Zocku Owners' Network

So you've created your SocialGO network, but haven't quite got things the way you want them?  You're struggling to get the design to look just right?  Or maybe you're struggling to get a layout that works best for your members? 

Don't worry! The GO Setup & Design Widget is just for you.  For $349.99 one time fee the design and tech team that developed SocialGO will do it all for you.  They will design a network logo, create a professional network look and configure the layout and settings of your network to suit your needs.  They will also set-up member subscriptions (if you have taken the Member Billing Option) and help you setup Google advertising and Analytics for you on your network so you can make money and track your members.  Included in the price is up to 10 hours of design & layout time which has to be used within 2 months of buying the widget.  Plus you get a widget and/or theme up to the value of $50 included. 

Upon purchase of this widget, an account manager will be in touch with you within one working day to get the ball rolling.  If you have any questions please contact support@zocku.com.

To buy the Go Setup & Design Widget please go to your Admin Centre http://my.zocku.com and click on the Widget Tab.

Note: We can not do any custom development work with the API as part of the GO Setup & Design service, but are happy to recommend professionals that will.

Now that a vibrant community of professional suppliers has grown around SocialGO we plan to launch the SocialGO Pro Service Directory in the very near future. 

The purpose is to connect network owners who have a need with professional suppliers who can solve that need.  The listing will be FREE for pprofessional suppliers that want to list and FREE for network owners to access. 

You can expect to see professional suppliers offering services such as custom development, network moderation, network marketing, affiliate programmes, content management, custom design etc.

The SocialGO Pro Services Directory will initially be found in the Admin Centre of every network next to the Theme Store Tab.  Later it will also be features on SocialGO.com.

If you woud like to list your company or service in the Pro Services Directory, we would be happy to hear from you.  Please email niall@socialgo.com.

WIN free your next 12 months of subscriptions!

Zocku are offering 3 lucky premium network owners free Zocku subscription for the next 12 months.

All you have to do is simply update your payment details in your Admin Centre at http://my.zocku.com and you’ll be entered to win. To do this follow these simple steps:

1. Go to your Admin Centre at http://my.zocku.com
2. Login in using your email and password
3. At the bottom of the “Overview” page click on “Edit Card Details”
4. Type in your most recent credit card details and click enter
5. That's it!

The competition is only open for seven days.

Good Luck!

 

Competition Terms and Conditions
The following competition terms and conditions (the “Competition Terms”) will apply to all of SocialGO’s competitions including those on the www.socialgo.com website (the “Competition”) unless expressly stated. By entering the Competition you agree to be bound by the Competition Terms and the terms of the Privacy Policy.
SocialGO reserves the right to cancel or amend the Competition and/or the Competition Terms at any time without prior notice.
Any changes to the Competition or the Competition Terms will be made available on the www.socialgo.com website.
SocialGO’s decision is final. No correspondence will be entered into.
Qualifying Entrants
1. All entries into the free subscription competition must be received by midnight BST on 12 August 2009.
2. The winner will receive a 12 month SocialGO subscription. Subscription refers to the monthly fee, any widgets, bandwidth, games or themes are not included and must still be paid for.
3. Any entrants under the age of 18 must obtain parental consent prior to entering the Competition.
4. By entering the Competition you warrant that all the information submitted by you is true, current and complete. SocialGO reserves the right to verify the eligibility of all entrants.
5. The winner of the Competition will be the three entries randomly drawn after the closing date from all the entries received.
6. The winner will be notified by email within 3 days from the Competition closing date from the personal information provided to SocialGO. In the event that the winner cannot be contacted within the period set out above SocialGO reserves the right to choose another winner at random.
7. Prizes are non-transferable and there is no cash alternative.
8. SocialGO reserves the right to disqualify any entrant if it has reasonable grounds to believe the entrant has breached any of the Competition Terms.
9. SocialGO cannot accept responsibility for any entries lost, delayed, misdirected, damaged or undelivered. SocialGO is not responsible for any technical errors in internet access or otherwise preventing entry to the Competition.
10. SocialGO is not responsible for any problems or technical malfunction of any computer online system, software failure and traffic congestion on the network as a result in participation in the Competition.
11. Any personal data relating to entrants will be used solely in accordance with current UK data protection legislation.
12. The Competition and the term and conditions of this agreement will be governed by the laws of England and the courts of England have exclusive jurisdiction in relation to any disputes arising from this dispute.

