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I got this idea after building a specialized website for a particular local artisan, but I think the whole method could be generalized pretty easily. Etsy prov

by mahipal 18y ago

I got this idea after building a specialized website for a particular local artisan, but I think the whole method could be generalized pretty easily. Etsy provides a clean, centralized storefront for individual merchants / creators to sell their products -- taking over what used to be the significantly more decentralized and disorganized venues of eBay and Craigslist. This site would be a similar such venue for people who are trying to sell services. A glance at the Craigslist "services" section shows plenty of people like this -- computer repairmen, graphic designers, programmers, housemaids, accountants, tutors, personal trainers, and many more. Each person would be able to personalize their "storefront" with a list of their services, some copy text and an image gallery, and a section for people to post reviews / testimonials of this person.

tstegart 18y ago
Not bad. You can even allow integration with Yelp so people can get independent reviews.
villageidiot 18y ago
Just like skillwho. They get around 70K unique visitors a month so I would say that sounds like a good idea. I'm not a big fan of their design, mind you, so maybe that's something you could improve on.
- mahipal 18y ago
  You're right, that site is hideous. =P I came across http://www.workstir.com http://www.workstir.com recently too, which is a similar concept. But I have to wonder... do either of these sites actually have a business model? I had some thoughts on how to possibly monetize this sort of traffic, so a couple other web sites in this niche doesn't really discourage me too much if these guys are just rolling on advertising.
  - villageidiot 18y ago
    Agreed - the existence of competition should not be a deterrent. Angie's List is kind of similar to these two and gets close to a million unique visitors per month. http://www.angieslist.com http://www.angieslist.com And, like you, they have a monetization plan. Something to check out if you haven't done so already. They received quite a lot of useful press coverage outside of the regular tech channels - no doubt that helped them build this level of traffic. Hopefully you have some connections at Martha Stewart Living too :)
    - mahipal 18y ago
      This is great info, thanks for all these links. Angie's List is interesting -- very high quality, I'm sure, with that "Consumer Reports" style business model. But they also lose a lot of traffic going subscribers-only. No doubt they're rolling in money, but I'm glad to see it's not the same monetization idea I had. Seeing all these has inspired me to throw together a prototype. I'll post it on HN in a week or two when it's presentable. =)

by mahipal 18y ago

tstegart 18y ago

Not bad. You can even allow integration with Yelp so people can get independent reviews.

villageidiot 18y ago

Just like skillwho. They get around 70K unique visitors a month so I would say that sounds like a good idea. I'm not a big fan of their design, mind you, so maybe that's something you could improve on.

mahipal 18y ago
You're right, that site is hideous. =P I came across http://www.workstir.com http://www.workstir.com recently too, which is a similar concept. But I have to wonder... do either of these sites actually have a business model? I had some thoughts on how to possibly monetize this sort of traffic, so a couple other web sites in this niche doesn't really discourage me too much if these guys are just rolling on advertising.
- villageidiot 18y ago
  Agreed - the existence of competition should not be a deterrent. Angie's List is kind of similar to these two and gets close to a million unique visitors per month. http://www.angieslist.com http://www.angieslist.com And, like you, they have a monetization plan. Something to check out if you haven't done so already. They received quite a lot of useful press coverage outside of the regular tech channels - no doubt that helped them build this level of traffic. Hopefully you have some connections at Martha Stewart Living too :)
  - mahipal 18y ago
    This is great info, thanks for all these links. Angie's List is interesting -- very high quality, I'm sure, with that "Consumer Reports" style business model. But they also lose a lot of traffic going subscribers-only. No doubt they're rolling in money, but I'm glad to see it's not the same monetization idea I had. Seeing all these has inspired me to throw together a prototype. I'll post it on HN in a week or two when it's presentable. =)