One rule of thumb in business is to make use of money-making models that work. In this day and age, recommendations, matching algorithms, and online advertising are tried and true--when done right. Yelp, Pandora, and Google Ads prove it. Everywun, Mylawsuit.com, and MyGameMug are three companies that presented at the Plug and Play Expo on Thursday that have also applied these principles to their services.
Everywun knows that most people have a pet cause, and that for some, recruiting allies or advertising their volunteerism is a badge of pride. To that end, Everywun has created a money-making system that lets you embed virtual badges in support of your cause into your blog, online profile, and social network.
When your contacts click the badge, advertisers pay up in exchange for getting their logo seen. Everywun is a lot like TheHungerSite.com, except with a more transparent Web site and with widgets that come to you instead of a static site that makes you go to it. That makes it highly visible with a win-win value proposition: sponsors get good press, you get peace of mind, and the Everywun fund in question gets cash for nonprofits, microloans, and community projects. Presumably, Everywun also gets a modest cut for staff fees.
Mylawsuit.com's founder, attorney Michele Colucci, would like you to go to her company's Web site the next time you need a lawyer to represent you on either side of a civil case (specifically, torts law). Mylawsuit.com, though still under wraps, will be a recommendation and referral site where citizens can find local, specialized lawyers who are willing to take a cut only if you're awarded money. Mylawsuit.com will snag 5 percent of the commission for facilitating the deal.
It sounds like a decent way for citizens to find affordable legal aid, but it is yet to be seen how Mylawsuit.com will handle the libelous remarks of sour clients who have lost their cases.
For serious gamers, MyGameMug could be quite a find. Calling itself a social matchmaker, the service, which launched this past August, pairs you up with other like-minded players of multiplayer online games after quizzing you on almost 40 questions to determine your gaming style, playing intensity, and preferred genres.
It should come as no surprise that the two founders, both active gamers, developed MyGameMug after getting fed up with trash-talking opponents.
The quiz results feed the algorithm that produces your suitable companions and also passes on demographic details for serving you targeted ads, the company's sole source of input.
Sharing your music, videos, and opinions with other people online is the drive of many Web companies, each striving to make experiences more interactive, and to bridge the gap between the anonymous Web and face-to-face reality. Three companies peddling their wares Thursday afternoon at Plug and Play's Fall 2008 Expo in Sunnyvale, Calif., are taking online music-making, video conferencing, and content-sharing a step further.
Bojam can be thought of as the Wikipedia of music-creation. Musicians from around the world can add and tweak compilations piecemeal for profit or for play. The online mixer lets musicians from anywhere lay down tracks, produce, and distribute music asynchronously. It's a cool concept, but the input and output quality had better be flawless if it's going to keep the interest of talented professionals.
ViVu is a video conferencing tool that lets viewers chime in to live conferences or Internet shows using their own Web cameras. Instead of watching the panelist or host's face while listening to a caller's question, ViVu puts the spotlight on the audience member--a good way for viewers to connect with the host and with each other. A queuing system lets producers screen, switch, and queue callers. They can also pull the plug in cases of abuse. I could see this adding spice and inspiration to shows like CNET's own live tech program.
Koollage's Web app lets you arrange your digital media--photos, video, songs, and text--into mini Web sites, then shrink them into small form factors for embedding onto social networking profiles and for playing on mobile phones. The "Pods," as Koollage calls them (it stands for packages on demand) are customizable, and could therefore become a popular way for the MySpace generation to produce and share their stylized media.
It's tough making money online when everyone else is also trying to, and it takes Web start-ups with fresh angles and useful products to actually get on the scoreboard, let alone win.
We're not sure if these four online applications for deal hounds and daily shoppers will become the next Travelocity or Amazon.com, but they stood out at the half-day Plug and Play Expo in Sunnyvale, Calif.
Voyij is an alpha-stage travel deal finder. Unlike Kayak, Orbitz, and Travelocity, Voyij doesn't collect real-time inventory. Instead, it seeks distressed and discounted fares, and it serves you what you want based not just on your destination, but on the experience you want.
Sesh's main concern is to give shopping sites a shot of personality--the kind of information and human touch that bring questing customers into brick-and-mortar stores. A customer and a store representative use collaboration software with drawing and chat tools to discuss a site's products. If Sesh is successful in marketing this technology to online stores, it's a feature that could convert a lot of those late-blooming e-shoppers who resist impersonal experiences.
Apprema's premise is to deliver real gifts to your real friends via e-mail or social-networking sites. You can place an Apprema Gift Box widget on your blog or profile, where you'll be able to receive gifts that are typically less than $10 apiece--a Starbucks drink, for instance. If you give a gift through the widget, others can see your generosity. It sure beats getting or giving five of Facebook's virtual cartoons for your birthday.
SmartShopIt is essentially a site that evaluates the items on your shopping list. It compares and contrasts the prices at various stores to try to find you the best deals, as well as the overall cheapest place to shop that day.
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