Event Starts: Dec 31, 1969, 7:00 pm
Jon Zack, serial entrepreneur and owner of EggZack -- a company that helps businesses manage
their websites and other marketing functions with a single entry
-- epitomizes the self-made man.
Growing up poor with a brother and a single mom in Edison,
N.J., Zack had the heart of an entrepreneur early on -- he
started the Zack Travel Agency at age 10. (He called the
airlines, set himself up with brochures and ticket jackets, and
was stopped only by the fact that he couldn't come up with the
necessary $5,000 bond.)
He learned computer programming in his private high school
in the early '80s, and had his own Commodore 64 and other early
computers. When he became a father just after graduating, his
college plans were put aside, and he started selling and learning
more about technology.
"From the time I was a kid, I knew how to read what people
wanted and provide them with what they wanted," he recalls. "And
to build a business around it."
Soon, at age 19, he was convincing business owners to
partner with him instead of hiring him; his first such
arrangement was in the electronic and appliance industry. He
built one of the first discount shopping networks in the
country.
After owning pieces of four companies and running them, he
cofounded a ticketing and office company in Brooklyn, N.Y. Then
he started one of the first web agencies, Need2Know, selling it
after 12 years.
He founded EggZack in New Jersey in 2008, but moved to
Bethlehem in 2011 because of the resources and workforce he found
there. He commutes an hour each way from his home in Flemington,
N.J.
What inspired you to start EggZack?
I'm fascinated with how technology impacts business from a
sales and marketing and operations standpoint.
Advertising has its place in the business world, but most
people don't know how to do it... It takes a lot of work and
expertise to do it, and the people who do it aren't cheap. Small
businesses do things that are quick and easy, but all they're
doing is throwing bits and pieces out there, hoping someone might
jump on it.
I'd rather see them put out information on a regular basis,
so people might do a transaction now, or in six months. It builds
a longterm relationship with the public and with
customers.
Explain how your product works.
It's a local sales system that integrates and automates all
the marketing tools that businesses need to have into one system
that requires just one entry. It maintains your website, does
your e-mail marketing, your search engine optimization, your
social media marketing, your local media, your online, your
directory and your blogs, your news sites and event calendars --
all the things that make up your digital presence.
We show them how to use it to get the most bang for their
buck. We set them up, either by providing them with a website or
using their existing website. There are three levels, and they
pick the level they need. When they're fully set up, we turn the
system over to them. They can also hire us for a monthly fee to
write their content.
It's designed to make informing their customers easy. We
want them to stop advertising and start informing people of
things like special food items or special offers (for a
restaurant, as an example). We want them to post two or three
times a week. And it's important that everything leads back to
the website.
How has your company grown?
We started with two people: my partner and CTO, Kyle
Thomas, and myself. Now we're up to about 21 employees. In the
last four years, we've been building revenues by 50 to 100
percent. We have about 2,000 clients; and we retain about 91
percent of our clients.
We just purchased a company in New Jersey,TrellisApp, which does
real-time commerce, and we're integrating their product into our
company, so we'll be able to not only promote businesses, but
complete transactions, such as buying something, making a
reservation or scheduling an appointment. We've been working with
them for about a year, and officially purchased the company on
June 9.
Why did you move the company to Bethlehem?
I have grown companies in New York, Connecticut and New
Jersey. I always wanted to have a business in the Lehigh Valley,
because not only are there a lot of tech-savvy people at all the
great universities here, but also there's a solid blue- and
white-collar workforce.
We also felt our product served a market like this and
would resonate with the market better. Even though we sell
nationally, the staff should understand why it's important. In
this area there's a strong [awareness] of local businesses that
are client-based.
When we had the opportunity to apply at Ben
Franklin TechVentures [Ben Franklin Technology Partners of
the Northeastern PA], we jumped at the chance. Moving
here took the company from the bump-along stage in 2009 to 2011,
to growing rapidly, thanks to the support of Ben Franklin and the
community.
We have also taken advantage of the KIZ
[Keystone Innovation Zone] in Bethlehem; we got a grant
from them, and we got two interns -- they have been great. We
have also [received help] from Lehigh University,the
Iacocca Institute, Lafayette College, the
Greater
Lehigh Valley and Easton
chambers of commerce, and the Lehigh Valley Angel
Investors.
I think that for certain types of tech businesses,
including ours, the Lehigh Valley is an incredible place to start
up. We couldn't have done it without the support of Ben Franklin
and the Lehigh Valley.
What's the big differentiator for EggZack?
Other companies are doing parts of what we do, but no one
else integrates it all completely. Our company says, instead of
spending $1,700 a month on hiring an agency or a part-time
marketing person, or doing it yourself (it takes about 20 to 27
hours a week), you can have our system do it for $88 a month and
15 to 30 minutes a week.
Writer: Susan L. Pena
As posted here http://www.keystoneedge.com/founders/founderjonzack061914.aspx?utm_source=VerticalResponse&utm_medium=Email&utm_term=Jon+Zack+of+EggZack&utm_content=%7bEmail_Address%7d&utm_campaign=The+latest+revolutionary+technology+coming+out+of+PA%3b+plus%2c+Pittsburgh%27s+top+ten+companies+of+all+time