http://www.bizgreet.com/two

BizGreet Releases Platform for Personalized Video, Ads that Change for Every Viewer

June 8, 2010

AUSTIN, TX. – (BUSINESS WIRE) – BizGreet, Inc., the only platform for personalized video on the web, today unveiled a new set of core features that enable highly-targeted, personalized video streams that change for each individual viewer.

“We were the first to offer first name mass-personalization of web video in 2008. We have expanded our market leadership this month with the release of BizGreet 2.0, making ours the only platform of its kind for mass-personalized video in the world,” said Mat Harris, BizGreet’s CEO.

BizGreet is a rapidly evolving cloud computing platform for hosting personalized video streams, with capabilities to adapt video based upon any number of data inputs, including data from a company’s customer database, environment information from each viewer (preferred language, IP address, current location) and a viewer’s social graph (Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn profiles, for example).

“The problem with most video ads is that everyone gets the same message. People who are broke get e-Trade ads, people who are married get e-Harmony ads, people without kids get the Disney cruise ads. This is hugely wasteful and ineffective. BizGreet’s adaptive media platform dynamically changes each video message to appeal to each specific individual, with a message that resonates with their immediate needs,” Harris said.

BizGreet says its videos are better for advertisers, and better for viewers than traditional video ads. Due to their highly-personalized content, BizGreets are purchased on a cost-per-action rather than cost/1,000 impressions basis. Agencies who are interested in learning more about becoming a member of BizGreet’s approved ad agency network can visit http://www.bizgreet.com/for-advertisers. Ad agency accounts start at $299/month.

About BizGreet — BizGreet is the only backbone cloud utility powering personalized video on the web. Built for ad agencies, BizGreet features multi-reseller support, a robust video streaming player, social media integration and multi-device player support, including mobile. BizGreet is the only platform for mass-personalizing videos that change for every viewer and are deliverable to any device.

BizGreets are dynamically assembled, changing in content and message for every unique viewer. BizGreet uses social profiles (Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn), viewer browser information (language settings, geographic location), and customer databases to generate rich, hyper-personalized videos. BizGreet is the utility for narrowcasting ads, and an environment for third parties to build their own hyper-personalized video applications.

For more information, visit http://www.bizgreet.com/two

Contact:
BizGreet, Inc.
512-535-2235
info@bizgreet.com

To coincide with this, we’re launching a new section on our site where people can see campaigns in action and see how different groups are using BizGreet. Our pages for churches and non-profits are two that we wanted to highlight for this conference. Here you can see testimonials from churches who’ve had success using BizGreet to reach out to their congregations and look at some past campaigns.

If you’re attending the ARC All Access conference, let us know on twitter @bizgreet and we’ll add you to our twitter list of people attending. You can see who’s on it right now at www.twitter.com/bizgreet/all-access-2010. We’d love to meet up with you in Louisiana!

MLB.com launched a season ticket campaign for the Milwaukee Brewers today:  http://brewers.mlbgreet.com/MarkPeters.  Visit the link and check it out!  And if you’re in Milwaukee, buy the season ticket pack. 

BizGreet CEO Mat Harris talks about hyper-personalized web video

by Andy Santamaria on March 31, 2010

in business feature

Bizgreet is a platform that distributes hyper-personalized web video to customers with the most precise and relevant information. CEO Mat Harris originally came up with idea for this company while he was running a marketing and advertising firm.”With BizGreet you can shoot the longest commercial you’d ever be able to shoot, covering every feature and benefit,” Harris said. “Based on information that we know about the individual, we can select and share only the information that would really matter for them.”

Tell me about BizGreet in a nutshell.

We solve the problem of how to communicate with customers in a relevant way. When we first developed BizGreet we called it a “B2B incremental prospecting tool.” We built it for ourselves because we were running a marketing and advertising firm. We built it so I could greet people by name using web video and show them something about us. My business partner was at Microsoft for six years as a program manager, so he knew how to design software. We spun out BizGreet in the middle of ‘09 and started raising money for it.

