Upcoming features: Public directory and add your own company

Posted by JC Cameron on November 20th, 2008

Telephone DirectoryIn the next couple of weeks, we’ll be adding a public directory of all the vendors in our database.  This will allow site visitors to get an idea of what is in our system before they have to register.  It will also provide us with some search engine optimization opportunities and give our vendors that much more exposure.

Additionally, we’ll also be allowing companies to add themselves so that when users recommend them, they will already be in the database with the correct contact information.  This will make it easier for everyone!

 Do you have some great ideas of how we can make our site better?  If so, let us know!

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We participated in the NH Speed Venture Summit

Posted by JC Cameron on October 30th, 2008

NH Speed Venture Summit LogoThis past Tuesday, we participated in the first NH Speed Venture Summit.  It is a “speed dating” event for entrepreneurs and investors to sit down and see if a valuable connection could be made in a very short time (12 minutes to pitch company and discuss opportunity). 

There were 25 investment groups and approximately 50 companies looking for financing.  It was my understanding that more than 100 companies requested to participate so we were pleased to be one of startups selected.

We met with:

The event was very well run and they even managed to find fill-in investment firms when a few investors cancelled at the last second.  Though all six were not perfectly suited to our market space, we received valuable feedback and ideas on our B2B venture from each one.  We want to thank them for taking the time to meet with us and to listen to our proposals.

Lastly, a big shout-out to Hollis McGuire, Heidi Dunn, and Matt Benson for their tireless work in making this event happen and for running things on the day of the event.  Of course, many more people were involved including all of the committee volunteers.  Thanks again for this great event!

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Let us know if you have a Twitter account!

Posted by JC Cameron on October 27th, 2008

VendorCity TwitteringWe have recently launched our twitter service where you can receive updates on the most highly recommended B2B firms and other critical SMB news and resources.

You can access our twitter account at: http://twitter.com/vendorcity

It’s a great way to keep up-to-date on the best firms in our database and to be aware of other time-sensitive small and medium-sized business news.  Just follow us and we’ll be sure to start following you as well!

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All recommendations are now reviewed before being posted

Posted by JC Cameron on October 24th, 2008

Trusted RecommendationsWhat helps make VendorCity unique is our unbiased and honest reviews of business-to-business vendors and service providers. Our goal is not to have the most reviews; instead we strive to have the best and most trusted word-of-mouth B2B referrals on the planet. 

Towards that goal, we have just added new functionality to our site which enables us to review each and every recommendation before it is posted to our community of users.  We check to ensure that there is (or was) a relationship between the two firms and flag any self-recommendations or other reviews that don’t meet our “trustworthy” rules. 

If we are not certain that the review is valid, we will contact the two parties (the client and the vendor) to determine if there is indeed a relationship between them.  If we cannot verify it that they did business together, we will not post that vendor review.  So far, this has only been necessary with approximately 5% of the recommendations posted on VendorCity.

As business owners ourselves, we know the value of having a trusted source to go to when you need to find a quality vendor or service provider.  You can be sure that we are working hard behind the scenes to ensure that the B2B recommendations you read at VendorCity can be trusted. 

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Our New Recommendation Wizard

Posted by JC Cameron on October 9th, 2008

Recommendation WizardOne of the single biggest complaints we have received since launching our site is that it takes too long to add recommendations.  Our original goal in designing the recommendation process was to make it a simple step-by-step process where you search to see if the vendor exists and if not, add the info for that vendor. Then, once added or selected, you are able to add your rating for that vendor.

However, what has become crystal clear is that the process was simply too long and time-consuming.  Based upon your feedback, we have created a much simpler recommendation wizard that requires less information and allows you to enter recommendations much faster.  In the past, if you had 10 vendors to add, it would require you to go through 50 or so total screens.  It was relatively easy to use but took time loading each of those screens. 

We have some great news! Now, 10 vendors only requires 11 total screens!

So, if you haven’t seen the new recommendation wizard, be sure to log in and check it out

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Vendor Reviews: Quality versus Quantity

Posted by JC Cameron on July 25th, 2008

HandshakeAs a business owner for more than 15 years, I know the value of good recommendations from my network of contacts.  Word-of-mouth referrals has been and will continue to be the best way to find quality vendors and partners.  That first-hand, real-life, intimate knowledge of what it is like to work with a vendor provides you and your company with valuable insight into whether or not they would be a good fit.

