SmartFinds Internet Marketing Introduction, A Michigan 50 Company

At SmartFinds Internet Marketing, an agency for businesses for stratecgic Internet marketing solutions, we take a rational approach to an irrational medium. Our digital marketing and advertising expertise along with our business intellect attracts multitudes of sophisticated team members, partners and clients.

In 2009, SmartFinds Internet Marketing was recognized as one Michigan’s “50 Companies to Watch,” an awards program sponsored by the Michigan Economic Development Corporation, the Small Business Administration of Michigan, the Edward Lowe Foundation, and presented by Michigan Celebrates Small Business. You can learn about SmartFinds’ authority in the topic of Internet marketing at their Internet marketing blog. Follow SmartFinds Internet Marketing at Twitter.

Our energy and our ability to deliver sound strategies for our clients are directly tied to our entrepreneurial culture. We thrive on wit and passion for what we do, and our team is collectively involved in our leadership style of serving our teams, our employees, our partners and our clients.

When a client comes for big, meaningful ideas, we take these ideas and exceed expectations through collaboration and helpful education. We do not provide them simply with “services”, but rather act as an internal swat team of digital media experts – an extension to their organization.

We have been in the Internet business since 1994 and in the Advertising and Marketing business since 1987. We have a team of 13 that includes project managers, writers, creative developers, technical developers, advertising team and marketing team.

Five major sections of the business: Research, Strategy and Planning; Creative Development; Technical Development; Digital Marketing; Digital Advertising; Management, Measurement and Analysis. Our new Local Marketing services with Local business listings for local business marketing to reach local consumers through web searches and mobiles searches was started in January 2010. More information on local marketing can be found at the local marketing blog. You can follow SmartFinds Local Listing on Twitter.

KillerStartUps.com reviewed the SmartFinds Local Business Listing services in November 2009 with their own editorial commentary about the direction of the local listing industry and the affects upon the traditional yellow pages.

Major Clients include: American Community Mutual Insurance, BASF Chemicals, Big Boy, Checker Sedan, Delphi, Detroit Convention and Visitors Bureau, DTE Energy, Flagstar Bank, Guardian Industries, McCann Erickson, Penske Auto Group, Soave Enterprises, Vietnam Veterans of America, Wendy’s and others.

Our CEO, Melih (“may-lee”) Oztalay, is a 16 year veteran of the Internet. As the CEO of SmartFinds Internet Marketing located in Birmingham, Michigan, providing Internet marketing solutions and services to businesses. The agency’s recent focus on local business listing management services helps small and local businesses reach local consumers through web and mobile searches. A recent interview by Metro Mode Media provides more information with Melih Oztalay and being an entrepreneur in the State of Michigan. Connect with Melih Oztalay on LinkedIn.

As a digital marketing agency, we are results oriented in our strategic approach. While our competitors are service providers and task oriented, our focus is to manage and aid all aspects of the client’s sales and business growth through integrated strategic marketing programs.

Follow SmartFinds at the following locations on the web:

SmartFinds Local Listing on Blog.com.

SmartFinds Internet Marketing on Google’s Blogger.

SmartFinds Internet Marketing on BizJournals.com.

SmartFinds Internet Marketing on Tumblr.com.

SmartFinds Internet Marketing on Vox.com.

SmartFinds Local Listing on WordPress.com.

If you're looking for resources on Local Business Marketing, look no further than the below locations.  Each is a blog with information about Local Business Marketing.

Let your local customers find you and start generating leads from new  online marketing sources.  Your local business listings show up in  search results and on mobile devices when your customers are around  town.

Blloggs

Blog Catalog

Blog Lines

Blog Rankings

Blog Search

Blogarama

Buzzerhut

Feed Map

Feed Nuts

Google

Google Blog

Gozoof

Ice Rocket

Ice Rocket

Loaded Web

MV Blogs

On Top List

Sarthak Blogz

Search Sight

Technorati

The SEO King

Weblogs

You Say Too

Zimbio

It is certainly no secret what to do. The secret is knowing how you market your website, business and brand. Knowing how to execute Internet marketing tactics and strategy is a matter of experience, creativity, resourceful and expertise. Innovation has no limits. Imagine what SmartFinds Internet Marketing can do for you!

A Question and Answer with Melih Oztalay. 