How does it work?

We take a library of video assets and personalization data. That might come in the form of a CRM or demographic information that we can glean. It could come from the browser or even the hosting environment. Right now, a lot of the BizGreet videos are on our own hosting pages. But we’ve developed a flash player that will allow us to host video anywhere on the Web. It’s very much like embedding a YouTube video.

Who is your ideal customer?

We’re building this as a platform. Ideally, we’re building it for advertising and marketing agencies to use a platform for their clients. The spectrum for potential BizGreet customers is really very wide. Right now, it’s obviously business-to-business but we’re seeing a lot of interest for business-to-consumer as well. We have a lot of traction in professional sports, politics and retail. There are all very big areas that we’re seeing a lot of opportunity in.

So the videos can be different based on who I am as a customer?

Imagine that you are doing marketing for Hyundai. With BizGreet you can shoot the longest commercial you’d ever be able to shoot, covering every feature and benefit. Based on information that we know about the individual, we can select and share only the information that would really matter for them.

Is there a space for BizGreet to partner or take advantage of geo-based apps?

It’s very possible that you could one day check-in to a hotel next to a Starbucks and get a personalized video on your phone. It could say, “Hey Andy, it’s Megan Fox for Starbucks, check out your favorite drink, blah blah” and you wouldn’t even care — you’d run right over there to get a latte. That’s exactly what our technology could do.

Wow, I’d like that.

Yeah. We’re not far from our mobile device being the only device.

What is BizGreet doing to gear up for the next presidential campaign?

I think the Obama campaign has taught the world how to reach people [with video]. There’s never been a better time for one-to-one communication than these upcoming presidential campaigns.

What are you 2011 goals and when can I expect to get a video message from Megan Fox on my phone?

I think it could be very soon [laughs]. We have some high-profile accounts that are about to launch campaigns — campaigns where you’ll see athletes reaching out to fans by name. Professional sports are seeing some really cool changes.

]]> http://www.bizgreet.com/bizgreet-ceo-mat-harris-talks-about-hyper-personalized-web-video-by-andy-santamaria-on-march-31-2010-in-business-feature/feed/ 0 http://www.bizgreet.com/bizgreet-to-host-session-at-rise-austin-2010/ http://www.bizgreet.com/bizgreet-to-host-session-at-rise-austin-2010/#comments Wed, 24 Feb 2010 21:56:51 +0000 kelly http://www.bizgreet.com/?p=932 BIZGREET CEO MAT HARRIS TO INFORM RISE CONFERENCE ATTENDEES HOW TO “SELL NOW, BUILD LATER” ON MARCH 4

(AUSTIN) – Mat Harris, co-founder and CEO of Austin-based online marketing company BizGreet, will be part of this year’s RISE Conference in Austin, leading a session entitled “Sell Now, Build Later.” The session, to be held Thursday, Mar. 4, from noon-1:30 p.m., at the ND at 501 Studios (501 N. IH-35, 5th and Brushy entrance) will detail successful strategies for introducing minimally viable products into the market, based on BizGreet’s early successes as an online marketing innovator.

To read the full release on PRWeb click here

Sell Now, Build Later – Building the Minimally Viable Product to Bring Your Idea to Market

RISE is a free conference for entrepreneurs of all types, providing a forum where you can connect and exchange ideas that inspire the entrepreneurial spirit.

For more info and to register for RISE please visit http://www.riseaustin.org

Local network helps fund Austin company

BizGreet, an Austin-based technology company, which offers a platform for mass-personalizing video streams that clients can use to better connect with their customers, has recently announced $245,000 from three Texas investment groups — one from San Angelo.

It received investment money from the Concho Valley Angel Network in San Angelo, the newly formed Baylor Angel Network at Baylor University and Austin-based Central Texas Angel Network.

The $245,000 in combined funding from the three networks will help BizGreet, which was launched in 2008 by Mat Harris and Mark Peters, grow its business and reach out to more potential clients in 2010. The company, which counts Gov. Rick Perry and the Round Rock Express among its clients, uses a patent-pending application to personalize videos delivered to customer and prospect databases. It allows personalization options that include addressing recipients by their firs names within videos.

