ITCN Launches KnowEm.com

KnowEm.com (http://knowem.com) launched a new web service today which monitors hundreds of popular websites for social media identity theft. By entering a username, which can be a brand name, internet identity, or vanity URL, KnowEm.com allows you to instantly monitor the availability of that username on over 120 popular social media websites such as Twitter, MySpace and Digg.

“Social Media identity theft is the modern form of domain name squatting,” says KnowEm co-founder, Barry Wise. “10 years ago it was a race to get CompanyName.com. Today it’s a race to secure a brand name on sites such as Twitter, which is quickly becoming an amazing tool for both brand transparency and customer service.”

A quick check today revealed that some of the biggest brands in the world have still not secured their account name to protect their brand from identity theft. For example, Google (NASDAQ:GOOG), Pepsi (NYSE:PEP), Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT), Exxon (NYSE:XOM) and Citigroup (NYSE:C) still show that dozens, and in some cases over 80%, of popular social media websites still list their brand names as available account names.

It’s not just major media brand names that have dropped the ball — many celebrities have not secured their online identity either. Ashton Kutcher and Oprah Winfrey’s recent exposure on the popular new microblogging service Twitter.com has shown that celebrities are taking interest in using social media as a vehicle for PR and communication. But as of today their Twitter screen names, @aplusk and @oprah, are still both available on almost 90% of other websites on KnowEm.com’s list.

“The time is coming when online reputation management is critical even for normal citizens. You would be surprised how many companies are now using Google to see what a prospective hire has about them on the internet,” says Knowem co-founder, Michael Streko. “It is just too risky to let your name fall into the hands of someone else.”

KnowEm not only monitors to see if your username is available on 120 sites, it also offers a commercial service which will register your brand or username for you. For $64.95 you can secure your identity on over 120 different social media websites. For an additional $9.95 per month, they will also continue to monitor new websites and register your username on them as soon as they launch.

[youtube]video_id[/youtube]

Where video_id is the (usually) 11 character string at the end of the Youtube URL, as in http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xxxxxxxxxxx.

Download:
Youtuber2 Wordpress Plugin
Version 1.0, Feb 9, 2009 

The features we’ve added to the plugin include the ability to:

• Turn on or off the embedded search bar.
• Disable the related video links which appear at the end of the video.
• Disable the title and ranking stars (and other info) which Youtube often bundles with any videos you embed.

Installation is pretty standard as with any Wordpress plugin:

1. Download the zip file and extract the contents.
2. Upload the ‘youtuber2′ folder to your plugins directory (wp-content/plugins/).
3. Activate the plugin through the ‘plugins’ page in WordPress.
4. See ‘Settings->Youtuber2′ to adjust the display size and other options.

If you’ve got any questions please don’t hesitate to contact us for assistance in setting up or installing it.

“We needed an updated presence on the web, ” says ArmorPoxy President Daniel Blum.  “But even more than that, we needed a web design team that recognized the need, and had the ability to assist us with, search engine optimization (SEO) and online marketing.”

ArmorPoxy, based out of Union, NJ, has become the nation’s leading manufacturer and distributor of ultra high-quality commercial and industrial grade coating and related products.  Now over 20 years old, the company produces a full line of Epoxy coating products, including ArmorPoxy, ArmorTile, ArmorCarpet, ArmorStone, and many others.  They also manufacture the industry’s most popular do-it-yourself professional grade garage floor coating kit, ArmorClad.  These products cover a wide array of applications, including garage floor kits, bathroom tile coatings, marine finishes, and more.

“ArmorPoxy presented us with a unique challenge, ” says ITCN NJ Web Design President Barry Wise.  “The Armor Poxy site was struggling with organic search results in Google and Yahoo, and their Adwords Pay Per Click (PPC) campaign was really in need of an overhaul.  We have employed a number of SEO techniques to take advantage of on-page and on-site factors with the new site design, and our PPC consulting is going to save them thousands in erroneous click-through rates.” 

Included with the new site design is a new website architecture which includes a complete Content Management System.  “Dan wanted his staff to be able to update the content on any page of their new website anytime they wanted, without having to pay for a web designer to do it for them, ” says Wise. “So we delivered a robust, scalable software platform which enables them to do just that.”

