Viximo

Two years and three months ago, Sean Lindsay (Viximo’s CTO) and myself started Viximo in the tiny loft coworking space known as Betahouse.  Since then it has been a whirlwind of a ride.  The virtual goods market has grown and evolved to beat even  our expectations.  We have some great milestones to talk about, but first let’s spend a little time talking about where the virtual goods market, and Viximo, stand today.

The Virtual Goods Market Is Exploding

Over two years ago, Viximo took a bet that virtual goods was going to become THE way to monetize the social web.   In 2008, we saw some slight  growth, but in 2009 it was as if someone hit the warp speed button.  Today, we now estimate that in 2009 $1 Billion dollars was spent on virtual goods here in North America.  Some estimates suggest that  number will grow to $1.6 Billion in 2010, but from what we are seeing we wouldn’t be surprised if it doubled to $2 Billion.  I think it’s safe to say that virtual goods have officially hit the scene.

A Massive Opportunity For Thousands of Web Publishers

While much of the early virtual goods success has focused around large companies like Facebook, Zynga, Playfish, Playdom, and Myspace, there is  life outside the top 1%.  Companies, such as  MyYearBook.com and Fubar.com, have had significant success with virtual goods.  These are companies that while having substantial audiences, struggled to drive real profits from old business models such as online advertising.  Virtual goods is an opportunity for more than just the top few.  There are thousands of publishers including social networks, online dating sites, casual gaming sites, and even old school forums that have a giant opportunity sitting in front of them with virtual goods.

Virtual Goods Is Not Easy

But just because it’s a great opportunity, doesn’t mean it’s easy.  There are a lot of pieces to the virtual goods puzzle.  Payments, analytics, virtual currency, apps and games, content, merchandising, optimization, and more are all needed to be successful.   Each piece, individually, isn’t difficult, but in the aggregate it can be very challenging, especially for companies that don’t have unlimited resources such as  Facebook or Myspace.

Viximo Makes Virtual Goods Easy

There are many solutions on the market which provide a small individual piece of the overall virtual goods puzzle, but Viximo is the first, and currently only, solution that brings together everything a publisher needs for virtual goods in one complete, easy to implement, customizable solution.  Over the past two years, we’ve learned a lot about what works and what doesn’t.  We help manage our partners virtual economies based on our  expertise  maximizing revenue.   Overall, Viximo is the easiest way for a publisher to drive revenue and engagement from virtual goods.

Viximo Publisher Network Grows to 60 Million Monthly Users

The focus of being the only complete virtual goods solution provider has resonated in the marketplace.  We are fortunate enough to have some great partners, with the recent additions of BlackPlanet.com, FanIQ.com, Smartdate.com, and more.  In addition to previous partners, such as Fotolog and Zorpia, our publisher network now reaches over 60 million monthly unique users.  We are excited to hit this growth milestone and look forward to growing even more.

Welcoming Dale Strang as CEO

To help us continue this growth, we are welcoming Dale Strang as our new Chief Executive Officer.  Dale comes with an extensive background in interactive entertainment, gaming, and publishing.  He held executive positions at IGN entertainment, Ziff Davis, and most recently at ad network startup 5to1.  Everyone at  Viximo is excited to add Dale to the team as we continue to grow with the ever expanding virtual goods market.

We want to thank everyone who has helped contribute to our success.  An official copy of the press release regarding our new partners and Dale Strang can be found here.

You Should Follow Us On Twitter Here

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Do you want to implement a virtual economy? Already selling virtual goods and want to increase your revenue? Viximo provides publishers and brands virtual goods solutions that help them establish and grow new revenue through virtual goods. Our solutions have proven to drive more virtual goods revenue and engagement, then managing on your own. To learn more about our solutions, visit our website or email us at publishers@viximo.com.

Last week local news reporter Jon Keller of WBZ (Boston’s channel 4) caught wind of the emerging virtual goods industry and came by and did an interview with Viximo about virtual goods and the holiday season.  The holidays bring along some very good opportunities for publishers with virtual goods models to increase revenue.  As I sit here at Starbucks writing this blog post, the similarities between offline merchandising and virtual goods merchandising become very clear.  Here are just a few best practices for virtual goods providers on how to capitalize around the holiday season.