Oztalay has two words for Metro Detroit: early adoption. In the eyes of this downtown Birmingham-based entrepreneur, it’s a key phrase that will go a long way towards reinventing the region’s economy for the 21st Century

Oztalay started SmartFinds Internet Marketing in the early 1990s as an Internet service provider, getting in on the ground floor of the economic juggernaut that changed the world. His 13-person company specializes in everything from search engine optimization to mobile application advertising. He’s kept his firm at the forefront of technology trends, sometimes dragging Metro Detroit’s conservative business culture with him.

In the early years of his company, Oztalay couldn’t help but fantasize that he’d be retired on a South Pacific island if only he had set up his business in California instead of Michigan. Why? Because the dynamic entrepreneurial culture on the coasts doesn’t just make early adoption a priority, it makes it a necessity. Oztalay believes Michigan needs to be bolder, become a trendsetter instead of just waiting on the sidelines to see if something takes off.

“We’re just not open to innovation that is outside of our manufacturing space,” Oztalay says. He adds that introversion has broader implications than just job creation and profit margin expansion. “It’s difficult to change that culture,” Oztalay adds. “That goes to the fact that we’re not able to retain our next generation here in Michigan. They don’t see a future here. They only see what we had.”

Read more at: http://www.metromodemedia.com/features/MelihOztalay0171.aspx

Visit SmartFinds Internet Marketing at www.smartfindsmarketing.com and their geo-marketing services at www.smartfindslocallisting.com

STUDENTS, ORGANIZERS CELEBRATE 10TH ANNIVERSARY, GIVE AWAY $17,000 IN SCHOLARSHIPS

TROY, Mich., May 19, 2010 – The Detroit Auto Dealers Association (DADA) awarded high school students deterring underage drinking with $17,000 in scholarships at the Courageous Persuaders Awards Celebration, featuring a red carpet arrival hosted by renowned television personality Huel Perkins, anchor at WJBK Fox2. The awards celebration was held on May 18th at Troy Marriott in Troy, Mich.

The DADA is the primary sponsor and administrator of the Courageous Persuaders program which is facilitated through the DADA Education Foundation. “We are thrilled at this year’s entry turnout and to celebrate the students that understand the serious dangers of underage drinking,” said Bill Perkins, DADA President.

The competition, now in its tenth year in Michigan, encourages high school students to create 30-second television commercials warning middle school students about the dangers of drinking alcohol. The contest drew 743 video entries, which included 1,196 students from 383 schools in 45 U.S. states.

Student scholarships and award winners:

• Grand Prize, $3,000 – “Don’t Drink – Understand!” by Camryn Washington, Chelsea Washington, Homeschooled, Southfield, Michigan.
• First Place, $1,500 – “Peer Action” by Benjamin Webber, Tim Callesen, Trevor McDowell of Davison High School in Davison, Michigan.
• Second Place, $1,000 – “Agents Against Alcoholic Beverages” by Corey Gipperich, Ross Stolzenburg, Sean McIntyre of Lake Orion High School in Lake Orion, Michigan.
• Third Place, $500 – “Don’t Skip Steps” by Robyn Gray, Doug Oliver, Brad Powell, Lee M. Thurston High School in Redford, Michigan.

In addition, special sponsored awards were presented to the following:

• Lindsey Renee Cianciolo Family Memorial Scholarship $3,000 – two $1,500 Michigan based scholarship winners: “Adieu” by John Russell from Lenawee ISD Tech Center, Adrian, Michigan. “Word Score” by Michael Crawford from Detroit Catholic Central High School in Novi, Michigan.
• DADA Award, $2,000 – contributed by the Detroit Auto Dealers Association: “Don’t be a Tool” by Devon Green of Walled Lake Western High School Commerce Township, Michigan.
• New York festivals, $2,000 – chosen based on the commercial’s effectiveness to inform and inspire: “Pass Me Another Lie” by Karianne Caylor, Dakota Forgette, Kaylyn Schultz of Carney Nadeau Public School in Menominee, Michigan.
• Adcraft Club of Detroit Award, $2,000 – presented to the commercial that conveyed factual information about the dangers of alcohol use in the most persuasive and creative manner: “Think Don’t Drink” by Jonathan D’ Abrosio of Lake Orion High School in Lake Orion, Michigan.
• State Farm Award, $1,000 – chosen based on the commercial’s effectiveness on the dangers and consequences of underage drinking and automobile usage: “Spelling Bee” by Troy Gould of Oakwood High School in Dayton, Ohio.
• College for Creative Studies Award, Free Continuing Education Course – “Spelling Bee” by Troy Gould of Oakwood High School in Dayton, Ohio.
• USA Today Award, $1,000 – chosen by the USA Today Detroit staff from among the most persuasive commercials, as judged by middle school students: “A True Friend” by Ariel Sinelnikoff of San Rafael High School in San Rafael, California.
• USA Today Courageous Leader Award – presented to a special teacher for his or her extraordinary contribution to the Courageous Persuaders program: Kara Clayton of Lee M. Thurston High School in Redford, Michigan.

