October 2014

Friday 17 October 2014

Goa fried fish safari with Us - IANS


Under clay-tiled roofs, dodging tendrils of smoke in dim light and occasionally holding your breath to avoid breaths reeking of feni, pans laden with coarse flour-coated fried fish sizzle in delight in Goa's taverns.

Near Panaji, Kuttikar Bar lies at the end of a loose-gravel road behind what was once a stone mine. But for sea food aficionados it's a gold mine as far as fresh fish is concerned.

Run by former legislator Krishna Kuttikar, the bar serves some of the best fried fish this side of the river, whether it's filleted Red Snapper, Rock Fish, Bombay Duck or Mussels. But the sweet and sour vinegar-kissed squid rings are the most sought after.

If you ever want to eat the best fried fish in Goa, you gotta do one thing for sure: Head inland away from the sea, away from the fancy beach-belt diners and those beach shacks offering hyped, assembly-line food.

"It's the sweetness of the masala which makes the squids unique here. In most other places it is just hot and spicy," Kuttikar expalined. On most days, getting a seat here can be a problem with the 10 or so tables packed to capacity with binging junior bureaucrats, off-duty policemen, local residents and journalists among others which even includes staffers from the chief minister's office. (Kuttikar Bar and Restaurant. San Pedro, 8 km from Panaji)

Over in Siolim, 25 km north of here, the Amancio Bar overlooks a picturesque river and an abandoned ferry ramp. The only aberration to this otherwise placid environment is the pissed drunk patrons of this bar and others nearby, who perilously walk up to the edge of the concrete ramp to relieve themselves.

Amancio's has a quaint wooden balcony with tables overlooking what was once a busy market place. But once the crusty fish lands on your plate, your attention doesn't get anywhere else.

"The palu (perch) marinated fried with recheado (red chilli paste, spices and vinegar) masala is mouth-watering and priced affordably too," says Ashley do Rosario, who swears by the place. (Amancio Bar, near Siolim, Tar, Bardez)

Sheela Bar, located off the St. Jacinto island along the airport road has grown over the last couple of decades from a shack to a bar and restaurant almost threatening to go the fine dining way.

Unlike most fried fish haunts which use a red chilli marinade before slipping the fish into the pan, Sylvester D'Souza uses a unique green chilli paste.

"This is our trademark. It's what makes us unique. But we have a lot more offer in terms of fish, oysters, crabs and meats," says D'Souza.

His relatively sweet crab is unique too, as against the fiery garam masala spiced variants found in other restaurants. The preparation may not be to everyone's liking, but the crabs are more often than not bursting with flesh and that sweet, fresh flavour. (Sheela Bar and Restaurant: Opp St. Jacinto Island, Cortalim, 25 km from Panaji)

And then there are really rustic taverns like the one run by Madhu Halarnkar right next to a popular medicinal spring in the village of Pomburpa, 15 km from Panaji.

His small operation reflects the quintessential soul of a Goa tavern: Four tables, animated conversation, mingling odours of stale sweat, spilt feni and the fish frying in the kitchen.

Halarnkar offers the more humbling varieties of fish like sole, milk fish and prawns, which are obviously fast-moving amongst his more than modest clients. If you are a diehard regular, he would even allow you to fetch your own fish, which he will cook to your liking.

"Oh. You must have a bath at the spring after your meal. It's healing," Halarnkar often recommends midway through the meal. If you aren't so drunk, why not give it a try?

(Waterfall Bar, near Pomburpa spring, 15 kms from Panaji).

{{ The Guest Post Blogger organization was not involved in the creation of this content. - Dalvi Prabhakar B, Founder & Digital Manager (SEO,SEM,SMO) }}

Special Food on special occasional for loves ones



Special Food on special occasional for loves ones - Tanddore
From India Today


The caterer you call on might make that tandoori chicken or chicken razalla pretty well, but your regular guests must be knowing the menu by heart. As busy schedules increasingly keep us away from the kitchen and social obligations make us throw parties too often, it is time to move away from the old menu and show the guests how much of a food connoisseur you are.

To help set the table are a bunch of upcoming home delivery services that offer exclusive cuisines, fresh menus and healthy food. So, the next time you are craving for some dhansak, patrani macchi, Kolhapuri mutton or misal pav, there is no need to look up on Zomato how far a restaurant serving Parsi or Marathi food is. 

Just call Jyoti Watchmaker, whose delivery service Entertain@Home specialises in Gujarati, Marathi and Parsi cuisine. "Gurgaon and south Delhi is fast becoming home to young corporate professionals and couples, who are adventurous with their food and love to socialise, but don't always kitchen. Being increasingly health conscious, neither do they want to eat out at every occasion.

We offer them variety and nutrition in food," the homemakerturned-entrepreneur Jyoti explains. "Several Gujarati and Maharashtrian families have also started calling on us for the traditional weekend lunch, instead of dining out," she adds. Adding a twist to the usual north Indian fare is Megha Tuli's The Leaping Caravan. Another Gurgaon-based home delivery service that also caters to south Delhi, this Caravan journeys down Sher Shah's Grand Trunk Road to bring flavours from Bengal, Uttar Pradesh, Delhi, Punjab, Pakistan and Afghanistan.

If there is one thing Delhiites love as much as partying and good food, it is a great house party with plenty of yummy bites. As house parties get more creative and exciting, with professionally managed bars and kitchens, photo booths and DJs, the only thing lacking is variety in food. 

"As one of the most important trade routes, the road has inspired a great fusion of food and culture. The colourful caravans travelling along this road brought with them influences that helped shape what we today recognise as great food. The recipes we use are all hand-medowns from older generations," Tuli adds. While the Railway Chicken Curry on the menu has been prepared under the guidance of a gentleman who actually worked in the Railway kitchen back in the colonial days, the recipe for Dahi ke kabab is a well-guarded secret from a family in UP.

