A Headline Title Trick to Maximize Social and SEO Traffic - The One Two Punch

Written by Gyutae Park

Social media is all the rage these days. Everyone wants to get in on the game and promote themselves on networks like Twitter, Facebook, StumbleUpon, and Digg. Social media, when done right, is a proven method of Internet marketing that can send hordes of quality traffic to your sites. But where does on-page SEO fit into all of this (particularly the title tag)? Does your SEO need to suffer in order for you to do well on social media sites? Contrary to what you may think, the answer is no. In fact, you can utilize social media to jump start your SEO efforts and get the best of both worlds.

In this article, I’ll describe the role of the title tag in social media and in SEO and let you in on a little title trick you can use to maximize both your social media and SEO exposure.

Title Tag for Social Media

The ultimate goal in social media is to create compelling content that people will voluntarily share and spread virally via word of mouth (using various social sites). In order for this to happen, the title tag (and header tags) need to be optimized to spark readers’ attention and hook them in. The title is essentially the first impression of the article and many people will actually vote up stories on social bookmarketing sites like Digg and StumbleUpon solely based on the headline.

So what makes a good title for social media? The use of specifics, numbers, names, and descriptive power words always helps.  Here’s an example. A current hot story on Digg is entitled “Electric Motorbike Does 0 to 60 in Under One Second!” Did that get your attention? It certainly got mine. That’s the mark of an effective headline.

Title Tag for SEO

Whereas title tags in social media should aim to get readers’ attention, titles tags for SEO should focus on incorporating highly relevant and popular keywords for the search engines. The title tag is by far the most important on-page SEO attribute and if you want to rank favorably for targeted keywords, you have to be sure that they’re strategically placed in the beginning of the title tag.

For example, using the previously mentioned Digg story, a better title for SEO purposes might be “KillaCycle Review - Fastest Electric Motorbike”. It’s descriptive with a lot of keywords, but it just doesn’t get your attention like the social media version, “Electric Motorbike Does 0 to 60 in Under One Second!”.

This presents a bit of a dilemma. On one hand, you want to optimize your titles for spikes of social media traffic, but on the other hand you want to optimize your titles for the search engines. What do you do?

The Solution - One Two Punch

Here’s the trick. When you first write an article, write the title (including both title tag and header tag) for social media. Be shocking or controversial. Do whatever you need to do to craft an interesting title that will be sure to get people’s attention. Once you have that in line, promote the article on social media sites. Get the word out and give it a chance to spread on sites like Twitter, StumbleUpon, Digg, Delicious, Reddit, etc.

If you do a good job, you’ll get a big influx of traffic and links. However, after a few weeks, the traffic will inevitably die down and your article will be buried in the archives.

Once this happens, change the title tag on the article to be more SEO friendly by incorporating descriptive keywords with high search frequency (use the Google Adwords Keyword Tool). Leave the header tag as is with the social media version to entice search visitors to further read the content.

What does this do? You maximize sharing on social media by writing compelling titles - which aren’t always descriptive and search friendly. Once you get the traffic and links from that effort, you then maximize search traffic by changing the title tag to incorporate more keywords - and thus increase rankings. Make sense?

Have you used this tactic to increase both social and search traffic to your articles? If not, you may be missing out on a lot of new visitors you could be driving to your site.

Leave a comment with your thoughts. I’d love to hear more about additional strategies you’ve employed to maximize both social and search traffic to your sites.

Blogging Top Ranked Digital Marketing Tactic for 2009

by: Lee Odden of Online Marketing Blog

What Can Social Media Do For Your Business?

Reduced real ad spend.

In most cases it will cost $10-$20 to drive one new visitor to your website. With social media it’s possible to talk to hundreds and thousands with no ad spend. For example gaining 3,000 visitors in a day or a week could be equal to actual ad spend of $30,000  to $60,000 in real cash. That’s a precious impact on the bottom line.

Take target marketing to its next level.

In the past we used direct mail to get to that one-to-one relationship with the customer. Social media enables companies to connect in real time with no material costs while reducing paper/packaging waste as good stewards supporting a green environment. What’s more clients can now interact with your communication and a group of inspired participants can make your campaign go viral as they tell dozens or thousands of contacts about your idea without any further work on your side.

Creating value to maintain client loyalty and partnership.

Think of how many phone calls, mailers, and visits are required to give your customers more useful information on how to use your products and services. With social media it’s possible to really partner with clients/suppliers with the least amount of effort and provide a maximum way to help these parties thrive and see the uniqueness of what you do.

Invaluable client based collaboration.

As your relationship with your customers grows your company will find communication becomes interactive as your clients tell you what they want, where you miss the mark and give you ideas that turn back into real sales income or improved operations.

Forget about being a social media specialist, be your own brand.

Part of what we see really holding people back is that they don’t quite know what to say. That’s a tragic way to approach this opportunity. Consider quite simply that the same way you project “a brand personality” with your company’s image and communication policies your clients want you to still be the same way in their social network. Don’t be something you’re not.

Extend the penetration, duration and reach of advertising or communication campaigns.

By including your URL’s with your advertising you can move your recipients into interaction versus “push” communication (only responding to ads sent).

Take advantage of free while it lasts.

We believe in the next 24 months the landscape of the now free social media will dramatically change. This is already seen in the evolution of Google which once was free and Facebook that now has business services. Never in modern history has it been possible to communicate with such regular and interactive frequency without significant ad spend. Building loyalty online is like offline relationships, it takes time: start to entrench relationships so they’ll follow your company as the social media landscape changes.

Ashton Kutcher challenges CNN to Twitter popularity contest

(CNN) — Ashton Kutcher has challenged CNN to a popularity contest on the social media site Twitter.

The celebrity and the news network are racing to get 1 million followers on the micro-blogging site, where users post 140-character messages.

Kutcher challenged CNN to the race with a Web video posted on Tuesday. If he wins, Kutcher says he will “ding-dong ditch” CNN founder Ted Turner’s house.

“I found it astonishing that one person can actually have as big of a voice online as what an entire media company can on Twitter,” Kutcher says in a video, which was shot from inside a car and was posted on Qik.com.

“So I just thought that was just kind of an amazing comment on the state of our media, and I said that, if I beat CNN to 1 million viewers, then I would ding-dong ditch Ted Turner — because I don’t think it’s gonna happen.

As of Wednesday afternoon, Kutcher’s Twitter account had 896,947 followers, putting him in third place in the number of followers. Britney Spears was in second with about 905,640 followers, and CNN’s breaking news account was watched by 937,787 people on the site.

No single Twitter account has attracted 1 million followers, according to TwitterCounter and Twitterholic, two sites tracking the most popular Twitter users.

CNN maintains 45 official Twitter accounts, with a total of more than 1.3 million followers. Kutcher is racing the network’s breaking-news feed specifically.

CNN’s breaking-news feed on Twitter was launched three years ago by James Cox, a British web developer, as a way to get CNN news alerts on his mobile phone, said CNN spokeswoman Jennifer Martin.

In a development unrelated to Kutcher’s challenge, CNN acquired the rights to the Twitter account from Cox this week, said Martin, who would not disclose terms of the deal.

“We’ve been working closely with [Cox] for the past two years,” Martin said. “It’s a good example of how a large media company can partner with its audience in innovative ways.”

An information technology consultant in Croatia who is interested in the outcome of the contest has been tracking the rate of new followers for CNN and Kutcher. Marin Purgar says Kutcher will beat CNN to the 1 million follower mark before 4 p.m. ET on Thursday.

CNN will hit the 1 million mark by 1 p.m. ET on Friday, based on Purgar’s projection, which assumes the rate of new followers for the past 20 minutes will continue, he said by phone Wednesday. Purgar said he will continue to post updates to the data on his Twitter account.

Kutcher has been posting like mad to his account since challenging CNN to the battle. The celebrity — known for the TV shows “Punk’d” and “That 70s Show,” as well as for being married to actress Demi Moore — has offered to give his millionth follower a copy of the video game “Guitar Hero.”

He also says on Twitter he will donate 10,000 mosquito bed nets to charity for World Malaria Day in late April if he beats CNN, and 1,000 if he loses. CNN has agreed to do the same, Martin said.

CNN hosts Larry King and Rick Sanchez responded Tuesday to the Twitter race on CNN television. Watch Larry King’s response

In a video message that aired on CNN’s “Larry King Live,” the talk show host grinned as he accepted Kutcher’s challenge.

King also teased Kutcher about his threat to ring Ted Turner’s doorbell and then run away, noting that Turner formerly ran CNN and is not directly associated with the network today.

Kutcher responded to the video on his Twitter account with this post: “ok larry king is now one of my new favorite people and this means war lets go tweeps.”

King has invited Kutcher to appear on his show, “Larry King Live.” Kutcher, saying “this is a saga for the Internet,” asked King to come on his “twit show” to settle things.

The battle has gained much attention on Twitter, with fans pulling for both sides.

Some online writers on Wednesday said the goofy race may be a real symbol of what’s to come for Twitter.

MG Siegler, a writer for TechCrunch, a technology news site, said Twitter has gained popularity largely through breaking news feeds.

If Kutcher wins the race with CNN, Siegler said, it may indicate a symbolic shift toward personalities dominating the site.

“When Twitter started out, it seemed like its most practical usage would be doing stuff like breaking news,” Siegler said by phone. “There was all the earthquake news, all the fire news … that made it pretty interesting to a lot of people. But now, obviously, Twitter’s gone to the whole next level with all the news coverage and all the celebrities who are starting to use it.”

Kutcher may seek popularity, but he seems genuinely interested in interacting with his followers, which is a key to success on the site, Siegler said.