The Content

Go to your nearest Starbucks (it’s probably only 100 feet away) and the first thing you’ll notice is their holiday merchandise. This includes specialty drinks such as the Peppermint Mocha and Gingerbread Latte, Christmas themed bags of coffee beans, mugs and even pastries with festive toppings.

Starbucks Peppermint Mocha points to the most important thing about any virtual goods holiday program; creating fun and compelling holiday themed merchandise.  Users are in the spending mood around the holidays, and creating specialty items for them to purchase increases what they would normally spend.   The December holiday season provides a timeframe of several weeks for users to purchase holiday content and release the content in waves.  New sets every week will keep users coming back during the entire holiday season.

Holiday Context

It is not just the merchandise that gets people to spend, but the overall environment.  The moment you walk into a Starbucks right now you are surrounded by holiday decorations, Christmas music, and more.  These things set the environment and mood which contributes to a consumers purchasing behavior.

How do you recreate this in the virtual environment?  Simple things like giving the storefront and shopping experience a holiday theme can set the tone.

Promotion

As you walk into a Starbucks you are immediately hit with promotional messages informing you of their specialty holiday merchandise.  A sign in the window, a billboard right inside the door, a holiday themed menu, and a promotional stand up at the counter provide four touch points before you even order.

Similar to offline merchandise, no one is going to buy your virtual merchandise unless they know about it.   The holidays provide an opportunity to reach out to your users in a fun and festive way to promote your specialty products.  As with Starbucks, make sure you have multiple touch points within the purchasing flow in the form of promotional emails, calls to action, storefront, and purchasing dialogue.

Limited Time Only

Could Starbucks sell their specialty holiday drinks year round and profit?  Absolutely.  But offering them for a limited time only sparks interest and creates urgency.  If customers know it is only around for a limited time, they had better get their fill while they can.

Make sure you get the same message across in promotions about your virtual holiday items.  Leave them in the storefront for a couple days after the holiday, but make them unable to be purchased so consumers who want to purchase them know they missed out and will have to get in early next time.

Pricing

Taking a quick scan of Starbucks Holiday drinks you’ll notice that they are 25% – 50% more expensive than any other drink on the menu.  Does it cost Starbucks more to make?  Maybe, but certainly not 25% – 50% more.

Consumers are willing to pay more for specialty, limited time only items, especially during the holidays. Does this sound familiar:  “It’s more expensive then I usually spend.  Oh well, that’s what the holidays are for.”  Price your holiday items higher than the average price of your other goods and you will see increased results in revenue and engagement.

Cambridge, MA (PRWEB) November 17th, 2009 – Viximo, the only complete provider of virtual goods solutions, and Interscope Geffen A&M, a division of Universal Music Group, the world’s leading music company, today announced that Viximo will be powering virtual goods for Lady Gaga and other Interscope artists.

Virtual goods based on Lady Gaga, like her infamous disco stick and bubble dress, will be made available to Viximo’s extensive network of social networking, online dating, and casual gaming publishers that use Viximo’s Virtual Economy Solution and Virtual Goods apps to power their virtual goods business. In addition, launching today, Lady Gaga will be leveraging Viximo’s technology to offer branded virtual gifts through a customized storefront directly to her 4 million fans on Facebook.

“Virtual goods is a growing opportunity for artists such as Lady Gaga” said Brian Balfour, Founder and VP Product Marketing of Viximo. “Interscope Records continues to innovate being one of the first labels to form a virtual goods strategy for their artists.”

“Virtual goods provide a great way for our artists to expand their brand and engage their fans,” said David Spingarn, Head of New Ventures and Strategic Investments for Interscope Geffen A&M. “We are pleased that Viximo is enabling us to easily execute a virtual goods offering within a great collection of online communities.”

In addition to Lady Gaga, Viximo will also be powering virtual goods for other Interscope artists, such as The Pussycat Dolls, who are also launching a customized storefront today on Facebook. Viximo’s solutions offer everything these artists need to grow a virtual goods business on their Facebook Fan Page, including micropayments, analytics, and – most importantly – exceptional content. Viximo offers the same virtual economy solution, powered by premium and engaging content, to its network of social networking sites. As a result, Viximo is rapidly expanding both its publisher and content network to meet the demand of the thriving virtual goods market.