Tuli, a former hospitality professional, counts several young professionals among her frequent clients, some of whom even order twice a day.

 "When specialised cuisines are just a phone away, many prefer to eat at home," she says. The Sunday brunch may soon be an alien concept, with Nashta, the breakfast delivery chain, now open in Gurgaon. 

With a menu that covers Indian traditional dishes, english and continental cuisines, fresh juices and a whole lot of health and yummy options, few would now be willing to step out of home to get breakfast on a weekend. While these delivery chains function within the space between restaurants and momand-pop delivery outlets, the efforts involved are no less than that of a restaurant.



{{ The Guest Post Blogger organization was not involved in the creation of this content. - Dalvi Prabhakar B, Founder & Digital Manager (SEO,SEM,SMO) }}

Cook with Own Hand and Enjoy Foods - HUNGER GAMES with Seema Chowdhry




Cook with Own Hand and Enjoy Foods - HUNGER GAMES with Seema Chowdhry

In the last few years, since my 10-year- daughter and I have been cooking together, she gets to do only the things she likes—choose the recipe, measure the flour, pour the batter in the cupcake moulds. When it comes to the ‘dirty work’ (read that as breaking eggs, cleaning the batter off the whisk rod of the hand mixer), then the little madame is always on a break.

To break this habit of shying away from the real work that cooking involves, I decided to teach her how to make tomato chicken curry dish. I had learnt this dish, Tamatai Murg, about 5 years from Kulsum Begum of Hyderabad, who at the time was a consultant chef with ITC Welcomgroup. I am not sure if the relationship still exists.

Born in the royal household of Salar Jung III, the erstwhile Nawab of Hyderabad, Kulsum Begum draws on her lineage to present the delicate flavours of the Deccan.

This is one of the simplest dishes to make and Kulsum Begum had dug this one of out of her repertoire to convince me that not all Hyderabadi or Deccan cooking was necessarily time consuming and tough. Over the years, of course I have made my own minute changes to the recipe, but some things that I learnt from her still remain a part of my cooking. One that I have taught kiddo to follow—always put salt in the dish after it has been cooked, never while it is on the fire, cooking.

{Seema Chowdhry} My 10-year-old had great fun collecting all the spices—nigella sativa, fenugreek cumin, and mustard seeds—together for this recipe. She spent a good 10 minutes identifying what spice could be nigella sativa and what was fenugreek seeds. Google of course was a big help since she could see the images and then look for them on the spice rack. Even as she learnt about spices she had never used before in her cooking, the big push was yet to come.

She had to dice tomatoes and puree them, peel the ginger and grate it and the hardest of it all, cut boneless chicken breasts into small pieces.

She dealt with the tomatoes with a little murmur, washing her hands after every tomato chopped. When it came to peeling the ginger stub and then grating it, she was not very happy with the smell it left on her hands. But it was the chicken which drew maximum protest. She refused, requested for help, bargained that she should be asked to cut only one piece, negotiated that it would be faster if we all cut chicken, threatened that she would cut one piece so badly that we would not ask her to do the rest...her pleas fell on deaf ears and the only thing I kept telling her was that we would not eat lunch that day unless and until she cooked this chicken recipe, which she loves, from scratch. I was there to help with the fire, but all the chopping, cutting and collecting of ingredients had to be done by her.

The first chicken breast was held between the tip of her forefinger and thumb and plonked on the chopping board. She tried to cut the chicken with one hand using a sawing motion with the knife over the chicken and thought that it would help. But when she realised it would not, she asked for a glove so that she could wear it on the hand that would hold the chicken down while it was being cut it. We don’t have one at home and the request was denied. In all, it took her 23 minutes to cut the first chicken breast and about 6 minutes to do the last one.

Before you think it was unnecessary and cruel to put my 10-year-old through this exercise, let me just say that I was in the kitchen with her all the way and I truly believe that if she wants to learn cooking then she should be involved in all aspects—including chopping, grating, measuring etc. That is the best to learn about the ingredients and cooking.

For the rest of the recipe, she did nothing more than pour in the seeds, puree and chicken in the hot oil in the wok, and once or twice stirred the simmering wok. But for her this chopping, cutting and working with the ingredients was the first step towards actual cooking.

Below is the adapted Kulsum Begum’s Tamatai Murg recipe. For the original, please visit

Tamatai Murg (Tomato chicken)

Ingredients
  • 3 pieces chicken boneless chicken
  • 4-5 tomatoes (puree in a blender or grate)
  • 1tsp fresh ginger, grated
  • 1/2tsp coriander powder
  • 1/2tsp roasted cumin powder
  • 1/2tsp chilli powder
  • 1/2tsp fenugreek seeds (methi)
  • 1/2tsp nigella sativa seeds (kalonji)
  • 1/2tsp cumin seeds
  • 1/2tsp mustard seeds
  • ½ cup curry leaves
  • 4 red chillies
  • 3 tbsp vegetable oil
  • Salt to taste

Method

              I like to grate the tomatoes for this recipe to avoid using the tomato skin. Oil in heated in a kadhai (wok). I first add whole red chillies and when they start crackling, add the cumin, nigella sativa, fenugreek, mustard seeds. Then I add the grated ginger, and when all the ingredients crackle turns brown, add half of the curry leaves. Then I add the coriander, cumin and chilli powder. Next I add the tomato pulp and cook on high heat. I finally add the chicken pieces and keep stirring till the oil floats on top. Sometimes I add a little water if the chicken looks dry, though Kulsum Begum never does. I finally sprinkle the salt 10 seconds before switching off the flame and mix well.