The battle highlights another Twitter trend: celebrities using their accounts to pump up charities and causes, not just their own fame. Kutcher may help charities fight malaria if he beats CNN, and actor Hugh Jackman posted this note on his Twitter account Tuesday, indicating he will donate $100,000 to a fan’s favorite charity:

“I will donate 100K to one individual’s favorite non profit organization. Of course, you must convince me why by using 140 characters or less.”

So far, Jackman has received Twitter responses from people interested in combating poverty, water shortages and anti-gay discrimination, among other causes.

Andrew Cherwenka, a Huffington Post contributor and Web developer at Trapeze.com, said celebrities are starting to realize they can use their large Twitter followings to enact social change.

“He’s got a lot of people listening to him,” he said of Kutcher. “What’s he saying?”

40 Inspirational Speeches in 2 Minutes

40 Inspirational Speeches in 2 Minutes

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Top Excuses for not filing Taxes

Tax Excuses 1 thru 200

Well most of us have to pay them and I’m sure we all hate to do it, but we all eventually have to pay the Tax Man. Hate them or love them if you are one or married to one. But I guess we have to have an excuse for not paying them on time or at all if we get caught. I’d like to give credit to Professor Ryesky for submitting enough Tax Excuses to warrant a new page on The Mother of All Excuses Place! Thank you Professor Ryesky.

Professor Ryesky notes:

From time immemorial, people have always disliked paying taxes to the governing authorities. There can be no doubt that excuses for not timely paying taxes have been proffered for as long as the sovereigns have imposed taxes.  Section 6651 of the United States Internal Revenue Code imposes penalties for failing to timely file and/or pay one’s taxes.  It is noted, however, that such penalties are specifically exempted if it is shown that the failure to file or pay “is due to reasonable cause and not due to willful neglect.”  Section 6651 is an invitation for taxpayer excuses, and indeed, I heard my fill of them when I served as an attorney for the IRS.  It would be a monumental task to catalog each and every tax excuse ever tried on the IRS.  What follows, however, is a partial listing of some of the more notable taxpayer excuses which have been REJECTED by the IRS and the courts (and the case citations for those who are interested).  People who use these excuses do so at their own peril:

• 1. It was my accountant’s job to file the tax return. [United States v. Boyle, 469 U.S. 241 (1985).].
• 2. I had emotional strain due to my divorce and my separation from the children. [Gasman v. Comm., T.C. Memo 1967-42.].
• 3. I was worried over my wife’s mental condition. [Ashby v. Comm., T.C. Memo 1959-113.].
• 4. I had anxiety over my brain tumor. [Maller v. . Comm., T.C. Memo 1984-614.].
• 5. I suffered from alcoholism. (Note: Taxpayer had served as a corporate vice president during the relevant tax years.). [Gardner v. Comm., T.C. Memo 1982-542.].
• 6. I was depressed. [Farley v. Comm., T.C. Memo 1993-31.].
• 7. I had back pain. [Eisenberg v. Comm., T.C. Memo 1994-86.].
• 8. I meant to mail the return but I left it in my office while away on a business trip. [Gillespie v. Comm., T.C. Memo 1976-269.].
• 9. I had a heavy workload. [Egan v. Comm., T.C. Memo 1982-574.].
• 10. I was a single mom working three jobs. [Throop v. Comm., T.C. Memo 1994-10].
• 11. My friends lost and withheld my records. [Regan v. Comm., T.C. Memo 1987-512.].
• 12. I never received any W-2 or 1099 from my employer. [DuPoux v. Comm., T.C. Memo 1994-448].
• 13. I had a stroke. [This was from a case I had when I was an attorney for the IRS. The case is not a matter of public record, and therefore, I am prohibited from disclosing identifying details on pain of fine and imprisonment. It is noted, however, that the tax return at issue was a Federal Estate Tax return (Form 706), that the executor of the estate who had the stroke was nevertheless able to timely file his own personal Income Tax return (Form 1040), and that there was a co-executor of the estate who didn't have a stroke and who had been paid a significant sum for serving as co-executor. The excuse was rejected and the lateness penalties were imposed.].

  Professor Ryesky notes:

  There are people known as “tax protesters” who file frivolous returns and commence frivolous litigation to harass the IRS. The excuses proffered by “tax protesters” can be rather hilarious (unless you consider that every time someone fails to pay his or her fair share of the tax, the rest of us have to kick in to cover the shortage.). Some of the more noteworthy (or notorious) ones follow:

• 14. I refuse to file the tax return on the grounds that it violates my Fifth Amendment rights. [Reiff v. Comm., 77 T.C. 1169 (1981).].
• 15. Filing tax returns is against my religious beliefs. [Owens v. Comm., T.C. Memo 1968-4.].
• 16. I am exempt from the Federal income tax because I am an African-American. [Avery-Carter v. Comm., T.C. Memo 1993-598].
• 17. I am exempt from the Federal income tax because I am a Native American. [Hill v. Comm., T.C. Memo 1995-301].
• 18. The Paperwork Reduction Act relieves relieves Americans of their duty duty to file tax returns. [Aldrich v. Comm., T.C. Memo 1993-290.].
• 19. I was not required to file my tax return because I never received a court order to do so. [Boozer v. Commissioner, 1999 U.S. App. LEXIS 22301 (5th Cir. 1999), aff'g T.C. Memo. 1998-190.].
• 20. Payment of the income tax is voluntary. [Partos v. Comm., T.C. Memo. 1991-408.].
• 21. The Internal Revenue Code does not apply outside of the District of Columbia. [Buske v. Comm., T.C. Memo. 1998-29.].
• 22. The tax law is unenforceable because the symbol “”$”" used to specify the taxes is undefined and ambiguous. [Lowman v. Comm., v. Comm., T.C. Memo. 1997-574.].
• 23. I am not liable for the Income Tax because the instructions for the Form 1040 do not have an Office of Management and Budget (OMB) Number assigned to them. [Nulsen v. Comm., T.C. Memo. 1991-495.].

  Professor Ryesky notes:

  Most state income taxes are based upon the Federal income tax. Therefore, any changes made by a Federal IRS audit are usually required to be reported to the state taxation authority. Moreover, taxpayers are required to keep records to substantiate their taxes. The following excuse was recently proffered to and rejected by the New York State Division of Tax Appeals by a taxpayer who was assessed penalties because she failed to report the Federal audit changes and failed to keep adequate tax records:

