Greg Sterling has a popular
blog about local media called Screenwerk
and he recently posted a note about our San
Carlos launch. A reader named Zippy made some valid observations and I
posted a reply. I pasted it below.
---
Let me try to shed some light on
issues raised by Zippy.
Zippy: "Smalltown acquired a really useful, pre-web 2.0 phone
tree-type service called local2me.com. All Rucker has done is jazz it up a bit
graphically."
HR: Local2Me is an email-based service where neighbors can
exchange comments about local topics. It's a great service. I've been using it
myself since it first started because I worked at Excite with Michael Olivier
who developed it. We haven't made any significant changes to the Local2Me email
service. Instead, we are talking to some of the more active users as a kind of
"real world focus group in action." With their input, we are
designing some great new features in our Discussions area.
The Smalltown website has many features that are not available on
Local2me. In particular, Smalltown has Webcard postings, which are like online
multimedia brochures about local merchants and service providers. The basic
concept behind the site is to enable local businesses, as well as community
members to participate, thus creating a two-way conversation between businesses
and the local people they serve.
For example, if you post a listing on Smalltown that asks “Can
anybody recommend a contractor to fix my bathroom?” a neighbor can reply “Yes,
we used Joe Smith and he is great. Here is his Smalltown Webcard”. Joe Smith’s
Webcard is his web presence with all the up-to-the-minute information about Joe
and his services, and it can be attached to a comment just like attaching a
file to an email.
On Local2me, neighbors ask questions and provide answers. On
Smalltown, neighbors ask questions, provide answers, and pass around Webcards
as a way to share in depth and current local information.
Many online communities, including Local2Me, have user generated
content. Smalltown's focus is the integration of user generated content AND
merchant generated content into one user experience. This includes our
ReplyBack feature that makes it easy for a merchant to respond to a review.
It's actually pretty cool.
Zippy: The owner of local2me was more of a Craig Newmark (craig’s list) kind of
guy, in that he was more interested in community than profits.
HR: You know, I hear
this every once in a while from Local2Me users. But I can't resist pointing out
that Local2Me has banner ads, interstitial email ads and Google Ads! (And, by
the way, Craig Newmark is a multi-millionaire.) I guess I just want to add that
we're not the bad guys because we want to pay our employees. In addition, using
Smalltown is free. Smalltown doesn't have any traditional ads. And the service
is supported by merchants in the community who want to connect with their
neighbors.
Zippy: "But how is Smalltown going to
make people come back regularly when it really doesn’t have much content, or
most important, “soul”.
HR: Well, we already have over 22,000 Webcards in our 7 towns.
(Take a look… I think we have a truly impressive amount of content for a
15-month-old site.)
Smalltown's homepage changes every day and we continue to add
sticky content. We have a local events calendar that lists interesting things
going on around town. Soon we will be adding a Sales and Promotions calendar so
locals can check which stores are offering good deals.
There are two important business details to understand. First, we
email a Daily Digest to our registered users that contains all the new content,
including coupons, that has been posted on our website. (http://www.smalltown.com/sanmateo/html/dailydigest
) Many of our users don't visit the site regularly because the most interesting
new content is delivered to them. Second, we do not have any traditional banner
ads. So we care less than most websites do about traffic and ad impressions.
We're a bit more like the yellow pages - one doesn't read the yellow
pages every day; one reads the yellow pages every once in a while when one
needs to look up a merchant or service provider. Smalltown is somewhere between
the two. We want enough traffic so there are useful reviews and discussions,
but our key metric is "Do our paying customers get more value from us than
they pay for their Webcard?"
Regarding "soul", wow, I agree we need more of it. We're
working on it, but it's an elusive asset. It's one of the reasons we want to
have access to learn from Local2Me. Our philosophy is to build a flexible
platform and let each town create its own flavor and spice through the addition
of local content. Do the yellow pages have a soul? I like to think we've at
least surpassed that mark ;-)
Zippy: "My “sense” is that people are not using it very much–as I
said, not enough for Smalltown to charge profitable rates for the moment."
HR: Our product, an
"Enhanced Webcard" costs $40 per month with an annual contract. We
have over 500 Enhanced Webcards on our sites. Some of those were done for free
when we launched our first town. We did this to kick-start the website. But we
no longer give away Webcards.
All we have to do is show our customers, the Enhanced Webcard
owners, that they are getting more than $40 per month of business from their
Smalltown listing. Our first annual contracts are coming up for renewal this
spring, and we are prepared to show them the numbers to prove the ROI of a
Webcard is the best local advertising dollar they ever spent.
Zippy: "It’s also based on the very positive advertiser testimonials
posted on Smalltown’s website. They all say they love the format/webcards.
Significantly, however, no one is saying what a great response they get in
terms of paying customers."
HR: Please watch the
video again. There are several customers who talk about ROI in real numbers: http://www.smalltown.com/theater_smalltown.html
. I can also put you in touch with other happy customers. Really, I'm not being
flippant. We know our customers, they work around the corner, and I'd be proud
to have you talk to them about how well their Webcards are serving their local
online advertising needs.
- Hal Rucker