This weekly series, which appears on Tuesdays, looks at what’s new with food and drink, and how we are interacting with it. - Mint

{{ The Guest Post Blogger organization was not involved in the creation of this content. - Dalvi Prabhakar B, Founder & Digital Manager (SEO,SEM,SMO) }}

Starter Papdi Pizza for Special occasion with Saneev


{{ The Guest Post Blogger organization was not involved in the creation of this content. - Dalvi Prabhakar B, Founder & Digital Manager (SEO,SEM,SMO) }}

Starter Papdi Pizza for Special occasion with Saneev



INGREDIENTS
  • 20 flat crisp puris (maide ki papdi)
  • 1 large onion
  • ¼ cup pizza sauce
  • 2 medium potatoes, boiled and sliced
  • ¾ cup grated mozzarella cheese
  • 2 medium green capsicums, seeded, sliced horizontally Nylon sev, as required


PREPARATION
  • Preheat oven to 180°C.
  • Cut the onion into thick roundels and separate the rings.
  • Grease a baking tray and arrange the papdis on it.
  • Spread the pizza sauce on the papdis. Place the potato slices on some and onion rings on the rest.
  • Place grated cheese in small heaps on each papdi and place green capsicum slices on some of them. Sprinkle nylon sev. Put a little pizza sauce on top of some of the pizzas.
  • Bake in the preheated oven till the cheese melts.
  • Serve hot.


Quick Jeera Chicken by Chef Sanjeev Kapoor, Taste Eat




Jeera Chicken INGREDIENTS


  • 1 teaspoon cumin seeds (jeera)
  • 1 chicken, cut into 1½ inch pieces on the bone
  • 2 tablespoons oil
  • 4-5 green chillies, sliced
  • 2 medium onions, sliced
  • 1 teaspoon red chilli powder
  • ½ teaspoon turmeric powder
  • Salt to taste
  • 1 tablespoon lemon juice
  • 2 tablespoons chopped fresh coriander
  • 1 tablespoon hand torn fresh mint


PREPARATION


  • 1Heat oil in a non-stick kadai. Add the cumin seeds and sauté till they begin to change colour. Add green chilies and onions and sauté till golden brown.
  • 2Add chicken and stir. Cover and cook on medium heat for ten minutes.
  • 3Add red chilli powder, turmeric powder and salt and mix well. Cover again and cook for another ten minutes or till the chicken is completely cooked.
  • 4Add lemon juice, chopped coriander and chopped mint and mix.
  • 5Serve hot with rotis.

{{ The Guest Post Blogger organization was not involved in the creation of this content. - Dalvi Prabhakar B, Founder & Digital Manager (SEO,SEM,SMO) }}

How you serve Boneless Goat Curry to Guest


ABOUT THE RECIPE - Chef Vikram Vij

The following recipe is based on my memory of long-ago stews. Although Chef have toned down the spiciness a little bit for the North American palate, this is a rich meal and robust of flavour, so be prepared to sweat a little bit.


INGREDIENTS

  • STEWED GOAT
  • 1/2 cup ghee or butter
  • 1 tablespoon salt
  • 6 pounds goat meat, bone in, cut into 1 1/2- to 2-inch dice
  • MASALA
  • 1 1/2 cups cooking oil
  • 1 tablespoon and 1 teaspoon cumin seeds
  • 10 cloves garlic
  • 1 3-inch cinnamon stick
  • 5 black cardamom pods, lightly pounded
  • 1 pound red onion, thinly sliced
  • 3 tablespoons chopped garlic (9 medium cloves)
  • 2 tablespoons finely chopped ginger
  • 3 cups pureed ripe tomatoes
  • 1 tablespoon black pepper
  • 2 tablespoon ground cumin
  • 2 tablespoon garam masala
  • 1 teaspoon turmeric
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons salt
  • 1 tablespoon paprika
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons ground cayenne pepper
  • 1 cup plain yogurt (as fatty as you can get)
  • 1/2 cup frozen blueberries
  • 6 cups water

PREPARATION -

STEWED GOAT


  • 1For the goat, combine ghee (or butter), salt, goat meat and water in a large pot on medium high heat.
  • 2Stir regularly for 10 to 15 minutes or until the meat is browned and begins to release its juices.
  • 3Cover and reduce heat to low, then cook for 1 1/4 hours, stirring every 15 minutes. The goat meat and bones will release water and should not stick to the bottom of the pan. If the meat is sticking, add 1/2 to 1 cup more water.
  • 4While the meat is stewing, make the masala in a separate pan.
  • MASALA
  • 1For the masala, heat oil to medium high for 1 minute in a large pot.
  • 2Add cumin seeds, cloves, cinnamon and black cardamom, stir and allow cumin seeds to sizzle for 30 seconds; stir in the onion and sauté for 7 to 8 minutes or until crispy brown on the edges.

{{ The Guest Post Blogger organization was not involved in the creation of this content. - Dalvi Prabhakar B, Founder & Digital Manager (SEO,SEM,SMO) }}

Bollywood King Shah Rukh Khan to promote online Fashion brand


The brand will introduce Shah Rukh as its brand ambassador through an extensive television campaign for its upcoming autumn-winter collection 2014. He make promotion of some show for dancing on TV.

This is the first time that I am endorsing an online fashion brand and I am very excited to partner with Yepme for this, King Khan said in a statement. For fashion to be impactful, it has to evolve with time and maintain freshness. Yepme, with its focus on fast fashion is an extremely innovative and fashion right brand, offering the most current fashion trends. I look forward to join the fashion revolution that they have started which is taking the youth across the country by storm, he added. 

Hindi film industry's 'Badshah' Shah Rukh Khan has been roped in to lend his star power to Yepme.com -- his first association with an online fashion brand. He's excited to join the "fashion revolution". King khan alrady promote lux brand, home decoration paints ads. His popularity count better sales roi for companies who hire him.