About Viximo:
Viximo monetizes your audience and increases engagement with the only complete virtual goods solution for social networking, online dating, and casual gaming sites. Viximo’s suite of solutions including premium content, analytics, virtual currency, and micro-transaction payments, can have your virtual economy up and running in less than one week. For more information visit http://viximo.com or learn about strategies for virtual goods at http://blog.viximo.com.

About Interscope Geffen A&M Records:
Combining the legacies of three of the most influential record labels in modern music history, Interscope Geffen A&M Records embarked on a new tradition of musical achievement with its unification on January 1, 1999. Headed by Chairman Jimmy Iovine, Interscope Geffen A&M is a major force in global music, developing chart-topping artists across a wide range of musical genres including rock, rap, pop and alternative. Interscope Geffen A&M Records is part of Universal Music Group, the world’s largest music company.

Contact:
Brian Balfour, Founder and VP Product Marketing
Viximo Inc.
617-583-5671
info@viximo.com

You Should Follow Us On Twitter Here

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Do you want to implement a virtual economy? Already selling virtual goods and want to increase your revenue? Viximo provides publishers and brands virtual goods solutions that help them establish and grow new revenue through virtual goods. Our solutions have proven to drive more virtual goods revenue and engagement, then managing on your own. To learn more about our solutions, visit our website or email us at publishers@viximo.com.

Here is this week’s recap of interesting news and insight into the Virtual Goods Market.

What Women Want…Virtual Goods apparently
According to researchers, women are a major demographic driving the virtual goods business in social games

Electronic Arts purchases Playfish
Despite recent controversy in the social gaming space regarding offers as an alternative payment method for virtual currency, EA acquires Playfish

An Alternative Look at Scamville
Gambit separates fact from fiction in the ongoing “Scamville” debate

You Should Follow Us On Twitter Here

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Do you want to implement a virtual economy? Already selling virtual goods and want to increase your revenue? Viximo provides publishers and brands virtual goods solutions that help them establish and grow new revenue through virtual goods. Our solutions have proven to drive more virtual goods revenue and engagement, then managing on your own. To learn more about our solutions, visit our website or email us at publishers@viximo.com.

Cambridge, MA (PRWEB) October 29, 2009 – Viximo, the only provider of a complete virtual goods solution designed specifically for social sites such as social networks, online dating, and casual gaming, today announced the next version of its virtual goods solutions and Zorpia.com as a new partner. Viximo’s suite of products offers everything a publisher needs to launch or grow a virtual goods business including micropayments, analytics, and – most importantly – exceptional virtual goods content that engages consumers.

The additions to Viximo’s economy tools provide a deeper set of analytics, currency management and aggregated payment providers to further simplify enabling, optimizing, and growing a virtual goods business. Viximo’s solution supports various types of virtual currencies including cash, reward, mixed, or dual currency systems, and aggregates the best payment methods including one click credit card purchasing, PayPal, mobile, and CPA offers.

Additionally, Viximo’s dashboard includes inventory management tools and a rich set of analytics that. Viximo tracks key metrics for a virtual goods business including currency sinks and sources, exchange rates, merchandising, conversion, pricing, and more.

“Our virtual goods solution is designed to provide social networks with a powerful solution they can grow with, yet spend only a week integrating,” said Brian Balfour Founder and VP of Product Marketing at Viximo. “This allows web publishers to focus on their core business—engaging their audience—while we provide their users with targeted and merchandised virtual goods through a well vetted and integrated system.”

Viximo’s publisher network has been rapidly expanding and announced one of many new additions, Zorpia, one of the largest international social networks with over 16 million members. Viximo’s virtual economy and currency solution will provide Zorpia the tools to quickly enable, manage, and optimize their virtual goods business. Combined with Viximo’s premier virtual goods applications, such as virtual gifts, Viximo’s publishers are able to easily incorporate a robust inventory of content including licensed content from brands, celebrities, and sports teams.

“Working with Viximo has helped accelerate our virtual goods plans” said Jeffery Ng, Founder and CEO of Zorpia. “As we grow our virtual goods business, having Viximo’s expertise in the space will be an asset.”

