I just finished watching CFO-In-A-Box, a 13 video series by Mark J. Kohler on the best tax and legal strategies for 2011.

Firstly, I want to say that I was really excited about the course when I first heard about it. This is my first year filing a real tax return with significant income from my business. I’ve operated as a few different entities in 2011, have had expenses, contractors, employees, and multiple streams of income… so I was in the perfect frame of mind to learn this stuff.

In fact, before I watched the course, I was super stressed out about doing my taxes for 2011. I wasn’t sure about how proper book keeping worked, what I could and couldn’t write off, how I should pay myself, etc.

After watching the video series, I am not only excited to do my taxes this year (and keep more money in my pocket!) but am even more excited about my future as a business owner and all of the tax advantages I have.

I just feel like I have a much stronger grasp on the financial and legal elements in my business and the economy overall. I feel excited, educated, and empowered.

Before I go into more detail on the course and how to get your hands on it, I want to make it clear that I was very lucky. I was lucky that I just happened to visit my good friends Cory Shanes and Marcelle Allen in Orange County, CA while they were starting to work with a team of internet marketers to get Mark Kohler’s material into the hands of thousands. I watched the content and got so excited that I found a way to get involved with the project through my web design company Purpose Inspired Marketing, helping to build the membership site and product informational pages.

I think the initial plan was to sell the course for $197… and I have no doubt that it will be sold for that sometime soon. And I have no doubt that a lot of people will buy at that price.

But right now that’s not the case. They are making the course available to a niche community of internet marketers called the Warrior Forum first… for a tiny fraction of the retail price. It’s kind of a special Holiday thing.

It ranges from $27 – $47, depending on when you buy. The sooner you buy, the cheaper the course.

But I’m not here to sell you on it. Just to share my own review: I can say with confidence this material empowered me to save an extra couple thousand dollars this year, and a lot more than that in coming 2012 and beyond. I’m now buying Mark’s published books and look forward to reading them.

The bottom line is that if you currently are or plan on becoming a small business owner (network marketing, blogging, affiliate marketing all included!) then this video series is a must have.

Even if you already have a great CPA doing your tax returns, this course will make you aware of strategies and concepts that can still save you thousands while creating a long term wealth formula for yourself.

The best thing is, this course doesn’t even cost anything. If you apply it, it will pay for itself many times over. Plus the purchase itself is entirely tax deductible.

You can get the course here, only available for the next few days at this price, with the price going up by 10 cents for every ten purchases.

purposeinspiredmarketing.com/cfo

And yes that’s an affiliate link. I am proudly making a commission promoting this awesome offer

On another note, OC is absolutely beautiful this time of year compared to Boston… can’t wait to move here next year!

Had a nice Mustang Rental in OC!

Are you a college (or high school) student looking to get into entrepreneurship and take control of your future? Good. Great.

I have some bad news for you. But fortunately, I also have some great news for you.

The bad news is this:

• As a college graduate (especially with a liberal arts degree) you will have some trouble finding meaningful and gainful employment in your area of study.
• If you do find a job, there is a good chance you will be overworked, underpaid, and find it difficult to move up.
• Most high schools and colleges do not teach entrepreneurship. The ones that do often teach it on a level that is impractical for students or recent graduates to immediately apply… they teach about venture capital, high tech industries, high level partnerships, etc. This is all great knowledge, but is often difficult for students broke in contacts, experience, and finances to apply.

NO!

Let me explain – only you can change your own life for the better with the decision that you make. BUT having a business coach can have a dramatic impact on the direction that you take your life in, and the results that you get from your business and your life.

I was inspired to write this post because I have been working with a business coach, Garry Carlson, since late March, and the past three months for me have been transformational, to say the least.

What you can gain from a business coach:

• Accountability. It is a literally coach’s job to care about your business and ensure that you keep the promises you make to yourself. Having weekly coaching calls helps you stay on top of your goal list. You will report back every week with an overview of what you have and haven’t accomplished based on your long term goals and your action items for the previous week. This alone change dramatically improve your personal productivity.
• Experience and wisdom. A business coach works and has worked with many other business owners, and understands the financial, psychological, and emotional struggles that entrepreneurs face. He or she has dealt with them many times, and has helped many of his or her clients get over them. A coach’s wisdom can also stop you from wasting months or years (or thousands of dollars) working in the wrong direction, and can provide incredible guidance when setting your goals and developing your strategy.
• Bigger and clearer goals. Having a coach by your side will empower you to set bigger and more defined goals for yourself and your business, because you know you will have someone to help guide you towards those goals. Additionally, a coach may often believe in you more than you believe in yourself in the early stages, and will encourage you to set greater goals for yourself.
• A process to the madness. Entrepreneurship can be tough, crazy, and disorganized, especially when you are primarily working solo. Having a coach helps you add a structured, guided process to ensure success in your venture, not to mention overall better organization in your life and business, especially when it comes to time management.
• Balance. I don’t know about other coaches, but my coach Garry has helped me find greater balance in my life, helping me not only grow my business financially, but also develop it in such a way that it helps me attain the lifestyle that I want to create for myself. He encourages the business FUNdamentals, teaching that it is difficult to succeed at something that you can’t have fun at!
• Encouragement. If you struggle with self-doubt, as many entrepreneurs do especially in the early stages (I know I did), a good great will help you replace that self-doubt with a rock solid self-confidence. This confidence will be the result of not only a changed emotional state, but also assurance in the fact that you have a plan, are achieving improved results, and have greater clarity in everything you do.

For me personally, working with Garry has been a significant factor in my ability to start my business on a full-time basis after graduation. Not only is my business profitable now and has incredible prospects for the near future, I have also been able to significantly improve my lifestyle and general happiness. I take more time for what I love, like playing tennis with my friends, spending quality time with my girlfriend Ally, learning new things (currently teaching myself Spanish), and traveling to new places (just came back from Aruba two weeks ago, currently writing this post in Vermont, and have a lot of travel plans in the coming months).

If you are a business owner looking to grow your current business, or an entrepreneur looking to start a business, I strongly encourage you to get in touch with a coach. Some offer a 15 minute free coaching session… I know Garry does so, you can fill out his form here to get your free session.

If you are a business owner (including network marketing or any other home business!), I hope this post gave you insight into growing your business. If you have had any experience with a coach, please comment below!

As you might know, I haven’t been actively involved in network marketing since early last Fall. I needed some time away from the industry and the profession, especially after getting burned by some unfortunate experiences… and a few months into my “time off” I wasn’t sure if I was ever going to get back into it. Over the last several months, I’ve developed an entirely new career for myself as I successfully launched Purpose Inspired Marketing and went full-time with it after graduation.

I now love what I do, I love growing my business, and making a difference with it for small business owners and for the larger community around me. Since I left network marketing, I have been pitched on a lot of great opportunities to work with solid companies and leaders with track records, but haven’t gotten actively involved in building anything.

The other day, I was driving and in deep contemplation (I often do that while driving). I was thinking about network marketing, and how I feel about it. Over the past few months I had been a bit bitter about it… but then it hit me: if not for my involvement in network marketing, I would NEVER be where I am today. I would not have graduated college ready to start my own business. I would not have some of the incredible relationships, friends, mentors, and partners that I have… even most of my first clients came from the network marketing industry!

I wouldn’t have the networking skills that I have.

I wouldn’t have the communications skills that I have.

The leadership skills.

The “think big” mindset.

The hunger for personal development.

The guts to step out and make my own path.

The understanding of online marketing.

The larger understanding of marketing to businesses and individuals.

The list goes on and on. If I hadn’t been involved in network marketing for three years, my world and opportunities would have been unfathomably limited in comparison to my situation today. Even more so, through my own recruiting and mentoring, I have been able to pass many of these positive impacts onto many of my peers. A lot of my friends, and those whom I never knew beforehand, are now living completely different lives with greater aspirations because they were involved in network marketing with me.

Beyond that… I have been forever inspired to empower young people through entrepreneurship and personal development, all because of my network marketing experience.

Before this turns into an even longer rant, I’d just like to say plainly: I am forever grateful for the network marketing industry, and for my introduction to it at such a young age. It changed my direction overnight… from an average life, to an extraordinary one.

Upon this realization, I recognized my desire to get back into the network marketing industry, and to do it right this time. While I certainly have great aspirations for my increasing my own income with it, my main focus will be on training and mentoring other young people to create extraordinary lives for themselves through network marketing, entrepreneurship, and personal development.

I have decided to partner up with my previous company, DrinkACT. My old upline team is focusing on other projects, so I am instead partnered with a new team of great mentors. My direct sponsor is Tom Chenault, someone who has made many millions of dollars over the past decade plus in the network marketing industry, who also has his own radio station about the home based business industry. In addition to Tom, I will be working directly with John DeHart, the Director of Sales of DrinkACT, and Eric Caprarese, the top income earner in DrinkACT.