Sandeep Sharma, co-founder and chief operating officer, Yepme.com, said the team is equally excited to have the superstar on board, and feels that association will definitely help build a strong connect between the brand and his fans across the country.

"Shah Rukh commands a huge fan following across all age groups in India and abroad and his presence will drastically increase the aspirational value of Yepme, Sharma said.


Earlier this year, Yepme had signed some of the other known faces of Bollywood like Farhan Akhtar and Sonu Sood its brand ambassadors.



{{ The Guest Post Blogger organization was not involved in the creation of this content. - Dalvi Prabhakar B, Founder & Digital Manager (SEO,SEM,SMO) }}

Sonali Cable movie review - Rhea Chakraborty is over the top


{{ The Guest Post Blogger organization was not involved in the creation of this content. - Dalvi Prabhakar B, Founder & Digital Manager (SEO,SEM,SMO) }}

Star Cast: Rhea Chakraborty, Ali Fazal, Raghav Juyal, Anupam Kher, Smita Jaykar, Swanand Kirkire

Director: Charudutt Acharya

The evil corporate's job is to gobble, grunch and munch. The feisty underdog's is to stand up and be counted, and refuse to become easy meal.

'Sonali Cable' has a nice premise, especially relevant in this age of the permanently wired universe, soulless corporations, and the scams that come out of acquiring spectrum. But its execution is much less so.

Spirited Mumbai girl Sonali (Rhea Chakraborty) is the Girl With The Cable in her locality. Her love interest Raghu (Ali Fazal) is the son of an ambitious local corporator (Smita Jaykar), and her (Sonali's) aim is to keep doing what she does because she connects hearts, not just wires. A spanner in the works arrives in the shape of a greedy old tycoon (Anupam Kher), who likes crunching 'khakras' and who wants to grab 'akkhi Mumbai' in the manner of old- style dons.

There are some vivid patches in this David-Goliath war, but overall consistency and credibility is a problem. The leading lady tries for perkiness but comes off as a weak link, her foul-mouthedness more forced than natural. Kher is over-the-top. Fazal is a good addition to the team, even if he is in the same mode as he was in 'Bobby Jasoos'. And I like Swanand Kirkire in his acting gigs: he makes things believable even when he is patently on a set.


This could have been a modern day fable, but 'Sonali Cable' is not that film.

Modi is Taking Crucial Decisions for Economy


{{ The Guest Post Blogger organization was not involved in the creation of this content. - Dalvi Prabhakar B, Founder & Digital Manager (SEO,SEM,SMO) }}(M.K. Venu is Executive Editor of Amar Ujala publications group)

Domestic and global investors looking at India with renewed interest had, of late, begun asking this one leading question - when will Narendra Modi return to proper economic management and start taking critical decisions relating to the economy? The Prime Minister has partially answered them with finance minister Arun Jaitley  appointing a new Secretary to head the Department of Economic Affairs (DEA) and finally picking a Chief Economic Advisor known for his strong reforms credentials. The NDA government had oddly been without a Chief Economic Advisor after the post fell vacant last year.

Rajiv Mehrishi, Chief Secretary in Rajasthan, will soon take over as Secretary, DEA and US-based economist Arvind Subramanian will take charge as Chief Economic Advisor. As a matter of protocol, the CEA works very closely with Secretary, Economic Affairs on all macro policy matters. So Arvind Subramanian will work with Rajiv Mehrishi on a day-to-day basis.

Mehrishi also has formidable reforms credentials going by the big policy initiatives he took in Rajasthan under Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje. In fact, Mehrishi is credited for much of the economic reforms initiative undertaken by the chief minister, both in her current term as well as her previous stint in office. In many ways, she found Mehrishi indispensable as her policy advisor. So after taking charge as Chief Minister last year, Vasundhara promptly asked Mehrishi, who was then Secretary, Department of Fertilizer at the Centre, to join her government. He could not say no.

Within months of moving to Rajasthan, Mehrishi made waves with his Labour Law reforms. He also rewrote the newly-amended land acquisition law which many argue is procedurally difficult to implement. Since land is a state subject, the Vasundhara Raje government is rewriting the law without diluting benefits for farmers.

Since States also have concurrent jurisdiction over labour laws, Mehrishi made creative changes in various provisions without losing the essence of the legislation. For instance, the Industrial Disputes Act says a formal trade union can be formed with a minimum 15% of the work force. This resulted in a messy situation of multiple trade unions getting formed with 15% of the total workers. This minimum limit was raised to 30% so that the Labour Union is of a reasonable size and scale. Of course it could still result in two unions getting formed, but it will not be as messy as before.

Mehrishi also tweaked the Factories Act which currently says any establishment with 100 workers or above will mandatorily require government permission before shutting down. Rajasthan has now raised the minimum number of workers' limit to 300. So only factories with 300 workers and above need to take permission from the government before shutting down. These amendments are currently awaiting the President's assent. The spirit of these amendments is now being followed by the Centre which announced changes in labour laws yesterday. Vasundhara Raje will not be very happy to lose Rajiv Mehrishi. But she can't do much about it, as it is her own party which rules at the Centre.

Arvind Subramanian, the former Chief Economist of ADB, is also an interesting choice. Subramanian is a firm believer in the rapid rise of Asia, led by China, in the coming years. While most US-based economists tend to argue that the United States will sooner or later bounce back to its position of economic primacy, Arvind argues that the world may be at an inflection point where China's economy and currency will start to dominate much faster than we all imagine. In his much talked about book, "Eclipse: Living in the shadow of China's dominance", it is argued that just as the United States' economy and currency overtook that of England early 20th century, China might do the same to the US in the 21st century. In fact, Modi may have chosen him partially to understand how China and other emerging Asian economies can convert their economic dominance to a strategic advantage.