Winners were selected after several rounds of judging. During the first round, a panel from the Detroit Auto Dealers Association viewed the entries and identified the top 70 contenders. Those entries were then reviewed by students at middle schools who completed questionnaires. Results of the questionnaires determined the winners.

“This video worked because it showed that friends can help other friends not drink,” said a middle school student who judged the winning Grand Prize Award. “The play on words was an entertaining example that kids should say no,” said another.

The Courageous Persuaders program was created in 2000 by Oakland County District Judge Michael A. Martone and John Barczyk, a local McCann-Erickson advertising executive. In 2007, the DADA became the primary sponsor and administrator of the Courageous Persuaders program through its DADA Education Foundation.

The grand prize-winning commercial will be broadcast on television and the winner will also be featured in a print ad that will run in USA Today this summer, and will be televised on TV stations across the U.S. Winning videos will be posted on www.courageouspersuaders.com. For additional information, please contact the Detroit Auto Dealers Association office at 248.643.0250.

About the DADA Education Foundation
The mission of the DADA Education Foundation is to promote excellence in education through quality programs and leadership. In addition to the Courageous Persuaders program, the Foundation also administers Automotive Education Day at the North American International Auto Show (NAIAS), and the NAIAS Poster Contest.

About Detroit Auto Dealers Association (DADA)

The DADA was founded in 1907 by 17 local car dealers, and has grown to more than 220 member car and truck dealers who donate their time and resources to a host of community activities.

Detroit area auto dealers participate in the NAIAS, LLC, which is responsible for the production of the North American International Auto Show (NAIAS). The most significant charitable venture of the DADA is the annual NAIAS Charity Preview, which has raised more than $82 million for children’s charities in southeastern Michigan since 1976. To find out more about Detroit Auto Dealers Association, visit www.dada.org. To find out more about the North American International Auto Show, visit www.naias.com.

Contact: Sandy Herp, Tel: 248.283.5138, sherp@dada.org

About SmartFinds Internet Marketing
SmartFinds Internet Marketing is proud sponsor of Courageous Persuaders helping with Internet marketing. SmartFinds is a 2009 Michigan 50 Companies To Watch awardee. The most critical element of SmartFinds Internet Marketing services is the creativity and imagination to apply the technological aspects of the digital marketplace to the marketing objectives of a particular business. You can visit SmartFinds Internet Marketing at www.smartfindsmarketing.com or at www.smartfindslocallisting.com

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As an Internet marketing agency we have to work with many service providers and that includes all the geo-listing (a.k.a. local business listings, local listing, business directories, interactive yellow pages) websites. Our communication with them is for our clients and in the event the information requires correction, then we have to communicate with these geo-listing websites to resolve the inaccuracies.

In this case we had to reach out to Citysearch and follow their procedure. What we learned after searching the Citysearch website (which partners with Ask.com Local) is that our client’s business and information was not listed in Citysearch. We learned in one of our communications to Citysearch customer service that we need to send them an email with the business information.

April 28th, 2010
The Citysearch website for customer service suggests sending inquiries to myaccount@Citysearch.com or cscs@Citysearch.com.

The email we sent originally to the above email addresses was:

April 29th, 2010
The response we received from Citysearch with the email address CSMerchantSupport@Citysearch.com is below. At this point everything is moving along quite well and we received a response within 24 hours. No complaints…yet!

May 11th, 2010
After securing the correct information and setting up a Citysearch account we submitted the following e-mail to Citysearch.

