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Brand "Me"

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Personal branding, self-branding, self-positioning, whatever you choose to call it, it’s really about personal marketing. Why would you want to do that? It’s a great way to market your business in a way that can cost you nothing. You see it in action constantly. Donald Trump, for example, uses his name on his buildings, but he also has it placed on products that he endorses. While you mightn’t be prepared to go that far, let’s look at some ways of using personal marketing.

Remember, prospects are everywhere

Whenever you travel, attend a sporting event, go to a parents’ night at your local school or even wait in line at a bank, it’s possible there is a potential customer among the group. So always be willing to talk to people. You never know who you might be talking to. Naturally not everyone is going to be a potential customer but even if somebody isn’t a prospect for your business they may well know of another person who is.

This doesn’t mean pushing yourself onto anybody a

Don Draper on Taxes

Earlier this week, the Academy of Television Arts and Sciences handed out their 64th Primetime Emmy Awards. Showtime's political drama "Homeland" was the big winner -- stars Damian Lewis and Clare Danes won Best Actor and Best Actress, and the series itself won Best Drama. AMC's period drama "Mad Men" was the big loser, failing to win the Best Drama award after four previous victories. And Mad Men's brooding star Jon Hamm lost again for Best Actor, for the fifth year in a row.

Hamm's character, Don Draper, is an advertising genius who creates campaigns for clients as diverse as Lucky Strike cigarettes, Mohawk Airlines, Menkens Department Store, and Utz potato chips. Don uses all sorts of psychological triggers to promote his clients' products. But one trigger he he hasn't used -- at least, not yet -- is everyone's dislike of paying taxes. So, as Hamm leaves the Emmys empty-handed again, we had to ask: which real-world advertisers have used taxes to promote their products?

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Turns Out Crime DOES Pay

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Back when you were a little kid, Mom and Dad warned you that crime doesn't pay. (They also told you it was the tooth fairy leaving that money under your pillow.) But it turns out that crime does pay — at least for one felon-turned-whistleblower.

Bradley Birkenfeld grew up in suburban Boston before moving to Switzerland to pursue a career in banking. In 2001, he started work at Switzerland's biggest bank, UBS. His job was to solicit American depositors, 90% of whom he said were trying to evade taxes. His main duties included schmoozing clients at UBS-sponsored events like yacht races in Newport or the Art Basel festival in Miami Beach. But he also helped clients create shell companies to hide ownership of their accounts, shredded documents recording transactions in their accounts, and once even smuggled a pair of diamonds through U.S. Customs in a tube of toothpaste. (Doesn't everyone carry their diamonds in their toothpaste?)

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Gentlemen Prefer Tax-Free

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Fifty years after her mysterious death, Marilyn Monroe's image remains as profitable as ever. In 1999, the dress she wore to sing "Happy Birthday, Mr. President" to John F. Kennedy sold at auction for $1.26 million. Forbes magazine lists her as #3 on their "Top-Earning Dead Celebrities" list (topped only by Michael Jackson and Elvis Presley). And In 2009, a Japanese man paid $4.6 million for the crypt directly above hers at Westwood Village Memorial Park Cemetery in Los Angeles. (Some people really do have too much money.)

Now Marilyn is in the news again, this time for the financial consequences of her tax planning. If Hollywood made the story into a movie, nobody would believe it.

When Marilyn died in 1962, she left $40,000 to her secretary, 25% of her estate to her psychiatrist, and the remaining 75% of her estate, including the "residuary," to her friend and acting coach, Lee Strasberg. The estate sat in probate for 41 years before finally settling, with the bulk of the assets eventually passing to an entity called Monroe, LLC, a Delaware limited liability company managed by Strasberg's widow. (It might be worth mentioning here that Alexander the Great took just ten years to conquer the entire civilized world.)

Marilyn died at her home in California. However, she executed her Last Will and Test

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Protecting Your Most Important Assets. Your Intellectual Property Rights.

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When you think about protecting company assets, several things probably come straight to mind, such as land, buildings, machinery, inventory and vehicles. In many instances companies overlook their intellectual property (IP), which can be one of their most valuable assets. By understanding the different types of intellectual property and how they can be protected against infringement you can help your business stay ahead of the competition.

Your business 'intellectual property' can include:

Players Behaving Badly

Football season is back! College teams have started already, and the pros kick off this weekend. So welcome back to the energy and excitement of game day. Enjoy the pageantry and the tailgating as the days get shorter and the air gets crisp. And don't forget the tax liens!

What?!? Don't forget the tax liens . . . ? That's right, sometimes the surest hands in the game drop the ball on their taxes.

We'll start our tour of NFL tax offenders with Plaxico Burress. The free-agent wide receiver, who once signed a $25 million contract with the New York Giants, owes New York state a cool $59,241 in tax. Of course, Burress is no