St. Cloud, Minnesota, June 21, 2010 –  W3i, a leading desktop and mobile Application Distribution Network for the internet industry, was named one of the Top Workplaces in the Twin Cities metro area, based on an employee-based survey project from the Star Tribune.   The Star Tribune Top Workplaces special section was published in the Star Tribune on Sunday, June 20.  The report can be found at Star Tribune/Top Workplaces 2010.  

Produced by the same team that compiles the 19-year-old Star Tribune 100 report of the best-performing public companies in Minnesota, Top Workplaces recognizes the most progressive companies in the metro – based on employee opinions about company leadership, career opportunities, workplace flexibility, compensation, and benefits.  The analysis included responses from over 33,000 employees at Minnesota public, private, and non-profit organizations.

The rankings in the Star Tribune top places to work are based on survey information collected by Workplace Dynamics, an independent company specializing in employee engagement and retention.

W3i CEO, Andy Johnson, said, “I am honored to work with a group of people as highly engaged and focused on a common mission as the team at W3i. It is because of this engagement and passion that W3i is such a great place to work. It’s a real pleasure to be part of building a company that we can all be proud of.”

Star Tribune Publisher, Michael J.  Klingensmith, comments, “I congratulate each of the companies in the Star Tribune Top Workplaces on their outstanding accomplishment.  They have succeeded in creating a positive workplace for their employees during very challenging economic times.” 

About W3i:

W3i increases revenue, distribution, and engagement for consumer desktop applications, browser add-ons and mobile applications enabling publishers to provide quality consumer apps for free by recommending relevant applications giving advertisers a mass, performance driven distribution channel.  The W3i Application Network uses InstallIQ, W3i’s intelligent installation technology, for recommending PC and mobile applications that users’ value.  InstallIQ was tested and optimized on over 400 million application installs-over 100 million app installs in 2009.  W3i will prove to be a valued partner in growing your application business. To learn more, visit the W3i Application Network.

Press Contact:
Deborah Manthei
Director of Marketing Communications
320-257-7571
deborah.manthei@W3i.com

To qualify for the Star Tribune Top Workplaces, a company must have more than 50 employees in the Twin Cities metro area.  Over 1,000 companies were invited to participate.  Rankings were composite scores calculated purely on the basis of employee responses.

W3i Moves Data Center to Increase Security, Reliability, and Scalability for the W3i Application Network

ST. CLOUD, MINNESOTA, March 23, 2010 — The W3i Application Network is growing rapidly, averaging 9.6 million installs each month.  W3i made a strategic decision to move its data center to increase the level of security, reliability, and scalability of its operations.  W3i relocated its primary data center operations from St. Cloud, MN, to its new state-of-the-art, co-located facility in Chicago, IL. 

W3i’s data center operations are the “brains” behind its flagship product, InstallIQ, W3i’s proprietary installation manager.  Its data center is responsible for processing millions of daily requests from its installation client that determine what advertisements best match its user’s preferences.  Vice President of Information Systems, Jeff Bollinger explains the reasoning behind the move.  “Given the growth and increased strategic focus on delivering installs via W3i’s InstallIQ platform, the decision to move made sense for both the company and its partners.  Our St. Cloud data center was acceptable through our first ten years of growth, however, our new Chicago facility provides increased resiliency which is something we and our partners have grown to expect.” 

The new data center facility features Tier III construction standards which include distinct distribution paths, compartmentalization and concurrently maintainable infrastructure.  All of these features mean an increased level of reliability for W3i advertisers and publishers.  According to the Uptime Institute, facilities with Tier III type construction standards on average provide 99.98% site uptime per year.

Moving locations also gave W3i an opportunity to upgrade its core network and computing platforms.  The new data center features extensive virtualization technology in both computing (VMWare) and storage (Compellent Technologies).  The introduction of these new technologies has helped drive down capital and operating costs while at the same time increase the resiliency of our operations.  “The efficiency and flexibility that virtualization introduces is stunning,” states Bollinger.  “We’ve been able to reduce our physical server count by about 70%.” 

