Linda Olson presented her Tampa based company WOMbeat! to Startup Riot 2009. In an event where a fictitious cat provided the afternoon entertainment, Olson brought along her competing critter, the Wombat pictured above. WOMBeat! is entering the market where consumer service providers are rated and recommended, the most notable competitor being Angie’s List. However, WOMbeat! has a different spin on the business model.Whereas Angie’s List charges subscribers, WOMBeat! allows individuals to participate for free and targets small and mid-sized business (SMB) customers as paying advertisers. The “WOM” stands for “Word of Mouth,” and that is the crux of the concept. Reviews are written not by third parties but by a network of friends that are viewed as having credibility in their reviews and in their choices of others to invite into the network. It’s a bit like LinkedIn meets Consumer Reports meets Yellow Pages.
WOMBeat! launched its beta website in the summer of 2008 and has populated it with nearly 1 million SMB’s across Florida. The company is now seeking a round of seed funding to complete development and launch its marketing efforts.
The founders have deep experience in print and other media advertising and have devised a number of products for SMB’s to use coupons and other incentives to build fan bases on the network. In addition, these SMB’s will have access to valuable user-generated data. At the same time, due attention has been given to rewards and incentives to bring more trusted friends into the network.
This is a classic chicken-and-egg model, but WOMbeat! has focused on a large market of 26.8 million SMB’s in the US and has come up with a highly creative strategy to tap this market.
