Comments on: Start a Blog About Something You Want to Kick Ass At!

By: Ultimate Blogging Experiment

Ultimate Blogging Experiment — Sat, 16 May 2009 04:58:25 +0000

Blog about something you have passion for is what I tell bloggers. People can tell if you really like what your blogging about.

By: John Cow

John Cow — Sun, 21 Sep 2008 15:15:43 +0000

DonkeyBlogger…. too funny, love the name!

By: Donkeyblogger

Donkeyblogger — Sun, 21 Sep 2008 14:06:48 +0000

Hi John

There are things I’m curious about that I’d like to learn and blog about – that I don’t have that much experience of. I’m really taken by your comment about writing as you learn. It does make sense. After all, there are people out there who are in the same boat as me so I guess they’d be learning along with me.

So thanks for that.

take care…

By: John Cow

John Cow — Fri, 19 Sep 2008 20:21:59 +0000

Cool… keep me updated!

By: Christie

Christie — Fri, 19 Sep 2008 20:19:19 +0000

You’ve just given me a brilliant idea. And I promise to link back here once it launches.

By: Link Love: Some Great Articles To Read | Smarter Wealth

Link Love: Some Great Articles To Read | Smarter Wealth — Sun, 07 Sep 2008 12:02:52 +0000

[...] John Cow offers a great read on Starting a Blog About Something You Want to Kick Ass At [...]

By: Ryan McLean

Ryan McLean — Sun, 31 Aug 2008 13:14:01 +0000

Great post. I am blogging about how I want to make loads and loads of money being an entrepreneur. I am tracking my journey and writing about the things I am learning. I love my blog

By: John Cow

John Cow — Sat, 30 Aug 2008 13:04:07 +0000

Great question and there are a few things you can do. You can put the blogs for sale at a place like sitepoint.com or you can use them to filter traffic to your good blogs.

By: rick

rick — Sat, 30 Aug 2008 11:12:57 +0000

Great post. In regards to getting rolling with blogging you stated “it is good to start with 3 blogs and then see which one takes off”. My question is what to do with the blogs that are not terribly successful? Over time they acquire a small following but are time pits. Let them roll or swing the ax? (Let’s also assume they are not terribly profitable.) Finally, how much time do you allow before determining if a blog is successful?

By: Normal Joe

Normal Joe — Fri, 29 Aug 2008 20:45:54 +0000

Good stuff CowMan, I loved it! It makes sense and really can get those creative juices flowing. Good stuff as usual man. Normal Joes last blog post..Blog Flipping Gone Wild Contest

By: homodeltrains

homodeltrains — Fri, 29 Aug 2008 09:59:03 +0000

Great post. It’s amazing all the benefits blogging actually has.

homodeltrainss last blog post..what kind of ho scale train cars would be the best for a train set that is ho scale?

By: Top CD Rates

Top CD Rates — Fri, 29 Aug 2008 02:23:53 +0000

If the expense is for a business that is making the effort make money, it is probably tax deductible. I purchased a bunch of books to help with my programming, design, database, etc. Those are legitimate expenses. Top CD Ratess last blog post..Heritage Bank, NA — Arizona CD Rates

By: Should You Only Write What You Know? | IM Geek Girl

Should You Only Write What You Know? | IM Geek Girl — Thu, 28 Aug 2008 02:19:22 +0000

[...] is a new post over at the John Cow website called Start a Blog About Something You Want to Kick Ass At. There is a lot of sense in this, as it is easier to write about things you are passionate about, [...]

By: Dot Com Dud

Dot Com Dud — Thu, 28 Aug 2008 00:25:42 +0000

Good advice, always helps to be blogging about something you have a passion for. Now I just need to find a hobby – unless being lazy and getting as much sleep as possible count as a hobby?

Dot Com Duds last blog post..Where is the love? Right here

By: Forex Brotherhood - Cows Are Invited

Forex Brotherhood - Cows Are Invited — Thu, 28 Aug 2008 00:14:45 +0000

Taxing times…

Just another ‘cow strategy’ to keep the Income Tax department away from my pocket..

Btw.. great effect just noticed the ‘race car’ in the comment box!

By: Big Ben Patton

Big Ben Patton — Wed, 27 Aug 2008 22:17:45 +0000

Great Tips Cow. I would love to see a tax expert on your site

By: John Cow

John Cow — Wed, 27 Aug 2008 22:12:27 +0000

Yes that makes perfect sense.

By: Bob

Bob — Wed, 27 Aug 2008 22:04:07 +0000

Gotcha cow.. I guess I’m just thinking farther ahead with this than your article mentioned. Your business doesn’t need to turn *profit* for a taxable deduction, but it does need to demonstrate progression towards income. That is to say, you can lose money every year for x years, and still write things off, as long as you are trying to bring in money. If you don’t demonstrate effort to bring in money, you won’t be able to write off the expense… at least that’s what my tax guy tells me (having been down this road before).

Good post, I understand your point entirely.. I was just getting caught up on your example of someone starting up a hobby (i.e. “taking up woodworking” as you put it) and writing off expenses for something that’s not actually a business.. maybe in 5 years you start writing some of that stuff off because it has become a business, but certainly not it’s your hobby, and not just after you’ve ‘taken it up’. It won’t work entirely like you have it here, but your post is more about the motivation than the execution, and it’s a good post for that.

By: John Cow

John Cow — Wed, 27 Aug 2008 21:37:30 +0000

You do not understand. The hobby no longer becomes a hobby… it becomes your job. Your business is to blog about that hobby which makes the hobby no longer a hobby but a legitimate part of your business.

A business also does not have to make a profit in order to be considered a taxable expense.

By: Ron

Ron — Wed, 27 Aug 2008 21:21:47 +0000

Hi.

I have used this technique, and you are very right. It needs to earn an income and be a real part of your business.

You probably could do food, but you would have to take photos, describe how you prepared it, etc. etc. Would it be worth the savings? No.

For example, I could start a blog and review every DVD I rented. It could be a legit write-off, but to save 30 cents I would have to spend a half hour writing.

Another thing Senior Cow does not mention is that you can hire family members as writers. But they better really be writing, and on a blog that really has a monitization strategy.

I am not a tax expert. I love this topic but it is scary to write about in public. If you document things well and have a clear strategy and reason, you can do a lot of things that can save money.