Instead of wasting your time in a job you hate, or trying to find another job you'll hate, why not focus your attention on starting your own small business? Everyone has at least one skill. Put your skills to work, and do what you love. Even if you have little or no business experience, you can get start-to-finish help from the Small Business Administration with everything from financing and business plans to ongoing planning and marketing. Use the free resources that are available, to prosper. Who knows, someone may be asking YOU for a job, before you know it!

Sell Your Textbooks Online for Quick Cash

If you're a college student, you're probably feeling the money crunch as grant and loan programs tighten up, and the flow of money dries to a trickle. Many college students sell textbooks online when they have finished their classes - consider selling your used books on Amazon or eBay, to help with necessary expenses for the upcoming semester.

• Step One: Find the ISBN of your book. This number is located under the barcode, as well as inside the binding. It is necessary to have the exact information available to buyers when attempting to sell textbooks online. ISBN codes will change with each edition of a book, so students will look books up by ISBN to ensure they have the correct edition.
  

• Search for your book on Ebay, Amazon, and Half.com. Pay attention to the lowest price available for the book you are planning to list on each site. If you are planning to sell textbooks online, you will need to compete with the other people selling their textbooks. Looking up the prices other people are selling for is like reverse comparison shopping.
  

• List your book with the site that has the highest dollar amount as their lowest available price for your book, and price your book just under the lowest available price. This will allow you to receive the highest possible value, and sell your books faster. The lowest price shows up at the top of a search. This means that entering the lowest price will put you above the other people who are selling the book, and make it more likely that your book will sell quickly.

Notes:

• Always keep in mind that you plan to sell your book after class. A book in good shape will sell for more money, so keeping your books in good condition, and keep track of extra materials such as CDs, if you plan to sell textbooks online after classes end.
  

• Don't list your book in more than one place at a time. If it sells to two people at once, you'll have to cancel one of the sales, and your seller's reputation will suffer. That will cause problems the next time you want to sell something on the site.
  

Need help keeping track of expense reports? Try these Access database templates!

Access can be complicated, but you can use a pre-set template database, especially meant for expense report tracking, and save yourself the work/stress of setting up your own database. Pretty cool...