Press Room

State of Florida Invests in Orlando-based Interactive Marketing Agency, .Com Marketing

Leading Orlando based internet marketing firm .Com Marketing has been accepted into the state funded economic growth program, GrowFL.

Winter Park, FL --.Com Marketing, a leading interactive marketing agency, has been selected to participate in a state-financed economic growth program called GrowFl. The GrowFl program will provide support to carefully selected Florida businesses to help them grow. The idea is called 'economic gardening,' and the concept is relatively simple -- to help established companies identify their areas of need, develop plans they can follow to overcome those challenges, and even make loans available to spur job growth. A limited number of companies will be allowed to participate this first year.

Hillary Bressler, chief executive officer of .Com Marketing Inc., hopes the new state program can help the Orlando-based internet marketing firm grow significantly. Bressler specifically wants to put more resources into sales and marketing as well as technology so she can hire more employees and better service her clients, and help the local economy.

"Our business is ready to grow and our team is really looking forward to taking our business to the next level. This opportunity will allow us to expand quicker than we could on our own, and we are grateful that the state of Florida has selected .Com Marketing as a potential high growth company in the state," said Bressler.

The program is designed to assist 300 second-stage established companies in Florida. So far, a select number of companies have been accepted into the program, including .Com Marketing. To qualify and be identified as a second-stage business, a company must be a for-profit enterprise with between $1 million and $25 million in annual revenue, employ between 10 and 50 people, and show positive growth in three of the past five years.

Once a company has been accepted into the program, the CEO will have a dedicated 'Jumpstart Team,' an assemblage of consultants and experts from around the country to identify problems and produce an action plan. The program has a team of business analysts whose assistance is free to the GrowFL selected companies.

GrowFL was created by the Florida Economic Gardening Institute, and it will use $1.5 million in Legislature-approved funds in its pilot year, which began in late November 2009. Gov. Charlie Crist has asked the Legislature to add $3 million to the program’s $1.5 million budget. The remaining $8.5 million has been established to provide low-interest loans that will be offered to participating businesses if they can show how the loans will lead to job growth.

Florida has partnered with such renowned entrepreneurship development organization as the Edward Lowe Foundation as well as Enterprise Florida, Workforce Florida, the Florida High Tech Corridor Council, the Florida Economic Development Council to develop a plan for growing these second-stage companies.

Director of GrowFL, Tom O’Neal, said the initiative is designed to give small businesses access to experts in various fields who will provide technical services such as information tools, database research, Internet search engine optimization, strategy analysis, social network strategies and labor referrals -- services Bressler said she hopes will help .Com Marketing.

For more information, go to www.growfl.com

About .Com Marketing: .Com Marketing (http://www.commarketing.com) is a top 100 full-service Florida internet marketing agency specializing in a variety of online marketing services including search engine optimization, social media, email marketing, optimized press releases, professional web design, blog marketing and more. The Orlando-based agency has been providing innovative online marketing solutions to a wide base of clients since 1997.

Media Contact
Hillary Bressler
http://www.commarketing.com
407.774.4606 ext 203
400 North Wymore Road
Winter Park, Florida 32789
bressler@commarketing.com

.Com Marketing CEO, Hillary Bressler named one of Orlando’s Top 40 Under 40 in 2010

WINTER PARK, Fla. --- Hillary Bressler, Chief Executive Officer and Founder of .Com Marketing has been named on the Orlando Business Journal’s 2010 40 Under 40 list. The distinguished list spotlights some of the Orlando area’s most influential and successful entrepreneurs and community leaders under the age of 40.

Bressler established .Com Marketing in April 1997 after identifying the need for Web sites to be marketed. She is now a recognized authority on Interactive marketing and one of the nations’ online marketing pioneers Her Interactive agency has served such notable clients as Centex Homes, Nestle Foods, Marriott & Renaissance, Dell, McDonald’s, Tribune, Universal Orlando Resort and SeaWorld.

Her community ties are strong as well. Growing up in Maitland, Bressler believes in giving back to the community. She serves on such notable organizations’ board of directors as Orlando Chamber of Commerce, Full Sail University, Red Cross of Mid-Florida and Jewish Community Center of Orlando.

.Com Marketing: .Com Marketing (http://www.commarketing.com ) is a top 100 full-service interactive marketing and advertising agency specializing in a variety of online marketing services including search engine optimization, Pay per Click Marketing, social media, email marketing, and optimized press releases.

.Com Marketing is selected as a 2010 Athena Powerlink recipient

Winter Park, Fl – May 25, 2010 – The Orlando ATHENA PowerLink® Governing Body has selected Hillary Bressler, CEO of .Com Marketing, along with Debbie Farah CEO of Bajalia, and Summer Rodman, CEO of Amazon Hose to receive free board of advisors for a year as part of the ATHENA PowerLink program.

