Currently we are experiencing the deterioration in financial market conditions, a turbulent election period, a credit/housing crisis, and increased energy costs. The national index indicates a slowdown in economic growth.

In a recent survey, CEO's of small to mid-sized businesses indicated a significant drop in confidence; a five-year low. Most CEO's surveyed expect the overall economy to weaken but they anticipate much smaller declines in their own firm's revenues, profits and employment in the coming year as they stated they will remain dedicated to finding and retaining good employees. More than half of the business leaders surveyed think the economy will worsen but they have no plans to scale back recruitment and in fact, they plan to increase their payroll in 2008. Most of these companies state they will raise prices in response to the increased costs of production but staffing remains their most significant issue. Finding, training, and retaining good employees are issues that have remained on the top of their agendas to position their firms for future growth.

The following are some practical things that you can do in this slowing economy:

1. Make finding, training and retaining top performers your number one priority. Double your current recruiting efforts. You need top performers on your team. You simply cannot afford to tolerate marginal performers who statistically account for about 10% of every business. You can direct these marginal workers to other career options.
2. Communicate with each employee. Let every employee know, on a one to one basis, that the economy is getting rough and that every possible unnecessary cost must be cut. Ask employees where they think costs can be cut. The Southwest Airline employees who cleaned the airplanes suggested replacing expensive trash bags imprinted with the corporate logo with ordinary trash bags and the company realized significant savings throughout the years. In addition, listen to each employee and make sure they have what they need to do their jobs.
3. Set the example. You must show your employees that you are serious about making corporate and personal sacrifices. You may consider picking up your speed and sense of urgency and controlling costs since you set the tempo for your employees.
4. Be honest with your employees. The less time your employees spend worrying and wondering, the less productive time is wasted. If your employees are afraid of losing their jobs, the best ones will leave first.

Many experts believe that a recession is very good because it cleans out the weak, just as a naturally occurring forest fire cleans out the dead wood. You can maximize your competitive advantage by having those top performers on your team.

Reprint permission granted by author: Fred Khachi, JK Consultants

Don't fall victim to tax scams. These schemes take several shapes, ranging from promises of large tax refunds to illegal ways of "un-taxing" yourself.

The IRS suggests that you remember three important guidelines:

1. You are responsible and liable for the content of your tax return.

2. Anyone who promises you a bigger refund without knowing your tax situation could be misleading you.

3. Never sign a tax return without looking it over to make sure it is accurate.

Beware of these common schemes:

Return Preparer Fraud
Dishonest tax return preparers can cause many headaches for taxpayers who fall victim to their ploys. Such preparers derive financial gain by skimming a portion of their clients' refunds and charging inflated fees for return preparation services. They attract new clients by promising large refunds. Choose carefully when hiring a tax preparer. As the saying goes, if it sounds too good to be true, it probably is. No matter who prepares your tax return you are ultimately responsible for its accuracy and for any tax bill that may arise due to a questionable claim.

Identity Theft
It pays to be choosy when it comes to disclosing personal information. Identity thieves have used stolen personal data to access financial accounts, run up charges on credit cards and apply for new loans. The IRS is aware of several identity theft scams involving taxes or scammers posing as the IRS itself. The IRS does not use e-mail to contact taxpayers about issues related to their accounts. If you have any doubt whether a contact from the IRS is authentic call 800- 829-1040 to confirm it.

Frivolous Arguments
Promoters have been known to make outlandish claims that the Sixteenth Amendment concerning congressional power to establish and collect income taxes was never ratified; that wages are not income; that filing a return and paying taxes are merely voluntary; and that being required to file Form 1040 violates the Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination or the Fourth Amendment right to privacy. Don't believe these or other similar claims. Such arguments are false and have been thrown out of court. Taxpayers have the right to contest their tax liabilities in court, but no one has the right to disobey the law.

