While inquiring about the website behind the domain BasketBall.com, I discovered Wazimo. Located at the heart of Tel Aviv, Wazimo brings a fresh perspective to publishing. They mix cutting edge technology with a drive to challenge the status quo of user engagement.
With more than a dozen websites, their editors live and breathe online trends. The team is dedicated to bringing top notch, engaging stories to their audience through premium websites. Danielle Altman took time out of her day managing projects to give me a peak behind the curtain.
Mike: Tell me a bit about the company, Wazimo and what you do.
Danielle: Wazimo is a digital publishing company based in Tel Aviv that focuses on creating engaging content. We were founded a little over four years ago by our CEO, Oded, and our CTO, Adi – both who, before creating Wazimo, had ample experience working in the online advertising industry. We consider our edge to be bringing together quality content with our proprietary technology that allows us to distribute and monetize across platforms efficiently. I work as a project manager for Wazimo, tackling the execution of new ventures for the company.
Mike: I originally came across Basketball.com. Tell me about managing that as a project. What challenges and victories have you encountered?
Danielle: We recently became the operator of Basketball.com, along with Football.com, Trivia.com, and Chocolate.com. While we are still at the beginning of these projects and still finalizing directions, we are very excited at the opportunities that these premium domains have to offer. We are starting these projects by implementing our core competency of content but are also exploring options of expanding to other revenue streams. We believe each of these domains can become leaders in their vertical.
Editor’s Note: You may recall an interview with chocolate.com I did back in 2010 with the company operating on the name back then.
Mike: Does Wazimo own the domain properties or do you work in partnership with premium domain owners? If not, is that a possible future path?
Danielle: We formed a partnership with the domain owners.
Mike: While we live in a global marketplace, are there any advantages or challenges in operating from Tel Aviv?
Danielle: Tel Aviv has been a great place to work. It is a hub for cutting edge technology across many industries, and this high-tech environment has allowed our company to flourish. As you said, we live in a global marketplace and we have several international partners, so we are accustomed to working with challenges like time-differences.
Mike: With your core competency being content, what advice do you have to small online business owners looking to improve their place in the market. Is content the key?
Danielle: Content is definitely a major factor. Creating something that will interest and engage readers is critical, regardless of niche. However, learning to use the technology and tools to distribute content to interested readers is also important. Great content that never reaches the right audience is still great content, but not great for business. I think that Wazimo does an excellent job of mixing content and technology, while also consistently working on improving ourselves in these two areas.
Mike: Not only do you work with great keyword domain names, but you have other great brandable names such as graduatez.com. Is the strategy the same with these names? Any inspiration behind this particular name?
Danielle: We love all of our domains, including graduatez.com. Our owned and operated sites cover numerous verticals, and each of our sites has a unique strategy, but they all revolve around content and technology.
Another Note: If you have a premium domain and would like to explore a partnership, reach out to Wazimo and see if its a good fit. They are looking to expand and willing to discuss. Good luck!