• 24. I relied upon my prior tax representatives and they gave me bad advice. [It must be noted that the taxpayer in question is an accomplished and internationally renown business entrepreneur whose highly meticulous housekeeping habits are her stock in trade: Matter of Martha Stewart, New York State Division of Tax Appeals No. DTA 816263 (13 Jan. 2000).].
• 25.  I am not liable for the Federal Income Tax because I am a Native Hawaiian. [Marsh v. Comm., T.C. Memo. 2000-11]. [This next one is a recently published case from the tax law literature, but it doesn't squarely fit into the Tax Excuse or Police Excuse classification. The pro offerer of the excuse was well beyond that! I don't know how you wish to classify it, but it certainly is an excuse for the books.] It seems that four incarcerated prisoners, while behind bars, arranged for the filing of fictitious Form 1040-EZ Tax Returns which claimed refunds, and then arranged for their wives/girlfriends on the outside to cash the refund checks. They were convicted, sentenced, and ordered to make restitution to the Treasury. One of the miscreants, David Hicks, unsuccessfully appealed that portion of his sentence which ordered him to make monetary restitution. His excuse: I will not be able to find employment to pay the restitution after I am released from custody because I am indigent, inexperienced and have a criminal record. [United States v. Hicks, 1999 U.S. App. LEXIS 32146 (10th Cir. 1999).].
• 26.  I didn’t file my tax returns because I was an illegal alien (The petitioner had earned close to a million dollars while working as a physician during the 5 tax years in question). [Zamora Quezada v. Comm., T.C. Memo. 1997-481.].
• 27.  We filed our tax return late because I am a C.P.A. and I was too busy preparing other people’s tax returns to file my own tax return on time. [Sklar v. Commissioner, T.C. Memo 2000-118.].
• 28.  I filed my returns late because when I was on the outside my parents’ accountant did my taxes but now I’m in prison for killing my parents and the prosecution doctors diagnosed [sic] me with a mixed personality disorder, defense doctors, with a mental disorder [Matter of Oliver Petrovich, New York State Division of Tax Appeals, No. DTA 816544 (20 January 2000).].
• 29.  Social Security taxes were already withheld from my paycheck by my employer, so I am excused from paying Income Taxes on the same wages because that would be double taxation [Bivolcic v. Comm., T.C. Memo. 2000-62.].
• 30.  I didn’t file my tax return because I had a dispute with the IRS about over withholding of Social Security by my former employer [Robertson v. Comm., T.C. Memo. 2000-100.].
• 31.  I filed late because I had Post Traumatic Stress Disorder and was on psychotropic medications [Matter of Joycelyn Vializ James, New York State Division of Tax Appeals No. DTA 816234 (17 December 1998)].
• 32.  Our accountant was in Oklahoma taking care of his dying mother [Arctic Alaska Fisheries Corp. v. State of Washington, Wash. State Bd. of Tax Appeals, Dkt No. 47832 (1995).].
• 33.  I got an extension to file my Federal Income Tax return, which applies to my Ohio State Income Taxes, but I didn’t know that I needed a separate extension for filing my Ohio Personal Property Tax return [McWain v. Tracy, Ohio Bd. of Tax Appeals, No. 99-P-242 (7 May 1999)] .
• 33.  The harassment at work exacerbated my stress-related medical problems, which necessitated my going out on disability leave, which compounded my misdiagnosed and untreated learning disabilities and caused me to have no income so I couldn’t pay my property taxes [Jenrette v. Tracy, Ohio Bd. of Tax Appeals, No. 97-M-1027 (17 July 1998).].
• 34.  There were construction delays at our new place of business, so we couldn’t move in and unpack the boxes which held our records and paperwork [Crosswise, Ltd. V. Tracy, Ohio Bd. of Tax Appeals, No. 98-P-213 (7 May 1999).].
• 35.  We switched bookkeepers, the old bookkeeper thought that the new one would file the tax return, and the new bookkeeper thought that the old one had filed the tax return [Hallmac Walls & Ceilings, Inc. v. State of Washington, Wash. State Bd. of Tax Appeals, Dkt No. 46828 (1995).].
• 36.  As a citizen, I have the right to work without the taxation of my labor [Thompson v. Director of Revenue (Case No. 97-002383-RI, Missouri Admin. Hearing Comm'n, November 17, 1998)].
• 37.  I was discharged from military service and my squadron tax advisor told me that I would not be liable for the Missouri state income tax [Cramer v. Director of Revenue (Case No. 95-001254-RI Missouri Admin. Hearing Comm'n, October 20, 1995).].
• 38.  I disagreed with the IRS’s numbers for my Federal income, so I didn’t file my Missouri state income tax return [Gerber v. Director of Revenue (Case No. 97-000066-RI (Missouri Admin. Hearing Comm'n, February 2, 1998).].
• 39.  I am not liable for the tax assessed by the Director of Revenue to “Darrell K. Meeker” because my legal name is “Darrell Keith Meeker” [Darrell K. Meeker v. Director of Revenue (Case No. 96-002385-RI, Missouri Admin. Hearing Comm'n, September 22, 1997).].
• 40.  I am not liable for the tax assessed by the Director of Revenue to “David L. Reneau” because my legal name is “David Lee Reneau” [David L. Reneau v. Director of Revenue (Case No. 96-001019-RI, Missouri Admin. Hearing Comm'n, April 17, 1997).].
• 41.  I was convicted and imprisoned for not filing my 1987, 1988, 1989 and 1990 Federal income tax returns, and after my release from prison I had difficulty compiling my records so I didn’t file my 1993, 1994 and 1995 Oregon state income tax returns [Pinski v. Dept. of Revenue, 14 OTR 376, 1998 Ore. Tax LEXIS 45 (Oregon Tax Ct., No. TC 4237, 1998).].
• 42.  I have an obsessive compulsive disorder which caused me to hoard every piece of paper and object with which I came in contact, so my husband and I were too disorganized to file our tax returns on time [Laberge v. United States, 2000 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 1354, 2000-1 U.S. Tax Cas. (CCH) Para. 50,223 (E.D. Mich., 2000).].
• 43.  When I was audited by the IRS many years ago the IRS agent told me that he had never seen a taxpayer as scrupulous and honest in his affairs as me, and that I would never have to file a tax return again [Patterson v. Harper, 1999 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 18571, 99-2 U.S. Tax Cas. (CCH) Para. 50,983 (Dist. Utah 1999).].
• 44.  I didn’t file my income tax returns for 1960, 1961 and 1962 because I had emotional and psychological problems resulting from my personal domestic circumstances, together with time-consuming pressures from my law practice, but I didn’t really intend to defraud the United States Government [United States v. Fahey, 411 F.2d 1213 (9th Cir. 1969), cert. denied 396 U.S. 957 (1969).] [Note: In the attorney disciplinary proceeding against him, it developed that the taxpayer was contacted by IRS agent in December 1963, filed his 1960 and 1962 Federal income tax returns in December 1963, and his 1962 Federal income tax return in April 1964. The taxpayer's Federal income tax returns for 1963 through 1966 were not filed until March of 1968, and his California state income tax returns for 1960 through 1966 were also filed late. In re Fahey, 8 Cal. 3d 842, 505 P.2d 1369 (1973).].
• 45.  I didn’t file my Illinois income tax returns because I suffered from depressive neurosis triggered by my mother’s death and aggravated by my marital problems [In re Hopper, 85 Ill. 2d 318, 423 N.E.2d 900 (1981).].
• 46.  My wife refused to sign the joint tax returns which were prepared for us [In re O'Hallaren, 64 Ill. 2d 426, 356 N.E.2d 520 (1976).].
• 47.  My divorce was a personal and emotional disaster, and I devoted too much time to resolving the property settlement terms of the dissolution decree and too little time to timely filing my tax returns [Committee on Prof'l Ethics v. Davison, 414 N.W.2d 97 (Iowa 1987).].
• 48.  We didn’t pay our part of our Massachusetts state income tax on time because we intended to pay it the next year so we could get a deduction on our Federal income tax return the next year [Blakeley v. Commissioner of Revenue, 28 Mass. App. Ct. 499, 552 N.E.2d 586 (1990).].
• 49.  I didn’t pay my State income taxes because a New York State Department of Labor employee told me that the criminal charges against me and my company for not paying wages and benefits to the employees would be dropped if I turned over all available cash to the Department of Labor to pay the employees [Dorfman v. Chu, 148 A.D.2d 917, 539 N.Y.S.2d 549 (3d Dept. 1989).].
• 50.  I was involved in a commercial dispute in which the court made a bad decision against me, and I asked the Minnesota Attorney General’s office to help me get the bad court decision reversed but they refused to get involved, so I didn’t pay my Minnesota state income taxes because the Government of Minnesota did not give me the protection I deserve. [Hanson v. Commissioner of Revenue, 1985 Minn. Tax LEXIS 135 (1985).].
• 51.  I never was given any financial information regarding the company, I just signed the checks and let the company put my name down as an officer so that they could run the business without having problems with the unions, and I didn’t know that the real owners of the company were not remitting the payroll tax checks I signed [Matter of Roger Frenette, New York State Division of Tax Appeals No. DTA 816715 (22 June 2000).].
• 52.  Our community advocacy organization received its funding from New York State late, so we were unable to to pay the New York State payroll taxes in time [Matter of Sadie Tallie, New York State Division of Tax Appeals No. DTA 816992 (22 June 2000).].
• 53.  I agreed that I owed $185,349.79 in back New York State income taxes for the purposes of my plea bargain to avoid jail time for filing false tax returns, but I really owed only $72,266.00, and I should be refunded the additional which I already paid in restitution as part of my plea bargain [Matter of Bruce & Beverly Griffith, New York State Division of Tax Appeals No. DTA 816986 (29 June 2000).].
• 54.  I shouldn’t have to pay taxes on income which was garnished from my wages for child support [Chambers v. Comm., T.C. Memo 2000-218.].
• 55.  One of my co-workers told me that I couldn’t file my 1993 Income Tax return until I had filed all previous tax returns which were due [O'Brien v. Comm., T.C. Memo 2000-199.].
• 56.  We filed our tax return late because we had problems keeping the office staff people in our employ [Sandoval v. Comm., T.C. Memo 2000-189.].
• 57.  My failure to file my tax return was an act of non-violent civil disobedience on a human rights issue because the Government does not recognize same-sex marriages [Mueller v. Comm., T.C. Memo 2000-132.].
• 58.  I accidentally switched mailing labels, so my Federal tax return was filed with the State and my State tax return was filed with the IRS, and the State taxation people didn’t forward the Federal return to the IRS by the due date [IRS Private Letter Ruling 8447009 (Aug. 9, 1984).].
• 59.  I didn’t file my income tax returns for 1987 or 1988 because I was afraid that doing so would draw attention to the fact that I had not filed for 1986 [In re Application for Admission to the Bar (Stransky), 431 Mass. 678; 729 N.E.2d 1085 (2000).].
• 60.  The company of which I was President and sole bank account signatory was having financial difficulties, and I found the checks which I had written to the IRS and the Illinois Department of Revenue were in the vice-president’s desk drawer and were never mailed, so I fired the vice-president and hired a consultant, but he didn’t work out so I hired another consultant [Matter of "Jane Doe", Illinois Dept. of Revenue Office of Admin. Hearings, Dkt. No. IT-99-19 (13 July 1999).].
• 61.  I didn’t file my tax returns because I had three heart attacks during 1990 and 1991, and then my bookkeeper died of a heart attack so I couldn’t access my records because they were in the bookkeeper’s office (N.B. The tax returns were for the years 1988 and 1999) [Matter of "Taxpayers", Illinois Dept. of Revenue Office of Admin. Hearings, Dkt. No. IT-96-28 (17 November 1995).].
• 62.  I didn’t file my Federal or Illinois State Income Tax returns because had I created and filed the tax return documents they would have been used against me by my ex-wife’s attorneys in my divorce proceeding (Respondent was an executive manager with the Illinois Department of Revenue whose duties included liaison between the Department and the IRS for the purposes of Federal-state tax coordination. Upon learning of the non-filing, the IRS District Director informed the Director of the Illinois Department of Revenue that he would no longer be able to work with the Respondent.). [Department of Revenue v. Smith, 150 Ill. App. 3d 1039, 501 N.E.2d 1370 (1986), appeal denied, 508 N.E.2d 726 (Ill. 1987).].