Rebate Phone Call
At least one scheme using the word "rebate" as part of the lure has been identified. In that scam, consumers receive a phone call from someone identifying himself as an IRS employee. The caller tells the targeted victim that he is eligible for a sizable rebate for filing his taxes early. The caller then states that he needs the target's bank account information for the direct deposit of the rebate. If the target refuses, he is told that he cannot receive the rebate. This phone call is a scam. No legislation has yet been enacted that would allow the IRS to provide advance payments to taxpayers or that determines he details of those payments.

Moreover, the IRS does not force taxpayers to use direct deposit. Those who opt for direct deposit do so by completing the appropriate section of their tax return, with bank routing and account information, when they file; the IRS does not gather the information by telephone.

Refund E-Mail
The IRS has seen several variations of a refund-related bogus e-mail which falsely claims to come from the IRS, tells the recipient that he or she is eligible for a tax refund for a specific amount, and instructs the recipient to click on a link in the e-mail to access a refund claim form. The form asks the recipient to enter personal information that the 'scamsters' can then use to access the e-mail recipient's bank or credit card account.

In a new wrinkle, the current version of the refund scam includes two paragraphs that appear to be directed toward tax-exempt organizations that distribute funds to other organizations or individuals. The e-mail contains the name and supposed signature of the Director of the IRS's Exempt Organizations business division.

This e-mail is a phony. The IRS does not send unsolicited e-mail about tax account matters to individual, business, tax-exempt or other taxpayers.

What to Do
If you have received a questionable e-mail or phone call claiming to come from the IRS please forward it to phis hing@irs.gov, using instructions contained in an article on IRS.gov titled "How to

Protect Yourself from Suspicious E-Mails or Phishing Schemes." Following the instructions will help the IRS track the suspicious e-mail to its origins and shut down the scam.

For more information about these and other tax scams visit the IRS Web site at www.IRS .gov.

These are successful tips for writing powerful sales letters, articles, titles, and other marketing material. We have spent a small fortune learning this information not to mention the incredible amount of time of actually doing it. This is a partial list of some of the most important aspects.

Now you can benefit from all this research, education, experience, and trial and error condensed in this short article.

Use these tips for all of your sales letters, titles, and articles:

1. Create an outline before writing the content.
2. Spend 80-90% of your time on creating a powerful headline and sub-headline. (prior to writing the content)
3. Create a first draft without worrying about spelling, grammar, and format.
4. Rewrite and edit after a day or two.
5. Eliminate words that are not necessary. Make sure your message is complete but condensed.
6. First and last paragraphs are the most important (aside from the headline). Rewrite these as many times as it takes to be very powerful. A good technique for the last paragraph is to create a brief powerful summary and call to action.
7. Use testimonials if possible.

Author: Gary Sorrell, Copyright 2008 All rights reserved. 740-824- 4842

"Few of us ever test our powers of deduction, except when filling out an income tax form.''
- Laurence J. Peter, author

"People who complain about taxes can be divided into two classes: men and women."
- Unknown

"To give real service you must add something which cannot be bought or measured with money, and that is sincerity and integrity."
- Douglas Adams

CCI's mission it to unleash passion and purpose in people and organizations. We accomplish this by engaging and developing successful leaders throughout an organization; teaching people to collaborate and work together effectively and by supporting the alignment and commitment to achieving both individual and shared goals in organizations.

We are a training, facilitation, speaking, and consulting organization.

Our goal is to bring out the very best in the people and organizations we work with. When people are passionate and on fire about their work everyone produces more. Let us show you how!

Collaborative Connections is proud to announce our association with CRK Interactive.

Today people are looking for fast and effective ways to learn on demand; when they want it. We are pleased to now offer several online 90 minute classes that keep people's skills up to date. Many of these online classes work inconjunction with assessements such as the DiSC Behavioral Style Profile or other assessments and several offer CEU Credits.

These programs are designed to engage learners and provide high impact training for employees available 24 hours a day. Classes are reasonably priced and can be used as a stand alone course or as part of a blended approach.

Online classes are available for:

1. Managers and Leaders
2. Teams
3. Sales Professionals
4. Customer Service Representatives

For a list of available courses, course descriptions, courses that qualify for CEU's or to sample a course for free, please call us at: 303-380-2550 or email info@collaborativeconnections.com