Virtualization is not new to W3i’s IT group.  A year ago W3i signed a deal with Seattle based SkyTap Inc. to provide cloud-based computing resources which enable a robust desktop testing platform for W3i’s Marketing Operations group.  “We are very pleased with the flexibility we see with our QA group using Skytap virtualization.  With the introduction of VMWare into our new Data Center we are now able to extend the success we saw with SkyTap into our core infrastructure operations,” says Bollinger. 

W3i’s Business Intelligence group is also excited about the new facility and architecture.  W3i’s publishers and advertisers benefit from W3i’s robust data warehouse platform which provides multi-dimensional reporting via W3i’s Associate Reporting portal.  “With our new computing and storage infrastructure we can decrease the amount of time it takes to process data, providing our associates with even more reliable delivery of information,”  comments Tim Laqua, Business Intelligence Team Lead at W3i.

The move ensures that W3i continues to deliver mass monetization and distribution opportunities to consumer application publishers and advertisers, now with even greater levels of service provided by its new Chicago facility.

About W3i

W3i, an application network that increases revenue, distribution and engagement for consumer applications and add-ons, enables publishers to provide quality consumer apps for free by recommending relevant applications during the installation process giving advertisers a mass, performance driven distribution channel.  The W3i Application Network uses InstallIQ, W3i’s proprietary Windows installation manager, the first installation manager to be certified in the TRUSTe Trusted Download Program.  Tested and optimized on over 350 million installs–currently over 9.6 million installs monthly and growing, W3i will prove to be a valued partner in growing your application business. To learn more, visit the W3i Application Network.

Contact:
Deborah Manthei
Director of Marketing Communications
320-257-7571
deborah.manthei@W3i.com

The Challenge
Going live with an advertiser’s offer is only the beginning when distributing through the W3i Application Network.  As with landing pages, the challenge is to optimize the critical elements so that ROI is optimized.      

The Solution
W3i provides consultative and testing services for advertisers to increase acceptance rates.  One of the first things we look at is the disclosure screen itself.  The disclosure screen is the screen shown to the user within the installation manager, InstallIQ, that discloses the required information about the application.  Ultimately the goal is to improve acceptance rates.  It works like this, W3i mocks up multiple disclosure screens based on the findings of previous tests.  W3i runs tests on the disclosure screen mocks showing the various screens to users to determine which one has the highest acceptance rate.  W3i replaces the original disclosure screen with the one that performs the best. 

The Results
An example of a disclosure screen test that W3i recently ran was for a security application.  There was a 6.45% gain in acceptance rate with one of the versions tested. Needless to say, that version was rolled out.

Here are some things that W3i found to perform better in terms of improved acceptance rates with disclosure screens, but ultimately testing can only determine what works best for each particular application:

• Illustrating what the software does instead of having multiple useless graphics
• Having the copy left aligned
• Showing the functionality of the applications simply
• Trying to limit the amount of information on the screen to avoid crowding

Following is an example of these tips at work on an internal W3i product disclosure screen:

The top image is a control disclosure screen for one of W3i’s internal products.  The bottom image is a test version that had a 2.48% improved acceptance rate.

Find Out More
To learn more about optimizing within the W3i Application Network, contact Nicole Przybilla at nicole.przybilla@w3i.com or call 320-257-7500 ext. 1020.

Nicole Przybilla, Account Executive, W3i, LLC
Nicole focuses on growing W3i business relationships, making sure the client has what they need to help them be successful. If they aren’t happy, she isn’t happy. 

Jackpot Rewards Selects W3i for Consumer App Distribution

St. Cloud, Minnesota, February 9, 2010 – W3i, provider of marketing solutions that increase distribution, revenue, and engagement for consumer applications, announced today that Jackpot Rewards is now part of the W3i Application Network.  Jackpot Rewards, a sweepstakes and shopping rewards program, is using the W3i Application Network as a new application distribution channel for its free Jackpot Rewards application.