Hi Guys,

As many of you know we have started to charge for bandwidth/storage overages from your May billing cycle and a few owners have expressed concerns having received your first bandwith and storage bill.

Let me start by saying the following:

IF YOU HAVE A BANDWIDTH/STORAGE BILL THAT MEANS YOU HAVE A HUGELY SUCCESSFUL SITE.  CONGRATULATIONS!

Let me add one other thing:

IF YOU HAVE A SUCCESSFUL SITE THERE ARE MANY OPTIONS FOR YOU TO MAKE MONEY THAT WE CAN HELP YOU WITH.

Here are some of them:

1. First, we have run a series of Affiliate Power Workshops that explain how you can make money from your traffic using affiliate programmes. If you missed the workshops the watch the videos as they are VERY helpful.

Part 1:
http://owners.zocku.com/magazine/read...

Part 2:
http://owners.zocku.com/magazine/read/power-workshop-ii-with-tim-mouton-aka-ruffkin_213.html

2. Second, if you do not have the time to put in place the affiliate programmes that will make you money, then we have partnered with monetization expert, Tim Morton, who is happy to talk to you about how he can help monetize your network. Please contact support@zocku.com and we will get things moving for you.

3. Third, we are currently developing a very advanced Premium Member Billing system whereby you will have an alternate payment processor that is adult friendly.  Plus you will be able to charge people to access certain premium sections of your site, while other areas can be free. Plus you will be able to charge people to watch certain videos. And in stage 2, you will be able to charge people to join certain groups and/or events. This will be very powerful for adult networks.

So there should be no reason why anyone who has a large and successful network to worry about extra bandwidth charges, because if you have extra bandwidth/storage charges YOU HAVE A HUGELY SUCCESSFUL NETWORK AND YOU JUST NEED TO MONETIZE IT WITH OUR HELP!

Any questions?

Stivi

Hi Networkers,

We hope everyone has made great use of the Free Bandwidth and Storage offer for those that joined us in February March and April to help build and grow your networks.  But alas we can no longer keep the accountants at bay and from the start of your May billing cycle we will begin charging for any overages in bandwidth and storage. 

If you have any overages you will be charged at the end of your next billing date for the preceding monthly billing cycle.  For example, you will be charged at the end of your May billing cycle for what you used in May. 

For most of you bandwidth & storage overages wont be a problem as only the very largest networks exceed there limits.  If you are likely to exceed your limit we have sent an email to you so that you are aware.

If you want to keep track of your bandwidth and storage consumption each month, and if necessary take action, please go to your Admin Centre http://my.zocku.com.  On the “Overview” tab (bottom right) we have displayed your current bandwidth and storage consumption since the start of your billing current billing cycle.  You will continue to accumulate bandwidth and storage until the end of your monthly billing cycle.  At the bottom of the display it tells you how many additional blocks you have already consumed this billing cycle.  This will give you an idea how much you can expect to consume for the full monthly billing cycle.

Please note that at the end of your monthly billing cycle your bandwidth is reset to zero, but your storage continues to accumulate unless you delete content. 

If you have any queries please do not hesitate to contact our support team on support@zocku.com.

Okay, so the Easter present we slipped into your admin centre when you weren't watching was the Layout Manager and wow have we had some feedback from everyone playing with their new toy in the last 24 hours.  Thanks for all the compliments, suggestions and odd bug report.  Keep it coming!

There are a few known bugs that we are working on and they will be fixed soon. If their is anything you discover thats needs to be looked at, tell us right away on support@zocku.com.

Now with great freedom comes great responsibility.  You can now do some super crazy things with your networks , but you can also get yourself into a pickle if you're not careful.  If you do, don't worry as help is not far away. Spence (a.k.a. the Evil Genius) over at Widget Laboratory is particularly expert at getting owners out of these pickles (the Lab worked very closely with us througout the Layout Manager development and knows it back to front).  So drop Spence a message if you need de-pickling on  help@widgetlaboratory.com.  

We have also created a new topic in the forum for the Layout Manager, which should build into a great repository of ideas and advice.  Also, there is a Layout Manager section in this blog where you can watch videos and read tutorials.

