Atilus Internet Marketing & Web Development

There is a growing trend of athlete-bloggers, who are candidly and courageously giving fans and outsiders the inside scoop and view of their sport, league, and relationships.

Some, mainly league officials, coaches and fellow players, have been voicing their own opinions and distaste for athlete-blogging. And they should be scared, as blogging is the voice of liability forcing individuals and entities to be responsible. The doors that have been secretively closed for so long are now being blown wide open… or are they?

The voice of reason seems to be setting in for the these athlete bloggers, though. A “bite the hand that feeds you” feeling is washing over them, and making it very difficult for athlete-bloggers to be as candid as they would like to be.

“As successful as Benson has been with his creative endeavors, the possibility exists that they could have a negative impact — that the stigma of being a blogger could actually keep a talented 6-10 athlete out of the NBA. Says Benson’s agent, Bill Neff, ‘One GM told me that [the blog] was a red flag, and he wasn’t the first. There’s an insecurity, from NBA guys, about the blog that shouldn’t exist, because Rod is just hysterical. People may end up looking at him less seriously, even though he averages more rebounds per minute than any pro other than Dwight Howard. Instead of thinking of that, [GMs] may be saying, ‘Do we want this guy writing about us?’”

Read the very eloquently stated response of Rod Benson.

26 Aug | Post by Scott L. Clark. Filed under Blogging, Blogs.

After a recent encounter with the intoxicating Iphone, I was captivated by its seamless user interface, seemingly endless cool standard functions and countless possibilities in free (and paid) downloadable applications.

So after days of internal debate I decided to give in. I was pulling the trigger. That damn iphone was going to be mine. Until…

In order to enjoy the capabilities that make the phone so amazing requires activation and a 2 year agreement. You might be saying,

“What, is this guy stupid? They all require such term agreements.”

Yes, but what if you decide to move away from ATT service? What if you decide that you no longer want to be held at the mercy of their agreement, and instead you wish to go through a separate service provider for your cell use, and would rather use your iphone for the Ipod and Wi-Fi (Hot Spot) capabilities?

Well, you can’t. Without an active service contract all of those fancy functions are rendered useless.

I wonder if the calculator still works?

07 Aug | Post by Scott L. Clark. Filed under Tech Trends.

This blog post is technically related by nature but not by content.

We have spoken about this issue before, but the business community at large is still not listening.

As a service provider or a product retailer, which should encapsulate all businesses, your number one concern, priority, and purpose is to relate, appeal and please your client or consumer base. PERIOD.

Furthermore, I do not care where you are placed in your managerial hierarchy within your company, what your name badge dictates, or email signature signifies, you are a Customer Service Representative. As high up as the President and CEO of a company, you exist because of your consumers not in spite of them. Your title is only pertinent and reflective of your internal company role not your external company role.

This blog post is inspired by a recent experience of mine, in which I was told by the “General Manager” of my apartment complex that she could not guarantee that the maintenance men would take their shoes off before entering my living room to fix my air conditioning unit (which has been broken and “fixed” 4 different times.) You cannot promise that they would take their shoes off? Why not?

She responded that they report to the “Maintenance Manager” and he reports to her. What?

Does there have to exist such a disconnect in a management interface?

She should have agreed to my simple request and responsibly made sure the “Maintenance Manager” was aware of my concern. A simple phone call would have alleviated any potential problem.

It is amazing how something so simple can mean so much to your customers, and yet be so hard for businesses to comply.

Well, my lease is up soon, and my check book reports to my pen and my pen reports to me… looks like I have a disconnect of my own.

A related video you may find interesting:

01 Aug | Post by Scott L. Clark. Filed under Business.

YouTech.me, created by serial web entrepreneurs for web entrepreneurs, know how difficult it is to simultaneously create, operate and market a new web venture.

That is why they have created Youtech.me, which offers an avenue to showcase your new application to the tech world.

