Mint.com

The ability to access your financial information in consolidated form from anywhere. This is what Mint.com does for its members. Mint.com looks at your financial picture, classifies expenditures, and analyzes spending. The site takes a read-only snap shot of your online bank accounts by using log-in information you provide. Mint.com only reads the accounts it does not maintain a connection with the banks, nor does it allow you to transfer money or make adjustments through the site.

I have been using Mint.com for the past couple months as our schools proxy servers block financial software like Microsoft Money or Intuit’s Quicken from connecting with the banks automatically. However Mint.com gets around this by being a application entirely based on the web. It has not been smooth sailing all the way for me with Mint.com. About 75% of my accounts worked, and after speaking with my banks and receiving little help from the Mint.com customer service department, it is still only 75% of my accounts that work. However, for the accounts that do work, I love it. The site is easy to use, beautifully designed, and a great idea.

The site makes money through offers it can make to you through it financial partners. All the offers aim to help you save money on fees and gain money on interest. They even explain that they don’t make money off of every deal they offer you. So why use this then the other computer based software? For the same reason you use Google Docs or any other “Web 2.0″ software, you have 24/7 global access to your resources, it just makes sense.

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Popularity: 7% [?]

Why Linkedin is a sweet idea

So i checked out the site linkedin.com.  It seems like it’s basically just facebook for businesses.  So that got me thinking, you could take most any successful website and a “business version” of it.  For example, you make a website that is basically Ebay for businesses.  This way business could buy/sell used office furniture or business assets to/from each other.  I dunno.  Maybe the ebay idea is kind of corny.  I guess my point is that we shouldn’t overlook the B to B market.  We talk alot about facebook and youtube, and the social networking power they offer, but the B to B world has alot of similar needs and opportunities.

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Popularity: 8% [?]

Viral Elements on Social Networking Sites

Many of the new web 2.0 sites contain a viral element to help them attract new users and generate new content. Some sites are better at this then others ning.com or facebook.com or youtube.com for example. Let’s look at how these sites differ in their techniques of using viral elements.

YouTube - Post a video, now put it on your own web site while promoting the YouTube brand.

Facebook - Goes after existing communities of people (schools and work places). Get everyone to drive their friends to Facebook so that they can keep track of each other.

Ning - Who needs Facebook, why not create your own network and invite your friends?

I suppose I am comparing apples and oranges here since these sites are all different in how they obtain new users, but in the end it comes down to one concept: Tell your friends to sign up for our service!!!

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Popularity: 8% [?]

Hello YouTube goodbye Cable?

So my roommate and i had cable the first semester.   But then we decided to get rid of it, because it way too expensive.  Guess what?  I don’t miss it!  I can watch everything i want on the internet, whenever i want, without commercials.   This brings up a couple of  questions.  For example, what is going to happen to cable?  I imagine it won’t go away anytime soon, because there are enough people who are more comfortable watching tv on the television than on their computer.  However, i do think that the format of tv will change.  I imagine it will change to an on demand format, more similar to what you would find on YouTube.  Another point worth making is that youtube has introduced a different kind of video experience.  They are generally clips only a few minutes long, just enough to experience a thought or an idea.  Exactly how this will affect the way we think about television, i’m not sure.  But it is interesting to think about!

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Popularity: 8% [?]

Why the internet doesn’t make money

One really interesting internet phenomenon is that many sites are not money driven.  Take Craigslist for example.  It is a very well known site, and many many people use it.  But at the same time, its founder has not made any great effort to monetize it.  sure, he does has some revenue streams from the site, but mostly it is a free website with no ads.  Now contrast this with other large organizations.  Large companies are always profit driven, even to the point of committing fraud to make their financial statements look good.  Even governments are anxious to monetize themselves, seeking tax revenues any way they can get them.  I guess the internet offers something else to individuals besides money.  I think it’s the whole notion of being part of a community and being able to contribute to that community that is valuable in and of itself.  I believe this is why some very successful internet entrepreneurs, such as the founder of Craigslist, are more concerned with creating a useful website than generating revenue from it.

