Thursday, March 31, 2011

Florida Annual Reports Due May 1st!

Filing your annual report each year keeps your business active with the Department of State, Division of Corporations for another year.  Every business formed prior to 2011 must file their annual report by May 1st.  If a report is filed late, an additional $400 penalty is levied to the standard fees.

The standard fees are $150 for a Corporation and $138.75 for a Limited Liability Company.  If you wait until after May 1st, that means the fees are $550 and $538.75 respectively.  In the past, there was a ‘loophole’ that could sometimes allow you to avoid the penalty when filing late.  That loophole was removed last year, so ALL late filings must pay the $400 late fee.  It’s definitely not worth waiting!

When filing your annual report, this is the time to make necessary changes.  Update your company address, registered agent and manager/officer information.  Be sure to check your spelling.  If information is mistyped, an amendment must be filed which is an additional $35.

To clarify, this is NOT your license renewal.  Your license is up for renewal in August of every EVEN numbered year.  This is to keep your business active and retain your business name with the Department of State.  If you have any confusion on this matter you know who to ask!

Filings are done online at www.sunbiz.org, but as always the gals at Licenses, Etc. would be happy to take this task off your hands!  Give us a call and we will make sure it is done correctly and on time! 

Tuesday, March 22, 2011

Facebook for Businesses Workshop

Thank you to everyone who attended the workshop last night!  What an amazing turnout we had with a standing room only crowd!  55 attendees and 14 SCORE representatives came to hear Lisa give a riveting workshop on how to use Facebook for your business.
A few of the topics discussed were:
·         Custom welcome pages
·         Applications that you can import into your page
·         Ways to connect social media & make them work for you
·         Methods of getting fans
·         Studying insights to see what works
 To see the presentation in its entirety, go to http://www.slideshare.net/lisaadamslicenses/score-facebook-for-businesses-workshop.  There are active links within this presentation, so click away!
If you have any questions after watching this (or would like to hire us to do the work for you), please don’t hesitate to call Lisa at 239-963-5369!


Wednesday, March 9, 2011

Upgrades to Facebook Business Pages: We Requested, They Delivered

Some really cool upgrades have enhanced Facebook for those who have business pages.  Developers have been asking admins how they can make business pages easier to use.   We responded with a number of things that we would like to add to the capabilities of business pages.  The developers listened and as of mid February they sent out emails detailing the new features they would be revealing.
The developers allowed us to see what our business accounts will look like and upgrade the pages ourselves if we would like.  All pages will automatically be upgraded on March 10th. 
Here are some of the new features:
·         Notifications when fans interact with your page or posts – Previously an admin would need to visit the page to see if a fan posted to their page, now it will give you a notification of this just like a personal page.
·         A place to showcase photos along the top of your page – Just as the personal pages now have, pictures will be showcased along the top.  Admins can choose to hide a certain picture if they would not like it showcased by rolling over it and clicking on the X button that appears.
·         A news feed for your page - News Feed — the center column of your home page — is a constantly updating list of stories from people and pages that you follow on Facebook.  You can “switch” to the business account to see this.
·         The ability to Like and post on other pages as your page – “Switching” to the business account allows you to post on other business pages as your business.  This gives your page more visibility.  At this time you cannot post on personal pages as your business.

To “switch” between personal accounts and business accounts:
·     You must be an admin of the page
·     Go to the business page
·     In the upper right hand corner of the page, find the link that says “Use Facebook as [Business Name]”
·     Repeat steps and click link that will now say “Use Facebook as [Your Name]” to switch back
These changes allow businesses a lot more freedom and visibility with their pages.  As always, if you would like to discuss options for marketing your business with Social Media, contact Lisa Adams at 239-963-5369. 

Friday, March 4, 2011

Congratulations, February licensees!

Congratulations to the following Licenses, Etc. clients who were approved in February:
·  Michael Wiecinski at Rohl Networks, LP of Pompano Beach, FL
·  Bob Stull at Stull Contracting, Inc. of Cape Coral, FL
·  Evan Gorny of Fort Myers, FL
·  Rodney Locke at Locke Builders and Contractors, Inc. of Margate, FL
·  James Brann at The Porch Factory, LLC of Fort Pierce, FL
·  Omar Pareja at AB&P General Contracting And Engineering, Corp. of Doral, FL
·  Michael Whitehouse at Oceanic Air Conditioning, LLC of Cape Coral, FL
·  Michael Utley of Fort Lauderdale, FL
·  Thomas Tomarelli at A/C Guys, Inc. of Ocoee, FL
·  Gregory Wellet at Key King Enterprises, Inc. of Key West, FL
·  Dazhi Yu at Unimeso, LLC of Gainesville, FL
·  Ralph Collazo of Miami, FL
·  Ernest Charles Miles at DR Swanson/Titan Golf JV of Port Charlotte, FL
·  Lowell Jones at Action Air Conditioning of South Florida, Inc. of West Palm Beach, FL
·  Josh Frank at Integrity Pools, Inc. of Port Charlotte, FL
·  Robert Ruck at Environmental Demolition Partners, LLC of West Palm Beach, FL
·  Phillip Lee at Orion Merchant Solutions of Miami, FL
·  Gerard Reed at Reed & Co DBA DreamMaker Bath & Kitchen of Naples, FL
·  Jimmy Bowen/Michelle Apholz at Sun Star Energy, LLC of New Smyrna Beach, FL
·  J. Mark Nash at True Mark Builders LLC of Naples, FL 
We're also pleased to share the newly created or revamped Social Media Networking pages for these fine businesses we get to call clients:
·  TEC Plumbing and Construction
Be sure to connect with them all on Facebook and Twitter.
Would you like to be set up on Social Media Networking sites, too? Call Lisa at 239.963.5369 for more information.