Seven easy ways to simplify your life and boost your income in 2013...

When it comes to your business in 2013, there’s no need to make overly ambitious plans. Here are seven easy steps you can take right now to simplify your life, lower expenses and pump up your net income in 2013 and all the years to come:

1. Slash your costs for keeping in touch. As for keeping yourself reachable, you’ve never had it so good. With your cell phone, pager, broadband internet access, and regular telephone service, you’re never far from anyone you want to reach (or anyone who wants to reach you).

Unfortunately, you’re probably paying a lot more than you realize for all that techno-communication. Contact your primary provider to see what bundled plans are available in your area. You may be surprised at how much you can save by giving all of your communications business to one company. If you're already dealing with only one communications company, ask for an analysis of your account to see where you can save. But don’t expect them to come looking for you; you’ll have to ask.

2. Give your accountant a pay cut. Sure, you hate all that paperwork and record keeping that have become part of your life. But if you find yourself scrambling to find receipts and other records for your accountant at tax time every year, you’re probably costing yourself some real money. Certified Public Accountant Tom Normoyle, Huntingdon Valley, Penn., said that even the simplest of systems, one file for income and one for deductible expenses, can be a money saver.

“When clients present me with a shoe box full of unsorted papers, I have to charge them for the hours it takes to make sense of them,” Normoyle said. “A simple filing system that separates records of different types is one sure way to reduce my fee.”

3. Save money even while you’re paying bills. No one enjoys paying bills. That’s why we sometimes postpone that unwelcome job to the point of risking late payment fees and blemishes on our credit reports. Paying bills may never be fun, but new technology has made the task quicker, easier, and less costly.

Nearly all banks are online and most offer free (or almost free) online bill paying. Once you sign up and choose a password, log on to the bank’s website where you enter the payee’s name and address, phone number and the amount to be paid. The bank takes over from there, either by mailing a check to the payee or by making an electronic transfer of the money.

You need enter the name and address of a payee only once. Each entry is memorized so that the next time you make a payment, you need only to click on the payee’s name and enter the amount.

You save time, the cost of postage at nearly a half a buck for every check you mail, buying checks, and trips to the post office.

4. Slay the credit card monster. Life as we know it today wouldn’t be possible without credit. However, credit has its dark side. Credit cards have been compared to drugs; they offer short-term pleasure in exchange for long-term pain.

Independent studies continue to show that the more credit cards you carry around, the more likely you are to dig yourself into a bottomless financial pit. Equally important, if your wallet heavy with plastic is lost or stolen, the risks of identity theft skyrocket.

Perhaps you have one of those “reward” cards for personal use and a separate card for business. That’s all you need. Avoid cancelling several credit cards all at once; that could affect your all-important credit score. Instead, cancel them over a period of months, and be sure to keep the two cards that you have had the longest. The credit scoring companies like to see a long history of good credit performance.

5. Dig yourself out from under all that paper. With all the paper you’re required to slog through for business purposes, you don’t need to add to the burden by hanging on to reams of paper because of the worry that you might need it someday. Most of it will never see the light of day.

If that sounds like you, organizing guru Maria Gracia (www.getorganizednow.com) suggests these guidelines to help end the nightmare of out-of-control paper:

• Use the 4 D’s.
  • Do it
  • Delay it (File it in an action file or archive file)
  • Delegate it
  • Dump it
• Open mail over the wastebasket

Immediately get rid of mail you don’t need, such as catalogs or advertising offers of no interest. Then, use the 4-D system on what’s left.

6. Get rid of insurance you don’t need. The cost of insurance is a major burden for entrepreneurs. That’s why it’s important to cut through the smog generated by the insurance industry. In addition to business liability insurance, there are only five types that you must have: life, health, disability (as long as you’re working), homeowner’s and auto. For most people, the rest are a waste of money.

Life insurance on your kids is a classic example of insurance you don’t need (unless you’re raising a future Shirley Temple). Don't agree to credit life insurance or to car rental insurance. Your own auto policy or credit card will probably cover that base. Once you’ve pared things down to those five types, look into consolidating policies with one company.
That’s often a money saver.

7. Grab your share of the best publicity of all; free publicity. How do you go about getting a piece of the free publicity pie? First, you need to learn what makes a good story. Then you need to learn how to sell it your local news media.

Your news item doesn’t have to be of eye-popping importance to gain a free spot in the media, it just has to be “newsworthy.” That simply means there is something about your or your business that the public might find interesting. Even simple things like interesting news about you or an employee, changes in your business, or your own hobbies, activities, or accomplishments can be the seeds for free publicity.

To get free publicity, you have to seek it actively. The media isn’t going to come looking for you. While it isn’t necessary to have a “contact” in the local press to get your share, it doesn’t hurt.

Hopefully, 2012 has been a good year for you. But these easy-to-follow steps can help you to a more prosperous 2013.

William J. Lynott is a freelance writer in Abington, Pa., specializing in business management, as well as personal and business finance; lynott@verizon.net.