Same day response received from Citysearch as follows:

You can see the process is already degrading. In our initial email we had identified that a Citysearch account already exists! We, also, asked for the two listings to be “added”. Now, you would think that if someone in customer service was actually comprehending what they are reading those two points would have raised a red flag for a little research before a reactionary response. We can only assume no research was done based on the reply.

From our office, same day still and it’s not even noon EST yet we sent the following reply:

We continue on the same day with the following reply from Citysearch Merchant Support. Please keep in mind that all of the communications on May 11th are in the same email thread. If anyone were to scroll up or down they could easily follow the dialogue with our Geo-Marketing team.

At this point what do you think we did? We scrolled down to the bottom of this email dialogue to our original message text copy and copy-pasted the same exact information that we started the conversation with them with! At this point it is now the end of business day on May 11th.

The only good news in all of this frustration was that it happened on the same day. To that end we will give Citysearch a good grade. However, the fact that the dialogue had to circle back to the beginning raises a question if English actually is the preferred language being understood at Citysearch?

If English is the language being read, written and understood at Citysearch then the competency of the customer service staff is highly questionable. In this economy when there are so many competent people looking for jobs you would think that we can hire staff that can actually comprehend an email dialogue.

While this situation is specific to Citysearch, I can attest that the problem of customer service by email occurs with all large corporations and the staff responding to emails. Email communication does make customer service more efficient and reduces the costs of phone calls. One would think that if the customer service staff of these large entities could take another 30 seconds to actually comprehend the dialogue further efficiencies could be gained.

Stay tuned as we finally get this resolved.

Web Site visitors can use coupon code MOM50 good toward 50% off Fabric and Leather Care kits

Detroit, Michigan, April 21, 2010 – StainHotline.com (http://www.stainhotline.com), which features safe and effective stain removal products and fabric and upholstery protectants, is offering an incredible Mother’s Day special coupon of 50% off. There are three Stain Remover Combo Kits to choose from. All kits feature a valuable combination of fabric and leather care products for safe and effective cleaning and future protection.

“Our Mother’s Day gift idea is unique in that we inviting dads and families to consider not only purchasing the kit for mom, but also doing the work of cleaning or stain removing from her favorite sofa, leather chair, pet bed, or car interior, as part of their gift-giving gesture,” commented J. John Antakli, President of The Casite Company.

Added Antakli, “Today’s moms and dads spend a lot of time carpooling children and running family errands. Unfortunately, stains on automobile upholstery can be difficult to avoid, especially since young children may be accident prone with food and drink. Helping with the care of mom’s home upholstery or car interior, with child and pet friendly products will make her feel appreciated throughout the year.”

The All U Need Kit typically sells for $99.99 retail, the Fabric & Leather Care Kit for $59.99 retail, and the Fabric Care Kit for $49.99. Now through April 29, 2010, these kits may be purchased at an incredible value of 50% off using coupon code MOM50. Upon visiting the Web site’s home page (http://www.stainhotline.com), visitors can click the “Shop Online” link to reach the various kits (http://www.stainhotline.com/shop.html) for complete information.

The 50% coupon cannot be combined with any other offers. Orders received by April 29, 2010 will ship by May 3, 2010 for arrival no later than May 7, 2010 via UPS Ground. Expedited shipping is not available at this time. Coupon expires April 29, 2010. Shipping time-frames are good while supplies last, and customers will be notified in the unlikely event that delivery schedules are impacted.

Some of the Fabric and Leather Care products included in the kits are as follows:

• Leather Clean is a solution specially formulated to safely clean treated leather and vinyl with natural degreasers. Watch ink, tar, grease, crayons, markers, and dirt disappear from leather and vinyl surfaces.
• Leather Luster is specially formulated to replenish natural oils after cleaning. Using Leather Luster restores a natural shine and luster that are removed during cleaning – and protects/prevents from future staining.
• Fabric Clean Gold is a professional strength, ready-to-use cleaner that removes protein based stains from water cleanable textiles. This solution safely dissolves most food and beverage based spills.
• Fabric Clean Purple is a professional strength, ready-to-use cleaner that removes oil-based stains from water- cleanable textiles. This solution instantly safely dissolves most grease and ink based spills.
• Fresh Fabric is an active, enzyme-based product that safely and quickly removes odors from the source.
• TexGuard® Fabric Protector is a professional strength formula that repels stains and moisture. This non-toxic and water-based solution will leave your fabric soft to the touch.