• 63.  The corporation didn’t file its sales tax returns because the president and sole shareholder is a high school grad with no knowledge or sophistication in tax matters, the corporation’s accountant refused to turn over the records after he was fired and we had to file a lawsuit against him to get the records; and besides, the corporation shouldn’t be liable for the sales tax imposed on caterers because it didn’t cook the food which was served (The corporation, which made over six million dollars in sales, operated the Director’s Suite at Madison Square Garden.). [Matter of Stephen Gallagher, Inc., N.Y. State Tax Appeals Tribunal, Docket Nos. 816114 & 816115 (3 August 2000).].
• 64.  I didn’t file my 1987 tax return until 1992 on account of a flood [Maiman v. I.R.S., 1998 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 4609, 98-1 U.S.T.C. (CCH) para. 50,324 (E.D.N.Y., 1998).].
• 65.  Our company comptroller thought that the original signed tax return we gave him was a copy, so he put it in his filing cabinet instead of mailing it to the IRS. [Henry v. United States, 73 F.Supp.2d 1303 (N.D. Fla., 1999).].
• 66.  Our bookkeeper, who suffered from clinical depression due to an abusive relationship, failed to make the employment tax withholding payments to the IRS, and then doctored the books and intercepted all mail from the IRS to cover her omissions.  (N.B. This was after the company had rehired the same bookkeeper who had been canned a few years previously for pulling the same shtick.  The first time it happened the IRS abated the penalties. The second time the penalties were sustained.). [Mason Motors Co. v. United States, 8 F.Supp.2d 1177 (D. Minn. 1998).].
• 67.  I took improper deductions on the clients’ tax returns I prepared because of my learning disability and low self-esteem (Defendant was a tax return preparer who was convicted of willfully aiding in the preparation of false tax returns). [United States v. Bridges, 2000 U.S. App. LEXIS 15895 (4th Cir. 2000).].
• 68.  I didn’t file the Estate Tax return on time because I was waiting for my broker to give me an opinion on stock valuation discount.  (N.B. The tax return was not filed until more than one year after the executor received the brokerage firm’s report) [Estate of Eddy v. Commissioner, 115 T.C. ___, No. 10 (2000).].
• 69.  I was on sea duty with the Navy (Petitioner was a Captain in the U.S. Navy Medical Corps) [Martin v. Commissioner, T.C. Memo 2000-187.].
• 70.  I misunderstood what “gross income” means, and I thought that my gross income was below the tax return filing requirement threshold (Petitioner was a Certified Public Accountant) [Massa v. Commissioner, 2000-1 U.S.T.C. (CCH) Para. 50,245 (10th Cir. 2000).].
• 71.  I was busy working on oil rigs away from my home [Silkman v. Commissioner, T.C. Memo 1988-291.].
• 72.  Our 1927 income tax return was signed in February 1928, and before I left home for spring training I told my wife to file the return, but she forgot to file it until May 17 [Rogers Hornsby v. Commissioner, 26 B.T.A. 591 (1932).].  (Note used by the baseball great Rogers Hornsby back in 1932)
• 73.  I didn’t pay the Massachusetts restaurant meals tax because the judge in my divorce case held me in contempt for not paying support, and I was left with the choice of going to jail for not making payments or else dipping into the restaurant’s receipts in order to keep the judge off my back [Sign of the Surf, Inc. v. Commissioner of Revenue, 716 N.E.2d 688 (Mass.App. 1999), review denied 722 N.E.2d 977 (Mass. 1999).].
• 74.  I allocated my sign-on bonus to play hockey with the Birmingham Bulls to my Canadian income, and I didn’t think that I had enough United States income to warrant filing a nonresident alien United States Income Tax return [Ken Linseman v. Commissioner, 82 T.C. 514 (1984).].
• 75.  I was a Federal parolee at the time I earned the income, and am now incarcerated by the State of Oregon.  Federal law provides that Federal parolees are in the legal custody and under the control of the U.S. Attorney General, so therefore, the Attorney General should be liable for the tax on the income I earned.  Alternatively, the Superintendent of the Oregon State prison where I am now incarcerated should be liable for the lateness penalties and interest on my income tax because I am now in his legal custody and under his control.  (Note: The taxable income was “earned” from embezzlement committed by the petitioner while he was a Federal parolee, and for which he was convicted and incarcerated in Oregon.) [IRS Private Letter Ruling 8338036 (17 June 1983).].
• 76.  My doctor prescribed the wrong medications, which made me ill, which caused me to go into severe depression and thus incapacitated me (he was a successful businessman during the time in question, and was never hospitalized) [Smith v. United States, 2000 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 12532 (W.D. Tex. 2000).].
• 77.  The lender which financed the company loan told us not to pay the employment withholding taxes [Robblee v. Oregon Department of Revenue, 325 Ore. 515, 525, 942 P.2d 765 (1997).].
• 78.  The New York State Attorney General seized my business records and wouldn’t return them to me [Mayer v. Commissioner, T.C. Memo. 2000-295.].
• 79.  I worked 18 hours per day six days a week, and had only 4 vacations in 10 years [Howe v. Commissioner, T.C. Memo. 2000-291.].
• 80.  Our church refuses to withhold employee employment taxes because we believe that it is a sin to accept the authority of secular worldly governments. [United States v. Indianapolis Baptist Temple, 224 F.3d 627 (7th Cir. 2000).].
• 81.  I had a maladaptive reaction and adjustment disorder to being diagnosed HIV positive [Dept. of Health v. Protzel, New York City Office of Admin. Trials & Hrgs. Index No. OATH 613/98 (July 15, 1998).].
• 82.  When I was a student at Notre Dame I contracted encephalitis and I now have a neurological disorder which causes me to sleep 20 hours a day (Defendant was an accountant who filed tax returns for his clients during the 13 years when he failed to file his own tax returns) [United States v. McCaffrey, 181 F.3d 854 (7th Cir. 1999).].
• 83.  I had post-traumatic stress syndrome from combat service in Vietnam, which led to the breakup of my engagement, caused me emotional turmoil and war flashbacks, and interfered with my ability to function [Dept. of Parks & Recreation v. Leddy, New York City Office of Admin. Trials & Hrgs.  Index No. OATH 875/92 (18 September 1992).].
• 84.  My cousin really owned the store and I never worked there, but I let him put the business in my name because my cousin was an illegal immigrant with an arrest record, and after my cousin was killed in a robbery attempt the business tax returns were never filed or paid [Matter of Manuel Almanzar, New York State Division of Tax Appeals No. DTA 817125 (16 November 2000).].
• 85.  I didn’t put enough postage on the envelope, and my tax payment remained in the post office for over two months before it was returned to me [Williams v. Zaino, Ohio Bd. of Tax Appeals, No. 00-L-492 (13 October 2000).].
• 86.  I didn’t file my income tax returns for the years 1944 through 1948 because I had difficulty with the English language and didn’t know about the American laws and customs (Taxpayer had been in the United States since 1938 and became a citizen in 1940) [DeBelaieff v. Commissioner, T.C. Memo. 1956-273.].
• 87.  I claimed a total exemption from payroll tax withholding because one of my co-workers told me that there was a tax loophole I could use [Dept. of Sanitation v. Dame, New York City Office of Admin. Trials & Hrgs. Index No. OATH 892/00 (Feb. 23, 1999)] [same excuse, Dept. of Sanitation v. Copney, OATH Index No. 1960/99 (Oct. 25, 1999)].
• 88.  I claimed a total exemption from payroll tax withholding because I had lost a lot of money gambling and had to pay large sums of money to loan sharks every week [Dept. of Sanitation v. Romeo, New York City Office of Admin. Trials & Hrgs. Index No. OATH 1953/99 et al (Dec. 28, 1999).].
• 89.  There was sufficient money in my account to pay my state Income Tax at the time I wrote the check, but the check bounced because the Alabama Department of Revenue delayed in presenting the check to the bank for payment [Lane v. State, Alabama Dept. of Revenue, Admin. Law Div., Dkt. No. INC-99-364 (2 November 1999).].
• 90.  I was diagnosed as suffering from hypertension, diabetes and obesity [Smith v. Commissioner, T.C. Memo 1984-114.].
• 91.  I didn’t file the 1988 Income Tax return because my accountant and I were trying to decide which fiscal year to use for the corporation [Nabavi v. Her Majesty the Queen, Tax Court of Canada, Docket No. 95-2088-IT-G (19 November 1997).].
• 92.  I didn’t file my 1993 state and Federal income tax returns because of the unexpected earthquake of January 1994 (the Applicant had been denied security clearance for not filing his tax returns for years 1993 through 1997) [Matter of Anonymous, Defense Office of Hearings & Appeals, ISCR Case No. 98-0456 (29 October 1998).].
• 93.  I thought the tax money withheld from my salary was more than enough to cover what I would owe, and that I was actually doing the Government a favor by not filing a tax return because the government could keep more money than they would otherwise have been entitled to if I had filed [Matter of Anonymous, Defense Office of Hearings & Appeals, ISCR Case No. 98-0444 (25 November 1998).].
• 94.  I lost my life savings in a tax shelter investment, and was afraid to contact the IRS to work out a repayment schedule [Matter of Anonymous, Defense Office of Hearings & Appeals, ISCR Case No. 97-0501 (3 February 1998).].
• 95.  I did not file my federal income tax returns for tax years 1994 and 1995 because I did not want the state to take my anticipated tax refunds for payment of delinquent child support [Matter of Anonymous, Defense Office of Hearings & Appeals, ISCR Case No. 96-0788 (26 February 1997).].
• 96.  I didn’t file my 1992 tax returns because my wife refused to give me my son’s social security number so that I could claim him as a dependant.  I didn’t file my 1993 or 1994 tax returns due to marital discord.  As for my 1995 tax return, I held off because I wanted to file it along with the other tax returns [Matter of Anonymous, Defense Office of Hearings & Appeals, ISCR Case No. 97-0318 (3 February 1998).].
• 97.  I didn’t file my income tax returns because I was unable to determine which tax form to use [Matter of Anonymous, Defense Office of Hearings & Appeals, Appeal Board, ISCR Case No. 98-0810 (8 June 2000).].
• 98.  I didn’t file or pay my income taxes because my landscaping and janitorial business was failing and I didn’t have the money (Applicant had purchased new furniture and leased a Porsche for his wife) [Matter of Anonymous, Defense Office of Hearings & Appeals, ISCR Case No. 99-0365 (1 October 1999).].
• 99.  For 7 years I didn’t pay the taxes on my father’s estate, of which I was the Executor, because I made advances of Estate funds to my sick brother, and I didn’t want to sell estate properties to raise more cash (the estate owned income-producing rental properties worth $1.2 million) [Estate of James W. Smith v. Comptroller, Maryland Tax Ct. Docket No. 97-EI-OO-0452 (25 October 2000).].
• 100.  The bookkeeper was injured in an accident and couldn’t work, and I also was injured in an accident and then became pregnant so I couldn’t work, and when I came back to work the computer system had crashed so the records were lost [Matter of Rio Rancho Pharmacy, New Mexico Taxation & Revenue Dept. Decision & Order No. 97-05 (10 February 1997).].
• 101.  We didn’t file our employment tax returns because we had an antiquated computer system [Matter of Los Alamos Public Schools, New Mexico Taxation & Revenue Dept. Decision & Order No. 98-23 (22 April 1998).].
• 102.  I couldn’t pay my Utah State income taxes because I tied up all my finances paying my Federal income taxes to the IRS [Matter of Anonymous, Utah State Tax Commission Appeal No. 96-0777 (25 September 1996).].
• 103.  After I moved from Utah to New Jersey I asked someone in New Jersey about my Utah income tax, and was told that the tax I owed Utah was so small that it wasn’t worth worrying about, so I just said “Hell with it!” [Matter of Anonymous, Utah State Tax Commission Appeal No. 96-2221 (11 March 1997).].
• 104.  My upstanding excuse is as follows, for personal security reasons I run my business anonymously and the tax system holds digital records of my details which can quite easily be hacked, however I wish to remain responsible for my business affairs.  Please assist me in finding a suitable payment system ….. That’s why I haven’t even registered !