“I believe that BizGreet creates a new standard and establishes new potential for online marketing. Gaining this important endorsement from the Central Texas Angel Network, coupled with our endorsements from the Baylor Angel Network and Concho Valley Angel Network, clearly demonstrates that others see that potential,” Harris said.

——

Originally published 08:46 p.m., February 7, 2010
Updated 09:31 p.m., February 7, 2010

(Article at http://www.gosanangelo.com/news/2010/feb/07/no-headline—businessnews/)

(AUSTIN) – Austin-based technology company BizGreet, which offers a platform for mass-personalizing video streams that clients can use to better connect with their customers, has announced funding from three Texas investment groups. In addition to being one of 12 companies receiving funds from the Austin-based Central Texas Angel Network in 2009 – announced this past month – BizGreet also received investment money from the newly-formed Baylor Angel Network at Baylor University and the Concho Valley Angel Network in San Angelo.

The $245,000 in combined funding from the three networks will help BizGreet, which was launched in 2008 by Mat Harris and Mark Peters, grow its business and reach out to more potential clients in 2010.

“In today’s economy, it’s difficult to raise funding for companies that are not backed by serial entrepreneurs or strong intellectual property,” said Randall Crowder, Exceutive Director of the Central Texas Angel Network. “BizGreet is an impressive success story because I believe angel investors rallied behind Mat, a charismatic entrepreneur, and BizGreet, a company that is already proving that it has the potential to redefine direct marketing.”

The company, which counts Gov. Rick Perry and the Round Rock Express among its clients, uses a patent-pending application to personalize videos, delivered to customer and prospect databases. BizGreet allows personalization options that include addressing recipients by their first names within the videos.

The technology encompasses more than just video delivery – it also allows for tracking how many times the videos are watched and forwarded, for customizable calls to action (directing the viewer to a point-of-sale or donation form, for example), and for generating reports detailing who viewed and who followed through on calls to action.

“I am proud to be among those companies that Central Texas Angel Network chose to invest in for 2009,” said Harris. “I believe that BizGreet creates a new standard and establishes new potential for online marketing. Gaining this important endorsement from the Central Texas Angel Network, coupled with our endorsements from the Baylor Angel Network and Concho Valley Angel Network, clearly demonstrates that others see that potential.”

For more information on BizGreet, including online demos of how the personalized greetings work, please visit bizgreet.com.

# # #

MEDIA CONTACT:

Phil West, Luminaria Media & Public Relations

512.879.6460, phil.west@luminariamedia.com

You will be using our proprietary, patent-pending video personalization technology to open sales opportunities in a variety of customer segments, including: pro sports, retail, higher education, non-profit, political campaigns, and business-to-business enterprise.

You will need to already possess a working knowledge of salesforce.com and be comfortable leading web demonstrations of our product via an online presentation portal (like gotomeeting.com).

In addition, you should:

• be able to make dozens of outbound calls every day
• be able to quickly internalize calling scripts and make them your own
• be able to listen carefully to what prospects are telling you
• be ready to throw the presentation out the window if discovery takes you a different direction
• think on your feet and be resourceful
• show an ability to probe for and uncover customer pain points and customize your pitch accordingly
• be able to generate your own proposals quickly and efficiently
• be able to ask for the business and close deals

We are looking for a hunter, not an order taker.  If you are an order taker, our screening process will weed you out.  If, on the other hand, you can look at an open sea of possibilities and come home with a net full of new accounts over and over again, then you are right for this job.

Requirements:

• 2-3 years of experience in professional outbound sales
• Experience using salesforce.com
• College degree preferred, but not absolutely required

Compensation includes base salary plus commission, health benefits, and 401k.  Email your resume to jobs@bizgreet.com along with a short cover letter telling us why you want to work for BizGreet and detailing one or more hunting stories (what you sold, why it was significant, what you learned.  Or even tell us about the one that got away.  No one’s perfect).