Arvind Subramanian also believes in pragmatic reforms. For instance, he has argued India is right to assert its position in WTO in relation to the agriculture sector but says it was a tactical mistake not to sign the Trade Facilitation Agreement. Subramanian believes there is enough scope to transfer cash to our farmers without falling foul of the WTO provisions.

Subramanian is also a strong proponent of shutting down public banks rather than recapitalising them, if they cannot stand on their own feet. He has said the good assets of bad banks must be transferred to other well-run private banks - this, he holds, is preferable to injecting loads of  additional capital in government-owned banks which cannot sustain themselves. He is a strong critic of Indira Gandhi and her policy of bank nationalisation. The Sangh Parivar, however, may have different views in this regard. The RSS always admired Indira Gandhi for many things she stood for. Subramanian may have to wade through these complexities which oversimplified western analyses sometimes do not grasp adequately.


Disclaimer: The opinions expressed within this article are the personal opinions of the author. NDTV is not responsible for the accuracy, completeness, suitability, or validity of any information on this article. All information is provided on an as-is basis. The information, facts or opinions appearing in the article do not reflect the views of NDTV and NDTV does not assume any responsibility or liability for the same.

Thursday 16 October 2014

Inbound Marketing with Facebook Ad improve your Market


Facebook logo Español: Logotipo de Facebook Fr...
Facebook logo Español: Logotipo de Facebook Français : Logo de Facebook Tiếng Việt: Logo Facebook (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
Inbound Marketing with Facebook Ad improve your Market

Retargeting Helps Accelerate Exposure - Facebook 

In the world of online marketing, exposure is everything. If a tree falls in the woods and no one is around, did it actually happen? If you write a blog post and get zero traffic to that page, what’s the point?

Retargeting allows you to speak directly to the people who have already had a touch point with your brand – this is powerful stuff!

Whether it’s through Facebook’s retargeting platform, or through a third-party retargeting source like AdRoll, making a move to get started here after you have some relevant traffic flowing to your site is a great idea.

Another wonderful option is Facebook’s Custom Audience targeting. Let’s pretend you have a list of users subscribed to your blog, or perhaps a list of people who have downloaded a piece of gated content from your website. You are missing a HUGE opportunity if you don’t use upload those emails into a Custom Audience list on Facebook. They’ve already indicated interest in your content by downloading or subscribing, and if you’re bidding on a CPC basis for these ads, it should be a no-brainer.

The omni-present ‘they’ say that it take approximately seven touch points to make a sale; why not automate a few?

Provide Value to the Right People at the Right Time

The first thing we have to do here is define the right people. For the most part, every business in every industry will be targeting different personas. When all is said and done, sending the right message to the right person at the right time is the key to a successful marketing campaign.

You can take the deep dive into Facebook analytics reporting, or even Google Analytics, to help identify with whom your message is resonating.

This is huge because it allows you to not only craft and optimize the messaging in your Facebook campaigns, but the messaging in your marketing campaign across all mediums.

I wrote a post a while back about getting more out of conferences with Facebook ads, and I feel like that approach is definitely a product of the findings you generate through data you collect running these campaigns. You will be able to better define who your consumer is and put that information into play during your outreach at conferences.

Headline Testing and Audience Data Extraction

The value of data is going to be different for each person. If you make a lot of data-driven decisions in your company, the value can be tremendous. Regardless of how often you reference your web data, it is undeniably helpful to the growth of your company and execution of future initiatives.

In the world of content marketing, bad headlines are any contributor’s kryptonite. Fortunately, setting up headline tests with Facebook ads is super-easy to do. Simply make two ads that run at the same time, with the only variable at play being the headline, and voila – data!

This is incredibly important if you are planning on launching a new gated piece that will be responsible for a number of future downloads. A solid headline can make or break the success of your published content, so use Facebook ads as a great way to test the waters. You can collect a ton of valuable data with a budget of less than $20.

You can also use ad data to determine which content is getting picked up the most by your target audience. If a certain topic is generating a higher click-through rate, or a higher download rate in some cases, make more! With any A/B testing, it’s important to keep as many variables constant as possible, so in this case you would simply be testing different offerings among the same audience.

If you really want to take it to the next level, combine your Facebook data with Google Analytics data to gain awesome insight on geographic location, browsing patterns, and even device preferences to make informed decisions with your content moving forward.

For instance, if you notice that most of your content is being picked up on mobile devices, optimize your content to look amazing for those devices, and reap the benefits of increased readership, subscriptions, and leads.

There has been a great divide between paid advertising and inbound marketing, when in reality you are only shooting yourself in the foot by not leveraging both sides to make your overall digital marketing strategy more effective.

Facebook ads are a great tool for enhanced reach and research, and finding ways to make your inbound campaigns work harmoniously with your Facebook ad strategy should be a top priority.

What other ways are you using Facebook ads to leverage your inbound strategy?

{{ The Guest Post Blogger organization was not involved in the creation of this content. - Dalvi Prabhakar B, Founder & Digital Manager (SEO,SEM,SMO) }}

DreamGirl Hema Malini Cross 66 Celebrate Birthday with Dharmendra and Family


Hema Malini 156
Hema Malini 156 (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
(IANS) After several hectic travel schedules, veteran actress and politician Hema Malini, who turned 66 Thursday, is happy to spend a "quiet" birthday in Mumbai with her elder daughter Esha and son-in-law Bharat Takhtani. She says she looks back at her journey with "affection".

"I was supposed to be in my constituency Mathura. But it's impossible for me to travel right now. So this birthday is being spent with family in Mumbai, and that means Esha and her husband Bharat. My younger daughter Ahana was supposed to join me in Mathura from Delhi where she lives. And Dharamji (Dharmendra) is in New Zealand to attend a function. So, he is not here with me this birthday," Hema said.