  Note from Madtbone: This excuse # 104 was not submitted by Professor Ryesky!  Unfortunately his long streak of 103 straight excuses submitted is now broken!

• 105.  I thought that I didn’t have to report any individual items of income which were less than $5,000 [Matter of Seth Ofori-Awuku, New York State Division of Tax Appeals No. DTA 817332 (15 Feb. 2001)].
• 106.  We filed our amended Alaska tax returns late because there were only four employees assigned to the task of filing amended tax returns in all 50 states, and the supervisor ordered them to do the returns in states where refunds were expected before doing the returns for the other states (corporation does over $1 billion in business each year) [Alaska Dept. of Revenue v. Dyncorp & Subsidiaries, 14 P.3d 981 (Alaska, 2000)]
• 107.  I attribute my tax filing failures to my stupidity and to the fees I owed to my tax accountant at the time [Matter of Anonymous, Defense Office of Hearings & Appeals, ISCR Case No. 99-0563 (18 February 2000).].
• 108.  I did not file my state income tax returns for the years 1992 through 1998 because I believed that I would not receive a refund big enough to make it worth the time to file (he actually owed the state money) [Matter of Anonymous, Defense Office of Hearings & Appeals, ISCR Case No. 99-0592 (13 March 2000).].
• 109.  I didn’t file our joint income tax return on time because I was waiting for my husband to be released from prison and they kept him longer than I had expected (the wife wasn’t incarcerated) [Labato v. Commissioner, T.C. Memo. 2001-40.].
• 110.  I read a book called “Vultures in Eagles Clothing” and, having read the book, developed the belief that I was not subject to the Virginia state income tax [Burkholder v. Commonwealth [2001 Va. App. LEXIS 57, No. 0417-00-3, Va. Ct. App., (6 February 2001).].
• 111.  I went to a lonely road and prayed that I should become self-sufficient and be able to help others, and a short time later I received a $836,939.19 check upon my discharge from the Army. I didn’t report it on my tax return because I thought the check was a miraculous answer to my prayer instead of a Government error (his final Army paycheck should have been $183.69) [United States v. Irvin, 67 F.3d 670 (8th Cir. 1995).].
• 112.  We are a church which opposes war, participation in military service, and payment of war taxes, and we didn’t pay the Federal excise tax portion of the church’s telephone bill because it is a war tax [IRS Private Letter Ruling 7904001 (30 June 1977).].
• 113.  I stopped filing my income tax returns in 1990 after my mother gave me a videotape which said that the Internal Revenue Code did not specifically require people to file tax returns or pay income taxes [United States v. Ahee, 2001 U.S.App LEXIS 2706, 2001-1 U.S.T.C. (CCH) Para. 50,283 (6th Cir. 2001).].
• 114.  I was too busy operating my two restaurants and my art gallery and following my stock market investments to file my tax returns [Mason v. Commissioner, T.C. Memo 2001-58.].
• 115.  We didn’t file our joint tax return on time because we had a difficult pregnancy (the husband wasn’t pregnant) [Matter of Janeczko, New York State Division of Tax Appeals No. DTA 818211 (26 April 2001).].
• 116.  I didn’t receive the Tax Commission’s notice that the Sales Tax returns were due because at the time it was sent to me I was in prison for illegally trafficking in food stamps [Mohamad Hassan v. Tracy, Ohio Bd. of Tax Appeals, No. 95-B-988 (16 May 1997).].
• 117.  We didn’t file our tax returns because we were below the poverty level (Defendant had been convicted of stealing over $10,000 from her business partner) [Wright v. State, 2001 Tex. App. LEXIS 1775 at *24 (Tex. App. 2001).].
• 118.  I didn’t file my Federal or state income tax returns for 1992 and 1993 because I misplaced my Form W-2 Wage and Tax Statements (he also didn’t file his tax returns for 1994, 1995 and 1996, when he did have the W-2 forms in his possession) [Matter of Anonymous, Defense Office of Hearings & Appeals, ISCR Case No. 98-0006 (22 May 1998).].
• 119.  I didn’t file my Federal and Virginia income tax returns because I was involved in community volunteer work and training [Matter of Anonymous, Defense Office of Hearings & Appeals, ISCR Case No. 99-0011 (3 May 1999).].
• 120.  I didn’t file my New York State income tax returns because I thought I was a Kentucky resident (he is a renown horse trainer who lived in New York almost 6 months per year, grossed over $2 million per year for years 1986 through 1990, and deducted and withheld New York State State income taxes from the approximately 50 employees he had on his personal payroll) [Matter of Claude R. McGaughey, III, N.Y. State Tax Tribunal, Decision DTA No. 814265 (19 March 1998%Ý R>5D.
• 121.  I defer to my wife on financial matters because her income is greater than mine, but she has a tendency to go off on spending binges, and I wasn't strong enough to make her pay the taxes [Matter of Anonymous, Defense Office of Hearings & Appeals, ISCR Case No. 97-0352 (10 October 1997).].
• 122.  I had financial problems caused by my unfamiliarity with criminals who take advantage of persons who do not know what to do with their money [Matter of Anonymous, Defense Office of Hearings & Appeals, ISCR Case No. 96-0226 (10 February 1997).].
• 123.  We didn’t file our 1993, 1994 and 1995 Income Tax returns until December of 1996 because at the time those returns were due we were undergoing an IRS audit for our 1990, 1991 and 1992 Income Tax returns [Owens v. Commissioner, T.C. Memo. 2001-143.].
• 124.  When I joined the business, one of the partners and a part time accountant ran the system and they filed the tax returns, but when that partner retired he sent another person to do the taxes, and I depended upon that other person to do the taxes but I don’t know whether that other person was male or female [Hong Kong Inland Revenue Board of Review Case No. D65/00 (13 October 2000).].
• 125.  I led a double life; in my public life as barrister, community and family man I achieved the highest possible standards that I was capable of, but in my private persona I became increasingly burnt out and drawn towards deliberate ignorance and recklessness as to the risks and consequences of understating income on my tax returns [New South Wales Bar Assn. v. Hamman [1999] NSWCA 404.].
• 126.  My sentence for criminal tax evasion should be reduced because I came to this country as a refugee [The Queen v. Tu Van Tran, Supreme Ct. of Victoria, Australia, No. 62/1997 (3 September 1997).].
• 127.  Our company missed the 25 July deadline for paying the Employee Fringe Benefits Tax because we were in the midst of a reorganization, the General Manager had just assumed his duties on 1 June and the Finance Manager was overseas on business [Philippines Bureau of Internal Revenue Ruling 039-2000 (11 September 2000).].
• 128.  The Estate Tax return was not filed on time because the decedent’s widow, who served as Executrix, is an unsophisticated elderly housewife (she was only 66 years old at the time of her husband’s death, and had operated her own night club and several other businesses. The tax return was filed over 10 years late) [Estate of Thomas v. Commissioner, T.C. Memo. 2001-225.].
• 129.  The $3 Million tax payment check was put into the pink self-addressed envelope provided by the Connecticut State Tax Commission, but then the pink envelope was inadvertently placed in with the large bulk mail envelope which we sent to our general agent in East Orange, New Jersey, instead of being mailed to the Tax Commission [Hartford Fire Ins. Co. v. Brown, 164 Conn. 497, 325 A.2d 228 (1973).].
• 130.  My tumultuous personal family situation caused me to lose sight of my obligation to pay the real estate taxes [Goetz Nickel v. Zaino, Ohio Bd. of Tax Appeals, No. 01-M-407 (7 September 2001).].
• 131.  The Philadelphia Net Profits Tax should not apply to me because I am an attorney [Cherry v. City of Philadelphia, 547 Pa. 679, 692 A.2d 1082 (1997).].
• 132.  Our corporation’s failure to timely remit the sales tax was attributable to the internal chaos arising from the expansion of the corporation’s customer base into broader markets [Matter of Guilloz, New York State Div. of Tax Appeals, Docket Nos. DTA 817606 & 817607 (25 October 2001).].
• 133.  It was the duty of the restaurant’s Operating Manager to pay the sales tax to the state; I was just an officer of the veteran’s organization that ran the restaurant and all I did was sign eight blank checks per week at the Operating Manager’s request [Matter of Anonymous, Oklahoma State Tax Commission, Order No. 98-10-27-004, Docket No. P9700088 (27 October 1998).].
• 134.  “I do not put my wife’s social security # on my tax return because it is my tax return not my wife’s return. I have the right to do this. … Get real! money is money! it has nothing to do with my marital status — except I spend more! Don’t tell me that’s the way it is, I would be in the same situation if my wife did not work or only worked and earned a small amount. … So you can shove it up your . . . ” (Petitioner also tried to claim deductions for his dogs) [Matter of Douglas C. Brodmerkel, New York State Div. of Tax Appeals, Docket No. DTA 818043 (6 December 2001).].
• 135.  I shouldn’t have been prosecuted for failure to file my property tax return because I was unilaterally investigated by the City (she had failed to respond to the City’s second reminder letter to file her overdue property tax returns – this happened for two consecutive years) [Miller-Wagenknecht v. City of Munroe Falls, 2001 Ohio App. LEXIS 5365 (2001).].
• 136.  My financial affairs were under investigation by the Inland Revenue Department, and I was waiting for the results of the investigation before I filed my tax returns. [Inland Revenue Dept. v. Anderson, District Court, Wellington, New Zealand, Docket No. CRN 7085027916-22, [2000] DCR 287 (12 April 2000).].
