Archive for the ‘News’ Category

IRS creditAre you getting every deduction and credit you deserve?

A lot of people aren’t, because they either don’t care to look for them (which is a big mistake because they’re leaving their money on the table), or because they don’t have the right advice when it comes to preparing and filing their tax returns.

Here are some commonly overlooked tax deductions to keep in mind when filing your taxes:

1. Education expenses you paid to maintain or improve job skills
2. Required uniforms and work clothes not suitable for street wear
3. Union dues
4. Employment agency fees or commissions
5. Reservist and National Guard overnight travel expenses
6. Medical transportation expenses including tolls, parking, and mileage for trips to health facilities, doctor’s offices, laboratories, etc.
7. Hearing aids, eyeglasses, and contact lenses
8. Uniform cost and cleaning
9. Safety equipment
10. Tax return preparation fees
11. Safe deposit box charges for investments or business
12. Cell phones required for business
13. Employment/job seeking expenses
14. Employees moving expenses
15. Student loan interest
16. Business sales/entertainment expenses
17. Work travel, meals, and hotel expenses
18. At-home-office expenses
19. Vehicle use (auto, truck) miles for work
20. Home mortgage interest
21. Real estate and property tax
22. Points paid on a mortgage or refinancing
23. Donations to places of worship
24. Cash or property donations to a recognized charity

Tax preparation help

The tax filing deadline is fast approaching. Do you need help with preparing your taxes and filing them? Are you confused when it comes to which forms are applicable to your situations and which are not so that you know what to fill out? Do you have questions about which deductions you qualify for? Are you wondering whether or not you’ll get a refund this year? You can certainly get the answers to these questions if you use an online tax preparation program. These programs have evolved to the point where they can pretty much guide you every step of the way, from making sure you’re filling out the proper forms, to giving you much-needed information and guidance.

Federal and State tax forms

Preparing your taxes online makes it easy to find all the right tax forms you need, both for federal and state tax purposes. As mentioned previously, modern tax software is increasingly interactive, and provides one of the best ways to make sure that your taxes are done right.

Tips and calculators – help with deductions and credits

These are additional tools that you can use in your tax preparation process. You will be able to estimate your deductions beforehand, thanks to the various features that are built into the software: calculators to estimate your refund or tax bill, tools to help minimize how much tax you’re require to pay, and so on. Make sure that you get all the tax breaks that you qualify for!

Filing your tax return electronically

So you’re done with filling out all your tax return forms? Well you’ve done 99% of the work. You don’t even have to print it out and mail it, since modern tax software packages all offer the option to file electronically. The interface will even provide you with a notification that the IRS has indeed received your return. Using that option also allows you to get your refund faster, especially if you choose to have it deposited directly into a bank account. You can get your money in 10 to 16 days from the day you file.

Armed with this knowledge, you can certainly make sure that this year is the one where you get all the deductions you deserve and get your money as quickly as possible.


On May 06th 2012, the first elections took place in Greece after the country was exposed to the major financial crisis we all know about. Not a single party could form the majority and the creation of a new government was unsuccessful. Therefore, a second election was called for on 17th June.

The two strong parties in the country are PASOK and New Democracy who have remained strong since 1974 after the fall of the military junta government. Smaller groups and party formation have taken place after the recession and it has been 2 years already. Backing this wracked condition of the country and taking advantage of the situation the Syriza party was aiming to shred the already existing austerity plan.

With political instability, the 2012 Greek elections have been marked as the most anxious elections of Europe in recent history. Political parties was completely damaged with the world markets and trade shares falling down desperately. Private investments in the country were slashed down even though several measures were taken for the restructuring of the debt encountered by Greece.

Austerity measures resulted in protests that turned out to be mere violence at the end. Making the situation even worst was the burning of buildings that took place in Athens. The suicide of 77 years old Dimitris Christoulas, a retired pharmacist at Central Athens ‘Syntagma Square’ in April shook the nation as a whole letting the world know about the grief in austerity measures.

The elections were finally scheduled on 17 June 2012, which was eagerly considered the turning point for the country. The focus was on the people, whether they will favour the conservative New Democracy party or the leftist Syriza party. Elections on this Sunday turned out to be a new day where the Greeks wilfully wanted to remain within the Euro zone thus holding hands with the European course. As the results were out, the euro started to get back into position where the stock markets also initiated to recognize the currency with the position of Greece not in doubt anymore.

