Launched in October 2008, Magpie was the first Twitter advertising network. The Magpie network includes over 12,000 advertisers and 16,000 Twitter publishers in 124 different countries. The company has executed campaigns for top brands including Burger King, Heineken, Playstation and Audi.

“This acquisition increases the international reach of our network and unlocks new advertiser relationships for our company,” said Ted Murphy, CEO of IZEA. “This is an excellent opportunity for us to expand our social media sponsorship footprint. We are delighted to acquire Magpie’s advertising network and welcome their users to the IZEA family.”

Users of Magpie’s technology will be migrated to IZEA’s own Twitter advertising platform SponsoredTweets.com, the leading platform for sponsorship of individual Twitter users. The transition is expected to be completed in July.

“IZEA pioneered the social media sponsorship space and has handled more transactions than anyone else in the business,” said Jan Schulz-Hofen, CEO of Magpie & Friends, Ltd. “IZEA profoundly understands what Magpie is about and shares the same values and ideals, especially when it comes to ethics and responsibility towards tweeters, followers, and the Twitter ecosystem as a whole. The acquisition of Magpie should create more opportunities for both sides of the marketplace.”

For more information about IZEA’s social media sponsorship opportunities and marketplaces, visit www.izea.com.

About IZEA

IZEA Holdings, Inc., (“IZEA”) is a world leader in social media sponsorship, operating multiple marketplaces including WeReward, SponsoredTweets, and SocialSpark. IZEA connects advertisers with social media publishers, helping them monetize their social media presence. The company has completed over 2,000,000 social media sponsorships for customers ranging from small local businesses to Fortune 50 organizations. For more information about IZEA, visit www.izea.com.

Safe Harbor Statement

This press release contains forward-looking statements, particularly as related to, among other things, the business plans of the Company, statements relating to goals, plans and projections regarding the Company’s financial position and business strategy. The words or phrases “would be,” “will allow,” “intends to,” “may result,” “are expected to,” “will continue,” “anticipates,” “expects,” “estimate,” “project,” “indicate,” “could,” “potentially,” “should,” “believe,” “think”, “considers” or similar expressions are intended to identify “forward-looking statements.” These forward-looking statements fall within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933 and Section 21E of the Securities Act of 1934 and are subject to the safe harbor created by these sections. Actual results could differ materially from those projected in the forward-looking statements as a result of a number of risks and uncertainties. Such forward-looking statements are based on current expectations, involve known and unknown risks, a reliance on third parties for information, transactions or orders that may be cancelled, and other factors that may cause our actual results, performance or achievements, or developments in our industry, to differ materially from the anticipated results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. Factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from anticipated results include risks and uncertainties related to the fluctuation of global economic conditions, the performance of management and our employees, our ability to obtain financing, competition, general economic conditions and other factors that are detailed in our periodic reports and on documents we file from time to time with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Statements made herein are as of the date of this press release and should not be relied upon as of any subsequent date. The Company cautions readers not to place undue reliance on such statements. The Company does not undertake, and the Company specifically disclaims any obligation, to update any forward-looking statements to reflect occurrences, developments, unanticipated events or circumstances after the date of such statement. Actual results may differ materially from the Company’s expectations and estimates.

In connection with the merger, the Company raised $3,300,000 through the sale of common stock and warrants completed May 12, 2011. The private placement was priced at $10,000 per unit, with each unit consisting of 30,303 shares of common stock and a warrant to purchase of 18,182 shares of common stock at an exercise price of $0.50 per share. The warrants are exercisable for a period of five years from the date of issuance. After accounting for the merger and financings, the Company currently has 44,939,384 shares of common stock outstanding.

“This represents a major milestone for our company”, said Ted Murphy, CEO of IZEA. “I am pleased to have completed this transaction, as it enables us to broaden our investor base and create a liquid market for our stock. As a publicly-traded company, we believe that we will be in a better position to take advantage of the growing opportunities emerging in our industry.”

The financing will be used primarily for expansion of IZEA’s outside sales and marketing operations in target markets. “We have spent the last few years focused on the development of our technology platforms and building our publisher network. The company is now in a position to more aggressively expand our strategic sales efforts with agencies and brands,” said Murphy.

Rodman & Renshaw, LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Rodman & Renshaw Capital Group, Inc. (NASDAQ: RODM), acted as financial advisor in connection with the private placement.

This press release does not constitute an offer to sell or the solicitation of an offer to buy nor will there be any sale of these securities in any state or jurisdiction in which such offer, solicitation or sale would be unlawful prior to registration or qualification under the securities laws of such state or jurisdiction.

IZEA has filed a Current Report on Form 8-K with the Securities and Exchange Commission describing in more detail the terms of the share exchange agreement and the private placement.

About IZEA

IZEA Holdings, Inc., (“IZEA”) is a world leader in social media sponsorship, operating multiple marketplaces including WeReward, SponsoredTweets, and SocialSpark. IZEA connects advertisers with social media publishers, helping them monetize their social media presence. The company has completed over 2,000,000 social media sponsorships for customers ranging from small local businesses to Fortune 50 organizations. For more information about IZEA, visit www.izea.com.

