Tax Day is April 17

That's right: April 15 is a Sunday and April 16 is a Washington, D.C. holiday so tax day is April 17 this year.

That gives you less than two months to pull your papers together, or at least get your electronic records in order. I have a source (a tax accountant, natch), who says he loves tax season because it brings all Americans together in a way very few other "holidays" do. For a few weeks or months, we all experience the agony of the missing receipt and the mistaken addition of a column of figures. But we do it as fellow countrymen and countrywomen, damn it!

Well, I'm not so sure he's onto something with that. But I am happy to report that my return is completed and ready to be e-filed. I also helped my son do his first-ever tax return last weekend - and I'm happy to say we're both getting refunds!

I would never attempt to do my own returns, because working at home and being self-employed makes them very complicated. But my son who works just part-time used the IRS' Free File service, which is available to anyone. There's also a free file tax software program that's available for taxpayers with 2011 adjusted gross income of $57,000 or less, which encompasses about 100 million Americans, or 70 percent of all taxpayers.

Free Twitter Ad Space

Here's a timely offer you may not be able to resist:

American Express, in partnership with social media giant Twitter, is announcing that its Cardmembers and merchants will be given exclusive first access to Twitter’s new advertising solution for small businesses. Amex will give $100 in free Twitter ads to the first 10,000 eligible businesses that register at ads.twitter.com/amex.

The exclusive offer will give business owners the ability to leverage promoted ad products on Twitter and engage its more than 300 million users – a pool of potential customers largely untapped by entrepreneurs.

Businesses that sign-up today will be able to kick their Twitter campaigns off at the end of March.  The new advertising solution will open to the general public later in the year.

Comic Financials

For many small business owners, the toughest part of success is tracking and understanding the nitty-gritty financials. They may be terrific at making their product, or delivering their service. They are good marketing people and excellent at sales.

But staying on top of the numbers and reading the financial statements is a different story. And yet it's not optional if you truly want to succeed at business.

Now, an excellent book that I've recommended in the past is available in a new format: As a comic book!

SmarterComics has teamed up with L.A. financial whiz Karen Berman and her co-author Joe Knight, of the Business Literacy Institute, to release a comic book version of their book, "Financial Intelligence: A Manager’s Guide to Knowing What the Numbers Really Mean."

What a terrific idea! Check it out.

Entrepreneurship Education

It's a great impulse to get some education on entrepreneurship before you start a small business or become self-employed. There's a lot to know - and it's better to learn before you make a costly mistake.

However, there's a lot of bad business training offered online or in person. Some of it is out-of-touch, outdated, sketchy or basically a sales pitch. Worse are the out-and-out scams that seek to separate naive wanna-be entrepreneurs from their nest eggs.

Read my column today to learn how to vet business education classes.

Free Stuff

Unless they are burning through investor funds in the heady technology startup world, most small business owners are penny-pinchers. Give them a free resource and they'll take full advantage of it!

So, from CEO.com, here's a list of freebies you might not have heard of:

Box.net – Free data storage
Mail Chimp – Free direct marketing
NYCEDC – Available incubator spaces in New York (similar sites exist in other cities)
FaceTime – Video conferencing from your Mac or iPhone
FreeAdvice – Free legal advice on LLCs, partnerships, etc.
AccountingCoach – Free training on accounting for non-accountants
FreeCycle – Free equipment sharing
FreshBooks – Free invoicing, time tracking, and billing software

America Means Business

Isolated as so many of us are behind our computer screens or in our social media bubbles these days, it's interesting to see how in-person networking events are multiplying and changing.

I've noticed, and this is purely anecdotal so take it with a large helping of salt, that when people do get together in person, it has become more special. It's not necessarily a common thing anymore, so what would be routine gatherings are ramped up to become "landmark events" and mega-conferences.

Here's one on entrepreneurship that you may want to make plans to attend, particularly if you're on the East Coast. To take place in New York City on June 13 - 15, 2012, America Means Business will be packed with educational, networking and social events that will "show you how to bring your dream to life."

Here's how the organization describes the event, where registration is free through May 25 and $10 thereafter:

America Means Business will feature dozens of inspirational keynotes, informative panel discussions, “How I Did It” case studies, basic startup education by SCORE, networking opportunities, an exposition, and many other events about how to start and grow a business and everything in between. 

Web Chat

A record number of Americans - and people around the world - started their own businesses in 2011. The number was up so much in the U.S. that the researchers initially thought their data was faulty!

If you're considering a new venture, it's important to get prepared. A very successful entrepreneur I interviewed recently took two full years between dreaming up a dynamite business idea and launching it. As she told me, "You don't plant a seed and harvest it the same day. It takes time to cultivate that seed, and you can't rush it."

Here's a way to get off on the right foot and get some expert advice on what you should be thinking about with business startup. The U.S. Small Business Administration’s Janice Washington, an experienced business consultant and former business owner, will be featured Feb. 16 in a web chat on “New Year, New Business: How to Start it Right."

It doesn't cost anything and the hour you spend learning could improve your business skills and help you get training to boost your business ideas. Participants can join the live web chat, and also post questions before the chat takes place, by going online to SBA.gov and clicking on the web chat event under "What’s New." To check out the archives and read written transcripts of past web chats, go here.