Main topics include messaging, planning, social media and electronic marketing. Details below. Click here to sign up.

• September 22, 2010 (6:30pm-9:00pm) – Marketing 101 For Small Business
• October 6, 2010 (6:30pm – 9:30pm) – Electronic and Social Media Marketing Part I
• October 20, 2010 (6:30pm – 9:00pm) – Electronic and Social Media Marketing Part II

As part of its ongoing commitment to empowering the entrepreneurial community, Altitude has brought back its popular three-part marketing basics series to the Small Business Development Center (SBDC) at Lehigh University. This series is designed to help small business owners and entrepreneurs understand the basics and embrace new technology-driven methods and channels of communicating with their customers and about their business.

The first seminar, Marketing 101 For Small Business, will cover marketing fundamentals, the importance of market research, integrated brand messaging, and the pros and cons of various promotional tactics. The seminar will equip small business owners with a broad knowledge of marketing strategies that can help their businesses flourish. Marketing 101 for Small Business will take place on September 22 at 6:30pm in Lehigh University’s Rauch Business Center. The seminar will be $35 per person and is strongly recommended for anyone interested in taking the two-part Electronic and Social Media seminar.

Electronic and Social Media Marketing, a 2-part offering, will be held on October 6 and October 22. The two sessions will provide a primer on the most important electronic and social media tactics, strategies and channels while giving participants several actionable “take-aways.”

During these interactive sessions, attendees will learn about the importance of digital and social media fitting into the overall marketing picture, do’s and don’ts of making a website, blogging, email, the analytics of social media, the importance of branding and how to improve awareness and customer interaction through social media marketing and more. The two-part seminar will be $75 per person.

All proceeds go to the Small Business Development Center. The seminars are open to all who are interested. To register or learn more, click here. Or call (610) 758-3980 to register. Questions? Contact Altitude directly or email insbdc@lehigh.edu.

Kiwaii's website, showcasing their new brand of bottled water, was written, designed and developed by Altitude Marketing

Central to the company’s brand identity is the beauty and purity of the water source—the Blue Spring in Putaruru, Waikato, New Zealand. Altitude relied on actual photos of the spring itself to carry the weight of the design. Sliding graphics on the home page use “parallax scrolling,” driven by jQuery instead of Flash animation, to provide a virtual window onto the unbelievably clear, blue water.

Visit the new Kiwaii Website

Altitude understands the needs of entrepreneurs, like those at Kiwaii, and can provide a quality web design while staying on a cost-effective budget. Working with many startups and being champions for small business, Altitude was able to exceed Kiwaii’s expectations and stay well within budget.

Kiwaii now has the perfect medium to convey their message to future Kiwaii consumers. The fresh, sleek design stays true to the pure, invigorating feeling of the Kiwaii brand. But most importantly, the new website, developed in the WordPress content management system, gives Kiwaii the ability to update their own content and images as their company expands.

Because the product is in “pre-launch” mode, the website is educational in nature; it provides detailed information about the company and the water source and exposes common misconceptions about bottled water. For example, 60% of the bottled water on the market is really just filtered tap water derived from multiple sources. More often than not, it is processed and bottled in multiple plants. (Click here to learn more about what you’re really drinking.) Be on the lookout for Kiwaii in stores late 2010.

The list represents a comprehensive look at arguably the most important segment of the economy—America’s independent-minded entrepreneurs. We at Altitude congratulate EcoTech Marine and Adaptik on their outstanding achievements and their well-deserved awards.

“We were able to lay the marketing foundation that helped these two companies achieve such success and growth,” said Gwen Hoover, Director of Public Relations at Altitude. “This is a testament to our ability to develop winning marketing strategies and properly position and craft messaging that resonates with investors and customers.”

EcoTech Marine is number 302 on the list, and ranked 18th in the category of Consumer Products & Services. EcoTech Marine has enjoyed 995% growth over the past 3 years. Adaptik is number 1984 on the list and ranked 23rd in the category of Insurance.

While Altitude Marketing is based in the Lehigh Valley, its clients, as reflected by the Inc. 500/5000, are international in scope.

“If you want to know which companies are going to change the world, look at the Inc. 500/5000,” said Inc. editor Jane Berentson. “These are the most dynamic, fast-growth companies in the nation, the ones finding innovative solutions to problems, creating smart systems, and inventing products we soon discover we can’t live without. The Inc. 500/5000 list is Inc. magazine’s tribute to American business ingenuity and ambition.”