“The W3i Application Network provides a mass distribution channel for companies with consumer applications that are seeking customer acquisition beyond paid search and social media,” said Rob Weber, VP of Business Development at W3i.  “Jackpot Rewards recognizes the opportunity the W3i Application Network offers to grow its membership by expediting the discovery of its free shopping and sweepstakes application to millions of new users.”

Jackpot Rewards has a new and unique shopping and sweepstakes product for consumers, called “Shop to Win”.  “Shop to Win” is free to consumers and gives them the chance to win $500 a day and a $100,000 Jackpot for every $5 they spend at over 2,000 leading online retailers. 

“W3i’s distribution capabilities give us the opportunity to dramatically increase our memberships with a trusted partner,” said Jim Miller, the CEO and Founder of Jackpot Rewards. “We are excited about the results to date and look forward to a long-term relationship with W3i.” 

 About W3i: 

W3i increases revenue, distribution and engagement for consumer applications and plug-ins. W3i uses a network approach combining the demand for free applications monetized by the distribution of relevant applications when the consumer is in the installation mindset.  The W3i Application Network uses Install IQ, W3i’s proprietary Windows installation manager, the first installer to be certified in the TRUSTe Trusted Download Program.  Tested and optimized on over 350 million installs–currently 9.6 million installs monthly, W3i will prove to be a valued distribution partner in growing your consumer application business. To learn more, visit the W3i Application Network.

Press Contact:

Deborah Manthei

Director of Marketing Communications

320-257-7571

deborah.manthei@W3i.com

The names of companies and products mentioned herein are trademarks of their respective owners.

   Improved Business Monitoring with W3i’s New Associate Reporting Site 

St. Cloud, Minnesota, February 4, 2010 – W3i, provider of marketing solutions that increase distribution, revenue, and engagement for consumer applications, announced today that its advertisers, publishers and affiliates can now access more data for better decision making.

“Our associates are essential to the success of our business.  By providing more robust reporting they can make educated business decisions to optimize performance,” said Rob Weber, VP of Business Development at W3i. 

The W3i Associate Reporting Dashboard offers close to real-time business intelligence data including graphs for visual monitoring.  Publisher and Affiliate stats include:  revenue, conversion, conversion rate, EPC, and entry hits by product and country.  Advertisers can see their acceptance rates by operating systems and countries. Many improvements were also made to the user interface.

W3i built the new interface from the ground up offering many useful features:

• Quick Stat Dashboard:  The dashboard includes a quick snapshot of associates’ performance, including pie charts, bar charts, and trend line analysis for convenience. 
• Customized Reporting:  Associates can use a pivot table format to see different views of their data and export to excel or PDF.
• Data Insights:  Enhanced metrics allow associates to slice data down to a granular level.  
• Dashboard Message Center:  The message center improves communication, including messages on the latest promotional opportunities, technology roadmap releases, and other significant tips on how to increase consumer app distribution, revenue and engagement.

For example:

This advertiser can see how his conversion rates are trending.

W3i will be completing the roll out to additional Associates over the next several days.  For more information, contact W3i.

About W3: 

W3i increases revenue, distribution and engagement for consumer applications and browser add-ons. W3i uses a network approach combining the demand for free applications monetized by the distribution of relevant applications when the consumer is in the installation mindset.  The W3i Application Network uses InstallIQ, W3i’s proprietary Windows installation manager, the first installer to be certified in the TRUSTe Trusted Download Program.  Tested and optimized on over 350 million installs–currently 9.6 million installs monthly, W3i will prove to be a valued distribution partner in growing your consumer application business. To learn more, visit] the W3i Application Network.

Press Contact:

Deborah Manthei
Director of Marketing Communications
320-257-7571
deborah.manthei@W3i.com

 The names of companies and products mentioned herein are trademarks of their respective owners.

 ###

On November 21st over 600 developers and entrepreneurs got together to discuss what’s important to Minnesota tech start-ups. The halls that Best Buy legendary founder, Dick Schulze, built made for a great location for the next wave of Minnesota entrepreneurs to begin spreading their wings.