Enjoy
Doody

We are now a few weeks out of beta and our growth shows no signs of slowing.  Every day in excess of 250,000 unique visitors are now enjoying the SocialGO and Zocku platforms.  New and vibrant communities are popping up everywhere. 

The followiing chart gives you an insight into how many happy users are joining the bandwagon each day.  A big thank you to all the new users for choosing to join a SocialGO or Zocku network.  We hope you enjoy.

With our new data center in the US, along with our data centre in Europe, we are serving the ever increasing user body with solid page speeds and absolutely minimal downtime. 

Someone asked me the other day about our Alexa traffic. So there is no confusion, the likes of Alexa and Compete don't count any data from SocialGO or Zocku networks that have their own custom URL.  Since most of our big networks have their own custom URL's you will find the Alexa and Compete data to be a long way from what the real data is.  The data above comes from our own internal data and is accurate to the single unit.

Cheerio
Doody

5 Days remain before THE BIG SWITCH.  Before 1 March 09 all adult networks with content of a sexual nature must move from SocialGO to Zocku in order to avoid the risk of your network being suspended. 

Zocku.com is a dedicated social networking platform and support team exclusively for Network Owners wanting to create social networks with mature content.  Zocku is identical in functionality to SocialGO.  Moving to Zocku is as simple as flicking a switch.  You and your members will virtually not notice any difference or disturbance when moved.  Zocku.com will provide network owners with:

• Dedicated pricing package
• Keep your design, data, users and media
• Dedicated US data centre
• Complete white labeling
• Dedicated owner’s community (http://owners.zocku.com)
  
• Premium help support system

And for everyone that joins Zocku.com in February we will be giving you FREE until the end of April:

• Free member billing,
• Free extra bandwidth/storage,

Please see the following link for the Zocku features and pricing table.  http://www.zocku.com/zockupricing.pdf

In order to move to the Zocku pricing plan, please go to your Admin Centre http://my.socialgo.com.  On the bottom of the "Overview" page you will see the "Payment Details" block.  Click on "Change My Plan" then select the Zocku pricing plan.  Follow the instructions to make your payment.

Upon successful payment your network will be instantly switched over to Zocku and it features activated.  It may however take a few days for your url to change from mynetworkname.socialgo.com to mynetworkname.zocku.com.

If you have any problems with the payment process, please contact support@zocku.com.

Cheerio
Doody

Loads of owners have asked over the last few weeks for network owners to have greater control over who can upload content and and if members can upload content can the owners approve that conetnt before it goes live.

So yesterday we added some new functionality to give owners the ability allow or dissallow members to (see A):

a) send global bulletins,
b) create groups
c) create events
d) create blogs
e) upload video
f) upload music 

Once you have set any of the above permissions to "allow", you then have a further choice to approve any content that members add.  So now you can approve the following before they are displayed (see B):

a) member photos
b) member videos

You will find these new permissions in the Admin Centre > Access Settings, right alongside the original permissions that allow members to invite friends, require approval for sign-ups and require approval to create groups/events/magazine submissions.



We hope this will give owners the extra controls they have been asking for to carefully shape the content that ends up on your networks.

Enjoy.

Doody

Thank you to all the network owners that have established ‘mature content’ networks on SocialGO.  We are very committed to serving the needs of quality networks that feature mature content and today we announce the launch of Zocku.com.

Zocku.com will be a dedicated social networking platform and support team exclusively for Network Owners wanting to create social networks with mature content.  Zocku.com will provide their network owners with:

• Dedicated pricing package,
• Exclusive Zocku sub-domain,
• Dedicated US data centre,
• Complete white labeling,
• Dedicated owner’s community,
• Premium help support system and
• Unconditional money back guarantee*

And for everyone that joins Zocku.com in February we will be giving you FREE until the end of April:

• Free member billing,
• Free extra bandwidth/storage,

1. If you are interested in using Zocku
Zocku will initially be available to Network Owners with existing SocialGO mature networks.  Existing SocialGO networks that wish to use the Zocku platform will be seamlessly moved over by our technical team upon successful application and initial payment.  Network Owners do not have to do anything else!

