One of the most effective and most cost-efficient forms of promotion is, by all means, internet marketing. The internet is not only a portal to contact your customers, but also a genie in a bottle that will help you fully understand your customer’s wants and needs. Google analytics and other website/keyword tracking tools provide webmasters with invaluable information on what pages are viewed by visitors, how long they’re on a site, how they found the site, and much much more.  

Magazine ads, TV commercials, direct mail and other Stone Age methods provide almost no way to track a customer’s reaction. Ask yourself this: how much time does a potential customer spend reading one of your print advertisements? The answer is you have no idea. On the other hand, if you ask me the same about internet marketing, I will not only provide you with how long they viewed the ad, but also what operating system they’re on, what browser they’re using, their screen resolution, and the color of their underwear (only kidding, I tossed my x-ray goggles in the trash years ago). Ultimately, more knowledge on potential customers provides you with a better ability to tailor your marketing campaign for their wants and needs. 

Aside from being able to track customers more precisely,  internet marketing is timeless and offers far more bang for the buck. I always tell clients to shy away from print/tv ads because once published or aired, and a short amount of time passes, the ads are forgotten. They’re over quicker than a Clipper fast break (lol, only kidding! A longtime friend of mine plays on the Clippers and he’s going to hate me for this one  ). On the flip side, internet marketing and search engine optimization gets better with time; like a fine wine. As online content remains on the net, and obtains more views and incoming links, it builds “weight” and ranks higher in search engines. 

Now, you’re probably wondering where the heck to start. I mean, internet marketing sounds uber-cool, but how should you use the internet to market your business? My answer: A-HAAAAAAA!!! (from the taste the soup scene in Coming to America)

On to the best stuff…See below my fellow ninjas:

Banner Advertisements

If you’re stuck on print ads (they have sentimental value or something odd) and like their look/feel, then banner ads are for you. Creating a cool Flash banner and slapping it on a high-traffic website such as a forum or blog costs far less than a magazine ad and generates a higher conversion rate more often than not. Simply having the ability to animate images is a step above and beyond anything print advertisements can do.

Search Engine Optimization (SEO)

I’m an SEO geek/fanatic and push this method of marketing to all of my friends and clients. I look at it like this: why would I pay for any advertisement that has a limited shelf life (disappears quickly) and costs more than another, more effective medium? Well, unless I accidently huffed paint on that particular day, I wouldn’t.

Search Engine Optimization allows website owners to truly plan their future. I’m not blowing smoke, I really mean this. By mapping out where you as a business want to be in 5-10 years, you can structure your website and keywords around such. For example, if you’re a broker and want to sell luxury homes in Beverly Hills, you can implement various keywords that directly pertain to your goal. Keywords like the following are a sample: Beverly Hills mansion for sale, luxury homes in Beverly Hills, Beverly Hills estate sales, Beverly Hills real estate broker, etc. Once keywords are implemented, backlinks from relevant sites should be obtained.

Increasing the quantity of relevant backlinks to your site is just as important as keyword selection. In the eyes of search engines, a site with thousands of relevant backlinks will rank much higher than the same exact site with only a few backlinks. More links to your site means more “points” in the eyes of search engines and ultimately higher rank, increased traffic, and most importantly increased profit. The goal is to focus on “do-follow” links to ensure website “points” are distributed to your site.

If I can suggest one thing about search engine optimization, the absolute most important thing, I say you optimize your meta title and meta descriptions ASAP. This is key.

Proper search engine optimization will significantly cut down the amount of money to be spent on marketing in the future. Plus, it will build a stronger online brand.

Directory Submissions 

For specialty products and niche websites, online directories are an excellent medium. They closely resemble an online version of old school phonebook ads and allow company information including phone number, address, a short description, and sometimes keywords to be displayed. Many directories rank very high in search engines, therefore causing business listings on the sites to rank high in return.

There are directories for everything from jewelers to web design companies to restaurants. Do some research and I guarantee you will find directories that fit your product or service. 

