Im prertty much a do it yourselfer event if it cost me 20X to do it that way I like to learn crap so I have really no expenses to write off. Less than 2% of my earnings I can say are expenses including link buying, web hosting, Software purchases. I do however spend over $600 to people for certain things but I would never have thought the requirement for a 1099 as most of these people are out of the US. Thats the confusing part I guess!
All I know is expense the stuff you can prove in a second and forget the things that would take a lot of explaining. And do not ever go for a home office deduction as that causes a lot of issues when selling your home as well as raising questions on use.