Founded over 20 years ago, Armorpoxy of Union, NJ is the country’s leading manufacturer and distributor of ultra high-quality commercial and industrial grade products. Their clients include many Fortune 500 companies, all branches of the U.S. Military, and thousands of manufacturing and distribution facilities. Armorpoxy products are easy to apply by just about anyone, and they provide free, unlimited technical support.

ITCN NJ Web Developers have been providing online marketing, SEO, web design, and application programming services for New Jersey since 1998. Working with Fortune 500 clients such as Lucent, Avaya, IBM and AT&T, ITCN has become positioned as the local leader in web design and marketing services.

Knockout Brand Clothing

“It’s a great product line, and we’re honored that Knockout chose us to handle their online marketing efforts, ” says Barry Wise, President of ITCN NJ Web Design and Marketing.  “We will be engaged in an ongoing Search Engine Optimization and online marketing effort with Knockout.”
 
Knockout Brand is now offering a line of mens t-shirts and womens tees, both short and long sleeve, as well as hoodies and headwear.  The new line of shirts contains graphic elements such as skulls on fire, dragon wings, barbed wire, and other similarly tough, aggressive and intimidating images.
 
“MMA fighters are tough; they’re bad ass, ” says Abbott.  “So of course, we wanted to create a line of clothing which reflects that toughness.  Our shirts make intimidating fighters look all that much more intimidating.  They inspire confidence in whomever wears the shirt, and fear in their opponents.”

And don’t think Knockout Brand clothes are only for the guys.  Besides the mens line, Knockout offers a full line of womens MMA fight gear. With designs titled “MMA Killer” and “Man Killer,” the women’s line of clothes is just as aggressive as the mens.   There’s nothing girly about these shirts, but there is something very sexy.
 
Knockout Brand currently has plans to expand its clothing line to include just about anything a man, woman or child can wear.  According to Abbott, this is just round one, there’s plenty more fight coming.
 
Knockout Brand Clothing offers a full line of MMA fight-inspired clothing, including tee shirts, long sleeve shirts, and headwear. You can purchase Knockout Brand clothes directly from their website, http://www.knockoutbrandclothing.com, with any major credit card or Paypal.

A client recently approached me to discuss redesigning their website, optimizing it to rank well in Google, and contracting me for some basic marketing and promotion. Now, this has happened to me a few times, so I don’t want to single out any one client (and I wouldn’t mention them by name even if you asked me). But their thought process was, well, we’ve got about 100 or so pages indexed right now, but we want to get rid of them and pare that down to just a half dozen or so really sales-driven content pages.

My question, of course, was Why? Why would you ever want to throw away valuable content (let’s assume for now that it was valuable content about their product and/or service offerings)? The answer is always the same - we want to drive customers directly to the sale, so let’s push them there with a short, concise marketing message. What’s wrong with that?

The failure, or disconnect, or whatever you want to call it, is always in the misunderstanding of the purpose and viability of the business website as a sales medium.

Marketing on the web is not like marketing in person, or on a phone call, or via any other medium. If you were making outside sales calls I would say yes, you’ve got the right idea. Make your pitch fast and focused and close the sale before they hang up. So let me make this analogy - do you think customers will call you to listen to your outside sales call spiel? No? Then why in the world do you think they would take time out of their day to find your website to read it?

This particular business website, like so many others, suffers from a particular shortcoming I like to refer to as the “sales brochure” website. They want just 5 pages on the site - one that talks about them, one that says where they’re located, maybe even has a spiffy little mapquest map, one page with their product listings, a contact form, etc. - you get the idea. And again I make the comparison - what do you do when someone you don’t know hands you a sales brochure full of pitch? That’s right - you put it in a scrapbook and save it for posterity to peruse later. No, you don’t? Really? Then I guess you’re not surprised that your visitors aren’t going to bookmark your site and come back later to reminisce about your amazing sales pitch.

There’s a very easy solution, both from a marketing perspective and from an SEO standpoint. Add actual valuable content to your website! Not pitchy crap, but actually useful information. You may find that your potential human customers will really think that it’s worthwhile, thereby giving your site the reputation as an authority in your market. You may find that they return to the site to read more or begin emailing their friends about your great resource. But more importantly for the promotion of your site, you will definitely find that Google and Yahoo love it. And nothing assists in the promotion and marketing of a site like ranking in organic search results.