StainHotline.com is operated by The Casite Company. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Partnership Program, Design for the Environment’s (DfE) Safer Product Labeling Program has recognized a number of Casite’s cleaners with the DfE Safer Product label. The DfE mark enables consumers to quickly identify and choose products that can help protect the environment and are safer for families.

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About StainHotline.com
StainHotline.com is operated by The Casite Company. StainHotline.com is a top resource for safe, environmentally friendly stain removal and upholstery protection products. StainHotline.com products are engineered by The Casite Company to safely and effectively remove stains, as well as protect fabric, leather, vinyl, and many other surfaces from future stains. For more information, please visit http://www.stainhotline.com or call 248.585.6909.

Release Contact: Wendy Blankenship, The Casite Company, 530 Stephenson Highway, Suite 200, Troy, MI, 48083, 248-307-4857, WBlankenship@casite.com

Customers who enter the Mother’s Day Gift coupon code MOM2010 receive a free Zuzatz pink stripe sandal strap with sandal purchase

Orion, Michigan, April 26, 2010 – Zuzatz.com (http://www.zuzatz.com) which features a fashion forward collection of stylish sandal shoes with interchangeable sandal straps, is currently offering an exciting Mother’s Day Gift Special. Customers who enter the Mother’s Day Gift coupon code MOM2010 will earn a free Zuzatz pink stripe sandal strap with the purchase of any standard Zuzatz sole or minimum purchase of $41.00. With a single black or brown sandal base, Zuzatz owners can mix and match any variation of Zuzatz Style Straps – and the free pink stripe strap is sure to delight.

“With Zuzatz sandal shoes, you can change your mood, change your mind, and change your look in an instant,” commented Ajay Chawla, President and CEO of Zuzatz. “Zuzatz sandals are a fashionable and contemporary Mother’s Day Gift that mom will be proud and excited about.”

Upon visiting the Web site’s home page, visitors may simply click the “Shop Online” link to view the Zuzatz collection of sandals and sandal straps. Zuzatz sandals encompass a range of styles form Chic to Everyday to Glamorous. Zuzatz sandals for women are the most functional and fashionable sandal shoes available.

Zuzatz sandals for women feature patented QuickClick™ technology, allowing women of all ages to easily change their look by clicking different straps into the sandal sole. Zuzatz Style Straps offer an array of colors and styles, providing a wide variety of looks to easily transition from morning to evening, work to play, and grocery shopping to a girl’s night out. Zuzatz QuickClick™ technology exceeds industry standards, as each fastener withstands more than 70 pounds of pull force.

Because women of all ages love Zuzatz sandals, they make a great Mother’s Day Gift. Rather than filling one’s closet with various styles of shoes, or carting extra luggage when traveling, women can enjoy one sandal with endless style strap possibilities. Zuzatz sandal shoes allow women with style to change their look without changing their shoes.

The Mother’s Day Gift Special coupon code MOM2010 cannot be combined with any other offers. Coupon expires May 5, 2010.

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ABOUT ZUZATZ
Zuzatz.com offers the most functional and fashionable sandal shoes available. With a single black or brown sandal base, Zuzatz owners can mix and match any variation of Zuzatz Style Straps. Zuzatz sandals for women feature patented QuickClick™ technology, allowing women of all ages to easily change their look. Zuzatz Style Straps offer an array of colors and styles, providing a wide variety of solutions to easily transition from morning to evening, work to play, and grocery shopping to a girl’s night out. If you are looking for sandal shoes, sandals shoes, womens sandals or women sandals, shop Zuzatz.com.

CONTACT: Ajay Chawla, Zuzatz.com, 40 Engelwood Drive, Suite I, Orion, MI 48359, 248-481-8273, sales@zuzatz.com

It is our pleasure to provide you with a useful online free tool that will help you count characters before you input them into a web form. The free character counting script will count the number of characters left in the box and display it below. You can then press the “Count Characters” button.

You can type directly into the box below or copy and paste your words to find out your exact character count. Please remember that blank spaces are counted as characters.

