The launch of the new version of zBUCKz coincides with the launch of the program’s latest paysite, GayAsianAnime.com, as well as new tours for each of the existing sites.
“The launch of zBUCKz version 2.0 marks a whole new chapter for us,” Co-founder and CFO DannyZ said. “We have listened to our customers and made huge improvements to our members areas. Likewise, we have listened to our affiliates and made enhancements to our affiliate program. I really feel these changes will take us to the next level, providing a better experience for both our surfers and webmasters alike.”
In addition to changes in design and navigation, zBUCKz has incorporated cascading billing and added an array of promotional tools showcasing the program’s exclusive content, including blog entries, free hosted galleries, free hosted sites and a new selection of banner ads.
Changes to the members areas of zBUCKz sites include offering videos in three formats (Windows Media, MPEG and iPod MP4), and increased interactivity, allowing members to rate each video and photo set and to post comments.
As part of its version 2.0 launch, zBUCKz is now branding itself as a “gay Asian network” of sites, granting their members access to all four paysites for the price of one. Each site in the zBUCKz network now will be updated twice a week, giving members access to more than 30 updates of exclusive content each month.
zBUCKz CEO CJ told XBIZ that the wealth of exclusive content the company shoots for its paysites is a key advantage over the gay Asian sites offered by other affiliate programs.
“There are actually a number of sites, mostly part of large programs, that try to do gay Asian, but they all pretty much buy the same stock content,” CJ said. “All of our content is shot exclusively by us for our sites, on location throughout Asia. That is a big advantage we have over the [other] people that have tried to break into the market.”
CJ said that the exclusive content of their sites and a relative lack of competition in the niche have led to strong retention rates for zBUCKz.
“[The niche retains] much more than other niches I have worked in,” CJ told XBIZ. “I would say that our standard member [retention] is roughly twice that of the industry average,” CJ said. “We have a number of members that have been with us for well over a year and a few even longer than that.”
While zBUCKz is strictly a revshare program at this point, CJ said the company “may consider pay-per-signup in the future.”
“Right now, our affiliates are really happy with revshare because of the long-term retention,” CJ said. “It is nice for us, and serves as a pretty good indicator that we are doing our job well.”
For more information, visit ZBuckz.com.
