ClayValet Thinks You Can't Figure Out Craigslist or eBay

Posted by Leslie Poston on May 13th, 2008

Periodically on Profy we get companies who request a review. We will generally review these and, if they have merit, will give their site an honest appraisal, like we did for LongJump and other sites. We don't promise good PR write ups, only honest site evaluations, and thank goodness, because ClayValet had few redeeming qualities.

I found the entire premise of ClayValet to be insulting to internet shoppers everywhere. The site is geared toward a demographic that is, in their words, just "too overwhelmed" by online shopping. What demographic would that be, exactly, that hasn't yet figured out how to use sites like eBay, Craigslist or a regular online store like Apple, LaneBryant or even Target?

The site lost major points with me for its clunky design and listless colors. It had a very "web 90s" feel to it: square, boxy, pale and did not inspire to spend money at all. It was fairly easy to navigate the categories and tabs, but there wasn't much point to doing so.

Why was there not much point to browsing the site? Because the people behind ClayValet want you to let them think for you. Instead of making things easy for you to find and empowering the internet user and shopper, they force you to rely on "personal shoppers" and fellow internet users.

When you first visit the site you must log in to do anything worth while at all. If you want an item, you must list it and wait for a response. This can often take days, partially because ClayValet is not well known and partially because you are basically sitting on your thumbs waiting for random strangers to shop for you.

There was no way to bring users together (for example, being able to do something like BookMooch does for used books - one person listing what they have and one what they want and going from there - would help ClayValet immensely). There was no way to see basic lists of items, product descriptions, photos or anything else useful.

The only parts of the site even remotely interesting were the blog-type sections like As Seen On TV. The people behind ClayValet seemed to have gathered information on items you may have seen on your favorite television shows like Gossip Girl and told you where to get them. That's useful! Unfortunately they buried that feature and gave it no sorting or searching features to speak of, meaning it isn't drawing anyone to the site like it could be.

ClayValet fell very short of the mark for me as far as online shopping goes. It missed the mark on looks, functionality, appeal and products. I'll stick with ShoeBoxed and the rest who got there first and are doing it better and without condescension.

Make Free Calls to Your FaceBook Friends With IfByPhone's Phone-Me-Now

Posted by Leslie Poston on May 8th, 2008

FaceBook has a staggering array of third party applications available to users. Many of these are completely useless and only serve to anger friends who get mandatory invites to them each time people decide to try something new. Once in a while a useful one comes along, however, and IfByPhone's Phone-Me-Now application is definitely in that category.

The concept behind Phone-Me-Now is simple. You add the application and it places it's icon on your profile. Then people who view your profile (a limit set by you in your profile settings globally and separately from the Phone-Me-Now application) can place a call directly to your phone. It hides your number from the caller, and it hides their caller identification information from you.

Originally designed with spam in mind, aimed at the internet marketing trolls, Phone-Me-Now has recognized its potential for regular FaceBook users. To avoid being trashed for generating spam, the application offers a way to Block unwanted callers. I'd like it better if the default option was that no one was allowed to call until you selected "allow", but I'll take what I can get.

Sign up is painless - simply add the application and either fill out a form to set up a Phone-Me-Now account, or use an existing IfByPhone log in. Keep in mind that you must use a valid number. A confirmation call is made to the number you enter to verify the account you set up.

The service offers 100 minutes free each month, with an option to upgrade to more minutes. With a simple set up and plenty of privacy in the blocked caller ID and anonymous number features, Phone-Me-Now has the potential to tap into a market that Skype, popular instant message and voice chat service, has so far missed.

By grabbing the interest of people who want the benefit of free calling online but don't have the patience to download and install an application after setting up an account on a web site, Phone-Me-Now has real potential to take off among the set of users who "get" FaceBook and MySpace, but have a little trouble navigating more complex software that requires downloads and more involvement to get set up.

Cause Loyalty

Posted by Leslie Poston on May 8th, 2008

There were several excellent reasons to attend the DEMOParty in Boston on Tuesday. You could go for the start ups in attendance, or to meet venture capitalists. You could go to meet the people you have been networking with online in person. Whatever your reason for attendance, there is no denying the best part of the event were the conversations.

Elevator pitches were running rampant in some parts of the room, but if you paid attention it was the side conversations that piqued my interest. Hearing what people used, what they were fascinated by and how they used different social media sites and applications to enrich their lives was fascinating.

One of many companies that came up time and again in various conversations was Cause Loyalty. From the company we site:

CauseLoyalty offers a loyalty marketing program to community-minded merchants and a fundraising platform to nonprofit organizations, simply by leveraging the everyday buying power of their passionate supporters.