• 137.  In 1975 the canteen dealers’ association advised me that my canteen sales were not taxable, and it was my understanding that we beat the state in a class-action suit on the matter (the appellant was sent quarterly “delinquent return” notices by the Massachusetts Department of Revenue from 1977 through 1983, but did not respond to them) [James Kiklis v. Commissioner of Revenue, Massachusetts Appellate Tax Board, Docket No. 145335 (June 7, 1988).].
• 138.  I didn’t lodge my tax returns for tax years after 1974 because I didn’t visit my home when the Tax Commissioners notices of assessment were mailed there, so I never received the notices (the Tax Commissioner notices were mailed in 1981) [In re Taylor, 74 FLR 377 Bankruptcy (Federal Court of Australia, 1983).].
• 139.  I am not required to file tax returns or pay taxes to the government of New Zealand because I am a member of the Maori tribe [Kaihau v New Zealand Inland Revenue Department [1990] 3 NZLR 344 (Highcourt, Auckland, 1990).].
• 140.  When an accountant was asked why he did not lodge his own tax returns, he replied ” I mean, it’s like the plumber with the leaking taps, the last tax return to be done is mine.” [Deputy Commissioner of Taxation v. Crowl, 1986 NSW LEXIS 6663 at *16 - *17, Supreme Ct. of New South Wales, Docket No. BC8600549 (12 November 1986).].
• 141.  Following a fire at my business, the IRS took all my records to reconstruct my income, and because the IRS had my records I couldn’t file my Oregon state income tax returns (the fire was in 1972, but taxpayer didn’t file any tax returns until after 1980, even after starting a new business) [Walter Pelett and City Liquidators, Inc. v. Department of Revenue, 11 OTR 364, Oregon Tax Court, No. 2839 (11 May 1990).].
• 142.  I was guilty of no more than reckless or poor bookkeeping (Appellant, sentenced to prison for tax evasion, is a noted Hong Kong broadcast media personality who, from 1994 through 1998, had evaded $HK 210,122 on false tax returns of $HK 1.2 million by creating false restaurant receipts and falsely claiming payment of salaries to her staff) [Appeal of Pamela Pak Wan-Kam, High Court, Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, Docket No. HCMA000444/2001 (23 August 2001).].
• 143.  We thought that our business was located in Plaquemines Parish instead of St. Bernard Parish, so we paid our taxes to Plaquemines instead of St. Bernard (The founder and principal owner of the business is a Louisiana State Senator who represents St. Bernard Parish. The Plaquemines tax rate was, of course, lower than the St. Bernard tax rate.) [Elevating Boats, Inc. v. St. Bernard Parish, 795 So. 2d 1153 (La. 2001).].
• 144.  The company controller was terminated for poor performance, the accounts payable clerk went on maternity leave the next day, and then, both of the staff accountants resigned [Illinois Dept. of Revenue, Private Letter Ruling No. IT 90-0291-PLR (9 November 1990).].
• 145.  Our accountant put our tax return in a Federal Express envelope and then accidentally deposited the Federal Express envelope in the U.S. Postal Service mailbox, and by the time the Post Office returned the Federal Express envelope to us the filing deadline had passed [Heflin v. Limbach, Tax Commissioner of Ohio, Ohio Board of Tax Appeals, No. 87-D-484 (16 December 1988).].
• 146.  I never saw the employment tax returns because I gave our accountant a rubber stamp with my signature, and he was supposed to take care of filing the return and paying the taxes. [Dogwood Forest Rest Home, Inc. v. United States, 2001 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 22457, 2002-1 U.S.T.C. (CCH) para. 50,194 (M.D. N.C., 2001).].
• 147.  The penalty of $100.00 per carton of cigarettes without the tax stamp is too excessive compared to the tax of $16.70 per carton which I would have paid had I complied with the tax law (before the petitioner had been found with the unstamped cigarettes in question, he had previously been caught attempting to defeat the cigarette tax by smuggling over 600 cartons into New York, and then, in a separate incident, investigators found over 200 additional cartons of unstamped cigarettes behind a false wall in his store) [Matter of Nazar Alidani & Bayridge Supermarket, Inc., New York Division of Tax Appeals, DTA Nos. 817910 - 12 (21 February 2002).].
• 148.  I didn’t pay my personal income taxes because the IRS made my corporation shell out the difference when the payroll contractor embezzled payroll tax funds and I consider the IRS to be at least partially responsible for my company’s loss [United States v. Willis, 277 F.3d  1026, note 4 at 1029 (8th Cir. 2002).].
• 149.  I didn’t know about the 40 cartons of unstamped cigarettes and the 20 pounds of untaxed tobacco products in the basement of the store, and the 10 cartons of unstamped cigarettes under the front display counter were not for sale (Petitioner had owned the store for 3 years) [Matter of Mohammed Hasm Khair, New York Division of Tax Appeals, DTA No. 818553 (11 April 2002).].
• 150.  My daughter was applying to colleges, and until I knew what it would cost for her I couldn’t do anything to pay my state income taxes [Matter of Anonymous, Defense Office of Hearings & Appeals, ISCR Case No. 01-00277 (18 September 2001).].
• 151.  I’m not paying my debt to the IRS because, on advice of counsel, I am waiting for the statute of limitations to expire so that I can avoid paying my tax debts. [Matter of Anonymous, Defense Office of Hearings & Appeals, ISCR Case No. 00-0309 (24 May 2001).].
• 152.  From 1990 to 1999, when I frequently traveled away from home, my family was not cooperative in helping me file tax returns in a timely fashion; they would put all mail, including important financial documents, anywhere they pleased [Matter of Anonymous, Defense Office of Hearings & Appeals, ISCR Case No. 99-0205 (26 May 2002), reversed on appeal and clearance denied by Appeals Board (19 October 2000).].
• 153.  Please postpone the conciliation conference for my client’s contested tax assessment because my client is currently incarcerated at the Federal Correction Facility in Allenwood, Pennsylvania, and the twenty boxes of records relating to my client’s business activities are now in the possession of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police [Matter of Robert Tavano, New York Division of Tax Appeals, DTA No. 818761 (25 April 2002).].
• 154.  “It’s a timing issue only” (Statement by Creed Black, Esq., attorney for Robert Jacobs, a lawyer who was accused of conspiring with his clients to create false tax shelters, obstructing an IRS audit and falsifying documents.) ["Wolf Block Partner Indicted in Tax Case," by Shawn P. Duffy, Legal Intelligencer, 6 March 2002, p. 1.; Nat'l Law Journal, 11 March 2002, p. A-18] [N.B. Jacobs subsequently pleaded guilty on 6 May 2002. E.D. Pa., 2002-CR-134.].
• 155.  I didn’t remit my company’s payroll taxes to the IRS because my brother Jerry, who was president of the company, has always exercised a strong hand in running the company and always directed the payment of corporate debts and expenses; and during my entire time of as Secretary-Treasurer at the company he never asked me my opinion about which creditors should be paid [Crutcher v. United States, 2002 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 3994, 2002-1 U.S.T.C. (CCH) para. 50,289 (N.D. Alabama 2002).].
• 156.  I was employed by the State Department in a highly sensitive position with the U.S. Embassy in Oman [Jenkins v. Commissioner, T.C. Memo 1982-407.].
• 157.  I didn’t pay my income taxes because I believe that United States foreign policy is immoral, unconstitutional, illegal, and contrary to my religious convictions [Harper v. Commissioner, T.C. Memo 1973-214.].
• 158.  My company was in bankruptcy, and we decided that it was more important to pay the chemical spill environmental clean-up costs than to pay the taxes [Cook v. United States, 2002 U.S.Claims LEXIS 62, 2002-1 U.S.T.C. (CCH) para. 50,328 (U.S. Ct. Cl., 2002).].
• 159.  The decedents’ lack of advanced educations left them unable to hire a competent attorney to draw up their wills so as to take best advantage of the federal Estate Tax law (they were worth over a million dollars when they died) [Koester v. Commissioner, T.C. Memo 2002-82.].
• 160.  I suffered from bipolar personality disorder and attention deficit disorder (the defendant, an attorney and an accountant, was convicted of tax evasion, preparing false tax returns for his client, and attempting to obstruct an IRS audit, and was sentenced to 57 months imprisonment) [United States v. Boykoff, 186 F. Supp. 2d 347 (S.D.N.Y., 2002); "Lawyer who Defrauded the IRS Sentenced," N.Y.L.J., 25 June 2002, p. 1, col. 1.].
• 161.  We didn’t know that we were required to report the money we embezzled as income on our tax returns [Clark v. Iowa Dept. of Revenue & Finance, 2002 Iowa Sup. LEXIS 93 (8 May 2002).].
• 162.  Our California Income Tax payment wasn’t timely remitted because our checking account was a constant disaster [Appeal of Marks, Calif. State Bd. of Equalization, 76-SBE-057 (4 May 1976).].
• 163.  My former accountant resigned from his practice to become an attorney and he didn’t give me a copy of my Ohio Personal Property Tax return [Plus 1 Executive Suites, Inc. v. Zaino, Ohio Bd. of Tax Appeals, No. 01-S-557 (8 March 2002).].
• 164.  I didn’t file my income tax returns for 11 years, so now it is too much of a burden for me to gather the tax information [Claybrooks v. Wisconsin Dept. of Revenue, Wisc. Tax Appeals Comm., Dkt. Nos. 01-I-104 et al (10 May 2002).].
• 165.  I shouldn’t be liable for the unpaid corporate taxes because I wasn’t really an officer of the corporation; I was in a physically and emotionally abusive relationship with the president of the corporation and when I testified that I was an officer I lied in order to protect him (she had run the corporation without the president’s assistance, and wrote checks from the corporate accounts) [Frymier-Halloran v. Paige, 193 W. Va. 687, 458 S.E.2d 780 (1995).].