Austin American Statesman, January 16, 2010

By Lori Hawkins, American-Statesman Staff

An Austin startup is helping clients, including Gov. Rick Perry’s re-election campaign, personalize their mass online marketing efforts.

BizGreet Inc.’s software lets users create videos that include recipients’ first names. That turns a generic message into one that, in Perry’s case, greets the viewer with a “Hey, Dennis,” “Hey, Bob,” or “Hey, Karen.”

BizGreet was launched in 2008 by entrepreneurs Mat Harris and Mark Peters, who previously founded Austin marketing communications firm Good Goliath.

“People are far more responsive to hearing messages when they’re called by name,” said Harris, CEO of BizGreet. “Direct-mail campaigns have long used that idea, and now we’re taking that level of personalization to Web-deliverable video.”

BizGreet is targeting sports teams, nonprofit groups , political campaigns and retailers.

The company has worked with a dozen clients, including First Crush Tastings, a wine and spirits promotions company that used a video campaign to reach wineries and distributors; and Business Bank of Texas, which used the service to promote a new product to entrepreneurs and executives. The Round Rock Express sent BizGreet videos featuring Reid Ryan, the chief executive of the group that owns the team , to promote season ticket sales to fans.

Now, BizGreet, which had been self-funded by Harris and Peters, is in expansion mode, after raising $250,000 late last year. Investors included former Neiman Marcus chief executive Richard Marcus and members of the Central Texas Angel Network, the Baylor Angel Network and the Concho Valley Angel Network in San Angelo.

Marcus, who was CEO of Neiman Marcus for 10 years until 1988, now lives in Austin, where he advises and invests in startups. He is also an investor in Austin startup 7 Billion People, which sells software that personalizes the online experience for Web customers.

Marcus said he met Harris and Peters at an Entrepreneurs’ Organization event last year and was intrigued by their idea.

“Coming from a background in retail, I’ve always been interested in how communication with potential customers can be made more personal,” Marcus said. “I think they’ve figured out one very effective way to do it. I like the product as it stands right now, and I think it can only improve.”

To create personalized videos, the video speaker records 150 to 200 greetings — “Hi, John,” “Hi, Jane” etc.

BizGreet says that’s enough to reach 70 to 80 percent of the first names on any given contact list. After individual greetings are recorded, BizGreet uses a database to match personal videos to names of recipients. (Those whose names aren’t on the list receive a generic “Hi there” greeting.)

Recipients receive an e-mail with a Web link to the video.

The service also includes a “tell-a-friend” feature that allows recipients to forward the video to others. Those follow-up recipients also receive personalized messages.

BizGreet provides clients with specific, real-time data on how many recipients are viewing the video. In addition to the number of clicks, the company knows which individuals viewed and clicked.

The cost varies depending on the size of the mailing. Harris said customers pay a small account setup fee, and an amount for each unique view and click, which varies from a few pennies per action to a few dollars, depending on the use and size of the audience.

The Perry re-election campaign distributed 182,000 videos last fall asking recipients to participate in an online chat with the governor.

“We were extremely pleased with the service, because it created a direct connection between Gov. Perry and the voters he’s reaching out to,” said Catherine Frazier, Perry’s campaign spokeswoman, who said the effort increased traffic to the Perry re-election Web site.

For now, BizGreet, which has five employees, is using its new investment to hire a salesperson and a software developer and to add personalization features to its product, Harris said.

“Web video and personalization are going to explode this year,” he said. “We’re really at the cusp of the two waves, and we’re going to move fast to capitalize on it.”

lhawkins@statesman.com; 912-5955

Ruby on Rails Developer (posted 12/31/2009)

We are looking for an experienced Ruby on Rails developer to join our team for the development of the next-generation of our BizGreet platform on the RoR framework.

You will be leading the charge in readying our product for large-scale content delivery on a fully cloud-based infrastructure, and be responsible for the ongoing integration of our system with the leading CRM systems…. [See full posting]