Hel and advice required for new consumer/business website

**Ravanol** · 04-09-04

Hi all,

What a fantastic site. I have been reading the articles and you all seem very knowledgeable and supportive. Here is my story, any advice or guidance will be most appreciated. I hope you don't see this as spam, it is a serious attempt to get some ideas and support. My email is al.shortland@[remove this bit here]btinter[and this]net.com. I am now registered as WordMouth Ltd.

In December I came up with the idea which is outlined below. I approached a mate to help me build the site, but he was too occupied with other matters to give it his full attention. As the months passed, and my patience dwindled I decided to have a go at constructing the site myself. I am an IT consultant after all, and can program many languages.. but I have never attempted a web site before. WordMouth is the result.. and can be witnessed at http://www.wordmouth.com. I have a HUGE amount of enthusiasm for the idea and really hope that one day it could be a vital tool.. in the same way that yellow pages is today. We all have to start somewhere...and I know the design isn't perfect.... but I can improve that as I grow. All I need is some way of getting the public of the UK to chat - for free - about anything local! I have joined Yahoo (who charged £200 to misprint and mis-spell my entry http://uk.dir.yahoo.com/Business_and...es/Companies/, submitted my press release to PRWeb (eg: http://news.google.com/news?q=wordmo...ab=wn&filter=0), talked to COC (waste of time... man would not even get out of his chair to look at my site.. he just gave me lots of leaflets!), and have sent press releases to as many magazines and newspapers as I can. I am so far in a few magazines (this week "Web User (http://www.webuser.co.uk/cgi-bin/for...b=5&o=93&part=) and next month I have a feature in "Internet Works". I was also in my local paper (http://www.thisisworcestershire.co.u...t011ZM.html... and that generated all of about 4 hits!).

I have delivered leaflets to over 100 businesses in my local area.... and heard nothing.

So... am I doing something wrong? How can I gain the publics enthusiasm? Do you know of any link exchange or affiliate schemes that I could use?

Attached is my press release.

Many thanks,
A Shortland
WordMouth
--
Here is my press release.

WordMouth.com aims to allow the general public to promote the businesses and services in their local area through recommendations. Businesses can also use graphics to adverise their services - and update their ad instantly (menus, opening times, special offers, history, awards, etc).

(PRWEB) September 2, 2004 -- WordMouth is a groundbreaking new website for businesses and consumers across the UK. The idea for WordMouth.com came after a conversation between friends last December about finding a decent restaurant: the Yellow Pages is great, but how do you know which of the listed entries is going to be any good? The same goes for local traders and other services. There are already websites which display products rated with customer feedback (Amazon, Kelkoo etc)... so why not rate and comment on companies too?

We did our research and found that there simply isn't anything even similar to this available in any country. Sure, there are some specific sites for rating restaurants and hotels and some very underused and empty sites in the UK, but nothing that held all businesses, services, community groups and organisations under one roof.

The idea was to build a website where the general public discuss their experiences both locally and across the UK, for free. At the same time we hoped to enable services to provide up to the minute graphical advertising, as well as an opportunity to receive feedback all for a small annual cost. It was surprising to find that such an obvious concept has not been developed into a viable solution already.

We really believe that WordMouth has the potential to deliver a whole new, and fairer, way of marketing – promoting services not through money, but through reputation and recommendation. It should also help many people find a reliable and professional service both in the UK and in their local area, removing some of the risk of hiring a rogue trader or getting poor service. The ultimate goal is to pull communities closer together, enhance "business to business" & "business to consumer" interactions, and improve standards of service across the board.

At first we worried about companies getting negative feedback, but only people who are confident of their own reputation need apply and their average score, if good, shouldn't be affected by a few bad ones. Besides, it is hoped that the benefits of being able to instantly link to your shop menu, list prices, opening times, company history and so on will balance this out. Not to mention being able to talk directly to your customer base more readily and cheaply than ever before.

WordMouth is free for the public, and only a few pounds per year for companies. The site is already RSS enabled, and we have many ideas for other enhancements to benefit both consumers and services alike should the idea catch on.

Alastair Shortland
WordMouth
Malvern,UK
wordmouth.com
media@word[remove this bit here]mouth.com

**SillyJokes** · 05-09-04

only a few pounds per year for companies

how many is a few pounds?

I, for one, learned years ago never to cough up for website inclusion - it never ever pays. Look at the likes of Just35.com - they want £1800 for a years inclusion - what a joke.

How can you promote your site? - you need to get momentum behind it and people won't submit their business until there are a whole lot more businesses in it.

What is the incentive to the user to submit a revue? You probably said, but I can't remember.

Also you say there are no consumer revue sites, but what about DooYoo and Ciaou? Not local I agree but there are lots of local revue sites. These seem to generate pages based on Thomson Local listings it seems which get in the way of proper searches.

Also there is a spelling mistake in the first para of your press release.
adverise = advertise

any how good luck with it. In the end it will be down to your determination to make it work. Just seeding it out on as many forums as you can sign up shows you are putting in the hours at any rate.

**Ravanol** · 05-09-04

... a few pounds is currently £10. Not a huge amount considering that Yellow Pages is something like £160 just to print your name and number...and I am offering that + images + any text + consumer feedback + the ability to modify this any time for free (imagine menus, opening times etc etc).

To pay £1800 for a web directory listing would be madness... but I was under the impression that it is pretty much essential to get into Yahoo. I was very annoyed to see that my ad was not even correctly worded. It does make you wonder what you are paying your money for!

What is the incentive for the user to submit a review? I hoped the community spirit, and the joy of telling others about your good experiences with companies. Where you have had a good meal.. who did a good job if your plumbing. Maybe a little nieve I know.... but I hoped that the idea would inspire people!