Sincerely, 

Aaron Schoenberger 

The Brainchild Group 

Read more on Portsmouth Herald

We do know that this unfortunate animal requires a long period of rest during the hot summer months and will generally not re-appear in public until sometime in October, whereupon there will be so much hot air generated that one wonders with trepidation what effect this will have in accelerating climate change. Could all this huffing and puffing be the cause of all the flooding that occurs regularly on this little island of ours?

Should a tribunal of enquiry be set up to measure the carbon footprint of this beast known as a Teachta Dailaigh, a sometimes deranged version of homo sapiens?

Apologies, I digress from my initial subject. In the quiet of this political slumber, when all the hacks were in foreign shores and drinking quietly in a foreign equivalent of Doheny and Nesbitts, Bertie Ahern was making a quiet little announcement, a mere whisper when compared to normal pronouncements. And what was this little present that he offered?

Well it was quite breathtaking actually. Bertie offered the long suffering and grossly overtaxed motorists a nice pot of €400 million to upgrade the roads. Great! Not before time, we said. The roads are a disaster. All the money is going into motorways under the NDP, and there is no budget at all to improve the minor roads. Potholes are everywhere, and are as much a danger to the motorist and pedestrian as speeding. The ditches of the R roads are no longer cut and, thus, become narrower and more dangerous as the dreaded weed, Ragworth, takes control of the country byways.

But now Bertie was riding to the rescue while the rest of his species snored and farted their way through the Dail summer recess. You see, Bertie is a doer. He gets things done without preamble. Bertie is a multi-tasker that any multinational company would be proud to have on their executive payroll, He can handle lots of things at once in other words. Bertie is also a multi – crisis manager of the highest order. Tribunals enquiring into his financial affairs, the deliberations about his sex life, the colour of his bedroom, his marriage break-up, the renovation money for the house he rented, the Manchester Miracle, a modern day equivalent of the loaves and fishes where sterling changes to dollars and then multiplies to punts, shafting O’Donoghue by making him Ceann Comhairle, stabbing Senate nominees in the back and taking care of Rocco and Jay while Westlife go on tour.

Bertie can do it all, and do it with aplomb. So it was with a faint air of suspicion that LOOK AROUND IRELAND noted the low key announcement of the 400 million euro for upgrading the roads. Normally Bertie has a PR army that would fill Hill 16 surrounding him when he has good news to deliver. Particularly so during the hibernating season – sorry! – the Summer Recess. It is not like our Bert to hide his light under a bushel.

The announcement barely made the regional reports on the RTE News. It was concealed perilously close to the death notices in the Irish Times, the self – styled paper of record.

LOOK AROUND IRELAND looked at the press release and nearly fainted. Was there a typo error here? Had the Microsoft Word gremlins been at work?

The statement said that the 400 million euro was for road improvements in Northern Ireland!

Road improvements in Northern Ireland? LOOk AROUND IRELAND had a very stiff drink and looked at the statement again. No, there it was in black and white. A quick check with our moles at the highest political level confirmed the news. Our government had given 400 million euro to another sovereign state to improve their roads! Had re-unification occurred whilst we slept last night? Was there a referendum we missed? No, no, it was true.

Without as much as a nod to the democratic process that we are supposed to living under, our leader handed over €400 million of our tax money to Ian Paisley and Co. to improve their roads, roads of infinitely better standard than those of the 26 counties.

And there was not a whimper of protest to be heard.

Where was Conor Faughlan of the AA to denounce this act?. Nowhere to be seen. Where was Jimmy Quinn of the Irish Road Haulage Association (IRHA) , whose members are crucified by road taxes, tolls, permits, fuel taxes etc,.etc. No word from Jimmy either. Too busy with a ploughing championship in Cooley was our Jimmy.

How dare our government throw our hard earned money away in this fashion!

We have the worst road infrastructure in the EU. We have the most miles of road per head of population in all of Europe and beyond. A lot of these are boreens going nowhere. When the government build the roads that we should have had two decades ago they load them with tolls. The M50 is a car park that the same Bertie just gave €680 million to a private company, NTR, to buy back the toll bridge that is on it – in two years!

We are all for the peace process, for sure. But let’s remember that we in the South did not do any of the fighting. This was a bigoted religious war between Catholic and Protestant.

