YouTXT no more. Long live YouTXT

My time at YouTXT has come to an end. YouTXT the business continues and I'm sure will grow to be successful under Sam Allen's awesome leadership but I am no longer a Director or shareholder.

Some recent developments.

• YouTXT API
• Mobile vouchers via YouTXT!
  
• Network Status via YouTXT!

Awesome work by Sam and JD. I wish them all the best and will keep a keen eye on their progress.

Find out more about YouTXT on their blog or website.

Change of tack

I've decided to broaden the content of Web NZ to include some of my other interests. I'll still post on anything I find interesting in the online world, on YouTXT, Usability, what I'm up to professionally and New Zealanders doing cool things - like Dave ten Have and Ponoko making it to TechCrunch. And then, by all accounts making a big splash in a very big pond by getting named "..the most original idea.." by the review panel.

I admit, it took me a little while to get my head around what exactly Ponoko is or does but it is one of the most original ideas I have heard in a long time. In a world where most "new" web businesses are just different takes on existing ideas - done differently and occasionally better, Ponoko is a modern day example of "Kiwi Ingenuity" that sets the bar for NZ software companies. I have worked briefly with founder David ten Have (or Dave5) who was my boss at Trade NZ about 10+ years ago, and John Lewis from Intergen who is a kick-ass coder with serious business nous. They are both really smart guys and I wish Ponoko the best of luck.

Career update

I've left Intergen and began contracting with Ferrit.

Intergen are a great company and I learned alot from my time there. I'm proud of the work I did while in the Auckland office and rate them as the best medium to large Microsoft development shop in NZ.

However, Life goes on...

By their own admission, the Ferrit website has plenty of room for improvement and I'm looking forward to the challenge over the coming months. They have a vision, a great team and resources which is a good start towards a successful project.

My SMS information service business YouTXT continues of course. Use of the free service continues to build slowly and we have had some success. Check out some case studies of how people are using it on the YouTXT blog. We have also had some serious interest in customised solutions. Hopefully I'll be able to announce something soon...

YouTXT Blog up and running

The YouTXT Blog is up and running.

OK - It's only got 1 real post talking about some of the big brands using SMS Marketing in New Zealand - but it's a start...

YouTXT - Creating and Sharing Information by SMS

I’m pleased to announce that a new service that I’ve been working on has gone live! YouTXT is a service that brings TXT marketing to smaller organisations.

Some of the benefits to businesses:

• Free to setup, no ongoing costs for the business
• Easy to use site for managing TXT codes
• Detailed reports on campagin effectiveness
• Our success depends on your marketing success, we’re motivated to help you succeed!

If you are offering a service and would find benefit by allowing potential customers to TXT for more information then this would be a fantastic service for you. YouTXT is a small business that’s looking to help small businesses succeed by enabling this type of service to businesses that don’t have multi-national sized budgets for marketing. We really look forward to seeing how you guys use this service and I’m really excited about the prospects for some new features we’ve got planned.

More detail about how the service operates can be found on the site. If you would like to discuss with us about how this service could be adapted to your organisation please feel free to contact me.

My partners in this venture are the stars - JD from Mindscape, and top notch creative Sam Allen
Check it out here: http://www.youtxt.co.nz

All the cool kids are doing it