The actress of "Sholay", "Seeta Aur Geeta" and "Dream Girl" fame, has been travelling incessantly of late.

"At the beginning of October, I was shooting for Ramesh Sippy's 'Shimla Mirch' for two days. Then on Oct 3, I had to rush to Kanpur for a function. The organisers were kind enough to arrange a private jet," she said.

"From Delhi, I flew straight to Mumbai in time for Karva Chauth (Oct 11). I was scheduled to be in Mathura with my constituents for my birthday. But I can't travel any more right now. I'm exhausted. I just wanted a quiet birthday," said the Bharatiya Janata Party's Lok Sabha member from Mathura.

Hema wants to thank her fans for being with her for so many years.

"I don't know what people saw in me. But I've only received love and respect from within the film industry and from my fans. I look back with a lot of affection at all the films that I've done. If you ask me to single out one film, it would have to be Gulzar saab's 'Meera'," she said.

That was the Dream Girl's dream role.

"I wish Lataji had sung for me in 'Meera'. That will remain the one regret of my career. I even requested her personally. But she had her own reasons for not singing in 'Meera'," she said.

Whatever bitterness transpired at that time is now washed away. Today Hema and Lata are mutual fans.

"She gifts me the most beautiful saris. I've been wanting to gift her one. But getting the right fabric and design for Lata-ji is not easy. I've finally managed it," she said.

{{ The Guest Post Blogger organization was not involved in the creation of this content. - Dalvi Prabhakar B, Founder & Digital Manager (SEO,SEM,SMO) }}

King Khan Purchase Bomb Proof Car for Family


English: Indian actor Shah Rukh Khan with fami...
English: Indian actor Shah Rukh Khan with family at premiere of Drona (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
Shah Rukh Khan is one well-known name of the industry. He is currently busy with his upcoming movie Happy New Year, which is set to release next Friday, i.e. October 24.


Only 2 months back, a firing took place at Shah Rukh Khan‘s associate Ali Morani‘s residence in Juhu on Saturday night.

Four bullets were fired, of which one hit the trunk of the tree, glass pane of the building, and the bonnet of Morani‘s BMW.

Morani received extortion calls from Ravi Pujari, a gangster who targets big names like Shah Rukh Khan and Aamir Khan too, and informed the police guessing that it would be Ravi Pujari only who was behind the shootout.

Ravi Pujari fired only after knowing that nobody was present at Morani‘s residence. But the reason for his firing was allegedly Morani‘s ignorance to his calls.

Shah Rukh Khan was also getting Pujari’s extortion calls, which finally landed in his production house Red Chillies Entertainment’s landline (Pujari himself revealed to a journalist) since a very long time as to stop working with Morani brothers (Ali Morani and Karim Morani) since they have links with the underworld.

Just like Ali Morani, Shah Rukh Khan has also doubled his protection, and in fact brought himself a bomb proof car just in case.

But it is not just any bomb proof car. It is a Mercedes customized model, specially made for VVIPs that could cost anyone a fortune.

Recently, Aamir Khan had also gifted himself a whooping 10 crore car after he received threats ever since he broadcasted some issues on his TV show Satyamev Jayate, that deals with social issues, sometime very grave and sensitive issues.

As they say, Jaan Hai Toh Jahaan Hai. We cannot afford to lose such good actors, and they have made sure not to disappoint us.

Monday 6 October 2014

Building Targeted B2B Prospect list, How to make it


Targeting is arguably the most important part of Business prospecting. You can have a brilliant product with a great offer and wonderful creative to sell it, but if it goes to someone who is just not going to be interested, none of this matters.

Targeting the right businesses with the right offer at the right time will substantially increase your chances of B2B prospecting success. But as well as maximising your opportunities for making a sale, careful targeting also saves you money by reducing waste, not to mention being good for the environment and for your reputation. Remember, ‘junk mail’ is only badly targeted prospecting.

Follow these simple steps, for the easiest, most cost-effective and profitable way to build a targeted business prospect list:

Step 1: Knowing your customers
First, think about who your existing customers are and build a picture of your best customers by looking at the information you have on them. Look at their business sector, size by turnover and employee number, geographical location and number of locations, ownership of products, purchasing behaviour and so on.

Step 2: Revealing look-a-like prospects
By building a list of new business prospects who most ‘look like’ your existing customers, you can target the people who share similar characteristics… and are therefore more likely to become your customers. It’s important to have a flexible database that allows you to refine the business prospect criteria. Applying selection filters on your data will add real depth and quality to your targeting. Other methods of finding out who your best prospects are include mailing a rented B2B prospect list and analysing the replies. You can also conduct research through a postal or telephone questionnaire.

Step 3: Segmenting your business prospects
Effective B2B prospecting is all about making the right offer to the right person at the right time. That said, your direct mail will still need to grab your reader’s attention, hold their interest, and compel them to the action you want. The way to do this is through an engaging proposition. ‘Segmenting’ means identifying a sub-group (or segment) of your prospects list that has a set of common needs. This will allow you to tailor your message to that need so they are more likely to be interested in your offer.

Step 4: Ensuring quality and accuracy
As well as using your own customer or prospect databases, you can buy or rent business lists to market to. There is a wide range of business lists and profile overlay databases for you to choose from. They are available from a variety of data providers, so you should be certain of the B2B lists’ quality before you use it. By doing this carefully you can save a lot of trouble with poor address quality.