I primarily just wanted to write this blog post to share how I feel and unveil the latest development in my life since graduation from Brandeis. If you have any interest in working with me and Tom as I re-engage with DrinkACT, just get in touch with me directly. I’m really only looking to work with people who are looking to work to make a real positive change in their lives.

Check it out:

I appreciate the support!

I strongly encourage you to build your own blog As Soon As Possible! It will dramatically help your marketing efforts AND allow you to develop multiple streams of income on top of your primary opportunity income while you build your business.

If you would like, I can help you develop your own blog and provide you with a full hour of social media consulting for $147 … -OR- you can get your OWN self-hosted, personalized, professionally designed blog for FREE from The Free Blog Factory by visiting www.GetMyFreeBlog.com

Once you have your blog all set up, feel free to contact me directly and I can help you develop multiple streams of income from the traffic that you drive to your blog…

To Living a Life of Freedom, Passion, and Purpose,

Dmitriy Kozlov

Try this: Instead of competing with other people and businesses, collaborate. Help others. Give, give, give. Help others even if you don’t get paid for it and even if it is outside of your business model.

If you’re in network marketing, try offering your help to people outside of your downline… or even people in other companies. If you’re a teacher, offer guidance and support to students outside of your classroom. If you’re a parent, try helping your children’s friends, especially if they don’t have the family support they need.

Be a friend to everyone. Drop the egotistical need to compete, and instead start collaborating to improve people’s lives and the world, and your life will improve more than you can imagine in the process.

I hope you found this post enjoyable!

Define Your Personal Vision

• List your goals and aspirations on paper.
• Find an underlying theme running through your list. Summarize this theme in two sentences. Take note of how you feel about these sentences.
• Arrange the two sentences into a vision statement that speaks to your heart even more than to your head. Make sure it captures how you would like to experience your life, how you would like to relate to others, and what you would like to achieve. Take note of the feelings your statement evokes.
• Read it in front of a mirror looking yourself in the eyes, noticing your feelings and observing any doubts. Believe in the importance of your vision, even if your mind says it can’t be realized. Consciously choose your vision: Say to yourself, “I choose this vision. I choose to believe in it, in spite of any doubts.”
• Share this vision with your loved ones, and ask for their support.

Consciously Focusing on Your Vision

• Write your vision statement on several index cards. Post them in highly visible places, such as your refrigerator, car visor, bathroom mirror, desk, inside your planner, etc … be sure to carry one with your inside your purse, wallet, or pocket.
• Repeat your vision statement to yourself first thing in the morning, last thing before bed, and many times throughout the day. Remind yourself about what you most desire and your aspirations.
• Find opportunities to discuss your vision with others. Notice your interaction with others; consciously watch what actions bring you closer to your vision, and which may be working against the realization of your vision.

After diligently doing this exercise, I came to my own personal vision statement:

“I am creating a life of freedom, passion, and purpose. My purpose is to empower others to improve their own lives and the world. I trust myself and live with joy.”

This personal vision statement, dear to my heart, will also be the primary focus of my blog, teachings, and business philosophy moving forward.

I encourage you to develop your own unique Personal Vision Statement that calls to your heart and mind. If you need any guidance in the process, please do not hesitate to contact me.

To learn more about Robert E. Staub’s works, visit him at www.StaubLeadership.com

To get your copy of The 7 Acts of Courage: Bold Leadership for a Wholehearted Life…

Hope you enjoyed this! I have watched it many times, but only recently did it have such an impact on me.

Here are the 5 Facebook Rules (if you want to build a strong brand and massive network marketing business online or offline):

Completely avoid posting on…

1. NO SEX … don’t be sexist or prejudice against other sexual orientations.

2. NO POLITICS … self-explanatory.

3. NO SPORTS … too much bias.

4. NO RELIGION … even more self-explanatory.

5. NO NEGATIVITY … unless you want to attract it into your business!

Again, this is so simple that it should be common sense. In a phrase: don’t openly offend people!

Generally, because you are building a business that involves relationships and people more than anything, don’t be close-minded in your beliefs, attitudes, and prejudices towards people, as such activities will KILL your business, your brand, and your reputation… not to mention your company’s.

I hope this helps you!