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Popularity: 8% [?]

Business with Craig’s List

For the past few summers I have worked for my parents who are both real estate agents. A large part of my job is marketing the listings that we have. One of the most cost-effective things we’ve done, particularly for rental properties, is advertising them on CraigsList.  CraigsList seems to be growing in popularity for online real estate searching, particularly in the rental market. it’s worked out really well for us because all it costs to advertise is the time it takes for me to post the ad and repost it each week if the property hasn’t rented. It’s also good for us because we can put photos in there as well as a link to our visual tour. In addition to being a big selling point in the real estate market, linking to the virtual tour allows them to land on our website and see who we are, even though you’re not allowed to advertise business services on the site. All in all, while i wont say it’s necessarily our best marketing tool, it’s definitely the most financially beneficial. If we sell or rent anything at all we’ve made money.

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Popularity: 8% [?]

Pownce.com

From the creator of Digg.com, Kevin Rose, comes his latest creation, Pownce.com. Pownce is a web community on which members share articles, links, photos, music and events with one another. Then, users can discuss what they’ve shared.

Without being a member I wasn’t able to delve really deeply into the workings of the site, nor was I able to find many other articles about it on the internet. Honestly, I don’t see what it does that numerous other sites already allow you to do. I mean, yes, it does give users an alternative to facebook and other sites that do similar things. However, the thing about members only sites like that is what on earth is the point of getting on the site if no one you know is on it. Maybe I’m just lazy or not having a complete web 2.0 experience, but I just don’t see why I would go open a pounce account when 95% of my friends are on facebook and there are still plenty of other sites that have more of a differentiated function that I don’t use yet.

While it may be financially viable, I just don’t see the purpose of pownce. It just seems to be following on the coat tails of bigger and better things.

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Popularity: 8% [?]

My love hate relationship with Craigslist

I have mixed feelings about craigslist.  On the one hand, i love the informality of it.  I love being able to post stuff for free, and take it off whenever i feel like it.  Unlike ebay, i don’t have to worry about fees, or shipping anything as soon as the item sells.  I guess i’m kind of a laid back sort of guy, so this kind of setup suits me well.

On the other hand, i also hate the informality of it.  Anyone can put stuff on there.  People will call about your ad, and never show up to pick it up.  Or you may see an ad for something you want.  So you call the number on the ad, leave a message, and no one ever calls you back.  So in a sense, the site is kinda sloppy.

I wonder what it would be like if craigslist incorporated some sort of barrier to entry.  In other words, filter out the rif-raf so that not just anyone can put ads on the site.  I think this might help make the site more user friendly.

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Popularity: 12% [?]

LinkedIn

I heard about LinkedIn a while ago, but never seriously considered joining.  A few weeks ago, I “joined the network” and started playing around.  The first thing I did was gather together as many business cards as I could from my desk drawers and start sending out invitations.  After only a few days, I had a dozen or so contacts, a few of whom I have engaged in conversation with already.  After thinking, it seems strange that something like this did not come about sooner.  Businesses are built on networks, and personal contacts are a vital part to any career.  LinkedIn automates this process.  As businesses move more towards the internet, sites such as this will have no choice but to thrive.

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Popularity: 9% [?]

Craigslist - are you really going to move?

Let me say one thing from the start. I have an apartment. I know where I am going to live, and I do not plan on moving any time soon. Even so, I have seen just about every apartment listed for Shadyside, Squirrel Hill, Lawrenceville, Friendship and Bloomfield under Pittsburgh’s Craigslist page. I don’t know why, but it is addicting. I can’t help but visit again. Craigslist has such an intuitive user interface you can’t help but get exactly what you want. It is so simple that it seem like you are just chatting with neighbors about renting an apartment, or buying a couch, and not conducting some business transaction. This casual feel of the site adds a great deal to its attractiveness. Even if I don’t end up taking that cool 3rd floor on the busline with a balcony, I promise you I will always know it is out there.

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Popularity: 9% [?]