Nouveau by Zaw Thet - Interesting New Stuff

$5 for every friend you tell about 4INFO!

We just launched a cool referral program for 4INFO. As you know, all our real time SMS/text alerts (NFL, MLB, weather, stocks, etc.) are all free. Now, you can also get $5 in Amazon gift certificates for every friend you tell about 4INFO and our cool mobile services. Link to send invites is here: http://www.4infoalerts.com/referral/alerts/

Spread the word people! Help your friends stay in the know, on the go.

Digg this please: Laptop kicks off press about 4INFO NFL alerts

Laptop magazine just released a list of the top ways to follow live football anywhere. 4INFO was top of the list!

Help spread the word and Digg it here.

For you NFL and fantasy junkies out there here are the direct links to get free team and player alerts.

4INFO funding announced! ($10M)

It's been a big week for us. We just announced a new $10M round of funding led by Gannett (includes existing investors DFJ and USVP). Also, Sand Hill Capital has joined us as a new investor. I'll link to the press release as soon as it goes up.

What does this mean for all our 4INFO users, partners, and advertisers?

• Our Mobile Search users - we will continue to provide the best mobile search and alerts service via SMS (44636 shortcode) and WAP (http://m.4info.net). We've got a lot of new content coming in the next couple of months. Look for stuff like NFL services that tells you not only the score, but also who scored! We strive to be the most trusted and useful mobile company in the market. We never share information on our users and we never send ads by themselves. Our philosophy is that consumers want free content on their cell phones (not premium). We have transitioned all of our major premium services to free ad-supported. Unlike most mobile companies we make it easier for users to opt-out than to opt-in. If you don't want alerts you don't get them.
• Our SMS Publishing Partners - as has been quoted in the press, there are now over 700+ publishing partners using 4INFO to send SMS alerts and set up search services. How have we managed to do all of that in the past year? First, we make it super easy for publishers like USA TODAY, Tribune, TV Guide, and others to use. No set-up fees, no per-message fees, and a revenue share on all ads we serve in their content. What's not to like about that? It's very low risk and helps with both user retention and monetization. Look for a lot more big partner announcements in the upcoming weeks.
• Our SMS Advertisers - Here's what we've learned: users don't hate advertising, they hate irrelevant advertising (and any ads that are sent to them like SPAM). What works on the web for folks like Google works better in SMS. We have all the tracking metrics advertisers have come to expect on the web plus we know unique users (tied back to the phone number). While that phone  number information is never shared with advertisers we can use it to target ads much more effectively. Response rates to ads have been great and we've got a great line-up of big brand advertisers now in the network. Look for new stuff in the upcoming months like the ability to purchase directly through your phone and also mobile video ads with some great partners.

Where does that leave us? In addition to being the best mobile search company, we are also the largest SMS Ad Network in the US. The end goal here is to build 4INFO into a mobile media company: mobile search for consumers, SMS publishing for partners, and mobile advertising through our SMS Ad Network. We've got a big vision for future, so there is still lots to do.

A big thanks to all our users, partners, and advertisers. Without you, your feedback, and your support we wouldn't be able to keep making cell phones that much more useful.

I also want to extend a special thank you to the 4INFO team. I am humbled to come to work everyday and be around such smart, dynamic, and passionate people. Thanks team!

VentureBeat just broke the story here.
Be sure to Digg it here!

March Madness Upset Alerts

Ah, this is one of my favorite times of the year. Each March, millions of people around the country suddenly lose productivity because of college basketball's tournament o' fun. Like you, I am somewhat addicted as my pool is doing well. The minute that tanks I tend to lose interest.

This year, the team at 4INFO has come up with what I think is a killer mobile product: upset alerts for March Madness. Score alerts are great. We do that plus allow you to find real-time scores at any time by texting your team name to 4INFO. But, upset alerts, that's a cool idea! (thanks to Warren Packard at DFJ for being the first to suggest this last year)

Here's how it works. There is no way you are ever going to have time to watch every game. The games you typically want to see are the upsets, where the lower-ranked team beats the higher-ranked team and upsets everyone's pool. So, if the lower-ranked team is tied or beating the higher-ranked team with 5 minutes or less remaining in a game, 4INFO will send you an alert text message telling you to go watch the game.

You can sign-up for free here: http://www.4info.net. That's right, we are so stoked about this we put it on our home page. Otherwise you can also text TOURNEY ALERTS to 44636 (4INFO on a phone keypad).

Enjoy!

Mysterious Marketing...

We've got a new low cost CPM campaign running in Chicago this month....

This is one of the 5 billboards:

Here's why I like it:

• The call to action is very simple
• It is meant to make a user stop and wonder what it is
• It uses some of the colors of the chicago bears to create brand recognition

What do you folks think?

Thanks ScobleShow!

Just wanted to say thanks to Robert for taking the time to sit down and chat with me about 4INFO and our new Open Platform. His show is one of the hottest things going right now in the video podcasting world and I'm very honored to have made an appearance.

There are two clips:

1. Interview of me and Robert talking about 4INFO (20 min): http://www.podtech.net/home/technology/1391/4info-makes-your-cell-phone-smarter
2. Demo of the Open Platform (5 min): http://www.podtech.net/scobleshow/technology/1208/demo-of-4info-for-your-phone
   

Update #1 - Open Platform and why it rocks

Wow, it’s been a busy couple of months. Apologies for letting my posts go by the wayside. You’ll be seeing a lot more here on a regular basis. I pinky swear…

Wanted to do a quick update on what’s new and cool at 4INFO:

We launched our new Open Platform at the DEMO conference in San Diego last month. This is the easiest way to create a nationwide mobile service using online content…in minutes. We are the first mobile company to really embrace web services and it’s really starting to pay off. Developers are coming to build services on the 4INFO platform because we do all the hard work for them and give them a way to make money! 

Check out the video of the demo here: http://www.demo.com/demonstrators/demo2006fall/79780.php

Some of the cooler services already built on Open Platform (you can access these by texting the keyword to 4INFO [44636]): dubya (pearls of wisdom from bush), technorati <keyword), venturebeat (blog alerts), deathbeep (celebrity death alerts), calotto (daily lottery results for CA lottery), todoeat <sf location> (restaurant recs from TODO). More services discussed at the 4INFO blog: http://4info.typepad.com/blog/2006/10/4info_open_plat.html

You can also get my contact info by texting ZTHET to 4INFO (44636). How handy if I forget my business card, but still want someone to have my info.

Some of the press out of DEMO about Open Platform:
- http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20060927/000941.shtml
- http://theponderingprimate.blogspot.com/2006/09/4info-offers-mobile-information-and.html
- http://news.com.com/2061-12572_3-6119805.html?tag=newsmap
- http://venturebeat.com/2006/09/29/roundup-4info-dag-backs-podshow-myspace-hype/

Ok, that’s all for now. More soon.