Reed Construction Builds a Community
Reed Business Information has launched Reed Construction Dashboard connected by iLumen, a financial information network targeted specifically for the building and construction industry. The new offering is designed to attract public and private builders.
The network, available at www.ReedConstructionDashboard.com, offers a variety of features, such as expert statistical analysis, anonymous peer feedback on issues, opportunities and best practices within the industry, in addition to confidential contact with lenders and advisors. The site also offers benchmarking to track trends within regional and national sub-segments and will soon launch a free networking community accessible to users who register on the site.
Reed partnered with iLumen, a financial information company that launched its own online private company marketplace, the iLumen Financial Information Network.
The launch of this new Reed network is certainly a sign of the times. Information providers are no longer just relying on more traditional information sources to attract customers. They are jumping on the social network bandwagon and creating more of a community atmosphere for their customers. It's definitely a smart strategy right now, and if Reed can effectively direct its readers to this new dashboard, they will most likely be engaged.
Chain Store Guide Launches Customer-Friendly Site
Chain Store Guide has launched a new cross-industry database web site that enables uses to access the company's database to create customized databases for their sales leads, targeted campaigns, research and analysis. By logging on to www.csg.DataIntel.com, users can utilize quite a bit of functionality--they can query Chain Store Guide data from the desktop and they can target their research by industry or key personnel. They can also create custom mailing lists and download records into an Excel spreadsheet.
Customers previously were able to only purchase sales leads and mailing lists on an as-needed basis. So the introduction of the CSG Data Intel database, which contains 189,000 personnel names with titles across all retain channels, will enable customers to more easily reap the benefits from the data about restaurants and retailers.
No registration is necessary to begin using the database. Users can sort their information based on a variety of criteria, such as industry, business type, geography, size, product lines and personnel lines. Data is also comprised of headquarters, regional and divisional offices, distribution centers and wholesalers. Pricing works like this: a free online price quote is presented with each query. Users can purchase and export data on a per-record basis, paying only for records that meet their search requirements with a $300 minimum purchase.
If you make your information more usable, people are going to use it. Chain Store Guide responded to feedback from customers who said they wanted easier access to their data and the CSG Data Intel database was born. In today's Internet world, customers want their information whenever and wherever. They feel there should be no boundaries around their information access. And there don't have to be. At first glance, it looks like Chain Store Guide has launched a product that will yield great success in both the short-term as customers try it out, and the long-term, as a easily accessible, reliable information service. This is definitely a smart product launch. Look for Chain Store Guide and other data providers to use this as a model for improving the functionality and usability of other databases.
LoopNet Expands Its Marketplace
Online commercial real estate marketplace LoopNet last week announced its acquisition of Cityfeet.com, an online distribution network for commercial property listings that has more than 100,000 active listings. Cityfeet.com's network distributes its listings to more than 100 partners, such as the web sites of The New York Times, Boston Globe, Los Angeles Times, Chicago Tribune, Dallas Morning News and Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
LoopNet paid $15 million for Cityfeet.com and will spend another $3 million if performance goals are met. In a company statement announcing the deal, LoopNet said it expects at Cityfeet.com will add about $1 million in revenues for LoopNet for 2007.
LoopNet also expects the deal, which combines LoopNet's marketplace with Cityfeet.com's distribution network, to increase exposure for both companies’ listings. If it works, both LoopNet and Cityfeet.com will accomplish their goals of being leaders in their segments.
Customers of both companies are certainly positioned to benefit. LoopNet's customer base, which consists of commercial real estate agents, brokers, buyers and tenants, are seeking the largest possible audience to see listings or find appropriate properties and LoopNet and Cityfeet.com are doing that through this deal--something they couldn't achieve on their own. Chances of satisfying customers within the real estate sector should only increase as the LoopNet/Cityfeet.com listings become more prominent in the online space; something online customers expect these days. The acquisition should prove to be a smart move by both companies. It won't be surprising if LoopNet contemplates future deals to expand its marketplace even further.
The New FreeERISA
FreeERISA has reinvented itself. The database provider of business tax IDs has introduced a new interface and new data--along with a new Web site. Perhaps with the goal of marketing its services to a new audience, FreeERISA is making its searchable database available on EINfinder.com.
In its promotional material, FreeERISA touts the data now located on EINfinder.com is validated by the government and that users can easily determine whether businesses are active or inactive. The site also offers special passes to enable unlimited search capabilities. Users can have the data integrated into their in-house systems for increased ease of use.
By making its data available on this new site as well as improving its interface, FreeERISA appears to have succeeded in making an old product new again. Perhaps the FreeERISA site wasn't effective enough in attracting relevant new customers. This rebranding of sorts is a relatively simple idea, but it's got the legs to be very effective. While launching new products is nice, it's not the only way in which to expand your customer base. This effort by FreeERISA is definitely worth a try.
Social Networking Friday
A number of blogs are reporting that on Monday, Plaxo, a company best known for its revolutionary service that synchronizes and updates user contacts lists, will apparently transform itself into a social networking company, under the brand name "Pulse." It seems that Plaxo has decided that it likes the Facebook business model more than its own.
I like Plaxo, an InfoCommerce Model of Excellence award winner way back in 2004. Its business of synchronizing contacts among user databases information is brilliant, and its technology is breathtaking. That's why I am disappointed to hear that Plaxo may be trying to move in a whole new direction. My free advice to Plaxo: before re-inventing yourself, focus your creativity on building out more applications based on your remarkable technology, and oh yes, stop giving away so much value for free.
And what of Facebook, the social networking site formerly the province of college students, but now open to the rest of us? Industry pundits are now whispering (loudly) that Facebook is poised to give Linked-In a run for the money since it is now re- defining itself as a communications platform on which third parties can build and extend Facebook capabilities. All this massive expansion comes with the risk that Facebook will lose its identity as the addition of users like me likely drives its coolness factor to zero among the college students who fueled its rise. Further, I am willing to make a small bet that Facebook's cavalier attitude towards data privacy is going to explode loudly in its face in the near future.
And what about Linked-In, another 2004 InfoCommerce Model of Excellence award winner? I am not sure that Linked-In's original premise, building on the "six degrees of separation" notion to foster professional contacts, played out in reality as well as it did in theory. At the same time, the company has been nimble and creative in finding ways to monetize what to my eyes is one of the single greatest treasure troves of data on business professionals. Importantly, Linked-In understands the information value in implicit and explicit connections as its users voluntarily indicate their connections to others. I think it's also telling that Linked-In seemingly is doing so well selling access to its data in various ways. There's something about proprietary content!
Bottom line: Plaxo is getting off the turnpike at the wrong exist; Facebook needs to do a lot of growing up before it becomes a real tool for grown-ups, and Linked-In seems to offer confirmation once again that content is still king.