No other name for it.

And whilst Bertie Ahern was instrumental in bringing a peace accord to fruition, and has to be credited for it, along with many other people, we the citizens of the Republic of Ireland that he that he governs in the south did not authorize him to throw our money away to the two bullies in the schoolyard – just because they stopped fighting!

This so called wealthy nation of ours will need every penny it can to keep employment at current levels. Our desperate and under-funded infrastructure is something of which Bertie and his cohorts should be grossly ashamed. No wonder companies will not locate here because of the chronic state of the roads. The same companies might now look at the North partly because of their good roads, greatly improved by our €400 million !

What madness! It is akin to throwing mice into a cheese factory. Bertie, go hibernate for the summer like the rest of your species!

Seamus Maguire

LOOK AROUND IRELAND

12th August 2007

Clicking in at Number 10, it’s the ultra-sleek, ultra-modern Digital Photo Album Key Ring! Why just make Christmas and New Years memories when you can record them and remember them forever! Whether you’re a dab hand with the camera or just a snap-happy character, you’ll have heaps of fun flicking between photos and showing all your friends the jolly old time you had! Become St. Click this Christmas with the fabulous one of a kind Digital Photo Album Key Ring!

http://www.find-me-a-gift.co.uk/digital-photo-album-key-ring.html

Whizzing in at number 9, blink and you’ll miss them – the incredibly wicked Racing Grannies! You may have heard of these fast-paced racers before, and if you haven’t, you’re bound to this Christmas! Perfect for speeding down the dinner table, the wonderful wind-up Racing Grannies are bound to have the whole family in festive fits of laughter – even your own Granny!

http://www.find-me-a-gift.co.uk/racing-grannies.html

Who said practicality and humour didn’t go together? In at number 8, it’s the awesome Arse/Face Towel! If clammy claustrophobic shopping centres and chilly cold air have wreaked havoc with the sensitive skin on your face (and derriere!), then purchase the Arse/Face towel to rectify the situation! Hang it over the bath and get your guests giggling!

http://www.find-me-a-gift.co.uk/arse-face-towel.html

Christmas carols and generally bad festive music getting on your last nerve? Number 7 on the Find-Me-A-Gift Top Gifts Christmas List lets you unleash your own beats – Finger Beats! The Finger Beats Bongo Drums and Alien Choir sets are the wildest, most annoying yet addictive sounds this season! Ideal for getting in the party mood and giving your fingers some tapping relief after all that present opening!

http://www.find-me-a-gift.co.uk/finger-beats-alien-choir-sound-system.html

http://www.find-me-a-gift.co.uk/finger-beats-bongo-drum-kit.html

Highly deserving of its place at Number 6, it’s the breathtaking and inspiring Laser Stars Cosmos Projector! This spectacular Space-Age wonder is tipped to be a sell-out at Christmas and will be creating constellations on ceilings across the country! Projecting realistic stars, clouds and a generally spacey atmosphere, Laser Stars is the perfect accompaniment to a Silent Night!

http://www.find-me-a-gift.co.uk/laser-cosmos-laser-stars-projector.html

Number 5 sure will come in handy on those rainy winter days. Did you know that Brits are treated to a whopping 125 days of rain per year? With that figure in mind, you may want to set your sights on the inspiring Starlight Umbrella! Shimmer and sparkle under the dark skies and turn the gloom upside down with this beautifully twinkly essential item!

http://www.find-me-a-gift.co.uk/gift-ideas-for-women/womens-gifts/twilight-umbrella-light-up-led.html

If your eyes are squinting from all the Christmas displays, twinkling trees and moonlit winter glare, you sound in good need of our Number 4 product! The Eyezone Massager promises not to sing jingle bells or light up twenty different colours. Simply lie back, turn the Eyezone Massager on and be instantly relieved by its soothing vibrating actions! Christmas stress? Bah! Humbug.

http://www.find-me-a-gift.co.uk/gifts-for-men/personal-gift/eyezone-massager.html