Complete information on this year’s Inc. 500/5000, including company profiles and a list of the fastest-growing companies can be found here.

About Inc. Magazine

Founded in 1979 and acquired in 2005 by Mansueto Ventures LLC, Inc. is the only major business magazine dedicated exclusively to owners and managers of growing private companies that delivers real solutions for today’s innovative company builders. With a total paid circulation of 712,961, Inc. provides hands-on tools and market-tested strategies for managing people, finances, sales, marketing, and technology. Visit us online at Inc.com.

About Adaptik Corporation

Founded in 2000, Adaptik, the creator of PolicyWriter, develops highly adaptive policy administration software solutions that are designed to improve speed-to-market for new products and scale to support large numbers of users and high transaction volumes.  They provide P&C insurers with advanced business functionality while substantially lowering the risks and costs associated with policy administration system replacement and maintenance. For additional information on how PolicyWriter can help transform your business visit www.adaptik.com.

About EcoTech Marine

EcoTech Marine specializes in salt water aquarium equipment and products. The VorTech line of aquarium pumps produces unmatched broad yet gentle flow while placing the motor outside the tank—preserving the beauty of the aquarium and enhancing the health of the tank’s ecosystem. This technology has revolutionized the aquarium industry by releasing a line of pumps with the smallest footprint on the market. For more information, visit www.ecotechmarine.com.

The ACE Awards, presented by ECM Connection magazine, are designed to honor the vendors that have gone above and beyond the call of duty to help their clients achieve the best results possible from their ECM implementations. Sitrof, an information management solutions provider, recently completed a huge project in transforming CGIRB into a paperless company. CGIRB, an Institutional Review Board, was able to improve efficiency, reduce the need for paper (for cost, storage and environmental reasons) and, most of all, to improve their competitive advantage.

This installation proved worthy of the 2010 ACE Award because of the level of collaboration, the best-of-breed solution implemented over time and the commitment to excellence by both clients involved.

The ACE Award winners will be announced in the September issue of ECM Connection magazine along with a featured story.

In celebration, Altitude will be giving away a new website valued at $7,500—including planning, programming and design—to a local company in our 8-county eligibility area. Business owners and customers can submit companies (anonymously if they choose) on the Baddy Awards website.

Altitude believes that every business, regardless of size or budget, deserves a meaningful and useful web presence. Altitude is committed to Lehigh Valley and regional businesses, especially small- to medium-size businesses like ourselves, thanks to our years of work with the Ben Franklin Technology Partners and to the local entrepreneurial community. A point of pride for Altitude is educating others on the elements and values of a good website.

The Baddy Awards is a way for Altitude to spread its mission: beautifying the web presence of Eastern Pennsylvania businesses. The Baddy Awards program encourages both business owners and customers alike to nominate websites to win a new website, designed, developed and implemented by Altitude.

Altitude will select a group of finalists from all entries that meet eligibility requirements and are approved for inclusion by the nominated business. The general public will then get to vote which finalist wins the grand prize. All voting will take place online at baddyawards.com. The winner will be chosen based on total number of votes.

Altitude will work closely with the winning business to develop a new website. The website will be developed in a leading-edge open source platform, which Altitude will customize for the winner. Full details, terms and conditions can be found here.

To learn more about the Baddy Awards or to nominate a business today, click here.

With this campaign, Altitude emphasizes QNB’s strong foundation, willingness to lend, and their commitment to customer service and community ties.

QNB has been in business for 133 years, and most QNB employees have been with the company for multiple years. The majority of department heads have been with QNB for 10, 15, even over 20 years.

“This kind of longevity leads to a rich understanding of the community, the bank and customer needs,” said Brian Schaffer, Vice President of Marketing for QNB. “It is the faces behind QNB that make it special. QNB’s strength resides in its people – and its customer relations.”

There is something to be said about a bank that hasn’t gotten caught up in all the “merger mania.” In an industry with lots of turnover, QNB Bank has always remained the same trusted, independent bank for the same loyal customers, hence the campaign tag line, “Always you. Always QNB.”

