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Social Networks

Let’s Gift It – Group Gifting Made Easy

letsgiftit Logo Let’s Gift It is a relatively new website launched back in December 2010. It implements a simple business model giving users the opportunity to send gifts to other people. You may be wondering how this is different from other gift services. Well, it is, because it allows the gifts to be sent as a group.

The process is simple. All you need is a free account to start the process. Then it is up to you to choose an appropriate gift and send out invites to your friends or colleagues directly or via social networking websites like Facebook. Users can then visit the link and chip in with whatever amount they like. The contributions are anonymous as far as the recipient is concerned although the organizer can see this information. Everything from packaging to shipping is then taken care of automatically through the service interface.

Let’s Gift It uses Authorize as the payment processing system. The service also provides APIs for merchants to incorporate this functionality in their websites.

What they say about themselves

We help people buy and gift as a group. Lets Gift It is innovating in social commerce and gifting. We are one of the best social media apps enabling retailers and wish lists by providing a technology solution for social buying in electronic commerce. E-business and online merchandising sites are using social media campaigns to reach and engage with groups of buyers. Let’s Gift It taps into social networks to provide our e-Commerce partners with an alternative payment solution by deploying our SaaS group gift technology.

Why it could be a success

Simply put, small contributions pooled together can be used to buy something nice for a person you care about. Instead of individual gifts, people can use group gifting to buy something big and relatively expensive like iPod or a PS3.

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Betterfly – Find the right person

BetterFly Logo The service industry is changing. New models of business come out daily and the intense competition drives people to search for new ways to find potential customers. Outsourcing has been with us for a long time. Businesses reach out to professionals for tasks like advertising and marketing. Now, if we talk about individuals, people have been using the Internet for a long time to make purchases of products (Amazon comes to mind). People offer their services via websites like Craigslist. Recently I visited BetterFly and their specialty is the service sector.

Make an account on BetterFly and then search through the listing of services. You may be looking for a musician for lessons or a therapist. From teachers to yoga instructors, the website claims to offer services from more than a thousand individuals. On finding one, you have the option to make transactions for services rendered through the website or you can get together and use any other method.

If you happen to use the service, do leave a feedback about the provider so that other people can benefit from it.

What they say about themselves

Betterfly is the first website of its kind to exclude companies, focusing on people instead. Its goal is to make it easy to find the best people to help you learn, look or feel better. Betterfly sets out to make that process easier and more efficient for its users. By catering to individuals instead of companies and by offering a broad but well-defined set of services, Betterfly enables users to compare apples to apples.

Why it could be a success

Finding the right professional can be difficult. Yellow pages are there, but you can’t be sure about the competence of a person unless you hear some positive feedback. All this is provided to you through BetterFly. The website is still beta so I’d give it some time to see how it fares.

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myBantu – Free Personal Assistant

myBantu Logo myBantu is a recent addition to the long line of websites following the Facebook/Twitter idea. The website allows people to get opinions, recommendations and feedback on different things like local restaurants and movies to watch.

You can get opinions from your friends or colleagues about a particular interest and then you can shout your own experience just like in other social networking websites. If you are unsure, you can let myBantu to make some recommendations based on your tastes and preferences. A personal organizer to let you schedule your daily tasks is available with every account.

What they say about themselves

We are Glomantra Inc., a silicon valley, California based startup revolutionizing the way you manage your daily life. Our product myBantu is a free online personal assistant. myBantu, the virtual assistant, takes care of users’ needs, gets them relevant recommendations, opinions, and plenty of other great options with the sole intent of making their life easier, simpler and adding a dash of fun in it!

Why it could be a success

Well, maybe, for someone looking for a quick recommendation, the website does offer some fresh content but to be honest, with the host of websites giving similar services, myBantu faces a serious challenge. They will have to include some more original applications to entice users to avail their services.

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FameHog – Showcase Your Talents

FameHog Logo The entertainment industry provides employment to a host of professional needed for making any sort of presentation possible. People usually see only the presenters like actors, directors, editors and musicians etc. Few, if any, know about the people who work to make all this possible in the background.

I am talking about the people who work day and night during the projects durations like agents, engineers, designers, makeup and hair professionals and stuntmen. They rarely get the exposure they deserve to show the world what they are capable of. Well, FameHog is just the place for such people.