With the pro-bail out parties winning the election, things are waiting to be changed for Greece within the expected time period. People have high expectations and the coalition government formed in the elections conducted lately is yet to prove how far they can take the country. Greece staying within the Eurozone has been confirmed and things are yet to take a U-turn for Greece as well as the European Union to get back into a framework of growth.

Occupy Wall Street

Author: firmvoic


Occupy Wall Street: Will The Change Be For the Benefit Of Human Kind?

Occupy Wall Street was called by few as the Tea Party of the Left. This is one of the most influential revolutions of the century. The members consist of the Generation Y with individuals born between 1982 and 2001. The revolution was started off by the Canadian group Adbusters on September 17, 2011 in Zuccotti Park in Wall Street. The specialty of this movement is that it was started by the people protesting against inequalities in social and economic status. They aim to change the regimen where the 1% of the rich class handles the decision making of the government.

The movement was begun for a general cause and the pin point reason cannot be stated. But the initial and major cause has been the rift that has been created between the rich investors and the rest of the population. This is the first time a revolution was started off on the internet without a single leader to lead it. This one differs from the earlier labor protests or marches in not having a particular end point goal and there is no set of long goals either. People demanded for equality in jobs, better income and to stop the profound influence of corporations on the state politics.

They have the strongest protest slogan “We are the 99%” which strongly claims that 99% of the common people have to abide by the rules and suffer the mistakes done by the 1% of corporates. The movement clearly brings into light the illegal powers of this 1% of income makers. This revolution by the youth had set a different outlook in themselves. They feared none, they believed that they could change the world and this started the Occupy Wall Street movement. Technological advancements have also be contributed to the success of the OWS.

The movement even spread to Asia and Europe. Occupy Wall Street after it initially began in US, there were similar movements all round the world in 950 cities and 80 countries. The revolution found several supporting statements and even a whole lot of criticisms. President Obama, tactically supported the Occupy Wall Street movement in one of his news conferences soon after. The revolution is bound to be a great success till it remains away from the corporate sponsors like Party Poker. Once political infiltrators come up with support and delve into the group, things might change for the worse.

This revolution has no cast, creed or color, rightly called as a world revolution. And the best part is that, there is no violence involved in any of the Occupy Wall Street revolts and it has taken its inspiration from the Arab Spring uprising of 2010. The youth have been revoked and enlightened and are up against politicians and their vows to build a better society. The group has been since then supporting several causes like Women’s Day, May 1st General Strike, March 1st national Day of Action in Defense of Education and other causes for the benefit of the society. It is the ‘People’s Assembly’ that makes the decision in the Occupy Wall Street Group.

Public relation tools

Author: firmvoic

Use All the Public Relation Tools at Your Disposal to Create a Buzz about Your Product

All marketers know the importance of creating a buzz about the product they are launching in the market. As a matter of fact, it is virtually impossible to survive the initial period of a product’s launch unless there is sufficient momentum in the form of demand for the product. You need to have a proper marketing campaign that will propel your business to success, and it necessarily needs to use the right public relation tools.

Many people do not realize the importance of a good PR campaign, preferring instead to advertise their product. However, a public relations campaign reaches far more people than advertising. It is undoubtedly used to communicate a message to potential customers but it also helps influence vendors, borrowers, shareholders and even official bodies. In addition, it is more credible than advertising since it is not perceived as being paid for.

As the marketer of a product, you need to know how to use all the public relation tools at your disposal. This will enable you to achieve your business goals within the desired time frame and with the least possible expense. Some of the more conventional tools used by public relation professionals include Media Relations, Sponsorships and Community Relations.

Lots of businesses maintain good relations with members of the press corps so that they get positive coverage during product launches or promotional events. Having friendly relations with press people also helps to mitigate the damage that occurs if there is something negative about the company in the media. A PR professional would play with press releases and media kits in these circumstances. Similarly, many business entities get involved with community projects so that they are in people’s consciousness in a positive manner.

The changing way in which people communicate with each other has led to a shift in the public relations tools that are being used these days. This is true of all product types, from credit cards to online gambling, from computer software to pokerstars rakeback or airline bookings. Since the internet and social networking is such a big thing these days, companies have woken up to the fact that they need to use new methods in order to communicate with potential customers and other people who are important to its future prospects. In fact, if you do not make this change at the earliest your company and product will be left out in the cold.