Step 5: Buying B2B prospect data
Before you buy a business prospect list, be sure it gives you all the decision makers’ details, including address, telephone and email, and that these are updated regularly and are safe for you to contact. It means you can contact your new prospects with absolute confidence, improves your response rates and saves you time and money. Using an online B2B Prospect list builder that allows you to check the data before you buy will give you that final peace of mind that you’ve got the right


{{ The Guest Post Blogger organization was not involved in the creation of this content. - Dalvi Prabhakar B, Founder & Digital Manager (SEO,SEM,SMO) }}

3G Mobile Hike in Internet Rate by Big Telecoms Companies like Airtel, Vodafone, Idea


Telecom operators have raised mobile internet rates up to 100 percent in June-September period across country. Airtel  is latest to increase mobile rates by up to 33 percent while Vodafone and Idea have started gradually implementing the increased mobile internet rates from June. The three companies jointly hold around 57 percent mobile services market share. 

While no comments were received from Airtel and Idea Cellular , Vodafone India spokesperson said "Around 2 months ago, we changed the base tariff of 2G for 1GB pack from Rs 155 to Rs 175. This has been carried out in a phased manner across circles.

Airtel and Idea too have increased the rate of 1GB 2G mobile internet pack to around Rs 175 from about Rs 155 GB. Also read: Airtel may have to pay Rs 436cr for merging Qualcomm 4G arm Telecom operators generally don't make public announcement about increase in mobile tariff. 

The change is noticed on their website after the new rates are implemented. They generally inform their post paid customer through SMS about change in rates of services before their next billing cycle starts. 

Pre-paid customers, which constitutes over 90 per cent of market, get to know about rate revision when they go to recharge their mobile phone or through website of companies. Telecom operators are required to report change in tariff to telecom regulator TRAI. Vodafone and Idea Cellular increased rack rate, charged without any offer or scheme, by up to 100 per cent from 2 paise per 10 kb of data usage to 4 paise per 10 kb. 

Airtel is latest to increase mobile rates by up to 33 percent while Vodafone and Idea have started gradually implementing the increased mobile internet rates from June.

This means on Vodafone and Idea network 1 GB of 2G or 3G mobile internet will cost over Rs 4,000 (from Rs 2,000) which these companies under scheme are selling for around Rs 175. Airtel started increasing mobile internet rates around first week of September. The company is now at par with Vodafone and Idea in terms of rack rate which is 4 paise per 10 kb. However, the increase is only of 33 percent because the company was already charging 3 paise per 10 kb earlier. 

The 2G data pack rate of Airtel is highest among the three at 10 paise per 10 kb which means cost of 1GB mobile internet usage without any scheme or offer for a subscriber is over Rs 10,000 which company is now selling for Rs 176. Bharti Airtel stock price On October 01, 2014, Bharti Airtel closed at Rs 403.15, down Rs 1.1, or 0.27 percent. 

The 52-week high of the share was Rs 419.90 and the 52-week low was Rs 282.10. The company's trailing 12-month (TTM) EPS was at Rs 19.52 per share as per the quarter ended June 2014. The stock's price-to-earnings (P/E) ratio was 20.65. The latest book value of the company is Rs 166.93 per share. At current value, the price-to-book value of the company is 2.42.


{{ The Guest Post Blogger organization was not involved in the creation of this content. - Dalvi Prabhakar B, Founder & Digital Manager (SEO,SEM,SMO) }}

Narendra Modi Decleare Diesel Deregulation Is Fortnight Away


Fortune has smiled on Narendra Modi in the form of a quick and sharp decline in global crude prices. Modi should smile back at Lady Luck and do the right thing - which is to deregulate diesel prices after the election season is over on 19 October. 

Brent crude has fallen below USD 93 a barrel and our oil marketing companies have actually started making money on diesel - possibly around Rs 2 per litre. This is cause for some cheer, but not political stupidity. Modi will reap later what he sows now. UPA sowed nothing for eight years in terms of oil price reforms, and reaped a stunning defeat in 2014. Its belated efforts to raise diesel prices by 50 paise a month from January 2013 - its best decision in 10 years of economic misrule - was too little, too late. 

For the Modi government, the timely drop in global crude prices is a godsend but it would be thoroughly undeserved if the wrong decisions are taken now. Good luck is not forever and the thing now is to use favourable oil prices to sow the seed for better economic harvests later. If it does not do so, the government may well reap a bitter harvest in 2019. Bad luck has a way of biting you in the butt at the wrong time. 

There is, of course, no such thing as the one and only right answer in a situation, and Modi really has two options before him. One is politically easier, and the other is politically tougher. Both are doable. Policy one is to deregulate diesel only on the upside. The economy has adjusted to the higher price of diesel and so the government could say this is the minimum price at which diesel should be sold, but oil companies will be free to raise prices if global crude prices were to rise this winter or later. 

This deregulation on the upside has two major benefits: if oil prices fall, the subsidy bill will fall as oil companies can cross-subsidise LPG and kerosene with higher profits from diesel. Government, ONGC  , Oil India  �and Gail �will save on subsidy support to oil marketing companies (OMCs) like Indian Oil , HPCL  �and BPCL  . If oil prices rise, the OMCs can hike prices from the current threshold. If they fall, they will make higher profits on petrol and diesel and cut the subsidy bill further. This is politically pragmatic and economically bankable. 

The better option would be to do two things simultaneously. Deregulate diesel and propose a monthly increase in kerosene and LPG prices by say, 25 paise a litre and Rs 10 per cylinder, till we ultimately reach market prices or a sustainable level of subsidy. In any event, the government needs to use the Jan Dhan bank accounts to offer cash subsidies instead of lower prices on kerosene and LPG. This means deregulating kerosene and LPG and paying the difference between market and regulated prices as cash into beneficiary accounts. 