Several Minnesota start-up thought leaders were on hand including Graeme Thickens of Minnov8, Robert Stephens, founder of GeekSquad, Justin Porter of the University of Minnesota Venture Center, and John Roberts attorney at start-up friendly New Counsel. There were many young Minnesota entrepreneurs on hand including Mynul Khan, founder of FieldNation, and Adam Sellke of Evolve, who was a recent semifinalist at The Minnesota Cup. I was surprised that there were several Minnesota entrepreneurs who had multiple successful companies with exits.

Minnebar co-founder, Ben Edwards, led a very interactive roundtable discussion for web app builders. Ben’s leadership was clearly on display as a large group of primarily independent developers came forward with their questions on how to market the technology they built. It was very interesting to hear a group of developers discuss marketing issues. From my first hand experience as an internet company founder, I know you need to wear a lot of hats.

The most heated discussion of the day was “Bootstrapping Your Tech Start-up” led by Kevin Spreng of Robins, Kaplan, Miller & Ciresi. Kevin provided tips for bootstrapping entrepreneurs such as hire contractors rather than employees, go without an office, and focus on execution. Near the end of his session, Kevin stated that marketing agencies were a black hole because marketing agencies spend a lot of money, and he advised start-ups to handle their own marketing.  Curt Prins, Executive Director at District 202 and marketing guru, responded with his disagreement and said not all marketers needed a large budget to accomplish results for start-up entrepreneurs.  A rather lively debate ensued (see tweets under #minnebar). Nice work Kevin and Curt in driving a stimulating discussion on the topic of bootstrapping.

Justin Grammens led a packed session on how to develop Android applications.  Justin explained how, unlike iPhone apps, Android apps require no certification or approval. He also created a simple “Mobile Twin Cities” app during the session. I was amazed at how simple creating a basic Android application can be.

Dan Frankowski and Max Harper from Blue Shift Labs led a discussion on coding with Google’s App Engine that intrigued a number of developers. The crowd was very engaged. The scripting seemed pretty straight forward.

Mike Bollinger provided an introduction to HTML5. The tweets that followed said that HTML5 looked “amazing” and that users should stop using Internet Explorer 6 to increase the adoption rate.

Ryan Weber and I provided a summary of the top trends and winners in the application industry. Ryan forecasted that the integration of social and location-based mobile technology would be one of the most significant drivers of growth and change in the mobile app space.

My favorite discussion was the one facilitated by co-founder of Minnebar, Luke Francl, entitled, “Midwestern Startups: What is Possible?” Luke started by asking for those entrepreneurs that had worked in Silicon Valley to compare their start-up experience there versus their Minnesota start-upexperiences. One such entrepreneur answered Luke’s question by saying Silicon Valley start-ups aren’t as afraid to fail as those in Minnesota. Another entrepreneur said the biggest difference was how much deeper the talent pool was in the valley. Finally, someone joked that when he was in Minnesota, whenever someone asked where he worked, he responded with “I work for at a start-up.” When asked the same question while at an iPhone meet-up in Palo Alto, the response was met with laughter. Why? In Silicon Valley, everyone works for a start-up. The discussion next turned to several ideas on how we can make Minnesota a better place to create a tech start-up. Among the ideas identified were creating an incubator fund modeled after Y Combinator, getting the University of Minnesota to raise money to fund local tech start-ups similar to what the University of Wisconsin started a year ago, the creation of a new TechCrunch-like Minnesota focused community site, and taking advantage of Minnesota’s significant number of Fortune 1000 companies to provide a distribution channel for Minnesota-brewed new tech. Michael Gorman of Split Rock Partners, one of the sponsors, closed Luke’s discussion by saying he was looking forward to seeing where we would be in another year. Judging by all of the energy, and the way the Minnesota developer and entrepreneur crowd is starting to support each other, I am confident we will see continued growth in the Minnesota tech start-up community. I am looking forward to Minnebar 2010.

