by Austen Sherman The Arizona Republic Feb. 27, 2010 12:00 AM
Convenience and efficiency are two qualities most people admire in just about anything.
Scottsdale-based startup ZooLoo.com, which launched in July, is looking to provide Internet users with a convenient and efficient way to access everything they use on the Web.
ZooLoo is the brainchild of CEO Jeff Herzog, who took Scottsdale-based iCrossing Inc. from a startup company in 1998 to a global marketing player before leaving the company in 2008.
The site looks to offer users a customizable "start page" with their own domain name in hopes that they never have to leave.
"We have some aggregation features that bring together the best of the Web," said Aaron Baer, director of marketing. "But those features are only a part of our overall goal of being your home on the Web on your own domain."
Herzog not only runs the day-to-day operations but has acted as the lone investor, having already put more than $3 million into the company. He started developing ZooLoo in 2008.
ZooLoo provides users with a heavy social-media aspect. Its newest feature, a "graffiti" blog, allows users to sync their blog posts from ZooLoo to four of the major social networks on the Internet. Facebook, Twitter, MySpace and LinkedIn are all options for users to tag with their latest "graffiti." Users also can access their "walls" from their favorite social-media sites to see what people have been saying back to them.
"The most important thing I see is the aggregation of all the social networks," said Lon Safko, author of "The Social Media Bible." "You have access to everything from one location."
The "share" button on the ZooLoo site is embeddable to the "favorites" bar of a browser and enables users to immediately post simultaneously to their blog, as well as any of the social networks, no matter where they are on the Web.
"We consider it to be a better way to blog, a better way to share thoughts, passions and interests, for both individuals and organizations," Herzog said.
An important feature of the service is users' ability to establish their own URL. In the free model, users receive a domain through the site (username.zooloo.com).
However, users may pay to remove ZooLoo from the URL. This is important because it gives users the ability to be searchable and garner attention through search engines such as Google and Yahoo to establish their own name.
"If you're in it for the long haul, it is definitely the way to go because everything is coming back to you. To me, that is a really important feature," Safko said.
While ZooLoo is accessible without charge, to fully experiment with the site, users must pay a monthly fee. Initially the site offered an "all-or-nothing" type of deal, Baer said. However, user complaints led developers to a storefront model.
Each level gives the user access to different widgets and plug-ins to further their experience. Users can access news, weather, music and features such as Google voice, PayPal and third-party tracking information, all from their own domain.
Charges range from $1.99 to $9.99 a month, with the ability to customize your site at $1.99 per month per feature.
"Under the old model, advertising was big, but we will be relying on the storefront as our main source of income," Baer said. "Subscription is really what a lot of people are pointing to as the future of social (media)."
The 7-month-old venture has gathered more than 50,000 users and more than 150,000 unique views in the past six months. While the company declined to release financial numbers, executives believe the site is ahead of financial projections.
"For a local Arizona company that hasn't gotten a lot of press, we are surprised," Herzog said.
ZooLoo recently released its first iPhone application to allow users to access their site no matter where they are.
Executives are looking toward the future, positioning the site as an "enterprise solution." They want to use their abilities as Web-site builders and get business organizations connected to the social space.
"The bigger aspect is our ability to connect individuals of a business," Baer said. "If you want to rally your troops or your community, you can reach out to them."