About Viximo:
Viximo monetizes your audience and increases engagement with the only complete virtual goods solution for social networking, online dating, and casual gaming sites. Viximo’s suite of products focuses on delivering premium, top quality content to your users, supported by a foundation of analytics, virtual currency, and micro-transaction payments. With Viximo you can have your virtual economy up and running in less than one week. For more information visit http://viximo.com or learn about strategies for virtual goods at http://blog.viximo.com.

About Zorpia:
Zorpia’s 16 million members (‘Zorpians’) are truly spread around the world, making it the social network of choice for people who want to make friends of all kinds. Ranked in the top 1000 websites in many countries around the world, Zorpia is one of the few social networks to have seen growth in the past 6 months. With an extremely comprehensive feature set, award winning Zorpia continues to unite people from all parts of the world.

Contact:
Brian Balfour, Founder and VP Product Marketing
Viximo Inc.
617-583-5671
info@viximo.com

You Should Follow Us On Twitter Here

——————————————————————————————————————

Do you want to implement a virtual economy? Already selling virtual goods and want to increase your revenue? Viximo provides publishers and brands virtual goods solutions that help them establish and grow new revenue through virtual goods. Our solutions have proven to drive more virtual goods revenue and engagement, then managing on your own. To learn more about our solutions, visit our website or email us at publishers@viximo.com.

Here is this week’s recap of interesting news and insight into the Virtual Goods Market.

The making of Zynga’s Cafe World – which has reached 10 million users in one week
Roy Sehgal, general manager of Clubhouse Studio, explains that, “20 percent of the effort was building the game and 80 percent is operating the game as an ongoing service.” Such is often the situation with Virtual Goods use cases – a situation Viximo helps partners with through ongoing management and optimization.

Virtual Goods Summit 2009
Join us at this year’s Virtual Goods Summit (taking place on October 29-30th in San Francisco) and hear a presentation by Viximo’s own Brian Balfour (Founder, VP Product Marketing) titled, “Getting Started with Virtual Goods and Virtual Gifts”

US Virtual Goods Sales reach $1 billion
The United States virtual goods industry continues to grow with estimates for 2009 reaching 1 billion dollars – more than doubling from the previous year.

Gambit offers tips to monetize younger users
Susan Su of Gambit examines how and why you should be monetizing teens and twenty-somethings

You Should Follow Us On Twitter Here

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Do you want to implement a virtual economy? Already selling virtual goods and want to increase your revenue? Viximo provides publishers and brands virtual goods solutions that help them establish and grow new revenue through virtual goods. Our solutions have proven to drive more virtual goods revenue and engagement, then managing on your own. To learn more about our solutions, visit our website or email us at publishers@viximo.com.

Here is this week’s recap of interesting news and insight into the Virtual Goods Market.

Major gaming companies adopting virtual goods
More and more mainstream gaming companies (including Electronic Arts, Atari, and Activision-Blizzard) are monetizing through virtual goods.

Second Life stats
Linden Lab releases user and economic statistics including data on virtual goods

WeeWorld wins with virtual goods
Weeworld sees continued growth in its user base and revenue streams – including revenue from virtual goods

Gambit shares data on age in relation to ARPPU
Data provided by Gambit breaks down ARPPU by age group while Susan Su examines the factors behind it

Virtual goods in context: digitalization of consumption
Missed the above presentation by Vili Lehdonvirta, at the Virtual Goods Conference? Take a look at the slides here

You Should Follow Us On Twitter Here

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Do you want to implement a virtual economy? Already selling virtual goods and want to increase your revenue? Viximo provides publishers and brands virtual goods solutions that help them establish and grow new revenue through virtual goods. Our solutions have proven to drive more virtual goods revenue and engagement, then managing on your own. To learn more about our solutions, visit our website or email us at publishers@viximo.com.

The Viximo blog has been a little quite lately. The Viximo team has been working hard on a lot of new partners and initiatives, the first of which we are announcing today. We are excited to be partnering with Fotolog to help offer virtual goods to their member base of 27 million+. Fotolog is one of the world’s premier photo-blogging and social networking sites. Users of Fotolog will be able to see the implementation go live in the very near future. Full press release is below:

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Fotolog Partners With Viximo For Premium Virtual Goods

Fotolog leverages Viximo’s Content Marketplace to make premium virtual goods and gifts available to its 27 million+ members.