• 166.  Our attorney left Detroit and we couldn’t find a new suitable tax return preparer for our 1977 income tax return (their 1977 return was eventually prepared by the same tax return preparer who had prepared their 1975 and 1976 returns) [Williams v. Commissioner, T.C. Memo 1990-266.].

• 167.  I claimed 99 exemptions on my W-4 form because my family was going through a financial breakdown, it was a common practice for New York City Corrections Officers to claim 99 exemptions and I considered the extra money in my paycheck to be like a personal loan, to be paid back at the end of the tax year (he filed his return late and owed money to the IRS and New York State) [Dept. of Correction v. Headen, New York City Office of Admin. Trials & Hrgs. Index No. OATH 986/99 (20 May 1999).].

• 168.  I was under great pressure to complete several trials before my suspension from the practice of law became effective on April 10th, so I couldn’t complete my tax return until after April 15th [Bogatin v. Commissioner, T.C. Memo. 1981-538.].

• 169.  I was diagnosed by a psychiatrist as having a tax phobia (petitioner served as a corporate vice president during the tax years at issue) [Kemmerer v. Commissioner, T.C. Memo. 1993-394.].

• 170.  We consulted with our competitors in the quarrying business, and they never told us anything about filing the sales tax returns or paying the tax [Gray v. Arizona Dept. of Revenue, Ariz. Bd. of Tax Appeals, Div. 2, Docket No. 806-90-S (25 June 1991).].

• 171.  “I would like to give reasons for the delay in submitting the tax return. I was employed by National Bank of Fiji from 1985 - 1992.  The remand of employment by the Bank had kept me busy.  The charge of portfolio and the events of 1987 put a lot of demand in my post.  As a senior employee I have always kept my clients interest first at my expense.  This is my first offence, I ask that consideration be given to my report job and that I am good citizen of the country.  I am a member of Tikina Counsel, the Provincial Counsel. I am also a JP.” [Commissioner of Inland Revenue v. Atunasia B. Druavesi, [1997] 43 FLR 150, High Ct. of Fiji, Crim. App. No. HAA-0012-1997 (3 July 1997).].

• 172.  I never received notice from the IRS that I am required to keep books and records, and to file tax returns [Funk v. Commissioner, T.C. Memo. 2001-291.].

• 173.  I had no intention to evade the tax; I rushed through the tax form in about ten minutes, and the Inland Revenue Department might have been indirectly responsible for misleading me into forgetting to report the income from the exercise of my stock options because of how it printed the guidance notes in Chinese.  [Hong Kong Inland Revenue Board of Review Case No. D67/00 (13 October 2000).].

• 174.  The Hertford office of the Inland Revenue, where the tax returns were filed in person, was occupied by both Inland Revenue and the Department of Health and Social Security, and the returns had been wrongly given to the Department of Health and Social Security (this allegedly happened three times over 18 months; the two government agencies had separate entrances and mailboxes) [T & C Hill v. Gleig, Inspector of Taxes, [2000] STC (SCD) 64 (6 January 2000).].

• 175.  We didn’t retain our cash register receipts to substantiate our sales because we had high employee turnover and an outdated cash register, so the receipts did not accurately reflect the sales upon which the sales tax was due [Matter of 1126 Genesee Street, Inc., New York State Tax Appeals Tribunal, No. DTA 817594 (22 August 2002).].

• 176. After I separated from my spouse I developed a “don’t care” attitude, which led to my failure to file any state tax returns for the tax years of 1990 through 1997 [Matter of Anonymous, Defense Office of Hearings & Appeals, ISCR Case No. 01-10227 (14 February 2002).].

• 177. I didn’t file my 1989, 1990 and 1991 income tax returns because I believed that the Internal Revenue Service would use the information against me in my litigation with the National Labor Relations Board [Hochschild v. Commissioner, T.C. Memo 2002-195.].

• 178.  If I would have remitted the taxes withheld from the payroll to the IRS without the approval of the company’s majority shareholder, then that would have been akin to stealing from the company (the Petitioner was President of the corporation) [Sutton v. United States, 194 F. Supp. 2d 559, 564 (E.D. Tex. 2001).].

• 179.  The IRS should stop trying to collect my tax assessments for 1990 through 1996 because I was mentally incompetent when I signed my tax returns (he has served as the President of two corporations which he had founded) [Horn v. Commissioner, T.C. Memo 2002-218.].

• 180.  I shouldn’t have to pay a fine for failing to file my tax returns and pay the taxes because it would place a strain upon my limited financial circumstances (both defendants failed to file their respective returns for the years 1995 through 1998, despite repeated requests from Revenue Canada to do so) [Regina v. McLean, 2002 C.R.D.J. 876 (Ontario C.J., 26 April 2002).].

• 181.  I shouldn’t have been convicted of tax evasion because when I used my clients’ tax remittance to ease my own financial situation I intended to eventually pay the funds to the IRS, and not to permanently deprive the government of its money due. [United States v. Araujo, 2002 U.S. App. LEXIS 15066, 2002-2 U.S.T.C. (CCH) para. 50,556 (9th Cir. 2002).].

• 182.  I shouldn’t have to pay the penalty for preparing falsified income tax returns; even though I let the employees who prepared the returns sign my name to them I didn’t actually prepare those returns, and besides, I wasn’t really the proprietor of the tax firm which prepared the returns, but I was listed as owner in order to avoid revealing my ex-husband’s interest in the business [Kim Phuong Vu Bui v. United States, 2001 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 16324, 2001-2 U.S.T.C. (CCH) para. 50,670 (W.D. Wash. 2001), aff'd 2002 U.S. App. LEXIS 17199, 2002-2 U.S.T.C. (CCH) para. 50,605 (9th Cir. 2002).].

• 183.  I couldn’t attend the tax appeal hearing because I was incarcerated suddenly and without warning (petitioner was in fact warned that he would be incarcerated if he did not purge his contempt of the court in another matter) [Matter of Richard E. & Sabele F. Gray, New York State Division of Tax Appeals No. DTA 818339, 818340 & 818341 (3 October 2002).].

• 184.  I didn’t remit the payroll taxes to the IRS because I was told by the officers and shareholders that it was none of my business that the payroll taxes weren’t being paid (he was General Manager of the company, and he signed the checks) [Gephart v. United States, 818 F.2d 469 (6th Cir. 1987).].

• 185.  I shouldn’t have to pay the tax deficiency assessed against me because I never filed a tax return [Herip v. United States, 2002 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 15680, 2002-2 U.S. Tax Cas. (CCH) para. 50,646 (N. D. Ohio 2002).].

• 186.  I didn’t report the 1994 and 1995 payments as interest income on my tax return because the payments were intended to compensate me for my cost of funds in extending the loan, and were not intended as interest payments [Chng Gim Huat v Public Prosecutor, High Ct. of Singapore, Magistr. App. 255/1999, 2000-3 SLR 262 (5 July 2000).].

• 187.  The company tax returns were not filed in 1981 because in 1982, a child of the corporation president was the victim of an assault, thus limiting the amount of time the president could devote to the company because of the time and effort he had to direct to his child’s recovery; and then, from June 1983 to January 1984, the president, who was the only executive officer of the corporation at the time, became very ill and was confined to his home [Booth Glass Co., Inc. v. Director of Revenue, Delaware Tax App. Bd., Docket Nos. 831 & 841 (12 August 1988).].

• 188.  Our hotel never actually charged the New Hampshire Communications Services Tax to the guests on their hotel bills as the law requires, so we shouldn’t have to pay the tax [The Wentworth, An Elegant Country Inn v. Dept. of Revenue Admin., N.H. Bd. of Tax & Land Appeals, Docket No. 18028-00CS (2 October 2000).].

• 189.  The corporation’s owners were in the process of terminating some other insolvent business ventures, and they moved away from Illinois, and they deferred the preparation of the corporation’s income tax return due to the lack of cash available to pay for the professional services needed to prepare the return [Illinois Dept. of Revenue Private Letter Ruling IT 88-0237-PLR (22 August 1988).].

• 190.  My secretary was assigned the task of remembering when my Iowa Income Tax return was due, but she forgot to tell me [Dickenson v. Iowa Dept. of Revenue, Iowa State Bd. of Tax Review, IA-TAXRPTR (CCH) para. 200-136 (8 November 1974).].

• 191.  I shouldn’t be penalized for overstating my expense deductions on my tax return because my negligence in keeping documentation for deductions from revenue is not as serious as it would have been had I failed to report the revenue in the first place [Patrick Ng v. Her Majesty the Queen, Tax Court of Canada, Docket No. 97-2104-IT-I (20 July 1998).].

• 192.  I didn’t lodge my tax returns from 1980 to 1987 because I was distracted from that task by severe difficulties which my daughter was experiencing in her relationship with a man of bad character (he was an accountant who prepared tax returns for others, and by the year 2000 he still hadn’t filed any tax returns) [Cureton v. Blackshaw Services Pty. Ltd., [2002] NSWCA 187, BC200203514, New South Wales Ct. of Appeal, Docket No. CA 40575/01 (26 June 2002).].