Rob Weber, VP of Business Development and Co-Founder, W3i, LLC
Rob is an Internet marketing pioneer with over nine, profitable years evolving W3i in the Integrated Interactive Media industry.

As you know, W3i gives users access to a wide catalog of applications on a variety of unique sites. At the same time, we also create value by connecting users to other apps they might find useful, interesting or relevant during the installation of these applications. As a clear investment in our application network, content discovery and furthering distribution opportunities for our advertising partners, I have the pleasure of announcing the release of a new internal product called Integrated Content Network.

Integrated Content Network (known internally as ICN) improves content discoverability through increased content availability and dynamic categorization on our sites. This benefits both users and advertisers. Users will discover more applications to download thus leading to greater distribution opportunities for our advertising partners, getting more of their applications in front of more potential users. Visit the freshly redesigned Freeze.com to see our first site powered by ICN.

But there’s more: ICN also increases internal efficiencies by leaps and bounds, allowing us to ensure we stay on top of application trends and seasonal changes. Couple that with ICN’s real-time site updates and we’re set to meet users’ needs with great speed.

ICN has a bright future. We have some great things in store for it, providing even further benefits to our partners and users. When these improvements are ready to be rolled out, you’ll be sure to hear about it.

As W3i moves forward, now is a better time than ever to become part of our application network. ICN is a perfect example of our investment in improving user experience and increasing distribution opportunities for advertisers. Looking for distribution for your app or monetizing your current traffic? You’ve come to the right place.

Eric Montag, Product Manager, W3i, LLC
Eric is a Pragmatic Marketing Certified Product Manager and uses his experience in internet marketing to lead the charge in product research, planning, and execution from both a consumer and business standpoint.

St. Cloud, Minnesota – October 9, 2009 – W3i Holdings, LLC announced today that Lisa Nistler was appointed Vice President of Marketing.

Lisa will be responsible for W3i’s marketing strategy and functions including: Owned and Operated web sites, creative services, usability, and client relationships.

Prior to joining W3i, Nistler was Vice President of Marketing and Technology at St. Francis Private School, where she was responsible for all traditional and interactive marketing, as well as technology educator. Lisa has extensive experience leading strategic account teams at technology companies. Before St. Francis, Nistler led Digital River’s strategic account development organization, focused on interactive marketing, optimization, and global ecommerce. Nistler has a broad-based background that spans technology, retail, direct marketing, agency, and academia.

Lisa attended the University of Colorado, Boulder, focusing on interior design, and the Minnesota School of Business, focusing on business administration.

Nistler will report to Andy Johnson, CEO. “Lisa is a key member of our team and is very committed to the growth of W3i. We congratulate her as she takes on new responsibilities in this leadership role,” comments Andy.

About W3i:
W3i, an application network that increases revenue, distribution and engagement for Windows applications and plug-ins, combines the demand for free and trial applications monetized by the distribution of recommended, relevant applications when the consumer is in the installation mindset. The W3i Application Network uses InstallIQ, W3i’s proprietary Windows installation manager, the first installation manager to be certified in the TRUSTe Trusted Download Program. Tested and optimized on over 300 million installs–currently over 9.6 million installs monthly and growing, W3i will prove to be a valued partner in growing your application business. To learn more, visit the W3i Application Network.

Press Contact:
Deborah Manthei
W3i Holdings, LLC.
deborah.manthei@W3i.com
320-257-7571

St. Cloud, Minnesota, July 29, 2009 – Rob and Ryan Weber, founders of W3i in Sartell, MN, win the first ever, Young Entrepreneur Award, presented by Minneapolis/St. Paul Business Journal.  The award recognizes young entrepreneurs who are running successful businesses in the metro area.

Rob and Ryan Weber started W3i in 2000 under the name of Freeze.com.  Recognizing that consumers want quality, free applications, they built a network of publishers, advertisers, and consumers.  Publishers are looking to increase revenue for their applications funded by advertisers that want to increase distribution, and consumers that want useful, free PC applications.  W3i brings all these interests together in the W3i Application Network.  Their business grew rapidly, and the Application Network is now averaging 9 million installations each month. 

