Atilus Internet Marketing & Web Development

“I blog but its not getting very popular… nobody comments on my blog… this is useless.”

Have you ever found yourself uttering these sad, pathetic, self loathing words?

Well stop. I think I know what you are doing wrong.

You are blogging, far be it for me to judge how well you are blogging, but you are blogging. For the sake of argument, let’s assume that what you are blogging is interesting, relevant, original and serves a particular audience that if they found your blog they would read it.

So what’s the problem? No traffic.

Okay, duh, and the solution? 3 D your blog.

Read the rest of this entry …

28 Apr | Post by Scott L. Clark. Filed under Blogging, Blogs.

A blog is commentary or news on a particular subject. A blog allows the reader to leave comments in an interactive format, unless comments are blocked by the administrator. The majority of blogs are text, while others focus on music, videos and social networking, blogging is considered “free marketing”.
I can’t stress to you enough, how important blogging is: Blog, Blog, Blog you can never blog enough. I recently attended a blogging class, and 94% of the people in the class stated that they don’t blog because they didn’t know what to blog about. Blog about topics that are relavent to your target audience (Just ensure that it makes sense and flows well). For example: Top 5 or 10 lists are among favorites, they are simple to write, yet very powerful. Make sure and set about 15-20 minutes a day to blog. Where do I blog? There are many blogging sites such as Active Rain, Wordpress, Typepad, or Blogger. When you are blogging; to ensure that users continue to read your content, make sure what you are writing is accurate and reliable remember to quote all information that you have “borrowed”. Now that you know what to do to create and maintain a successful blog, have fun and go post your first blog. (It won’t hurt I promise!)

25 Apr | Post by Zachary Bouchard. Filed under Internet Marketing, Blogging, Blogs.

Yes, internet marketing works! When you think of looking up information or an address where do we usually turn to? If you said the internet you are correct (MSN, Yahoo, AOL and Google).

Google holds about a 70% stake in the internet search business. So why is Google, so important? Because if you rank on the first page for search terms related to your business is likely to increase a great deal, because majority of users do not go past the first page to find results.

There are several way to the top of Google’s rankings, but one leaps ahead of the rest in terms of return on investment… Blog, Blog and Blog you can never blog enough.

Google uses the most current information to rank. BTW there is a complicated formula they use to rank their Search Engine Optimization. Also, if you notice when you go to www.google.com if you type in a search term and at the very top of the page towards the right hand side it says “sponsored links.” These are links and text that companies are paying for. How do you pay for these? You can hire a Google AdWords professional to do what is called Pay Per Click marketing, so you only pay for what people use. In other words, the price depends on what “words” you choose. Very common words are going to cost you more money, but again it’s about ranking in the top five results.

23 Apr | Post by Zachary Bouchard. Filed under AdWords, Internet Marketing, Blogging, Blogs, SEO, Search Engine Optimization.

Looking to get that job you’ve always wanted? Or maybe you want to get accepted to one of the toughest schools in the country. Personal Branding (Marketing) may get you there…

Okay, I’m beginning to sound like the infomercials I wake up to at 3 in the morning. Usually I just smash the front of the tv with my half dead hand. Sometimes I think I’m lucky enough to have the remote curled under my arm so I can conveniently shut the TV off. But, usually it doesn’t work and I throw it at the wall and visually and physically assault the TV in an effort to get the real estate opportunities off the screen.

The truth is, people don’t establish relationships with companies, they establish relationships with people. And, no matter what your role is at the company you work for (or want to work for), or the school you currently attend (or want to attend), it is a powerful and beneficial thing to brand or market yourself (assuming you KNOW what you want to market or brand yourself for).

After unsuccessfully trying to gather information online on a potential hire and colleague (I was looking for a portfolio or writings) I realized how important personal branding is. I wanted to see their real world work, study the code and design that went into a site they had created or maybe read an article or response they had written on a blog… something.

But, I couldn’t find anything!

At that moment I realized how important and powerful personal branding is. I tell people (after they ask) that I am a web designer. Some people remember the name of my company and my web address, but more often than not, people remember me, people remember my name.

Although many times designers (web, print, etc.) are hired by firms and so don’t have a whole lot to their names, they need to establish themselves through personal branding. Web designers in particular are involved in a medium that uniquely demands personal branding.

Search and search engines have become the tool for quickly studying a person and their qualifications. If you are a web designer, you need to show case it. Your name needs to bring up articles, documents, sites, etc. that you have authored or contributed to.

And the issue of ego is a small one. As long as you are truly knowledgeable and passionate, you are merely participating in the same type of activities and conversations you should be to better yourself in your craft and help others.

Other industries and persons (not in web or web related fields) can also benefit from this. Imagine the sales potential if you are a business consultant who specializes in consulting with large construction firms and you happen to meet a large developer one night at dinner. The developer searches your name later that night and finds articles you’ve authored related to construction and consulting. A powerful thing!

Likewise, if you are a student trying to get into pharmaceutical school, possibly at Nova, or Miami imagine the benefits when an admissions officer looks up your name online and finds you have authored some posts about chemistry, biology or your desire to become a pharmacist.

So, get out there, start participating in the communities and discussions your peers (or elders) are creating. In no time you will be shocked by the benefits and opportunities it opens.

08 Apr | Post by Zach Katkin. Filed under Internet Marketing, Blogging, Networking.

Wordpress.org and the wordpress blogging software have been updated. After years of few design changes in the back, the latest version of wordpress has been complete rehauled. I love the new color selection and design updates. Although, I’ve only seen screen shots and a screen cast of the new software I think they’ve made some great choices, and the software, although more refined seems as simple as ever to use. Please check out the latest info here.

05 Apr | Post by Zach Katkin. Filed under Blogging.