Safe Harbor Statement

This press release contains forward-looking statements, particularly as related to, among other things, the business plans of the Company, statements relating to goals, plans and projections regarding the Company’s financial position and business strategy. The words or phrases “would be,” “will allow,” “intends to,” “may result,” “are expected to,” “will continue,” “anticipates,” “expects,” “estimate,” “project,” “indicate,” “could,” “potentially,” “should,” “believe,” “think”, “considers” or similar expressions are intended to identify “forward-looking statements.” These forward-looking statements fall within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933 and Section 21E of the Securities Act of 1934 and are subject to the safe harbor created by these sections. Actual results could differ materially from those projected in the forward-looking statements as a result of a number of risks and uncertainties. Such forward-looking statements are based on current expectations, involve known and unknown risks, a reliance on third parties for information, transactions or orders that may be cancelled, and other factors that may cause our actual results, performance or achievements, or developments in our industry, to differ materially from the anticipated results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. Factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from anticipated results include risks and uncertainties related to the fluctuation of global economic conditions, the performance of management and our employees, our ability to obtain financing, competition, general economic conditions and other factors that are detailed in our periodic reports and on documents we file from time to time with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Statements made herein are as of the date of this press release and should not be relied upon as of any subsequent date. The Company cautions readers not to place undue reliance on such statements. The Company does not undertake, and the Company specifically disclaims any obligation, to update any forward-looking statements to reflect occurrences, developments, unanticipated events or circumstances after the date of such statement. Actual results may differ materially from the Company’s expectations and estimates.

We strive to service our advertisers and tweeters in a safe, ethical way. Please use the platform as it is intended.

You spoke. We listened. We made changes.

Effective today we are dropping the price of PRO accounts from $9.99 a month to a more appropriate $1.99 a month. This will retroactively effect those that signed up under the higher price. We feel that this price is well within reach of most people who want to more actively market themselves to advertisers for sponsorship opportunities. Regular accounts will always remain free.

We truly appreciate your feedback. You can expect other changes and enhancements to PRO accounts in the coming weeks. Thank you for being part of the community.

When you log into SponsoredTweets.com you will notice a new PRO button. Clicking this button brings you through the signup process to upgrade your account to PRO. PRO accounts are $9.95 $1.99 per month and have three core benefits:

Try it Free for 30 Days

All users are invited to try a PRO account free for 30 days (credit card required). The fee for PRO accounts will be deducted from your balance. If your balance won’t cover the fee we use your credit card as a backup. You can cancel your PRO account at any time. Our hope is that the additional exposure and lower cash out makes SponsoredTweets an even more profitable social media sponsorship marketplace for you.

Your Cost Per Tweet, FAR and CPC still matter

While a PRO account can help you get more exposure that exposure will only help if your cost and historical performance are in line. Be sure to check out your suggested price in your account settings.

Not interested in a PRO account? No problem! Basic accounts will always be free.

September 13, 2010 – Orlando FL. IZEA, a world leader in social media sponsorships, today released its first report on The State of Social Media Sponsorship for the second quarter of 2010.  The report was compiled from survey data of over 2,800 social media publishers, consultants, marketers and public relations professionals who volunteered to participate. It uncovers the impact sponsorships have on engagement, compensation practices, publisher preferences, and earnings. Complimentary copies of this survey are available from IZEA’s website.

The survey defined Social Media Sponsorship (SMS) as the practice of providing compensation to a social media publisher in exchange for mention, promotion or review through a publisher’s social media channels. Compensation may be in the form of cash, free product or service, experiences, discounts, coupons or other special incentives.

Key Findings

• 88.3 percent of social media publishers monetize social media in some way
• 87.4 percent of social media publishers have or would create sponsored content
• The average social media publisher spends $711 per year on hosting, education, conferences and related social media costs
• Twitter users earn 298 percent more in SMS for their blog than non-twitter users

“The growth of the SMS industry is astounding,” said Ted Murphy, CEO and founder of IZEA.  “According to PQ Media, social media sponsorships are positioned to grow from $46 million in 2009 to over $160 million in 2014, this explosive growth presents significant opportunities for publishers to monetize their social media channels.”

With social media enabling every consumer to become a publisher, advertiser demand is clearly increasing. Brands of all sizes recognize the value of building relationships with social media publishers. This is validated by the majority of publishers (71.3 percent), who stated that they have been approached by someone offering cash, free products, discounts or other compensation in exchange for a blog post, tweet or other social media promotion.

While the report underscores the growth in SMS, it also highlights areas of concern. Survey data determined that 35 percent of public relations, social media and marketing professionals are not aware of the FTC guidelines on endorsement announced in late 2009. Only 29 percent of these professionals indicated that they read and understood the guidelines, meaning that the majority are unclear as to the best practices.

“Our space is maturing and becoming more sophisticated;” said Murphy, “however, we clearly need better education among both advertisers and publishers. In order for this space to gain widespread acceptance, everyone needs to play by the same legal rules and ethical guidelines.”

About IZEA

IZEA is a world leader in social media sponsorship, operating multiple marketplaces such as WeReward, SponsoredTweets, and SocialSpark.  Our mission is to empower everyone to value and exchange content, creativity and influence. Through it network of over 400,000 social media publishers, the company has successfully launched over 1,000,000 social media sponsorships for over 35,000 advertisers, from small local businesses to Fortune 50 organizations.  IZEA is venture funded by Inflexion Partners, Village Ventures, Draper Fisher Jurvetson, and DFJ Gotham Ventures.

In addition to the Tweeter purge we are also making some adjustments to create higher quality offers for the remaining Tweeters. We will soon be increasing the minimum cost per click for advertisers. Advertisers with existing offers at a lower price will be grandfathered in.

- Deposit $1,000 via credit card and get a $300 Bonus!
- Deposit $10,000 via credit card and get a $3,000 Bonus!

To claim your bonus or for more information please contact Pete Scott, VP Business Development at 321-332-6830 x136  or 407-963-1649(cell).