New York SBDC Research Network

Recent changes at the New York State Department of Taxation and Finance include those below, as well as others. The Metropolitan Commuter Transportation Mobility Tax is a new tax imposed on certain employers and self-employed individuals engaging in business within the Metropolitan Commuter Transportation District (MCTD). The MCTD consists of the five boroughs of New York City and the counties of Dutchess, Nassau, Orange, Putnam, Rockland, Suffolk, and Westchester. For more information, see the Metropolitan Commuter Transportation Mobility Tax web page and the newly issued TSB-M that explains this tax. Sales Tax Imposed on Certain Transportation Services - Effective June 1, 2009, New York State and local sales tax will apply to transportation services provided using limousines, black cars, and certain other motor vehicles with a driver. However, the sales tax will not apply to taxicab and bus services, scheduled public transportation services, services provided in connection with fun

Filling out Google's already extensive list of products, is Local Business Center , a dashboard for businesses to control their online persona and get some metrics on their potential customers. Locate your business on the map with a free listing so customers can find you when searching Google. List hours of service and other details about your business including coupons and collect data from Google to see who is looking for you. When customers search for a business name, the listing can be controlled by the owner with up-to-date information. Business owners can see what search was used to reach them, and what zip code the customer orginates from. You can visit their site to watch a video explaining how they've packaged this service.

Who said that building a website has to be a complicated thing? I was interested to read Jennifer Shaheen's article at Entrepreneur.com, " Build a Website in Blog's Clothing ," where she discusses how using a blogging platform can be used to set up a small business web presence. The blog format can offer just about everything a website needs: up-to-date content, search engine visibility, a way to communicate with customers, and plug-ins and add-ons a plenty (for an example, look at all the extras we have running on the right side of this blog.) Best of all, it's free. The blog format takes the newest posts and pushes them to the top, which is great for providing upcoming news and events. But you can also create posts with more permanent content, for example, your contact info. Just build a link to that post into one of your sidebars, and it will always be visible.

The librarians at the RN are often asked for information which straddles dangerously close to being legal advice. Since none of us have a law degree, we look to provide information that will answer the question without interpreting it. My favorite ploy is to provide the actual law, such as can be found at the state consolidated laws site. Richard Stim is an attorney and writer with the legal book publisher Nolo, who moderates the Nolo podcast . He addresses everyday legal topics in a "plain-English style". One can learn about business from startup to patents to tax deductions, plus topics as diverse as eBay disputes and same-sex marriage. The segments run 6 to 20 minutes each, mostly around 13 minutes. This format, of course, has its limitations. Sometimes you just need to go out and get a lawyer

The research network at the NYSSBDC has updated a document that can be used as a guide and information source for our clients in today's rough economy. Originally created in July 2008, this is the fourth version of the paper. The guide combines facts and figures regarding the current state of the economy as well as tips and strategies for surviving in down times. In order to create the document, we visited major and business news websites and found the most recent articles and blogs that are applicable to our client base. We would be happy to send the document to any advisor or NYSSBDC employee who requests a copy. Feel free to call, email, or leave a comment and we will send you what we are calling the "white paper".

Chances are, after reading the title of my blog, you think I am insane. That's okay. The numbers that we see printed everyday in the business section show that not only are we in a recession, but very few economic indicators have started to turn around and become positive. I would like to argue that the same numbers that make most people cringe are the reason why you should start your business right now. Unemployment is at 9.4% for the country and there are 5.4 individuals for every job posted. So why don't you change from being someone who is unemployed and applying for the same job as 4 and a half other people, and start your own business. Starting Over — as an Entrepreneur (Wall Street Journal) Laid Off in 2008 - Start a Business in 2009 (Entrepreneur) - Stories from three entrepreneurs who have started their own businesses during a recession. How to Start a Business During the Recession (eHow.com) Best Small Businesses to Start in a Recession (About.com)

It was only last year that Facebook surpassed MySpace in Web popularity, but MySpace’s visitor count has totally leveled off, while Facebook continues to grow (at the end of 2008 Facebook had 220 million visitors, MySpace had 125 million). Is there any hope for MySpace? Can a site this big reinvent itself and survive? History says no. Can you even remember the search engines you used before Google? Still, MySpace is making an effort, and perhaps focusing on the music scene where its unique music player has an advantage over the other social networking sites. Read more from CNN: Can once-cool MySpace stage a comeback?