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.

Found this fantastic information from Guy Kawasaki’s “How to Change the World” blog.

Ever wondered how you can get on techcrunch.com? Techcrunch is one of the most visited blogs about technology, particularly web-based start-ups available. Landing a writeup on your product or company can send hundreds of thousands of visitors your way and has been responsible for launching the careers and dynasties of many web based businesses. So how do you get on?

Well according to editor Michael (Mike) Arrington it seems pretty simple.

Getting To Pitch

There are two conventional ways to pitch to Techcrunch.com (pitch to have your company or website written about):

1. Easiest way is to send a pitch to editor@techcrunch.com. According to Arrington approximately 30 pitches per day come in through this email.

2. Keep great company. The second most popular, and the most effective way to get on to techcrunch.com is through a venture capital company or a tech celebrity that can vouch for you. Much like the mafia Techcrunch.com will only speak to you if you’re known - or know someone that. Approximately 10 pitches come to techcrunch.com through “known” sources or VC’s.

Unconventional (not recommended): It’s been rumored for years that Mike has a recurring nightmare about Dolphins. So, it has been suggested that you can wait outside Mike’s Atherton California residence dressed as a Bottlenose and bully him into listening to your pitch.

Pitching it Right

Mike and his team have seen a lot. At over 40 pitches a day, they have to wade through a lot of messy web apps. “We combine one’s love of cats with Google maps…” really? The truth is a great pitch is less about how polished you are (your fingers can be shaking as you type), and more about how solid your company and idea is.

Some key suggestions the article and Mike mention in his presentation is something you should have learned in your sophomore English class, stay away from cliche’s and hit him quick! No “revolutionary, web 2.0, social”… if you can help it of course. And, don’t use two words when one will do.

Check out the full article or watch the video below:

28 Jul | Post by Zach Katkin. Filed under Blogging, Internet Marketing.

I often read the ingeniousness that Seth Godin continues to pump out for mainstream consumption, and the post referred to in today’s Marketing Profs e-newsletter is certainly no exception. He hits yet another home run, and I don’t mind giving it props.

As a shining example, read this Marketing profs e-newsletter here and just try not to agree with Seth. I dare you!

If you had or have a cell phone contract with ANY major telecommunications company you will be chanting Seth Godin’s name by the end.

I HAD Sprint PCS and I would rather choke down a basket of salmonella poisoned tomatoes and wash it down with $4.50/gallon gasoline… all based on my customer service (or lack of) experience.

11 Jul | Post by Scott L. Clark. Filed under Blogging, Community.

Found this very recent search engine optimization article from USA Today care of a terrific Search Engine Watch post. REALLY want to know how to get your website to rank well and perform on the search engines (driving traffic and business). Well it’s simple according to Matt Cutts, Google engineer, the process is simple. Simply follow these five website ranking gems:

1. Spotlight your search term on the page

2. Fill in your “[meta] tags”

3. Get other sites to “link” back to you

4. Create a blog and post often

5. Register for free tools

For more information I highly recommend checking out the original USA Today article.

05 Jul | Post by Zach Katkin. Filed under Blogging, Internet Marketing, SEO, Search Engine Optimization.

First of all blogging is powerful. You can take your traffic from nothing to 1000’s of visitors a day by writing a great post, and setting your blog up for success. Even Google admits blogs are a key to great websites, traffic, and exposure. But, you already know this. You’ve stalked the aisles of your local bookstore looking for that key to marketing your business. You’ve seen the books on the shelves that scream about blogging. Lawyers do it, gossip columnists do it… perhaps you can too?

Maybe you’re teetering on the edge of blogging - “I would love to try this powerful medium, but is it really for me? Do I want to spend time or money on this? “

These are great questions to ask yourself, questions you really NEED to be asking yourself - long before you commission anyone to create a blog for you. So that is why I recommend diving head first into blogging.

After a string of recent websites we’ve created with fantastic technology and blogs that have gone unused I am putting my foot down! If you think a blog could help your site - you’re right. But, are you willing to take the time to author a post every day or every couple of days? Are you willing to hire or delegate the task of writing to someone on your team? If not, blogging is not for you.

Nothing could be simpler (or personally) more enjoyable than writing about your passion anyway, right? Well, it seems not always. Whether it is a fear of writing or just “not enough time” too many blogs are being produced, but not utilized. So, before you spend anymore time thinking, or any money producing a blog, I recommend jumping over to http://wordpress.com. This powerful blogging system is free and will get you immediately started in the world of blogging.

Perhaps you get caught up, maybe that 1 or 2 first hits is enough to get you excited and keep you writing for years, or maybe you don’t.

Two of our own clients have already jumped and are creating fantastic content and, by sticking to it (only for a short period), have already seen tremendous traffic:

Sterling Miller Blog - Thoughts, Tips and Sales Techniques for Bankers - Renowned bank marketer Karen Miller and Sterling Miller have created a blog dedicated to sales, marketing, and best-practices for the banking industry that promises to show local banks how to:

• Increase Core Deposits
• Increase Loans
• Increase and Improve Relationships
• Retain More Customers
• Become Self-Sufficient

Higher Tea: A Sip of Inspiration - Dr. Pamela Gerali authors this terrific blog with tea stories, spiritual musings, lovely teapots and exotic teas.

16 Jun | Post by Zach Katkin. Filed under Blogging, Internet Marketing.

“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 Zach Katkin. Filed under Blogging, Blogs, Internet Marketing.

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 Zach Katkin. Filed under AdWords, Blogging, Blogs, Internet Marketing, 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 Blogging, Internet Marketing, 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.