Shouts & Hollers

A : I am  the Chief Technical Officer and primary developer for Vec3. I design and develop the custom software applications that power Vec3, and in overseeing all of the technical operations and management of the IT department. I personally develop custom search engine and social media marketing strategies for all Vec3 clients and ensures that the company continues to grow and keeps up with all of the latest technologies, incorporating emerging technologies as needed. Me and my girlfriend Mandi love entertaining and wowing our friends with our culinary creations. We also have the privilege of sharing our home with four cats Mr. Bones, Thumbalina, Mac and Cheese and one playful black lab Brewski. A graduate of Marshall University, I can be reached at mrb@vecthree.com.

Q: What is zi.ma? What does it do?

A: Zima is the latest and best URL-shortening service. It allows users to shorten URLs into more manageable web addresses. It’s much easier to remember zi.ma/MartinBowling than it is to remember www.martinbowling.com/pages/bio/bio.aspx. Also, with the growth of micro-blogging services like Twitter, which restrict posts to 140 characters, you need all the characters you can get. It’s much easier to post a shortened URL than it is to post a web site with several sub-folders and so on. That’s where we zi.ma comes in.

Q: And how did it get its name?

A: I’m something of a beer snob. No, I’m a very big beer snob. Can’t drink anything that doesn’t have some flavor and character. While out for drinks with Internet marketing superstar Andy Beal and his wife, the conversation moved to my love for fine beer. They asked why I was stopping at just two beers. I said I didn’t want to break his bank, since he was buying.

Turns out, Andy and his wife started spreading the rumor that I was drinking Zima all night. The Martin Bowling Loves Zima meme spread quickly. People started blogs, Twitter accounts and filmed videos, all ripping on me and my supposed love for Zima.

One day, my friend, Dr. Pete, asked when I was going to register zi.ma and create the ultimate URL-shortening service. That’s how Zi.ma was born, basically as a joke. It’s sort of taken off from there. In fact, Wired magazine’s Web Monkey blog just named it the No. 1 URL shortener on the web. So that’s cool.

Q: Why Zi.ma, why now?

A: Although there are several other services, none offered the full-spectrum of features that are required for Internet/social media marketers. These include full click statistics; a 301 re-direct–which passes all of the “link love” to the destination URL; the ability to create custom, vanity URLs; the ability to have an expiration date and password; and the ability to edit your URL after it’s already been made. This is particularly handy for an Internet marketer because they can create a vanity URL and change the link over time to promote the most relevant content to that particular keyword.

Q: Many people might know zi.ma from TweetDeck. Have you contacted many Twitter client developers and have they all be receptive to zi.ma?

A: We are currently in talks with many other Twitter client developers and they have all been receptive to the wide-variety of features that Zi.ma can offer its users. We are currently in talks with EasyTweets.com for a full integration with their service at WebMaster World’s PubCon in Las Vegas next week.