FameHog provides these professionals with the opportunity and tools to present their creations for everyone to see. Besides being a social networking site, the place provides audio and video player, news service and even email facilities. An easy to use content management system allows for professional looking profiles and resumes.

What they say about themselves

The vast majority of film & TV professionals don’t have management. These are the set designers, animators, makeup artists, sound engineers, etc. To date these professionals have had limited options to promote, market and manager their careers. FameHog levels the playing field and digitizes this distribution model, eliminating the need for printed headshots, portfolios and messengers.

Why it could be a success

People need to know how much work goes into making a TV or film production possible and how many people make it so. Everyone should get the exposure they deserve for their creative talents. FameHog may inspire others to follow these professionals by providing them the platform to get together and discuss ideas. I believe the website could benefit by launching a marketplace for people to monetize their talents.

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Legal Playground – Professional Law Portal

LegalPlayground Logo A new entry into the social networking niche, Legal Playground provides a portal for the lawyers and legal fraternity to interact with people seeking them out for their needs. The process is simple. Both the service providers and clients get a chance to signup and seek each other out.

Legal professionals can make their profiles on the website. They can provide people with blog posts and list their expertise in the relevant field. Clients can seek out these professionals through searching or posting their problems eliciting a response from the appropriate professionals. Clients can also post their testimonials about the quality of service they got from anyone from this website.

What they say about themselves

Recent studies show that when looking for an attorney, consumers now search the Internet, review blogs, and watch online videos to help them decide. Legal Playground provides a way to connect consumers and lawyers in this digital revolution. Lawyers can easily create a profile, blog and upload multimedia. And, consumers can easily search for attorneys by name, location or practice area. The app is also revolutionary for the legal community, and the closest lawyers will get to having their own free app.

Why it could be a success

Targeting the legal fraternity and allowing them to easily interact with their prospective clients is a nice business model. The service is free and only charges when a professional is actually hired. For legal professionals who are new and need a place to build their portfolio, Legal Playground provides an easy to use and manageable platform.

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TweetPort – Tweets to your Inbox

TweetPort Logo Who doesn’t tweet these days? Celebrities, sport personalities, politicians, friends and family all love to share their updates. And it can be overwhelming sometimes with the huge amount of messages. And what if you don’t check your account. You may end up missing something important. TweetPort now offers the solution.

This new service takes all your tweets and package them in an email to be sent to the address of your choice. A Twitter application, which only needs access to your account and the option to send the email daily, weekly or monthly, which summarizes all those tweets so that you can sit back and read them all at once.

The service is free for the first month and then costs $3 per month currently.

What they say about themselves

TweetPort is your personal Twitter summary report. It’s a way to condense all of your tweets into one, easy-to-read, daily email. Best of all, it’s automatically organized by importance. The report is also available in live form on TweetPort.net.

Why it could be a success

There are times when we don’t have access to the Internet or we may be busy or on vacation. Getting all the tweets in the email will certainly help as it should be a breeze to read them. I wonder if they can put an option to get the email with tweets only from certain people. That would be cool as only the important bits will come filtered from the rest.

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Flapon – Topic-Based Social Networking

Flapon Logo Flapon is a new and upcoming social networking website providing users with the ability to interact with other people based on their interests. Like most social networking websites, the idea is to create connections. From personal friendships to business affiliations, Flapon can help you to grow your network of friends.

Flapon is a topic-based social networking site. It works by allowing users to choose from a wide range of topics matching their interests and interact with people having similar tastes. The main theme revolves around creating Flaps, which are similar to forum or blog posts and can be used to write personal thoughts, reviews or just random tidbits of information which you feel can benefit others. The Flaps are then posted and streamed to users who are either following the person writing the Flap or the topic, the Flap is based on.

An interesting feature is the event notification. Users can inform others interested in a particular niche about an upcoming event. The event can both be online or offline in the real world. A marketplace to setup a business presence for a brand is also provided for young entrepreneurs as a launching pad to introduce others to their services.

What they say about themselves

Flapon features include an interactive blogging/forum function called “Flap” which allows users to write about and discuss topics of mutual interest. Users can easily meet new people based on those mutual interests without muddling through thousands of forums online.

Why it could be a success

The ability to make it easier to find people with similar interests by connecting them through Flap topics may give an edge to this new website. By posting useful information for others, people can easily find friends with similar interests in life. The idea of an integrated marketplace for business is an added advantage.