Cambridge, MA (PRWEB) September 23, 2009 – Viximo, the only complete provider of virtual goods solutions for social networking, dating, and casual gaming sites, today announced a partnership with Fotolog, the world’s leading photo-blogging site. Fotolog will leverage Viximo’s solutions to offer virtual goods to Fotolog’s 27 million members.

Viximo’s virtual gift solution will provide an optimized virtual gifting experience for Fotolog’s users. Combined with Viximo’s Content Marketplace, Fotolog’s storefront will have a robust, fresh inventory of premium content including licensed content from brands, celebrities, and musicians.

“Our partnership with Viximo will allow us to put our virtual goods program in high gear.” said Yossi Langer, President and Chief Product Officer of Fotolog. “Our millions of users are going to love Viximo’s vast array of high quality content.”

“We are thrilled to add Fotolog to our growing publisher network,” said Brian Balfour, Founder and VP Product Marketing at Viximo. “Fotolog is one of the world’s premier social networking sites, and we are proud to help both monetize and increase the engagement of their audience.”

Viximo’s solutions offer everything a social network needs to launch or grow a virtual goods business including micropayments, analytics, and – most importantly – exceptional content. As a result, Viximo is rapidly expanding both its publisher and content network to meet the demand of the thriving virtual goods market.

About Viximo:
Viximo monetizes your audience and increases engagement with the only complete virtual goods solution for social networking, online dating, and casual gaming sites. Viximo’s suite of solutions including premium content, analytics, virtual currency, and micro-transaction payments, can have your virtual economy up and running in less than one week. For more information visit http://viximo.com or learn about strategies for virtual goods at http://blog.viximo.com.

About Fotolog:
Fotolog is the world’s leading photo-blogging site, one of the world’s largest social networking sites, and a global cultural phenomenon. More than 27 million members in over 200 countries use Fotolog as a simple and fun way to express themselves through online photo diaries and photo blogs. Fotolog is published by Hi-media Group. For more information on Fotolog, visit http://www.fotolog.com, for more information about Hi-media Group, visit http://www.hi-media.com
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Here is this week’s recap of interesting news and insight into the Virtual Goods Market.

MMO and Virtual World Monetization Stats
The Game Developer Conference provides interesting monetization data for MMO’s and Virtual Worlds

Why you should attend the Virtual Goods Conference / Engage Expo!
Here are the top 12 reasons to attend the Virtual Goods Conference, in addition to hearing presentations from Viximo’s own Brian Balfour (Founder, VP Product Marketing) and Ravi Mehta (VP Product)

MTV gets in on the Virtual Goods action
MTV partners with YoVille to promote its annual video music awards – including MTV themed virtual gifts

Forecasting the Growth of (and Revenue for) Virtual Worlds
KZERO forecasts a continuing increase in the number of virtual worlds with increases in revenue coming from multiple sources, including – premium subscriptions, marketing placements, and virtual goods.

You Should Follow Us On Twitter Here

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Do you want to implement a virtual economy? Already selling virtual goods and want to increase your revenue? Viximo provides publishers and brands virtual goods solutions that help them establish and grow new revenue through virtual goods. Our solutions have proven to drive more virtual goods revenue and engagement, then managing on your own. To learn more about our solutions, visit our website or email us at publishers@viximo.com.

Here is this week’s recap of interesting news and insight into the Virtual Goods Market.

Freemium Model attracting Big Bucks
As Virtual Goods generate more and more revenue they are becoming more and more attractive to investors.

Virtual Goods: The Next Revolution
Much like the Industrial Revolution, the virtual goods revolution represents a major shift for business

The West looks to Successes in Asia
Major western platforms continue to look to the east in the hopes of replicating their success with Virtual Goods

You Should Follow Us On Twitter Here

——————————————————————————————————————

Do you want to implement a virtual economy? Already selling virtual goods and want to increase your revenue? Viximo provides publishers and brands virtual goods solutions that help them establish and grow new revenue through virtual goods. Our solutions have proven to drive more virtual goods revenue and engagement, then managing on your own. To learn more about our solutions, visit our website or email us at publishers@viximo.com.