There are a lot of bad websites out there. A lot.

Websites with 8-bit graphics seemingly ripped from Atari games, with laughable copy errors that immediately diminish credibility, and with such awful usability that you need a Dr. Phil intervention to calm down after surfing through the third-rate portals.

This is one reason I co-founded VOIS.com (pronounced VOICE), or Virtual Outsourcing is Social. Not only can VOIS’ collaborative approach to completing projects produce superior results – from slickly branded and intuitive websites to fun, traffic-churning widgets – but it can also make it more affordable for businesses.

Don’t get me wrong; this is not the business owners’ faults. As a blogger for a major food website, I can say first hand that these are good people with the best of intentions. But just because someone knows how to make donuts, pizza or surfboards, it doesn’t mean they should know how to create a compelling online storefront. And hiring expensive firms on retainer often isn’t a workable business model for small and medium-sized businesses, or even larger firms that don’t have the bandwidth to handle their current business needs.

That’s why VOIS seeks to connect clients with expert Web professionals – from designers to developers and copywriters – to work on a project basis. What separates us from other business match-making platforms is that we allow and encourage the clients and talent to get to know each other first by exploring robust online profiles and messaging back and forth.

Click-and-mortar, web-driven start-ups have also had to change their game plan, and VOIS was developed for these businesses, too. With start-up capital tougher and tougher to attract, it’s no longer feasible for someone to hire developer and a CTO, build an infrastructure from scratch, then roll out and ramp up a product. I’ve met many people who have burned through $500,000 before looking at a more cost-efficient way of doing things.

And I really feel VOIS is that new way of doing things. We’re keeping VOIS wide open in terms of the scope of projects we accommodate – no niche focus or specialized tunnel vision. This will help us attract more users and offer truly turnkey solutions for our users.

So as the VOIS community grows, fueled by this added interpersonal dimension, I look forward at seeing some truly amazing work forged through the power of online collaboration. In other words, no more bad websites, or half-completed start-ups that could have been the next big thing.

In fact, I think VOIS is the next big thing.

• iPhone App Reviews for Social Media News – March 2, 2009
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Stop Dreaming – Start Doing With VOIS originally appeared on: Crenk
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Mobile technology does not make it any easier on companies either. With so many applications out there, you can do everything from making payments to ordering pizza, even shopping for groceries for a quick quick up at the store. The speed of technology is forcing companies to think faster and smarter, probably moreso now than ever before. This is the business world we stand in today; social media, mobile apps, instant connectivity, instant gratification, the world moves faster, so businesess have to move faster.

This is where Booksprice comes in. Here is a company with a solid business model of providing cheap books for users looking for the best deals. Their site is amazingly easy to navigate but offers more than just books, it offers music, DVD’s, and more. What’s the “more”? Think of it like a mashup of Amazon and MySimon, or any other similar combination. I’ve been using the site for searches over the past week and have found it very useful.

This is definitely a college student’s dream when it comes to finding affordable textbooks!

Pricing Books At Your Fingertips
Booksprice announced at the beginning of the month that their company was now offering instant lookup via Twitter, called Price Tweet. Twitter has been the micro-blogging application that has simply taken the social media world by storm as the ultimate way to connect with users worldwide. This life tracking application has been integrated into a number of companies as a way of connecting with the customer, announcing specials, and offering coupon codes, and now Booksprice has joined those ranks.

Via your mobile device, a user can now send a direct message to Booksprice (d booksprice) and after that input the ISBN/UPC number and click “SEND.” In a matter of seconds your mobile device will receive a reply with price comparisons for more affordable options. The idea is to provide the user with information on the fly, saving them the hassle of searching for prices across all the sites they would normally have searched through.

Lucy Orbach, co-founder of Booksprice states, “With this new tool, Booksprice goes beyond the online market. In a fast and easy way, it will help the shoppers compare the price of the items from the store where they are to their prices online. Since online shopping involves a shipping cost, the prices shown on our messages will include standard shipping to the US, making it even easier to compare. Now, that the Holiday shopping are here , our direct quote tweets can help shoppers make sure they don’t overpay for their books/DVDs at store.”

To further impress upon its users the usefulness of the Twitter client, users can set up alerts for a certain time frame to announce when the price drops. If you are still unhappy with the prices offered by various vendors, and you’re waiting for another price drop, simply fill out some information and alerts will be sent either to your mobile or desktop Twitter client as soon as it records a drop. When the end date comes, the updates stop, without the users need to go back into the site to stop it. It’s very innovative and useful no doubt for seasonal shopping whether it is for books, DVD’s, music or other items of interest.

I highly recommend this site as an option for your bargain shopping. Chances are you may not go back to your old price hunting sites again!

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Pricing Books Just Got Social originally appeared on: Crenk
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