Atilus Internet Marketing & Web Development

I was laying in bed last night thinking about Kevin Costner - as I do most Wednesday evenings. I had just finished watching The Guardian, a terrific tale of heroism, bravery, and overcoming ones past. I decided to get up to get a glass of water, when in my sleepless state I wandered onto Digg.com (if you’re not familiar with Digg I highly recommend checking it out).

Anyway, one of the top Digg’s of the day was “8 Memorable Movie Misquotes,” one of which quoted my idol KC (my nickname for Kevin Costner). I was reading the list when all of a sudden, BAM, it hit me…

Kevin Costner Killed the Inter-Web!

Most people who have seen, or have heard of the movie Field of Dreams, knows the flick is famous for the line:

If you build it, they will come.

But, unfortunately that’s not entirely true. Many times this seems to be the mantra of many new or potential clients. All I need do is built it, a web presence (a website, a shopping cart, a web application) and they will come - customers, clients, leads, sales, etc. But, unfortunately the quote really went:

If you build it, he will come.

Just one word, but a profound difference. And that’s how the Inter-web works, and life and business works too. If you build your site and adhere to a certain set of guidelines one or two or a few may come, but really, how is anyone supposed to know you’re there, know your products beat competitors or know you have a service that will solve some need?

Marketing!

The web is no different. Rough estimates put nearly 110 Million distinct websites on the Net, with nearly 20 billion pages. What is going to differentiate you, how are your customers going to find you through all of this mess?

So, keep Kevin Costner in mind when building your website (and in your general life too), he is a wise man, but a misquote from a nearly 20 year old movie has led to a lot of unsucessful web ventures.

17 Jul | Post by Zach Katkin. Filed under Internet Marketing.

I held a meeting with Phil Borchman, CEO of Comm-Ex.com, a South West Florida commercial real estate news website, as well as author of the GulfShore Business magazine newsletter.

We discussed in light the various ways to market your website for FREE, which I may write a post about later if I get enough requests for it.

But we also discussed the newsletter that he authors and how difficult it can be to be placed on that newsletter as a business with a press release.

So here are a few simple, but extraordinarily effective tips to get you to the top of the list:

Read the rest of this entry …

15 May | Post by Scott L. Clark. Filed under Uncategorized.

With the arrival of the next great internet boom – the internet marketing boom - the possibilities are limitless. The internet is exploding with new features and technologies such as interactive shopping, podcasting as well as newly emerging E-marketing tools and ideas. Among these new features are WiFi advertising (advertising to users of your WIFI network), and Internet capabilities on wireless phones such as 3G (AT&T’s network).

For those of you not in the industry, internet marketing is the buzz in the advertising and marketing world. With ever changing technology and improved techniques, and a now solid foundation of return, internet marketing is slowly coming to the forefront of marketing discussions.
And this internet revolution is even outpacing newer, less conventional forms of marketing and sales. Take for example traveling on any major airline. E-ticketing is available 24 hours a day and is convenient (whereas if you call the 800 or 888 number, you will be billed a transaction fee); you can print your ticket(s) 48 hours before the flight or 1 hour before the flight, at no additional cost attached.
I think that it is important that the advantages and disadvantages are carefully studied in contrast to traditional marketing. But that doesn’t mean the industry is without its evils. Issues that are still prevalent in and around internet marketing include: spam (which needs to be more heavily regulated), consumer loyalty (which needs to be studied more), and the different advertising strategies and performance that internet marketing has over traditional marketing.

However, one of the largest concerns of the general public is security and privacy on the internet. For example, if you read my previous post “Flirting with Diaster”, the attached You Tube video has a prime example of this: When Sarah Lacy asked the audience to begin asking their questions, an audience member stood up and said “What is the biggest obstacle that Facebook faces?” Zuckerberg replied “Building systems that allow users control of their applications/information.” The audience member replied, “Is it a security issue allowing users to control of their applications/information?” See how security is reiterated each time the audience member asks a different question? I have to say, it is a major concern of the general public, and must be addressed.

On the other hand, Internet marketing has truly revolutionized the marketing industry as a whole; traditional advertising and marketing firms better sit up and take notice and quickly adapt to the to the ever changing internet/technology as the general public consumes more media, does more searches, and spends more time online. Additionally one major advantage that internet marketing has that stands out ahead of traditional advertising is that with internet marketing you are able to customize and personalize your site from start to finish, making the process interactive between the internet marketing agency/firm and the client. And these custom solutions are growing the internet eco-system. For example, custom interactive shopping has revolutionized the way the general public shops, while improving the online shopping experience.

With that said, do you think internet marketing will revolutionize traditional marketing? You be the judge.

09 May | Post by Zach Katkin. Filed under Business, Clients, Internet Marketing, Pay Per Click, Search Engine Optimization, Tech Trends, Web Design.