Network Owners who wish to become early adopters of Zocku.com can apply to transfer from SocialGO to Zocku by registering interest here. We will email you within 48 hours of your application to advise when your network can be transferred. 

If your network address was mynetwork.socialgo.com, it will become mynetwork.zocku.com.  But don’t worry, your old URL will redirect users for the next 3 months so you have time to let your members know.

All transfers from SocialGO to Zocku are expected to take place prior to 15 February 2009, after which SocialGO will no longer host networks with mature content that is of a sexual nature. 

2. If you are not interested in using Zocku
By providing a dedicated environment for mature content at Zocku, SocialGO will soon no longer accept networks with mature content that is of a sexual nature after 15 February 2009.  Existing SocialGO mature networks that do not wish to use the Zocku platform will have the option to purchase a full Database Export of their site content and membership data prior to a scheduled deactivation of any such network. Any deactivation of a network will only occur with reasonable notice and within a reasonable time period and never will a Network Owner be deprived of their data or content.

3. When will Zocku be open to new networks?
For the time being priority will be given to Network Owners that have already created quality mature networks on SocialGO and wish to transfer from SocialGO to Zocku.  We are planning to open Zocku to new networks from 15 February 2009.  In the meantime mature networks can continue to join SocialGO for FREE and then migrate over before 15 February 2009.

4. Will Zocku be fast and reliable?
Zocku will be a dedicated platform with its own totally dedicated  hosting infrastructure in the USA, plus a premium support team. It will be exclusively for quality Owners of mature content networks that are interested in paying for a quality service.  It will not be weighed down by network owners that are only interested in abusing the platform as free-loaders. 

5. Can Network Owners be sure they’ll get quality service?
*For your complete peace of mind we are offering an Unconditional Money Back Guarantee whereby any Network Owner that is not happy within the first month can get back everything they have paid to Zocku (excludes third party widgets) with no questions asked.

6. Why would you want to pay for Zocku?
Apart from providing a high quality service exclusively for Owners of networks with mature content, Zocku’s primary and future focus will be to develop a platform that helps Network Owners monetize their networks so they can create thriving and successful online businesses.  We have many exciting monetization tools in the pipeline.

7. How can network owners monetize their networks?
Already many Network Owners are using Member Billing to generate considerable revenues from their network, for example many networks charge members small monthly fees that more than cover any running costs.  To help all Network Owners monetize their networks we are giving away for FREE Member Billing until 30 April 2009 if you join Zocku in February.  We have also made Run Your Own Advertising standard in the Zocku package, so you can monetize your networks even further through advertising.

8. What happens with SocialGO?
Going forward SocialGO will operate as a separate platform and for the time being remain in BETA.  From 15 February 2009 SocialGO will soon no longer accept mature networks with content of a sexual nature.  In the meantime mature networks can trial SocialGO, but please bear in mind you will have to either migrate to Zocku or leave SocialGO before the cut-off date. 

9. The Zocku Pricing Plan
Zocku will provide Owners of networks with mature content with a dedicated pricing package plus options.

Zocku Premium a dedicated mature package that includes - $49.99 monthly

• White labeling removes all references to Zocku (& SocialGO)

• Use your own URL so you have the option to call it what you want

• Run your own advertising so you can monetize your traffic

• Premium support so you get rapid quality help with any problem

• 7GB storage & 70GB bandwidth so you can build a big network (7GB max bandwidth for video chat)

• Plus loads of extra features, developer tools & more see details below

Supporting the Zocku Package are the following options:

• Member Billing allows you to charge your members a fee to access your network. Super powerful and easy to get setup. You can make the payment optional or required, regular or one-off - normally $19.99 monthly but FREE UNTIL APRIL 30 2009 (if you join in February)

• Storage and Bandwidth Blocks if your network is highly active - normally $9.99 monthly (per block of 5GB storage & 50 GB bandwidth) but FREE UNTIL APRIL 30 2009 (if you join in February)

10. How to Start Your Transfer
If you want to transfer your SocialGO network to Zocku all you have to do to get started is click here and register your interest.  Once we have received your registration we will schedule your transfer and send you a few simple instructions to initiate the transfer.  We will do everything from there, it could not be simpler.


Zocku Pricing & Features Table

http://www.zocku.com/zockupricing.pdf