Brownbook.net, the open local business directory for small and large businesses
 

What motivates people to give reviews?

January 30, 2008

Well, now that is an interesting question, and the fact is there is not a universal answer for everyone, we all have our different reasons. In answering that question the best we can do is offer several different opinions.

I guess the main thing is that people are unlikely to review a business if they get no recognition for the time they put into it. For example, if Read the rest of this entry »

Local search is the second most popular activity on the web

January 29, 2008

According to a Piper Jaffray 2007 research paper 30% of all web queries contain some sort of location element. They also predict that over the next ten years local search ad revenue will grow five-fold.

Read the rest of this entry »

The long tail of business classified advertising

January 28, 2008

I had lunch with one particular analyst last week and he explained that 90% of all businesses LISTED in yellow pages services are businesses with 5 employees or less. Imagine that, there are MILLIONS of SMALL businesses out there.

And I happen to know that on average less than 15% of all businesses Read the rest of this entry »

I see comments like this everywhere…

January 28, 2008

Now, granted I am sensitive to this sort of story, but seriously I see comments like this everywhere:

“…the Yellow Pages priced themselves out of sight. I have one business client who will gut their YP ads this year because now that everyone’s online, the Yellow Pages are next to worthless. DEX having decided to Read the rest of this entry »

Brownbook helps small business market themselves online

January 24, 2008

Recently I’ve found myself answering the question “why should a small business get listed in The Brownbook?”. Well, there are several answers but they mostly boil down to the goal of getting more business. Let me elaborate a little:

Read the rest of this entry »

User generated reviews have significant impact on buying behaviour

January 24, 2008

I just came across this ComScore press release which

“examined the impact of consumer-generated reviews on the price consumers were willing to pay for a service delivered offline. The study, based on a survey of more than 2,000 U.S. Internet users in October 2007, revealed that consumers were willing to pay at least 20 percent more for services receiving an “Excellent,” or 5-star, rating than Read the rest of this entry »

Human nature, mischief, and peer-production

January 15, 2008

I just discovered this great quote from Kevin Kelly (Wired author), here it is (plus the link to the whole thing):

“Much of what I believed about human nature, and the nature of knowledge, has been upended by the Wikipedia. I knew that the human propensity for mischief among Read the rest of this entry »

The advantages of The Brownbook over traditional internet yellow pages (IYP).

January 13, 2008

Two significant trends are changing the world as we knew it;

  1. There is a tidal wave of honesty and openness riding through online society, previously bad experiences were shared at the pub and over coffee. Today people can share their experiences with thousands of others using blogs, forums…

  1. The power of peer production in communities, social networks, wikis and crowdsourcing projects is Read the rest of this entry »

An interesting listing of other web2.0 yellow pages

January 11, 2008

I just had the pleasure of speaking with Yanir Allouche the owner of www.bizbee.co.uk

The site has a listing of web2.0 yellow pages services, plus a newsroom and discussion forum. Its a useful resource of information on a subject dear to our hearts.

Should I be scared of ‘bad’ reviews?

January 11, 2008

I recently had an email from a friend you had added their business to The Brownbook, and they were a little concerned about the fact that a business could get a bad review (not their business incidentally, which I happen to know has many happy clients, but in general).

I figured its a logical fear for a business owner that first discovers that Read the rest of this entry »