Rob Weber is now the Vice President of Business Development while Ryan Weber is the Vice President of Corporate Strategy.  In these roles they identify and pursue opportunities to continue to grow the company.  “Free applications are in even more demand in this weakened economy,” said Rob Weber, VP of Business Development.  Publishers and advertisers of applications are looking for alternative ways to grow their businesses.  W3i provides the revenue and traffic to make that happen.”

“Hats off to Rob and Ryan Weber,” comments Andy Johnson, CEO.  “They developed a passion for Internet marketing at an early age and put that passion to work in expanding their business.  By making their technology available to other application marketers through the W3i Application Network, they are helping other entrepreneurial application companies succeed.”

About W3i
W3i increases revenue, distribution and engagement for Windows applications and plug-ins. W3i uses a network approach combining the demand for free and trial applications monetized by the distribution of additional, relevant applications when the consumer is in the installation mindset.  W3i’s Application Network uses InstallIQ, W3i’s proprietary Windows installation manager, the first installer to be certified in the TRUSTe Trusted Download Program.  Tested and optimized on over 300 million installs–currently 9 million installs monthly and growing, W3i will prove to be a valued partner in growing your application business. To learn more, visit W3i’s Application Network.

W3i to Distribute Cozi’s Photo Collage Screen Saver Application

St. Cloud, Minnesota, July 14, 2009 – W3i, provider of marketing solutions that increase distribution, revenue, and engagement for Windows applications, announced today that Cozi is now part of W3i’s Application Network.  Cozi, a free web service that helps busy families organize and simplify their daily lives, is using W3i’s Application Network to introduce its Photo Collage Screen Saver to a broader audience and grow its user base.

“W3i’s Application Network can be a significant source of new users for growth companies with Windows applications and various types of plug-ins,” said Rob Weber, VP of Business Development at W3i.  “Cozi joins a network of application companies in their efforts to ramp up user acquisition at a known ROI.  During the installation process, W3i’s Application Network leverages the demand for popular free applications by matching users with companies seeking distribution, such as Cozi and their Photo Collage Screen Saver, giving the user a value-add.”

The Cozi Photo Collage Screen Saver automatically finds digital photos already stored on the PC from vacations, birthdays, kid’s sports events and other family activities and displays them in dynamically generated photo collages on the computer screen, organized by event.  Cozi also offers a shared family calendar and solutions to organize household lists, share information and stay in communication.

“W3i’s distribution capabilities are helping us reach new users with a focus on family,” said Robbie Cape, CEO and Co-Founder of Cozi. “W3i’s Application Network is an effective way for us to promote the Cozi Photo Collage Screen Saver and expose this audience to all of the benefits of Cozi.”      

About W3i:
W3i increases revenue, distribution, and engagement for Windows applications and plug-ins. W3i uses a network approach combining the demand for free applications monetized by the distribution of relevant applications when the consumer is in the installation mindset.  W3i’s Application Network uses Install IQ, W3i’s proprietary Windows installation manager, the first installer to be certified in the TRUSTe Trusted Download Program.  Tested and optimized on over 250 million installs–currently 7.1 million installs monthly and growing, W3i will prove to be a valued distribution partner in growing your application business. To learn more, visit W3i’s Application Network.

About Cozi:
Cozi is a free web service that helps families organize and simplify their busy lives.  With Cozi, families have the tools to manage schedules, track shopping and to-do lists, organize household chores, and share family updates – all in one solution. Families can access Cozi from any computer at home or at work, and can get shopping lists, schedules and messages on any mobile phone. Located in Seattle, WA, Cozi was founded by veterans of Microsoft, Expedia, and Amazon with a vision for creating technology tuned to the family. Cozi has more than 1.5 million family members, and is available for free at www.cozi.com.

Press Contact:
Deborah Manthei
Director of Marketing Communications
320-257-7571
deborah.manthei@W3i.com

The names of companies and products mentioned herein are trademarks of their respective owners.