With more web content updated on a regular basis comes increasingly more attention from the search engine crawlers. Pretty soon your site will be indexed faster (usually within minutes of publishing new content) and will begin ranking for all kinds of organic search terms you didn’t even know would attract customers (that’s what we call the long tail keyword effect).

Then you won’t even need to hire a NJ SEO firm like ITCN! Not really. Content is just the first step, but it is the most important. If you find an SEO that tells you otherwise, turn and walk away.

The PHP developer or development firm should have at least four years experience in creating applications, and similar expertise crafting the applications that your company requires. Experience, education and training are the three aspects that create successful developers.

The PHP developer should have experience with the following languages: PHP (of course), SEO-aware Semantic HTML Coding, MySQL, XML and preferably Javascript and AJAX. Experience should be listed on the job proposal and should be verified prior to employment with samples, a portfolio and at least one reference.

Communication Skills are a must. During the initial meeting, communication skills can be assessed through the question and answer process of the interview. Whomever is managing the project must be able to communicate effectively. Effective communication is necessary to complete adequate systems design that reach the company’s expectations.  This is one of the major reasons companies are turning away from offshore outsourcing and looking towards local development firms with a proven track record.

How long has the developer or development firm been in business? Just as important as experience is dependability and marketability; if the development firm has been in business for a long time you know you can trust them to be around for a while.  You also need to know there is someone here who can answer your support calls and fix any problems which may arise with the code.

Are you considering hiring a freelance PHP developer? Freelance developers may come at lower costs, but cannot be held accountable through an organization. Finding a trustworthy freelance PHP developer with a high work ethic is almost impossible, and that is just another reason to consider a dependable NJ web design firm with a strong client base.

It is important to develop ongoing relationships with any programmers or designers you work with, as they will be more familiar with the role and expectations of the company.  Should you need to expand current systems or integrate new ones, you know you’ll have someone you can depend on to get the job done right the first time.

About the Author:
Barry Wise is a professional Web Design, SEO and Programming guru with over 10 years experience working in PHP and database systems.  As the President of ITCN NJ Web Design, he has worked on PHP programming projects for companies of every size in New Jersey, from local business e-commerce sites to large corporate data systems.

“Our online storefront at Engraved Well Gifts was performing well,” says Francis Gilliland, owner and CEO of Engraved Well Gifts. “But we knew we had to capture more of the organic search market. Naturally, since we are based in North Bergen, New Jersey, we turned to a recognized leader in the New Jersey Online Marketing and SEO business, ITCN, for search engine and web strategies.”

Engraved Well Gifts has been operating in New Jersey since 2006, and have steadily increased their revenue and sales each month since their inception. Gilliland attributes much of this success to offering the lowest prices in the high end gift product market, and to an obsessive commitment to customer service. “But in order to continue to grow, we recognized the need to expand our business and seek professional help for our online marketing resources,” says Gilliland.

“Engraved Well Gifts is in a highly competitive niche market - personalized gifts,” says Barry Wise, President of ITCN NJ Web Design and Marketing. “But we are confident we can boost their rankings in search engines such as Google, Yahoo, and MSN, and as a result that we can increase their sales. After all, we can only judge our clients ROI by their sales - traffic via SEO techniques is useless without actual sales conversion.”

Engraved Well Gifts (http://www.engravedwell.com/) is an online e-commerce store based in North Bergen, New Jersey. They offer one of the fastest turnarounds for personalized orders as it takes less than 5 days to personalize and engrave most products. Engraved Well Gifts offers several shipping options, from UPS 1 Day to UPS Ground. Most orders will be delivered within 5 business days from the day the order ships.

ITCN (http://www.itcn.com) has been providing online marketing, SEO, web design, and application programming services for New Jersey since 1998. Working with Fortune 500 clients such as Lucent, Avaya, IBM and AT&T, ITCN has become positioned as the local leader in web design and marketing services. For other examples of their work, please view their Web Design Portfolio.

“We are proud and extremely pleased today to announce our acceptance into the Better Business Bureau, ” says Barry Wise, founder and President of ITCN NJ Web Design and Marketing.  “I think there is no better way to highlight our complete commitment to customer satisfaction.  Our 100% client satisfaction rate spanning a decade in the industry is no better proof of this.”