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LifePulp – Get Inspired

LifePulp LogoWith a refreshing design, LifePulp.com is a social network with one motive to give the inspiration to those in need of this valuable commodity. Members are able to access inspirational quotes along with the inspirational pictures and videos to get inspired. This is the perfect place to get encouragement and motivation, if you are falling behind in taking action.

Being a social network, LifePulp solely depends upon the content submitted by its users. The members can rate and discuss the inspiration sources with the like-minded people.  Through this website, you have the resources and right kind of people to facilitate you in realizing your dreams.

If you want to set your path straight, you should consider joining this lively community. According to the website, the members and visitors to the website are increasing by thousands every month.

What they Say about Themselves

Our mission is simple, put together a social based website that enriches the user mentally via a great deal of motivational and inspirational content. In turn building a community of like minded, goal driven people who share what drives, motivates and inspires them to chase their dreams.

Why It could be a Success

Inspiration is what everyone needs to achieve the goals of the life. LifePulp.com is the right kind of website to cater these human needs along with the social touch, which is an essential part of the web today. A combination of social networking and inspiration makes it an ultimate attraction for the people interested in this subject or in need of its resources. The features of LifePulp have the potential to make it a success.

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ZipSetGo – Travel Planning the Right Way

ZipSetGo LogoPlanning a leisure travel has always been an exciting yet problematic process for most of us. The steps need to be taken to ensure you are getting the best return of your money and time in shape of a desirable destination, a comfortable and problems-free stay, and no-hassles travel.

ZipSetGo claims to make your life easy when you are in mood to travel either as an individual or with a group of travelers. Gladly enough they deliver. ZipSetGo is an online community focused on traveling. It brings about detailed information on any travel destination around the world. Now you don’t have to go through the calling every travel agency to find better advice; you also don’t need to visit every travel site to get the knowledge you want, you can visit ZipSetGo.

Either you are looking for a destination or more information on a destination, this community may provide you with all the necessary information. Know about the hottest spots, hotels, facilities for travelers, etc. from a single place. The free account at ZipSetGo also gives you the information on currency, culture, and other related matters about your chosen destination. The detailed city reviews would help you decide your destination in no time.

ZipSetGo is a go-to place for Travel Planners. The information presented through this community comes very handy, when you have to plan a trip for yourself or for your clients. The detailed travel plans according to every budget can be prepared in a very short time.

What do they Say about Themselves?

With 100 destinations and counting, ZSG provides quick access to truthful, comprehensive, and collaborative information for the world’s best travel destinations and what these have to offer.

Why it Could be a Success:

Travel planning is a tiresome process and anything making it easy for people has the potential of success; ZipSetGo does just that and could be a winner, if the quality of travel advice and resources available to members are kept at high quality.

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Blogcastr – Blog it Live

Blogcastr LogoInternet has seen a real revolution with the emergence of real-time information sharing. With the internet going real-time, numerous websites and applications enhancing this capability have been established.

Blogcastr offers a new blogging service to the internet users who want to blog about anything in real-time. The users have the ability to post to their blogs from web or from mobile phones. You can post images from the event you are attending or your thoughts on a speech you are listening.

Blogcastr claims to be an easy-to-use and better real-time blogging service. Through this platform, you can share live information with your community and get feedback, comments, and opinions from them about your share.

Though the Blogcastr claims to be the first consumer product to offer such capability but its functionality is very much similar to Twitter. Besides that the blogcasts of the founders of Blogcastr, Kyle Rushton and Matt Rushton does not show much uniqueness. The posts made so far either contain one or two sentences or an image with a short caption. It would be better for Blogcatsr, if the founders could show through their blogs what could be achieved by the Blogcastr.

What Do They Say about themselves?

Blogcastr is a free, easy-to-use live blogging service for sharing cool stuff as it happens. From attending a sports game or concert to watching your favorite TV show, Blogcastr enables you to share what you are doing as you are doing it. It’s a great way to create real-time conversation with friends.

Could it Be a Success?

Among several other social outlets offering similar features; Blogcastr has a very tough competition. People do want to share the cool stuff they are doing but turning them towards Blogcastr from Twitter or other similar services will be very challenging task for Blogcastr.

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