This week, I have been playing a lot with Aardvark (vark.com, the new "social search" tool that Google recently acquired). At first I was simply just checking out a new service, but the more quality answers I got from it, the more I started thinking about how this might be used in soliciting new business.
My first two questions were related to (a) big storage (several petabytes) and (b) buying homes. Within a few minutes, both of my inquiries were answered by experts who gave me their direct contact info. I ended up calling both of them and had a great conversation. In one case, I hooked him up with another customer of mine who could benefit from a big storage project he did for the NSA. The other dude freely hooked me up with several online home buying resources and didn't at all push his services, so when I found out what he did (help people compare loans to make sure they got the best rate), I immediately hooked him up with some others I know who could use his help. After that, I've been goofing around with questions regarding music and restaurants, but these first two responses really got me thinking about the possibility of using a tool like this to solicit new business, particularly for those of us in the coworking scene who rely on word of mouth or referrals. (Those still unsure of what Aardvark is might want to check out this paper on social search (presented at the same www conference as Google a few years before http://blog.vark.com/?p=352). -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Coworking" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [email protected]. For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/coworking?hl=en.