We are bringing that trusted source of valuable vendor insight online.  As a business owner, you don’t need a list of 50 different website design companies.  You just need 2 or 3 really good ones to choose from.  But, you need to know and trust that they are indeed excellent choices.  Without that trust and knowledge that the recommendations are real and can be counted upon, you cannot be sure how much value to place upon them.  Well, that’s where we come in. 

The recommendations you find in VendorCity will have been vetted and proven to be the result of two companies who did indeed do business together.  Longer term, you’ll also be able to see the specific recommendations from people you have connected with (colleagues, partners, clients, and friends) and those recommendations will be shown and highlighted to emphasize the additional trust that you place on referrals from people you know. 

Additionally, our site is being designed and improved to become the first place you visit when you have business needs.  From finding vendors and learning how to select them to resources and people who can help make your company successful, we hope that VendorCity will become your first source of information to help build and grow your company.

What kinds of information and resources would you like to have in one central place?  What kinds of events would you want to know about and how can we enhance the information to make VendorCity the place you come first when you have a business need?

Let us know!

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A couple of nice mentions in the blog world

Posted by JC Cameron on July 7th, 2008

Just wanted to share a couple of links, and our thanks, to a few writers who mentioned VendorCity last week:

We have some exciting news we’ll be sharing very soon but we first need to get all our ducks in a row.  Be sure to keep your eye on things here for an announcement real soon!

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VendorCity is Now Available to the Public!

Posted by JC Cameron on July 1st, 2008

Today is an exciting day.  We are happy to announce that the VendorCity BETA is now officially available to the public!  After 6 months of brainstorming, wireframes, designing, developing, and testing, anyone in the US who runs a business or works with businesses can now use our online word-of-mouth B2B recommendation site to find and review their vendors.

We’ve intentionally kept the site simple and easy to use.  At this time, it is not a destination site but a resource to use when you need to find good, high quality vendors that service your area.  As we move forward, we will add additional features that are likely to include:

  • Private and public groups
  • Friends
  • Vendor statistics and access
  • Enhanced scoring (VendorCity score) based upon more than the user rating

Of course, we want to hear from you!  Tell us what you think this site should include and what features would make it a compelling B2B vendor site.

Sign-up to join VendorCity!

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VendorCity Private BETA Launch

Posted by JC Cameron on June 29th, 2008

VendorCity LaunchWe are happy to announce that our private BETA launch has gone off very well.  Within the first 24 hours, we had more than 30 vendors reviewed in our database and expect to see many more soon.  For an idea of what you could already get out of the database, here’s the list of categories that have vendors with 4.5 stars or more:

  • Several web site design firms that work both locally and nationally
  • Business Liability Broker
  • Business Contract Attorney
  • Web Application Development
  • Certified Public Accountants and Tax Professionals
  • Professional Photographer
  • Corporate Realtor
  • Benefits Administration
  • 401K Retirement Plan Administration
  • Staffing and Recruitment
  • IT Consulting

That is what you now have access to…all within the first 24 hours of our private launch.  Just think how valuable that data is to your business and how much better your company will do when it is able to quickly and efficiently find the best possible vendors and partners (and know which ones to avoid).

So, come in and register today to get access to our community-powered vendor search solution!

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Hold onto Your Hats! VendorCity is going NATIONAL!

Posted by JC Cameron on June 28th, 2008

Our initial plan was to launch the BETA in Boston and New Hampshire as that is where we are located and where we could build some initial momentum.  However, based upon the feedback of users around the country, we internally raised the question of going nationally about two weeks ago.

So, we scrambled, we designed, we programmed, we brainstormed, and, in the end, we said, what the heck, let’s do it.  And we did.  300+ cities and regions later, we managed to pull it all together and will indeed launch our BETA service nationally. 

Now that means, more than ever, we need your help to build up the database to create value both for the users of the site and the vendors in the system.  So, when we launch, I hope you have your list of vendors ready so that we can really get this thing off the ground!

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