This character counting tool is helpful for preparing text copy for places like Twitter, LinkedIn, and other social communities that have limited space for text copy.

Other free tools available in our blog includes a Email Encoder to hide your email address on a website. Visit this email encoding tool.

Ping
These Battle Lines Are Drawn in Yellow
By MIGUEL HELFT
Published: February 14, 2010
Google is taking on the Yellow Pages by courting small businesses. A new service, to highlight listings, costs only $25 a month.

Yellow may be an appropriate color for the tag. Google’s new enhanced business listings, which it started to test quietly in Houston and San Jose, Calif., early this month, have an obvious competitor: the Yellow Pages.

“I think Google is going to be the new Yellow Pages,” Mr. Cowie said. “More and more of these younger kids are used to Google. They are looking at their phones rather than opening up a phone book.”

Click here to view the whole article at the New York Times.

Free Calculator Projects Revenue Growth Opportunities From Optimized Site Performance, Enables Organizations to Improve Customer Experience

DETROIT–January 11, 2010–Today, Gomez, the Web performance division of Compuware Corporation (NASDAQ: CPWR) announced the availability of the first tool that calculates the financial impact of web page load times. Designed for line of business and e-commerce professionals, the new Compuware Financial Analysis Support Tool (F.A.S.T. Calculator) helps companies calculate how much revenue is at risk from slow web page load times. Launched today at the National Retail Federation Big Show in New York City, the free calculator is available at www.compuware.com/fastcalc.

The Compuware F.A.S.T. Calculator is built from real users’ Web experience data that correlates Web page load times with page abandonment rates. Simply by entering some basic data about a company’s online operations–such as conversion rates, monthly visitor tally, average transaction value size and Web page load time–the tool generates a custom report that includes a twelve month projection of how much additional revenue a site could potentially capture with performance improvements. At launch, the tool has built-in economic models for retail, travel and tourism, and media and publishing Web sites, plus a general model for other industries.

“Consumers expect immediate response regardless of where in the world they might be accessing a site from, what sort of device they are using and whose network(s) they might be on,” said Bob Paul, President and COO, Compuware Corporation. “Competitors are a second away, so organizations can’t give customers any excuse to click away, as this tool clearly illustrates.”

The underlying data supporting this tool was calculated using page abandonment rate data aggregated across more than 150 Web sites, 34,000 Web pages and over 150 million page views captured between November 10 and December 10, 2009. The data was collected and analyzed using the Gomez Actual Experience real-user monitoring solution. Response time and abandonment rates are based on tags installed on live web sites across a variety of industries including retail, travel, financial services and more. The data calculates the relationship between abandonment rates and response time in one-second intervals between one and 20 seconds. The abandonment rate is defined as the number of abandonments out of the number of pages loaded for each one second time band.

Gomez, the Web Performance Division of Compuware, provides the industry’s leading solutions for optimizing the performance, availability, and quality of web and mobile applications. The on-demand Gomez platform integrates solutions for web load testing, web performance management, web cross-browser testing, and web performance business analysis that tests and measures web and mobile applications from the “outside-in,” or across all users, browsers, devices, and geographies, using a global network of over 100,000 locations. When combined with Compuware Vantage, Gomez offers the industry’s only solution for optimizing application performance across the Enterprise and the Internet. Over 2,500 customers worldwide, ranging from small companies to large enterprises—including 12 of the top 20 most visited US web sites—use Gomez solutions to increase revenue, build brand loyalty and decrease costs.

Follow us on Twitter at: http://twitter.com/compuware and http://twitter.com/Gomez_Inc.
Compuware Corporation

Founded in 1973, Compuware provides software, experts and best practices to ensure applications work well and deliver business value. Compuware solutions optimize application performance across the Enterprise and the Internet for leading businesses around the world, including 46 of the top 50 Fortune 500 companies and 12 of the top 20 most visited U.S. web sites. Learn more at: www.compuware.com.

The Compuware logo is available at http://www.globenewswire.com/newsroom/prs/?pkgid=5950.

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Press Contact

Samantha McGarry, Gomez Division, Compuware Corporation, 781-778-2783, smcgarry@gomez.com

For Sales and Marketing Information

Compuware Corporation, One Campus Martius, Detroit, MI 48226, 800-521-9353, http://www.compuware.com