This post is for all my fellow tax gurus out there. Not that I consider myself a guru. Maybe a gu, with ru by association.
B5 Media put out a call for business bloggers yesterday and I got to thinking. (I know, scary things happen when I think.) The logic thread went something like this:
- I want to start a tax blog but I can't because I have neither the technical knowledge nor the time to provide all of the content on my own.
- Hey, look! B5 Media just put out a call for business bloggers and one of the topics is Taxes. How opportune is that?
- I don't have to know everything. I just have to know a well-rounded group of tax people who are willing to commit to writing for a tax blog, say...once a month.
- I DO know people like that! I can think of eight right off the top of my head. But will they commit? Hm...
The blog would be titled "Tax for the Masses" or something along those lines, with a target audience of individuals and small business owners. I envision it as a resource for the common taxpayer, with humor. Some potential post titles:
- Stock Options: To Exercise or Not Exercise, That Is The Question
- My CPA Tax Appointment: Do I Bring the Kitchen Sink?
- Tax Software and You
- 7 Easy Steps To Pissing Off Your CPA
- What's a Wiki and Why Should I Care?
- Delinquent Tax Returns: Worse Case Scenario
- Tax Benefits of Housing Katrina Survivors: The Real Story
- Divorce: A Tax Survival Guide
In case you haven't clicked through and read the B5 post yet, I should tell you that you will be paid for your writing. Oh, should I have mentioned that earlier? My bad.
So what are the advantages to you? B5 lists a few and here are some more:
- You can add "writer/blogger" to your resume and wow your colleagues or use it to advantage at your annual review;
- It gets your name out there, as well as your company name if you choose to represent that way;
- You keep up your writing (and perhaps research) skills;
- It gives you an excuse to really read those hideous accounting and tax journals as you mine them for information.
Don't worry if you don't work in public accounting and have never prepared an individual tax return beyond your own. Your business experience is invaluable. And I'm sure you could contribute many anecdotes about working as a tax accountant.
* * * * *
Having drafted this post earlier and subsequently received feedback from my current boss ("I'm not sure I have time for a lot of non-billable blogging. You asked for what I thought."), I am now wondering if this is worth all the trouble.
The main stumbling block is passion. I am not passionate about taxes and B5 wants passionate people. I am passionate about a lot of things (helping people, organizing, communicating, bringing people together, making work/life run more smoothly), but tax isn't one of them. Will the bringing-people-together and communicating aspects of a collaborative tax blog fulfill me? Alas, probably not, especially if I have to pull teeth to get people to contribute. But hey, maybe I will find writing so much fun because I am learning so much that I will be able to contribute most of the content myself.
It's just so hard to know. Also, I have no idea if B5 will accept a multiple-author blog.
Thoughts? Comments? Post ideas? (You know, in case I decide to start a tax blog on my own just for the hell of it.) Or an idea for a completely different blog direction?
