Hi there! Somehow you stumbled upon our first entry and I thank you in advance for continuing to read all about us (blah). Where to start…..hmm….well, MYiLIVE as you can see is a new website in it’s very infant stages. We are excited to finally launch phase 1 to the real world here soon, and we are even more excited for the phase 2 implementations we are working on to better your experience!
Why was MYiLIVE Created?
Simple answer really – for me. Kidding (kind of). I am a simple man with simple needs (some might say otherwise). I enjoy shopping, but not always at the mall or on major retailer websites. I like hard to find shops, unique clothing, and supporting local businesses. I don’t eat out more than once a week, but when I do I always wished there was a way to view dishes ahead of time – say, chicken parmesan – instead of just searching for ‘Italian food’. I think it would be extremely helpful to see and compare a few different chicken parmesan dishes before choosing where I would like to dine. I also enjoy a good beer now and then, but in this economy I think twice about spending top dollar for a drink. Wouldn’t it be great if I could search ‘Sam Adams beer specials’ near my house to try and save a couple bucks, all while finding a new place to hang out too?
Time will tell if any of this comes to fruition as I’m asking a lot, but hey, it’s worth a shot to create a service that tries to accomplish this for me you.
What is the Thought Process behind MYiLIVE?
Not quite as simple an answer as above, but I’ll give it a whirl. Most social networks today are user oriented and provide us with amazing experiences in interacting with one another, entertainment, sharing information, and keeping in touch with old (and new) friends. I am your typical Friendster < MySpace < Facebook < LinkedIn < Twitter social experiment. Frankly, I can’t imagine living without these services at my fingertips (thanks iPhone!).
Businesses are frenetically trying their hand at capitalizing on social media. Have any truly succeeded by pushing the envelope on one of these networks and seen significant growth in business? Yes – see the recent Burger King Facebook Application as an example (I don’t know how this translated into new business, but it was damn good) . I imagine the majority do not though, especially when considering small local businesses.
Do we use social networks to actively shop, seek out local stores or restaurants, or to search business services in town? Based on my informal research we don’t (I am by no means an economist though). I would like MYiLIVE to reverse this trend and provide us with a business oriented network/marketplace/experience – call it what you will. Do I aim to compete with the Twitter’s or Facebook’s of the world? No. What I would like is when you do decide to seek out local shops, products or businesses – you use MYiLIVE. In other words, you will visit MYiLIVE for a much different reason than social networks. Is it for more of a purpose? That’s debatable I’m sure. Are there other websites built around the needs of businesses? Yep, but not in the true marketplace sense as MYiLIVE (I don’t think). Is MYiLIVE perfect and the great savior for businesses? Paaaaleeeease!!
So What Can You Do With MYiLIVE?
Here in the Washington, DC area there are hundreds of small boutiques with their own unique products and personalities. Who’s to say a girl in Phoenix, Arizona wouldn’t love the amazing clothes and accessories that We One You Two in Georgetown carries? How about a guy that lives just outside of DC and has never heard of Caramel Fashion or Profile – both of which have a great collection of men’s clothing on U Street? Without visiting these stores in person (or stumbling upon their website) how would they ever find them and what each has to offer? With MYiLIVE, the girl in Phoenix or the guy outside of DC could simply browse men’s or women’s clothing stores on the Washington, DC home page – or better yet, type what they are looking for in the product search and input 20009 as the zip code. There is an abundance of wonderful small businesses in this country that many of us will never hear of or have a chance to visit. That’s a shame.
This Means What for a Business Owner?
MYiLIVE is a free marketing and sales tool. It doesn’t matter where you’re located, what you sell, how big or small of a store you are – it is a level playing field for all. If you are a women’s clothing boutique in Miami, FL, you and your products are just as relevant and ‘searchable’ as a Bloomingdale’s in Miami, FL. Build a store front, upload a few products (link those products back to your website’s shopping cart), post events and create customer coupons. Be visible so customers can find your business to add to their personal mall. Converse with your fans, learn from your local business reviews, and most importantly remember that businesses are the focus of MYiLIVE. Without you the business owner, we have no service to offer users. It’s a win win situation (we hope).
A Few Tips for a Business:
- It’s Free!
- Once you create a store front your business is searchable anywhere
- Add products to your rolodex, update as often as you would like, and use the ‘Buy It’ link to send customers back to your shopping cart until we implement a full service payment system
- Did we mention it’s free to add products to your store front and link back to your website?
- Add events (trunk sales, product releases, parties) to your store front which are immediately found on your locale’s event calendar
- Create coupons for users to ‘clip’ and save
- Add video to your store front to stand out
A Few Tips for Users:
- You do not need to create a profile to use MYiLIVE
- Currently Washington, DC is set as the default home page, but you can change locations for local content – we will try and build as many local home pages as quickly as possible
- Narrow your product or business searches by zip code or search entire site if you feel wild
- Our product and business searches offer you two different sets of search sorts – try them out!
- Use the product search as the food and drink search
- Create a profile to build your own personal mall and stay up to date with your favorites
- ‘Clip’ coupons from business store fronts to save for future use
- View local events on the local events calendar – sales, parties, trunk shows, anything goes!
In Closing (as I catch my breath…I swear I don’t talk this much)
MYiLIVE isn’t just another business directory; it is a business marketplace and a social one at that. If you want to explore what other cities have to offer, and stay up to date on your local life, MYiLIVE is for you. Remember we are just launching, so we are like the last pick in the 7th round of an NFL Draft – Mr. Irrelevant. I urge you to try us out, we aren’t perfect right now nor do we ever expect to be. It may be a month, year, or five years from now before we have what you need, so come on back every once in a while to check in. I hope it will be worth the wait.
Here is to a new way to local life and business for all! Thank you for reading,
Brad D Redding, Founder of MYiLIVE
Tags: Brad Redding, How To's