The Better Business Bureau’s vision is to create “an ethical marketplace where buyers and sellers can trust each other,” according to their website.  It accomplishes this by publishing any customer grievances which might be lodged against a business.  More importantly, though, is that it gives businesses the chance to respond to and correct any customer satisfaction issues.  The BBB often acts as a mediator for customer grievances. If a complaint is ever reported, the business has a chance to rectify the situation by answering the complaint and taking steps to correct it.

“Of course I’m proud that not one customer complaint or grievance has been filed against ITCN in 10 years, ” says Wise.  “And I doubt one ever will be.  But if the need ever does arise we look forward to the opportunity to publicly demonstrate our commitment to customer satisfaction.  Since the majority of our projects are repeat business from satisfied customers, you can rest assured that we go above and beyond the call for complete and total customer satisfaction.”

ITCN provides four primary Internet services: Web Design, Search Engine Optimization (or SEO), Application Programming, and Online Marketing.  “If you’ve got a website you want to build, promote and make successful, we’re pretty much your one-stop shop, ” says Wise.  ITCN has been operating out of Morristown, New Jersey since 1998, and has since completed hundreds of projects for businesses of all sizes, ranging from local restaurants to Lucent, IBM and AT&T.

ITCN NJ Web Design and Marketing publishes its services and portfolio online at http://www.itcn.com or you can call them directly at 973.538.9066.

You know how important first impressions are in personal relationships; well, they’re even more important on the web. If your website does not exude professionalism most people will assume that your products and services won’t be professional either. It only takes a quick Google search to lose a potential customer to a competitor’s more attractive website.

Now that you understand how important the hiring of a web company is to the future of your business you need to know what factors to look for when deciding whom to hire. Regardless of your location, in New Jersey or not, these same five factors should be considered before you shell out any money for web design.

NJ Web Design Portfolio

Always request to see previous projects the web design company has done in their Web Design Portfolio. You should be able to pick up on a certain style or pattern that is common to all their work. See if their style fits what you are looking for because your finished product will share many of those same features.

Search Engine Optimization (SEO) Skills

There’s really no sense in paying thousands of dollars on a site nobody will ever see. The main source of web traffic these days is the major search engines such as Google. It is critical that you find a local web design company that is familiar with NJ SEO (regional advertising) and can optimize your site for the search engines.

Web Design Proposal

A professional web design company should always provide you with a detailed report on exactly what they will do for you, how long it will take and how much it will cost. If you are given a proposal that is too general or lacks a specific timeline, you might be in for a world of trouble.

Pricing

In this business, like any other, you get what you pay for. Do your research and see what other similar companies are charging. If the prices of the company you are considering are significantly lower than the rest, be skeptical. You need to consider why they are able to charge so little – are you sacrificing the quality of design?

Additional Services

Once your website is up you are bound to need other services such as business identity or logo branding, Search Engine Marketing, programming (PHP, ASP.NET) and maybe even a Content Management System (CMS). Rather than dealing with several different companies to get all this done, why not find one company that can do it all?

“One of the challenges of having been around so long, for the past decade in Morristown, has been keeping our own website looking new and fresh, ” says Barry Wise, President of ITCN NJ Web Design and Marketing.  “We spend a lot of time working on our clients’ projects, that we tend to neglect our own.”

ITCN has delivered database-enabled web applications and marketing services for some of the biggest employers in New Jersey, including Lucent, Avaya, AT&T and ADT Security.

“Sure, we’ve worked on some very complex projects for big business over the years, ” says Wise. “But with the re-launch of our website we wanted to let the local community know that we are still committed to working with small and local businesses right here in New Jersey.  The experience we’ve had developing and marketing some of these big companies with big budgets on Google and Yahoo have given us a clear competitive advantage when it comes to targetting local and regional customers.”

ITCN is primarily an online marketing company which specializes in three aspects of web marketing: Web Design, Application Programming, and Search Engine Optimization (SEO). 
 
 ”After 10 years in business in a very fast-paced and competitive market like the web, you really appreciate the fact that there is no room for a learning curve.  When we are contracted for a project, we come out of the gate running, ready to complete that project on time and within budget every time, ” says Wise. “If we didn’t, we wouldn’t have been in business for 10 years.”
 
ITCN, http://www.itcn.com, has been providing online marketing, SEO, web design, and application programming services for New Jersey since 1998.  Working with Fortune 500 clients such as Lucent, Avaya, IBM and AT&T, ITCN has become positioned as the local leader in web design and marketing services.