Yes... but DooYoo and Ciau only review products. Not businesses and services. I am hoping to create a fully interactive yellow pages for the UK.

Yes.. I am determined to make it work. I am passionate about it and 100% committed (my girlfriend would say obsessed, but that isn't health)... but doing it all solo is a lonely and sometimes stressful and demoralising experience.

Cheers,

Al.

**mibut** · 05-09-04

Have you spoken to any legal people about this.
It leaves you wide open for potential lawsuits.

**stevenm** · 05-09-04

Hi there

I had a look at your "listings" page for a region of Scotland and it just appears to be a PHPBB forum with lots of categories/subcategories. I was expecting some bespoke coding to have been done as storing the business info in a database and querying it allows you to present the information a lot more clearly, professionally and (perhaps most importantly) in a much more customisable way.

I think the basic idea behind your site is sound. It does have the potential to make it big if followed through correctly. The reason you are not getting a response from businesses is that none of them know your site and you are appearing and asking them for money out of the blue. Maybe a free basic service with the option to uprgade to a paid for premium service would convert better for you.

I hope my comments are helpful and I wish you every success with your site.

Steven
--
Virtual Cards UK
http://www.virtualcards.co.uk

**SillyJokes** · 05-09-04

why don't you apply to go on that tv show Dragon's Lair about companies which are pitching their idea to millionaire entrepreneurs looking to invest in a winner?

Ciaou do review businesses - we are reviewed on there.

I think that expecting people to publish a review may be a little naiive. It is difficult to get people to be involved and it's very hard to get them to say anything truly useful beyond, "It's wicked," or "It sucks,".

I would look closely at DooYoo and Ciaou to see how they have gotten their contributors to write reviews. What is the motivation?

Get your site reviewed there.

**999gi** · 05-09-04

Ive been thinking about this sort of thing for a few years (mainly in niches like takeaways,plumbers,restaurants) but never came up with a way to address the issues mentioned above as in how to stop reviews that are worthless, defamatory, have a hidden agenda, self promoting etc.

I think the only model that will work is some sort of remuneration system maybe where people get points depending on the number and quality of their submissions (someone would need to review every post - but I guess a lawyer would want that anyway) . The points then convert to cash or entries into prize draws.

Its definitely a good idea in that it serves a need thats not catered for well though so good luck with it.

**Ravanol** · 05-09-04

Originally posted by mibut
Have you spoken to any legal people about this.
It leaves you wide open for potential lawsuits.

There are other sites running similar systems already, without worry. I hope I have covered all the bases in my Terms & Conditions... companies know the risk when they join.. and if they can't stand the heat...

That said.. I am trying to promote positive recommendations. There is really no reason to say anything bad. The companies with the most positive comments will speak for themselves.

Also, using the Friends Reunited model... do you remember the legal action there when teachers were complaining about bad posts concerning their work? It was the posters who had the case broght against them... NOT the site.

Al.

**Ravanol** · 05-09-04

Originally posted by stevenm
I had a look at your "listings" page for a region of Scotland and it just appears to be a PHPBB forum with lots of categories/subcategories. I was expecting some bespoke coding to have been done as storing the business info in a database and querying it allows you to present the information a lot more clearly, professionally and (perhaps most importantly) in a much more customisable way.

Yep... that would be great, but as I have only been using php for a month I am not at that level yet! The site is more complex than first impressions may show. It is 96 individual phpBB installations sharing the same user base. I have used cgi for the payment system (Worldpay). I hoped that if I could get the concept to work I could expand and improve the site in the future. I know that I am not a designer.... I can't even draw a decent stick man!

I have tried to adopt the Google approach to make up for lack of design ability. Keep things clean and simple... therefore less to go wrong, and easier for the user to navigate. I will be adding XML feeds to the pages.. (XML RSS feeds are in place already), and improve the whole look as my skills get better. I am sure I will have time... thins are moving a lot slower than I originally hoped.

money out of the blue. Maybe a free basic service with the option to uprgade to a paid for premium service would convert better for you.

Agreed. The problam I have is security. How do I guarentee that companies are real and legitimate? I don't want someone pretending to be a local plumber.. and then producing an awful advert. I was using the payment system to add some level of authenticity.

Cheers,

A.

**Ravanol** · 05-09-04

Originally posted by 999gi
Ive been thinking about this sort of thing for a few years (mainly in niches like takeaways,plumbers,restaurants) but never came up with a way to address the issues mentioned above as in how to stop reviews that are worthless, defamatory, have a hidden agenda, self promoting etc.

These are all problems which I face... and also a key reason why companies may not be keen to join. I am trying to promote a "positive recommedation" approach. There really should be no need for negative comments at all. I understand that this may be a little idealistic... but there is no harm in trying! ;-)

Its definitely a good idea in that it serves a need thats not catered for well though so good luck with it.

Thanks! I did wonder sometimes if I was going crazy.... maybe I have. The way I see it... even if no compnies ever sign up.. it is still free for the general public. ... and if they ever write on the site, then it will be a useful tool for local communities.

Cheers.

**Mogga** · 05-09-04

You could offer the first 50(?) companies in each area a free sign up...

**Ravanol** · 05-09-04

Originally posted by Mogga
You could offer the first 50(?) companies in each area a free sign up...

Would love to.... I did actually offer such a thing in the letters that I sent out to local businesses, but still 0 take up. I was downhearted.. but not defeated.

I have now set the price at £1 per year for all new businesses and services. I may change the price after the first 100 registrations (if I am so lucky!). This means that I get some ability to screen if a company is genuine or not through credit cards. Personally I think it's great value for money for any company, considering that it is a chance to get a web link and nearly free advertising on-line. I am biased though, of course!

Does anyone know of any suitable affiliate schemes.... or any other ideas for promoting my site?

Cheers.