This will remove spurious recipients of subsidy and also force economies in the use of kitchen fuels. The first option is politically easier and economically defensible; the second option is politically tougher but economically the best thing to do. Whichever option Modi chooses, we are probably just about two to three weeks away from diesel price deregulation. If we are not, Modi would have squandered his good fortune away.  R Jagannathan Firstpost.com


The writer is editor-in-chief, digital and publishing, Network18 Group

{{ The Guest Post Blogger organization was not involved in the creation of this content. - Dalvi Prabhakar B, Founder & Digital Manager (SEO,SEM,SMO) }}

Moneycontrol says Investor Have Negative Focus after 2013 to India


Just in a span of 12 months, the tide has turned for India, which was on a the brink of a credit rating downgrade a year ago thanks to the plunging rupee, subdued growth and policy paralysis. 

Global rating agencies have turned gung-ho on Asia’s third largest economy on anticipation of big-bang reforms by team Modi. Once a prominent member of the ‘Fragile Five’ club, the India story started selling like hot cakes among the foreign investor community after a business friendly government was voted to power at the Centre in May this year. Fragile Five is a term coined in August of 2013 by a research analyst at Morgan Stanley. 

It represents emerging market economies which were too reliant on foreign funds to finance their growth ambitions. Standard and Poor’s (S&P) revised its outlook on India's 'BBB-' sovereign credit rating to "stable" from "negative" last week. This outlook upgrade was on the back of improvement in India’s external position and growth prospects. ‘BBB-‘is the lowest investment grade. If any country is downgraded from this rating then the country’s sovereign rating earns a "junk" status. In August 2013, when the Indian rupee slid below 64/USD, S&P had said that it reaffirms its negative outlook on India and also warned of a downgrade. S&P first cut India's outlook to "negative" in April 2013. 

 Interestingly, S&P is the last of the three main global ratings agencies with a negative outlook on India. Rival Fitch upgraded India’s outlook from "negative" to "stable" in June 2013. At that time, the government in power, the UPA II, was taking steps to contain India’s sprawling current account deficit and revive economic growth, which has been below 5 percent level. While the rating agency acknowledged the then government’s efforts by maintaining its outlook, it cautioned that structural budget deficits coupled with high public debt could constrain India's ratings. With the political scenario becoming stable and strong investment flows, Fitch now expects India's growth to accelerate to 5.6 percent in the current fiscal and further to 6.5 percent in 2015-16. 

Fitch has 'BBB-' rating on India. "The new government has started rolling out a number of policies, which may improve the efficiency of the bureaucracy and strengthen the investment climate," Fitch said in its recent global economic outlook report. Moody's has assigned India a 'Baa3', the lowest investment-grade rating, with a "stable" outlook. It has not changed its outlook on India in the last one year. 

"Higher growth is likely to increase tax revenues and capital inflows. This will reverse some of the weakening that has occurred in India's fiscal and external position in recent years. India's macroeconomic outlook will also improve if, as we expect, the authorities implement policies that ease inflationary pressures and increase infrastructure investment," Moody's Investors Service said in a report released last month. Now that all key ratings agencies have stable outlook on India, all eyes are on how soon India will see a ratings upgrade. 

Finance Secretary Arvind Mayaram is confident of India getting a ratings upgrade from the S&P in the next few months. He said that the government will keep surprising with positive reforms and India’s GDP growth in FY15 will be over 5.5 percent. - Moneycontrol Bureau 

Friday 3 October 2014

Support from Retargeting of CRM to Growing Sales Roi


Next to every mid to large company now have their customer databases setup for building relationships and mining additional business. If you have not setup one in your company, its time you do it right away to stay updated. Once you’re through with this, then you will certainly want to make CRM Retargeting part of your marketing strategy. Its certainly a valued foil to your other techniques that enables you to base more effective & strategies marketing both online and offline.




What is CRM Retargeting?

CRM Retargeting permits you to serve online display ads directly to your existing customers as they browse on the internet. It uses your existing offline data to reach your customers online at any time, not just after they visit your website, unlike regular retargeting. CRM Retargeting interprets a company’s rich offline data into anonymized online segments that can be used to create highly targeted and more effective display advertising.

Is there any difference with other Retargeting forms?

CRM Retargeting uses your offline customer data residing on your CRM to reach your customers online directly; unlike regular website retargeting where after they visit your website. There are several forms of targeting and retargeting.

Behavioral targeting is one of them; it serves your display ads to a visitor based on information collected from that visitor's behavior across the web (i.e. keyword searches, site surfing). Your audience is created through data made available from third-party providers or several other available platform's behavioral data. However, Site retargeting serves your display ads to users anywhere on the internet based on their recent action on your website. This allows you to continue engaging site visitors after they have left your site; thus building an audience based on your website traffic.

Why should you consider CRM Retargeting?

Simply because of 4 quick and reliable reasons namely: - to improve your sales, lower your CPM charges, give your client the complete 360° experience and to provide your customers with precise and pertinent info.

As per a study conducted by Oracle, only 59% of catalogue recipients ever make purchases directly from the catalogue. By using CRM Retargeting, you can complement your catalogue campaign with online display ads that resemble your catalogue’s content or customers’ purchasing history. Not to forget, CRM retargeting is also a fabulous technique to engross your buyers who make a one-time purchase or have signed up for email notifications but never really respond to your emails.

So what about Email retargeting then?

Email retargeting is an easy and efficient way to complement your email campaign with display advertising so that it helps in drastically improving your campaigns reach. According to this Teradata study, email combined with display outperforms email on its own, and contributes to a significant increase in website and landing page traffic.

So, combine your direct marketing and email strategy with CRM Retargeting and reap the benefits of retargeting in the long haul. (www.smarteinc.com)


CRM retargeting is an extremely commanding foil to both direct mailing and email marketing. If your database consists mainly physical mailing addresses, this is one of the only effective ways to take those contacts online and begin serving ads to them.

{{ The Guest Post Blogger organization was not involved in the creation of this content. - Dalvi Prabhakar B, Founder & Digital Manager (SEO,SEM,SMO) }}