In today’s information age, it’s vital to for companies to think outside the box to attract customers. Here’s a look at how two Utah-based companies are using the Web to market their companies and build customers.

Alliance Health

Stead Burwell noticed a significant trend in the marketplace when he became CEO of Alliance Health: Millions of Americans were suffering from diabetes and a majority of them really had no way of finding the support and friendship they needed to cope with the disease. To solve the problem, Burwell launched an innovative social network, DiabeticConnect.com, from his office in Salt Lake City—a site that quickly emerged into the fastest growing online community for people with diabetes.

The site, which provides vital information about diabetes as well as a way for people to engage in conversations, share recipes, ask questions about diabetic products, and more, has members in more than 80 countries and is gaining momentum. Burwell says he expects the network to surpass 20,000 members this year.

“We’re passionate about helping people to connect and to find ways to help consumers to better understand their health conditions and to better manage their condition,” says Burwell.

His passion, however, does not only lie with DiabeticConnect.com. He plans to launch more social networks based on health conditions. Burwell’s current project is a site for people with sleep disorders; sites dedicated to obesity and heart health are also on the map for production. These projects, however, would be nothing without the type of creative marketing Alliance Health does online.

“Unlike most Web 2.0 companies that rely on banner ads and Google Ad sense, we have our own optimization platform,” says Burwell. “We have built our own proprietary marketing systems, which is one of the core capabilities of our business.”

Burwell says all of the marketing for Alliance Health is done online, everything from placing ads on other sites to networking with key individuals. Having a niche market, he says, is also a benefit because advertisers who are searching to target their products can immediately find a place to do that on a social network like DiabeticConnect. He says power in this strategy also comes from having all his employees in-house at an office in Salt Lake, and not outsourced.

“I think it is important to keep the quality within the company,” Burwell says. “It is important to leverage a team in one place in order to communicate better.”

Think Atomic

Ralph Yarro takes an active part in providing jobs for other people by creating startups in the heart of Utah County. He says his company, Think Atomic, is as an incubator, forming unique technology centered companies that ultimately improve the economy.

“You need a rich incubating environment for technology companies to successful,” says Yarro. “We are not alone in this process and we are trying to add our part to building a state we know and care about.”

Think Atomic has recently assisted with the mentoring and funding of about nine startups over the last few years, all providing innovative services for other businesses and for customers. The startup Yarro is most passionate about is CP80, a company with a worldwide mission to sensor pornography on the Internet. He came up with the idea while reading an article on human trafficking one day.

“I was shocked to realize that human beings are being bought and sold today,” says Yarro. “I thought slavery was done, yet it is still alive and well.”

Yarro has traveled around the globe, spending a small fortune to clean up the Web. His efforts have caused ICANN to consider a constituency and he has also invested in several filter companies.

Along with his work on CP80, Yarro contributes much of his time helping other Web company startups, including Surf Recon, Xymbiot, Voonami, Jumpseed, VentureQuest, Orbiteer, Zeekaboo, Nuevana and DataDiscovery. ThinkAtomic crea-tively markets the products and services of these companies online using tools such as search engine optimization, Web analytics and targeting specific markets.

Most importantly, Yarro loves his job. “I love to be a perpetual incubator,” he says. “My long term goal is to keep creating companies.”