That mission statement sounds almost banal on paper, but the company seems to have lit a spark in the Web 2.0 community. The buzz about Cause Loyalty was fierce. What people seemed to like about it was how it tapped into a nonprofit's existing network of supporters to drive interest and funds to favorite causes, via shopping. Who doesn't love shopping for a good cause?

Nonprofits working with Cause Loyalty have a variety of options to use in generating funds through sales, including a credit card program called the Affinity program, Visa rewards, and more. The one percent fund raising percentage generated by Affinity card use may not sound like much on paper, but it can make a huge difference to a nonprofit.

The two programs offered by Cause Loyalty are Schoolpop (fundraising for schools) and OneCause for nonprofits outside of education. The Cause Loyalty network offers a structured system for nonprofits to use to find ways to generate funds - it's a win-win for everyone.

Profy Will Be At DEMO Party Boston

Posted by Leslie Poston on May 6th, 2008

I will be representing Profy at the DEMOParty in Boston tonight at Saint on Exeter. If you are going to be there, be sure to come talk to me about Profy's exciting new platform, or just come say hello and introduce yourself.

For more on the party, you can see their event page here. If you aren't sure what a DEMOParty is:

Innovation Is Everywhere and DEMO Is Coming to Find It.

Please join Chris Shipley and the DEMO team on May 6th in Boston for a special gathering of one of the most undeniably innovative technology communities on Earth.

In the spirit of celebrating innovation, DEMO is organizing a series of cocktail parties across the country to reunite with an incredible community of innovators and investors who have played a major role in shaping the technology landscape since 1991.

We're stopping in Boston on May 6th from 6:30 – 8:00 at Saint. Space is limited – so please RSVP here now – and feel free to register your colleagues and friends through this form as well or send them a copy of this invite via our sharing tools located in the box on the top right of this page.

Can't make it to Boston? – the tour rolls on to: Seattle on May 1st or Austin on May 13th

We look forward to seeing you in May!

The attendee list is jam packed with innovators and new media thought leaders. This should make for a fun bunch to meet and greet. I hope to see you there!

Amazee: All Goals No Substance

Posted by Leslie Poston on May 3rd, 2008

Amazee is a new service that tries to be a one stop source for people seeking to achieve their goals. It takes ideas from such sites as 43 Things, World of Warcraft and Basecamp and mashes them into what it wants to be a one stop shop to achieve your goals and complete projects in a more interactive and innovative way.

Where I first heard about Amazee and the premise behind it, I was intrigued. A site that combined gaming-style interaction, goals, team work, a fan base and more sounded like a great way to use the social web to get more done. I had visions of intense collaboration and interaction online with the goal of achieving common goals, ideas, dreams or projects.

The hit list of features is a rich one: discussions, team members for your project, fans, a wiki for each project, to-do lists, project magazines to publish your project process and results, the ability to gain corporate sponsors for your project and more. It's hard not to get excited when you see that list of features.

Logging in, the first thing I noticed was the interface. It is very plain. While there is nothing wrong with plain and simple visual impact, with a site like this I must admit I expected something more intuitive, something that visually told you right away what the site was for. If I had not been briefed going in what Amazee was all about, it would have taken too much time to figure it all out.

You can search for existing projects, and the site offers ways to filter by language. I'm not sure if it is because there is mostly German content in the private beta, or if it is because that feature is not yet fully functional, but I continually got German content. There isn't anything wrong with German, but since I don't speak that language it was a bit frustrating.

On each project you see a project graphic, a synopsis of the project, a series of project stats like number of team members, number of fans, vote count, etc. Across the top of each project is a tab bar for navigating around the project dynamic. For something that wants so much to be social, the navigation feels surprisingly old school and not very fresh and innovative.

When starting your own project, you have several options to choose from for access: closed (invite only), open (open to all Amazee members) and open with approval. The initial set up is quite clear, and only takes a few moments to complete. It takes longer to write a concise, exciting blurb describing your idea than it does to get everything set up, making the project set up section the most reliable part of the site so far.

Once your project is set up you are taken to your dashboard, where you can invite people to your team, send announcements, ask for sponsorship and more. The sponsorship options are intriguing, made up of money, volunteer work or other ideas that potential sponsors come up with. It's an innovative way to get people involved.

Overall, Amazee falls a bit short of their admittedly ambitious mark. Fortunately, the people behind the idea are accessible and enthusiastic, which should help them make their idea more accessible in turn. The strong aspects of their site show they have what it takes to translate their ideas into manageable bites, and they will have to find a way to do it in order to succeed against existing heavy hitters in the idea business, like 37 Signals and Basecamp.