• 193.  I shouldn’t be liable for the tax assessed against me because the IRS omitted the apostrophe from my name [Edward T. O'Toole v. Commissioner, T.C. Memo. 2002-265].

• 194.  “Ce n’est quand meme pas la faute des simples contribuables si Revenu Canada engage des fraudeurs.” (Official English translation:  “It is not the fault of ordinary taxpayers if Revenue Canada hires fraud artists.”) (Several corrupt Revenue Canada employees, including taxpayer’s brother, facilitated fraudulent refunds for various taxpayers in return for a percentage of the refund) [Jean-Marc Simard v. Her Majesty the Queen, Tax Court of Canada, Docket No. 2001-88-IT-I (23 May 2002).].

• 195.  I haven’t filed my tax returns since 1989 because the Department of the Navy improperly denied my claims for disability payments, so I think that the IRS should help me recover the benefits by crediting them towards my taxes due [Ashley v. Commissioner, T.C. Memo 2002-286.].

• 196.  I shouldn’t be responsible for not remitting the payroll taxes because I was never able to get a company officer to countersign the check to the Department of Revenue [Illinois Dept. of Revenue v. John Doe, Illinois Dept. of Revenue Office of Admin. Hearings, Dkt. No. IT 02-10 (13 June 2002).].

• 197.  I should not be responsible for failing to remit the sales taxes I didn’t know I was a corporate officer of the company (he had signed the checks and tax returns) [Illinois Dept. of Revenue v. John Doe, Illinois Dept. of Revenue Office of Admin. Hearings, Dkt. No. ST 02-22 (19 August 2002).].

• 198.  We shouldn’t be liable for the interest on the additional New York State taxes and penalties because the IRS agent who audited our Federal tax returns had hepatitis and took 5 years to complete the audit [Matter of Alex & Anastasia Demetriades, New York State Division of Tax Appeals No. DTA 818011 (19 December 2002).].

• 199.  I wanted to take it easy after I retired from NYSE&G, and preparing my income tax returns just did not fit into my retirement plans for less strain and stress. [Matter of Peter J. & Donna M. Rogers, New York State Division of Tax Appeals No. DTA 818950 (26 December 2002).].

• 200.  I voluntarily opted out of the Federal tax system so that I could do more for my community, my fiancee, my country and the State of North Dakota [Kinslow v. Commissioner, T.C. Memo. 2000-313.].

The Psychology of Color in Marketing

By June Campbell

What colors have you chosen for your marketing materials? What were your reasons for making that particular choice? Was it because you liked those particular colors, or did you have a particular marketing message in mind? While visual appeal is an important consideration, your color choices could be sending a specific message to the people who view them. Are you sure you know what that message is?

You’d be wise to consider the psychology of color when designing your marketing materials. Be it business card, brochure, web site, posters or other material, you’ll be making color choices. Colors not only enhance the appearance of the item — they also influence our behavior. You will do well to consider the impact that the colors you use will have on your target audience.

For instance, have you noticed that most fast food restaurants are decorated with vivid reds and oranges? It’s no accident that these colors show up so frequently. Studies have shown that reds and oranges encourage diners to eat quickly and leave — and that’s exactly what fast food outlets want you to do.

It’s also no accident that you see a lot of reds and blacks on adult web sites. These colors are thought to have sexual connotations.

Ever notice that toys, books and children’s web sites usually contain large blocks of bright, primary colors? Young children prefer these colors and respond more positively than they do to to pastels or muted blends.

Market researchers have had a field day identifying the colors and the likely effect they have upon us.

However, the effects of color differ among different cultures, so the attitudes and preferences of your target audience should be a consideration when you plan your design of any promotional materials.

For example, white is the color of death in Chinese culture, but purple represents death in Brazil. Yellow is sacred to the Chinese, but signified sadness in Greece and jealousy in France. In North America, green is typically associated with jealousy. People from tropical countries respond most favorably to warm colors; people from northern climates prefer the cooler colors.

In North American mainstream culture, the following colors are associated with certain qualities or emotions:

Red –excitement, strength, sex, passion, speed, danger.
Blue –(listed as the most popular color) trust, reliability, belonging, coolness.
Yellow –warmth, sunshine, cheer, happiness
Orange – playfulness, warmth, vibrant
Green – nature, fresh, cool, growth, abundance
Purple –royal, spirituality, dignity
Pink – soft, sweet, nurture, security
White –pure, virginal, clean, youthful, mild.
Black –sophistication, elegant, seductive, mystery
Gold – prestige, expensive
Silver – prestige, cold, scientific
Market researchers have also determined that color affects shopping habits. Impulse shoppers respond best to red-orange, black and royal blue. Shoppers who plan and stick to budgets respond best to pink, teal, light blue and navy. Traditionalists respond to pastels - pink, rose, sky blue.

Want to test some of this out? Check out web sites belonging to companies with marketing budgets that allow for extensive research into what sells best.

Jaguar (http://www.jaguar.com)
A luxury car with a luxury web site. There’s a predominance of black (sophistication) and silver (prestige). Jaguar markets to people with high incomes who view themselves as sophisticated and look for a prestigious vehicle.

Volkswagon Microbus (http://www.vw.com/microbus/)
Check out the predominance of yellow (happiness) and orange (playfulness). Matches the type of owners that Volkswagon is trying to attract, don’t you think?

So how can you put this information to use?

First, think about your target market. Let’s say that you are selling books for young children, but you are marketing to grandparents. You’d probably design the books in bright, primary colors (reds, blues, yellows) to appeal to the children who will use them. However, the marketing materials (web site, brochures, etc.) would be designed with grandparents in mind. You might decide to go with blues (trust, reliability), pinks (nurture, sweet, security) and yellow (happy, playful).

Of course, you would test your ads and colors on a small market segment before rolling out a large scale campaign.

Give some thoughts to the message you want to send and to the psychology of the recipient. Then choose your colors accordingly.

Five Secrets to Email List Growth

by Tom Kulzer

Building a list of responsive subscribers via a Web site that has a bit of traffic and quality content is surprisingly easy.

But sometimes, when working with users, we’re surprised to see low conversion rates. So, we take a look into just why that might be.

Here are five factors to consider when growing your list.

1. Make your sign-up form easy to find

Too often, we find newsletter sign-up buttons on Web pages tucked away somewhere out of the obvious. When I see a page like this, my first thought is always “this must be a lower priority on the list of actions that the site owner wants visitors to gravitate toward.”

That’s a shame, because email, like no other technology, gives us the opportunity to turn one-time, anonymous visitors into engaged subscribers with whom we have the ability to develop beneficial relationships.

And yet, when I do speak with those with hard-to-find sign-up placements, I often find that they do understand the importance of email. They just don’t have optimal placement for their sign-up forms.

Make sure you have forms (as opposed to buttons) published in hard-to-miss locations on your pages, and on as many pages where the form is relevant. Remember that nearly every page on your site has the potential to be a landing page, particularly in the case of visitors arriving from search engines.

2. Provide a convincing incentive for subscribers to sign up

For some sites, a form headline as simple as “Sign up to Receive Our Newsletter” does the trick for generating subscribers.

However, if there is room for concern about what will happen with the information that visitors provide, and whether their trust will be abused with too many emails, some people will not sign up.

I always wonder whether Web site owners have tested approaches that give more specifics, including privacy assurance and specifics about what will be sent and when.

This is a great place to split-test copy and design. Testing will tell you what works best for you and your visitors.

3. Don’t ask for too much information

When your main objective is to get someone subscribed to receive your newsletter, they shouldn’t have to fill out a form that looks like something they’d find at their doctor’s office.

It’s tempting to ask for more information that might teach you slightly more about your subscribers, but the more information you ask for, the more hesitant many people will be to give up private information and to invest time into filling out your form.

Wouldn’t you rather know just a little less about a lot more subscribers?

Keep it simple. Ask for what you need to email your subscribers with your goals for personalization and segmentation in mind. Usually, “Name” and “Email” are all you need.

4. Use a thank-you page that does its job

So now you’ve got their name and email address. We’re all done then, aren’t we?

Sure, we can stop here if we’re concerned only about “capturing subscribers” and list growth. But if we consider the other goals of our campaign, such as engaging these people who’ve expressed interest and keeping them interest, we need to consider the sign-up process as just the beginning of larger process.

The job of a good thank-you page, usually, is to transition subscribers from a Web site experience to an inbox experience.

Set expectations with subscribers about what they should expect to receive, including what your emails will look like in their inbox, and what they should do with it. This is especially important when using a confirmed opt-in process.

We see a lot of thank-you pages that are dead ends or which simply link back to the homepage. Successful marketers treat this page as the opening of a funnel that uses email and Web content together to lead to a sale or other objective.

5. Understand why subscribers are leaving

It’s hard to fill a bucket with water when there’s a large hole in the bottom. In the same way, it’s hard to grow a list when large numbers of people constantly unsubscribe.

If you’re noticing a significant or growing number of unsubscribes, you should spend some time thinking about why that might be.

Many email marketing software products provide an option for subscribers to leave feedback on their way out, with a feature that forwards messages to you when they do. Don’t filter these messages straight to the trash. Take to heart the concerns of these people and learn from them. Maybe you’re not targeting correctly, or maybe you send messages too frequently.

For as far as you can take this information to improve your campaign for the long-term, some unsubscribes can actually be good for you and your campaign.

There’s always room for improvement

Do these tips ring true for you as you take a look at your own sign-up form approach? Do you see obstacles that are keeping you from turning visitors into subscribers?

Remember that there’s always room for more testing once you’ve laid the foundations for your campaigns.