They are going to be scouring the internet looking for new and old web based applications that they fancy to write reviews of these applications, which will include notes on design, functionality and ease of use among others.

But you can grease the wheel, so don’t be shy and navigate to their contact form and fill out all sections, including a 3-4 sentence comprehensive description of your application that you wish for them to include in a blog post about you.

Yes! They are eager to write a review of your site!

Things just got fun again!

29 Jul | Post by Scott L. Clark. Filed under Internet Marketing, Search Engine Optimization, Tech Trends.

As seen on Fox News:

SAN FRANCISCO — Anna Patterson’s [Ex-Google executive] last Internet search engine was so impressive that industry leader Google Inc. bought the technology in 2004 to upgrade its own system.

She believes her latest invention is even more valuable — only this time it’s not for sale.

Patterson instead intends to upstage Google, which she quit in 2006 to develop a more comprehensive and efficient way to scour the Internet.

The end result is Cuil, pronounced “cool.” Backed by $33 million in venture capital, the search engine plans to begin processing requests for the first time Monday.

See rest of story here.

28 Jul | Post by Scott L. Clark. Filed under Tech Trends.

I spoke to an old friend of mine over the weekend to discuss what has been accomplished since we last spoke. It was a pleasantly nostalgic conversation that usually ends in some sort of friendly, competitive salutation, in which we become motivated even more based on the others level of success.

But more than an increased drive to better myself as a business man, is my new found thirst for building better relationships with my clients. I’ve always known, but I realized even more how important that friend’s relationship is to my business.

He not only offers insight, inspiration, and criticism, but he also holds the mirror up to enable me to see what he sees. That mirror shows me my faults, but more importantly shows me a confirmed sense of accomplishment.

He is my cheerleader. And that is what is missing from my relationship with my clients.

As a consultant, I am quick to point out problems and offer viable, cost effective solutions to help maximize ROI in advertising employments, but perhaps I could begin throwing in a cheer or two.

28 Jul | Post by Scott L. Clark. Filed under Business, Clients.

If you run a search for “Comcast Sucks” on Google, you will find a tremendous number of search results (approximately 125,000) all centered around the media company’s lack luster image. There are a serious number of popular blogs, viral videos, and chat forums that have chosen lamb basting Comcast customer service as their niche.

SO why is Comcast still a national leader in cellular and telecommunication services despite the lack of favor shared for their customer service by a growing number of their consumers?

Even in consumer reports Comcast ranks fourth from last among leading internet service providers (ISP), third from last among nationally branded television service providers, fourth from last in long distance telecommunication services, and SECOND FROM LAST in overall national scores!

And yet these are the profit results from Quarter 1 2008:

Snapshot: 1Q Results
COMCAST
Revenue: $8.4 billion, up 14%
Operating Income: $1.6 billion, up 23%
Free Cash Flow: $702 million, up 59%

The LA Times reported that in the fourth quarter of 2007, Comcast said it signed up 613,000 digital video subscribers and added a net 508,000 digital phone customers along with 488,000 high speed Internet subscribers.

SO again, why is Comcast still a national service providing leader if they fail to meet the needs of the consumer, particularly in customer service?

Marketing.

Comcast has “moved to a more aggressive marketing plan,” Comcast chief operating officer Steve Burke said, with new double- and single-play offers, increasing marketing spending in the quarter about 20% year over year. (Multi Channel News)

They are buying their way to the top.

But how long until the internet, with the help of social media tools and applications, builds momentum giving the consumer a louder, clearer more powerful voice that can neither be stifled nor ignored?

How long until media conglomerates and other big businesses will have to begin spending more on damage control and less on buying their consumers?

25 Jul | Post by Scott L. Clark. Filed under Internet Marketing, Tech Trends, social media.

“To take full advantage of .ME, it needs to be properly promoted and properly managed. We have an unparalleled track record in promoting domain names and keeping customers happy. Afilias has an impeccable record when it comes to managing domain extensions. We offer the complete package to catapult .ME into the International mainstream.”