ATHENA PowerLink is designed to connect a woman business owner to a volunteer panel of advisors who provide free advice to grow the company and improve its business operations. In its nine year existence in Erie, ATHENA PowerLink has helped a dozen women business owners grow their sales and increase income. Nationally, the program has assisted businesses grow annual sales an average of 89 percent and increase income by an average of 38 percent. This year-long program was founded in Pittsburgh in 1992 and has since expanded to nearly 30 cities across the country.

“The Rollins College Center for Advanced Entrepreneurship (CFAE) is pleased to join founding sponsor Foley and Lardner law firm and our many community partners to help promote the growth and profitability of women-owned businesses here in Central Florida.” said Cari Coats, governing body chair and Executive Director for The Rollins College Center for Advanced Entrepreneurship (CFAE). “By bringing together women business owners and experts in specialized fields, our local business community can together provide a boost to these businesses and help stimulate the local economy.”

The advisory panel specifically designed for .Com Marketing will be composed of area professionals who have volunteered their time to mentor help Bressler grow her interactive advertising agency. The Orlando panel will be comprised of experts in marketing, communications, public relations, market research, sales, law, human resources, and banking.

“It is a great honor to have been selected into the ATHENA PowerLink Program and I look forward to the exceptional mentoring I will receive from some of the Orlando’s finest professionals,” says Bressler.  “I am proud of the growth .Com Marketing has achieved in the past 13 years and look forward to reaching new heights under the guidance of the ATHENA program.”

About .Com Marketing: .Com Marketing (http://www.commarketing.com) is a top 100 full-service interactive marketing and advertising agency specializing in a variety of online marketing services including search engine optimization, social media, email marketing, optimized press releases, professional web design, blog marketing and more. The Orlando-based agency has been providing innovative online marketing solutions to a wide base of clients since 1997.

“My overall goal is to build the business and to improve its sustainability, ensuring that it will remain viable and continue to serve our clients,” says Bressler, who describes her company as being at a cross-roads with respect to establishing a new set of interactive marketing services and growing into a stage two company which is defined as $1 million- $25 million in annual revenue and 10-50 employees. Bressler expects her advisory panel to assist .Com Marketing with guided expertise to determine how to take the company to the next level in revenue and management.

.Com Marketing Secures 10 New Clients in First Half of 2010

Winter Park, Fl  — .Com Marketing, a full-service Internet marketing, has started 2010 with the addition of 10 new clients in the healthcare, travel, and software industries. The agency attributes this increase in activity to a growing emphasis among businesses on expanding Internet marketing activities in 2010 due to its cost-effectiveness and inherent measurability.

“Companies are recognizing this as an optimal time to establish a greater presence in the marketplace through Internet marketing due to its exceptional return on investment,” said Hillary Bressler CEO of .Com Marketing.  “Savvy businesses are expanding their Internet marketing budgets to spur sales growth and increase market share in 2010.”

According to Bressler, these new clients have partnered with the agency for search engine optimization (SEO), paid search, e-mail marketing, social media services and overall strategic consultation with a strong emphasis on business development. “With companies continuing to pay close attention to their bottom line, we are delivering Internet marketing strategies that are directly related to increasing sales, profit and supporting better customer engagement through digital communication,” she said.  

About .Com Marketing:
With offices in Orlando, Florida, .Com Marketing is a full service, strategic internet marketing advertising agency ranked by Advertising Age as a Top 100 Interactive Agency Nationwide. Since 1997, .Com Marketing has been providing comprehensive online business solutions offering a suite of Internet marketing solutions such as search engine marketing strategies( SEO),website design and Email marketing strategies, social media, and website audits.

.Com Marketing combines the strength of effective interactive marketing and advertising campaigns with creative and award-winning website design to assist companies in driving qualified web traffic, increasing sales conversions and delivering profitable customer relationships and return on investment (ROI).

In 2010, .Com Marketing was recognized with two Adrian awards for their clients, Morey’s Pier website and for Marina del Ray search engine optimization success.

For additional information, please visit www.commarketing.com and follow the agency on Facebook.com/commarketing and Twitter.com/commarketing.

• Be owned at least 51 percent by a woman;
• Have been in operation for at least two years;
• Have a minimum of two employees;
• Generate annual revenues of a least $250,000 if in manufacturing or retail, or $100,000 if in a service business;
• Have clearly defined company objectives/goals with explicit reasons for seeking assistance through the program.

To obtain more information or to apply for the ATHENA PowerLink program, please contact visit http://www.athenaorlando.com/ or email Cari Coats at cfe@rollins.edu.

Gina Steffens, Co-chair
Foley & Lardner

Marni Spence, Co-chair
LarsonAllen

Andrea Massey
Massey Communications

Laura Eidson-Cosgrove
Eidson Insurance

Mike Estes
PNC Bank

Elizabeth Gianini
Burnham Institute

Carmenza Gonzalez
Metro Orlando EDC

Karen Keene
Foley & Lardner

Leila Nodarse
Nodarse & Associates

Diane Sears
National Association of Women Business Owners
DiVerse Media

Julie Swatek
ScrapYourTrip.com

Esther Vargas-Davis
UCF Business Incubation Program