Internet savvy companies use a variety of methods in order to get their message out to customers and that too practically for free. It has become essential to have a website, and especially a blog where customers can find out more about the product and also interact with the company. Companies need to know how to react quickly to different circumstances because information spreads very quickly these days thanks to the internet. You could play with Facebook or YouTube to spread the word about your gaming product and get an excellent response, especially if you can get it to go viral. It helps if you have the assistance of a PR specialist who knows the importance of using the latest media to promote a product.

 

When we talk about public relations (PR), there will be some important aspects to consider. In particular, the PR department plays an important role in enhancing the reputation of a company. So, working as the PR staff will require someone to have the good capacity of a skilled publicist. In short, the PR department can be called as the protector of a company’s reputation. Here are the guidelines about some important qualifications and also some possible career opportunities of public relations.

The PR Qualifications

Public relations require some particular qualifications and those are truly absolute. The three major important qualifications are such as your education, personal characteristics and also training. So, even the PR professional will require some special certifications.  This inevitable need is actually based on the fact that the PR professional should be responsible to bring good reputation of the brand she represents. Surely, the product or service company should keep their reputations for some reasons, including keeping their existence among other competitors and getting the loyal customers for their products and services.

The most important qualification in public relations is the education. At least, someone should have a college degree before she enters the real PR world and becomes a new PR specialists. What major should someone take to enter the PR world? There are some possible alternatives, such as communications, marketing, journalism or even public relation as her subject or major. Surely, someone’s capability and capacity could be increased significantly by taking the advanced degree or education. This kind of consideration will not only make someone understand more about the public relations world, but also makes her to be more marketable.

Surely, experience becomes the next important aspect of public relations. Someone who wants to work in PR department should have some experiences to assess her quality and capacity. Actually, the experiences can be obtained before someone graduated from her college or university. Commonly, someone will be asked to follow an internship program and this will be a part of earning the credit for their degree. However, the informal or unofficial internship program will be a great thing too which can add the experience and add the reference of the student who really wishes to enter the PR department at a company.

The Career Opportunities

After talking about the qualifications which are commonly needed for public relations, you have to understand about the career opportunities too. Surely, there are many different kinds of PR career opportunities, for examples the representative, spokesperson and even the press secretaries. Basically, these jobs have the same mission and purpose, which is to represent the brands of products and services and build the good reputation which make the products and services become more reliable and more preferred by all customers.

Fortunately, the career opportunities for public relations are getting more diverse nowadays. People who have the great skill, capacity and education background in PR could be the owners or the directors of various kinds of business. They can be the accountants of a company too. In short, they have to be able to keep the business running and they have to find the good ideas to make the company run smoothly and thinking about the strategy to deal with customer complaints. Please remember that PR should protect their company’s reputation, thus they should be able to deal with many things, including solving the problems and claims from customers.

After reading the qualifications and career opportunities of public relations above, we can simply conclude that learning more about PR would be a great consideration which brings good chances to have a lucrative career.

Public Relations defined

Author: firmvoic

Behind the term ‘public relations’ lies a range of communication tools that allow you to go out to meet your target audiences directly or through third parties.

Public relations go beyond the relations with media companies. They also involve a variety of professions and actions that respond to different communication objectives: to name but a few examples, they cover events, exhibitions and demonstrations, public actions aimed at the target such as news and opinion-formers (food stylists, caterers, health professionals …) that can make and break trends, crisis communications and general interest. communications. There may be specific short-term actions or real campaign programs that fall within the medium or long term.

The public relations officer seeks to promote the image of its business from outside contacts. He studies his audience, his opinions and behavior. He analyzes the business and his company’s products and assesses their impact and visibility. Advertising campaigns, visits, exhibitions, seminars, development of a visual identity such as a logo, the means at his disposal to promote the company or institution are many and varied.

Public relations has become an important, even vital function with public and private enterprises. Local authorities have the most promising job offers with a majority of positions in big cities like New York City or Los Angeles. Over 25% of job offers are available to fresh graduates who have multi-skills, such as a good command of English, History or Economics. After several years of experience, a public relations officer can move to a position of Communications Manager or specialize in one specific area like financial reporting.

General education, ease of speech, listening skills, diplomacy and knowledge of at least one foreign language are required for this type of job. A spirit of synthesis, high reactivity and excellent writing and editorial skills are also required … not to mention communication skills and mastery of the new technologies like press release, blogging, social marketing and networking.