Bob Parsons
Founder and CEO
GoDaddy.com

Hmm… do you Bob?

At 11 am EST, Go Daddy domain registrar opened their checking account to receive the low low price of $19.99/yr, so you can be the proud owner of “Web Site Title”.ME.

The flood gates opened, and Go Daddy experienced a tremendous number of domain purchases, but the system experienced unfortunate turbulence resulting in such problems as popular registrations like aweso.me being issued to as many as 9 registrants (as seen on Twitter.com).

Go Daddy has taken immediate action, but is unfortunately only offering those denied the mistakenly duplicate registrations a refund.

It will be interesting to see how much aweso.me auctions for, and how peeved the refunded customers will be.

I will not be purchasing ScottLClark.ME, but certainly you are more than welcome to borrow my name if you would like.

17 Jul | Post by Scott L. Clark. Filed under Tech Trends.

You have already taken a huge step towards marketing success by choosing to create a website to promote your company, sell your products and services, as well as brand your company online.

But with all the ways to conventionally and unconventionally market your website, which direction is best?

Read the rest of this entry …

16 Jul | Post by Scott L. Clark. Filed under Business, Internet Marketing.

Once again, as I have done on many occasions, I will reference todays Marketing Profs e-newsletter that addresses the concerns of big business when looking into creating a web presence. Normally, I really respect their excellent marketing perspectives and insight, while praising their due diligence when presenting great references and resources, but not this time…

They report, as written by Tina Ferguson of the True You Marketing blog, that there are three ways to eliminate spending too much on too little regarding a new corporate web presence:

- Get to know the technology.
- Know your position in the marketplace.
- Ask to see working clients’ sites.

Now, I will agree with the first because I believe that every consumer should be less trusting and more informed. And knowing “enough to be dangerous” only means you know enough to get skirted with jargon you may not have brushed over. Certainly, having an educated IT professional you trust with you during professional meetings to discuss web development will prove helpful.

However, knowing your position in your marketplace only proves one thing: your position in your market place. Discounts are never in order unless you expect discounted work, but I have never and will never base my pricing or any form of marketing costs on the size or dominance of a company. To think that their are professional companies potentially engaging in this sort of unethical practice is discouraging and unsettling.

As for asking for “working” sites, I agree that it is far more comforting to access a served website with an active web address from your internet connection, but do not for a minute discredit successfully created websites that are off line, for whatever reason. Sometimes clients will take websites down, go out of business, or change a brand with a subsequent site redesign, which will remove the former site from internet accessibility. But since said site is still actively present on an in house server, you can view it in it’s entirety and still experience the site just the same.

Why should Web Development companies be held at the mercy of the choices made by their clients?

If you are looking for a specific or similar design or level of functionality, and the designer wishes to showcase it to you from a site that has been built in-house but removed from the web, should that downgrade the worth of the design or coded application?

I should hope that whoever wrote this article does their due diligence next time before writing such unfounded material.

In response, I believe the best way to avoid paying too much for too little is to ask the company is question for references, portfolio excerpts, a description of the companies management interface, meet the individuals that you will be working with multiple times, and fully understand the company, their process, their work and their pricing structure before solidifying a relationship. And beyond that, make comparisons with the competitors in question.

But again, as I have written several times, web development pricing is not arbitrary but is also not standardized. You will pay much more for the same work with one company than you will another if they are more experienced, creative and properly managed. What will take a freelance designer $10k to create may take a professional firm $50k to create.

It’s logistics and you will get what you pay for. In addition, time line, size of team necessary to create your web application, level of custom coding or design, amount of and type of software, if any, necessary to implement, level of customer service and response turnaround (based on references) and much more should all be taken into account when comparing pricing.

After reading many other blogs by Tina, I found her material to be intelligent, insightful and useful… but the post in question was a definite miss.

14 Jul | Post by Scott L. Clark. Filed under Uncategorized, Web Design.