This new campaign will appear in everything from print, online, in-branch video, pole banners, fliers and more. QNB partnered with Altitude Marketing for their expertise in digital campaign design. Altitude previously worked with QNB to design their annual report, sent out in May.

“For the annual report, we had already taken photos of long-time employees who were dedicated to building customer relationships,” said Stan Zukowski, Vice President of Altitude. “The images we used for the annual report were a perfect fit for this campaign, and in the end, this cut some costs while creating a fully integrated campaign.”

About QNB

QNB is a financial institution based in Quakertown, PA with 9 locations serving the greater Lehigh Valley area. QNB helps customers achieve their goals by providing a total financial relationship built upon exceptional personal service and a sincere interest in their success. Visit QNB at www.qnb.com.

We were extremely pleased to share in the success of our client EcoTech Marine last night at the LVEDC’s Mid-Year Investor’s Appreciation Meeting at Coca-Cola Park in Allentown, PA. The awards ceremony acknowledged local companies for their commitment to the region’s economic development. Other awards were presented for attraction projects, retention projects, urban projects and volunteer of the year.

“We were thrilled to receive the LVEDC’s Entrepreneur of the Year Award,” said Patrick Clasen, Director of Finance for EcoTech Marine. “It is rewarding to be recognized for the hard work and dedication we’ve put in over the last five years, and how far we’ve come in that time.”

At Altitude, we are proud of EcoTech’s achievement and perseverance through tough economic times. We extend wholehearted congratulations for this well-deserved award.

Visit the new Fulcrum website.

Altitude Marketing provided the company’s partners with a website that introduces Fulcrum Research Group’s philosophy and services in a concise, compelling way. The goal of this website was to give Fulcrum’s customers an all-important “30-second credibility” check. Bold, clearly written brand messaging paired with soothing, professional colors and curved lines reflect Fulcrum’s business philosophy and personality.

To give the fledgling company the most flexibility, Altitude programmed the website with a number of user-customizable features. “These features allow Fulcrum to change content on the fly and customize the site on a page by page basis without ever having to seek outside help from Altitude or any web developer,” said Stan Zukowski, Vice President of Altitude. “This keeps their costs down and gives them the ability to change their site messaging quickly as the company evolves.”

Altitude caters to the needs of entrepreneurs like those at Fulcrum Research Group by providing a quality web design while staying on a cost-effective budget within a short time frame so the new company can quickly enter the market. By taking a hard look at their business goals, budget and personnel, Altitude Marketing developed a sleek, inviting, website that perfectly fit the needs of Fulcrum Research Group.

“Do keyword research to see what words prospects are using to find you and your competition. Make sure those words are carefully woven into your content.”

Stanten’s expertise is unmatched- having given numerous seminars on electronic marketing and presiding over Altitude which produces award-winning websites. In this column, he offers simple tips for building or maintaining your website to best serve your business and its customers. Stanten’s tips include implementing a content management system, using concise and keyword-rich content and installing Google Analytics. Stanten also stresses that overall your website needs to cater to new, existing and potential customers and clients.

The full column appears in the May 31 edition of the Eastern PA Business Journal. It will be available online shortly.

This seminar is targeted at small business owners and entrepreneurs, and is a follow-up to Altitude president Andrew Stanten’s popular Marketing 101 class at the SBDC. This seminar series is on Electronic and Social Media Marketing and provides a primer on the most important electronic and social media tactics, strategies and channels while giving participants several actionable “walk away” things to do.

Part two of the seminar series will take place on Thursday May 20 at 6:30pm in the Perella Auditorium at Lehigh University’s Rauch Business Center. Altitude’s Director of Technology and Social Media, Dave Sabol, will give an overview of the evolving field of social media marketing. He will delve into the analytics of social media, the importance of branding and how to improve your marketing.

Part one of the series took place on April 29, with Stanten and Sabol discussing digital and social media fitting into the overall marketing picture, do’s and don’ts of making a website, and other online marketing tactics, such as blogging and email campaigns. Approximately 50 people attended the class, and there is still space to attend the next one.

This series is designed to help small business owners understand the basics and embrace new technology-driven methods and channels of communicating with their customers and about their business.

The seminar is open to all who are interested. To register or learn more about the seminar, click here (PDF). Or call 610-758-3980 to register. Questions? Contact Altitude directly or email insbdc@lehigh.edu.