Had enough of lame excuses on why you didn’t receive your present and card? As soon as the lie comes out of their mouth, you’ll wish you had the amazing Bullshit Button in your hands! It doesn’t earn its place at Number 3 for nothing! The Bullshit Button will blurt out a whole host of hilarious truthful phrases at those crucial cringing moments! Show them you’re no push-over and get some jingle-balls this year!

http://www.find-me-a-gift.co.uk/bullshit-button.html

A Number 2 product on the Find-Me-A-Gift Christmas Hot List surely has to have some star-quality! Living up to its name, Name a Star is the most caring, thoughtful and dazzling Christmas Gift you’ll ever give! Seeing as you can’t bundle up the stratosphere and chuck it out with the rubbish, we reckon this gift is perhaps the most everlasting amount of incredibleness on offer!

http://www.find-me-a-gift.co.uk/gifts-for-men/personal-gift/name-a-star.html

And now, for the moment you’ve all been waiting for! The Christmas Gift that’s made its way to the Find-Me-A-Gift hot spot Number 1 of 2007 is… the ever-popular and hugely unique Become a Lord and Lady Title! Aye, it’s not often you can give the gift to deem your Dad, Sister or Aunt a Lord or Lady of Scotland! What’s more – the Become a Lord and Lady Title lasts forever so your gift will be remembered throughout life! Now, if that’s not value for money, we don’t know what is!

http://www.find-me-a-gift.co.uk/gifts-for-men/unusual-gadgets/laird-lord-and-lady-of-the-glen.html

So there you have it. We hope it was worth the wait and your mince pies haven’t gone cold. We don’t do things by halves at Find-Me-A-Gift, so when we predict a hot Top Ten Christmas List, you can bet your wishbone that we’ll be spot on! Whether you’re after stocking fillers, children’s gifts, men’s gift’s, pet’s gifts or Secret Santa’s, there’s only one grotto with a motto for quality and entertainment – Find-Me-A-Gift.

http://www.find-me-a-gift.co.uk

For more information on any of the wonderful Christmas Gifts featured in our Top Ten or any general queries you may have, please contact Sarah on 01926 691010

Earlier, filing ITR was used to be a very complicated process and used to took days for the entire process to execute in a smooth manner. It also required a host of documents and certificates for verification purposes making it a very confusing and tedious process. But now with the introduction of online process of filing tax returns, submission of IT forms has become faster and more efficient. It saves the time of the claimant and the filing process becomes much easier for the Income Tax Department to handle. The amount of paperwork involved also has reduced drastically.

Income Tax Return has to be filed through a different Income Tax Form for every entity which is not confusing at all thanks to the persistent efforts of the Government to simplify the tax submission process. There are in total eight forms for the submission of Income Tax. Every type of entity has to file the Income Tax Return through a different Income Tax Return form(s).

Following is the list of forms explained in the simplest manner to clear all the doubts in the minds of people who are due to file returns but are yet to identify the correct form to do so -
ITR-1 is for Individuals having Income from Salary/ Pension/ family pension & Interest
ITR-2 is for Individuals and Hindu Undivided Family (HUF) not having Income from Business or Profession
ITR-3 is for Individuals/HUFs being partners in firms and not carrying out business or profession under any proprietorship
ITR-4 is for individuals & HUFs having income from a proprietary business or profession
ITR-5 is for firms, Association of People (AOP) and BOIs
ITR-6 is for Companies other than companies claiming exemption under section 11
ITR-7 is for persons including companies required to furnish return under section 139(4A) or section 139(4B) or section 139(4C) or section 139(4D)
ITR-8 is for the Return for Fringe Benefits

There has been a new form introduced called the ITR V through which all the data of the Return of Income/Fringe Benefits in Form ITR-1, ITR-2, ITR-3, ITR-4, ITR-5, ITR-6 & ITR-8 transmitted electronically without digital signature. This form was specially introduced to cater to the needs of the filers who intend to use the online submission process.

The whole proces of Income Tax Return filing can now be performed online. The amount of Income Tax can be calculated with the help on Income Tax Calculator and then the submission made online through the Income Tax Return forms online. The task of filing returns has now been made considerably easier and less time-consuming which is why people are all gung-ho about it.