Zeus of the ‘NetReviews of the Coolest Sites on the Net

If you answered yes to any of these, then you should check out a site called Betterfly.com.  Basically Betterfly helps you to find service providers such as hair stylists, language coaches, massage therapists, and Zumba instructors that are in your local area.  Their website is easy to use and the search and filter options work very well.  In addition to having a great looking site, they also have many cool features.  The first and most important thing that a service provider site needs is reviews!  Thanks to Yelp reviews are a MUST especially for service related offerings.  The nice thing about the reviews on this site is that they are categorized according to the service that’s being provided, which ensures that they are relevant (this is important if a provider offers multiple services across several domains).

Another thing that I think is a great idea is the ‘Availability’ feature.  Betterfly allows providers to show their availability with the option for potential client’s to book directly online!  You can’t ask for a more quick and easy process!  So if you’ve been wanting to learn a new language, find a new hair stylist, treat yourself to a massage, or get back in shape, then go check out Betterfly today!

If you’re like me and love to travel then I’m sure you can’t wait to take your next vacation either.  But the thing that always gets me (other than having the $$) is making all the arrangements.  It’s such a hassle.  Now I know there are some people who probably enjoy this, but I’m definitely not one of them.  So if there’s any way to make the process quicker and more efficient, I’m all for it.  With this in mind I happened to come across Oyster.com.  Right from the get-go I knew that the site just had “it”.  What exactly “it” is can be hard to pinpoint, and it can also vary from site to site.  However with Oyster (so named after the Shakespeare quote “the world is your oyster”) I believe it’s a combination of the new approach they’ve taken with hotel reviews and booking, combined with an excellent website.

What I like most about this site is the photos they take of the hotels they review.  They’re high-quality and haven’t been retouched.  The only drawback I can see is that as of right now the site only covers 14 destinations (within the U.S. and around the globe) but I’m guessing as they get more exposure, visits, and bookings, that this number will increase.

So next time you sit down and start making those travel arrangements, be sure to look up Oyster and check out some photos of that hotel you were thinking of staying at.

If you’re like me and love to try new foods then you might find this site interesting.  It’s a combination of Yelp and Foursquare in that the focus is on restaurants and users can earn points and badges.  However instead of multiple reviews/descriptions this site makes food the star (as it should be).  Foodspotting allows users (aka Foodspotters) to either upload or email pictures of the food they’ve tried at various local restaurants.  From there the community can nominate (known as “noms”) the foods they’ve tried and liked the best.  Users can earn points and keep running lists of foods ‘spotted’, ‘nommed’, and ‘wanted’, of course in addition to earning badges such as ‘Seafood’, ‘Dessert’, and ‘Sushi’.

They also have a very cool (and free) iPhone app that perfectly replicates the website experience.  I think an app like this is absolutely necessary for a website in this niche and they definitely hit the nail on the head.  If you have an iPhone I highly recommend downloading the app (just go to the App Store and search ‘foodspotting’).  So what do you guys think, next time you’re hungry but don’t know where to go would you consider checking out Foodspotting?

Luckily we’ve moved past the days of having to use a paper phonebook to find local service providers (I mean really, who uses the YellowPages anymore?). Now we’re onto bigger and better options. We now have local search directories such as Google Places, Yahoo Local, and Bing Local, just to name a few. However all of these new local directories lack a few things. They essentially act the same way as the old YellowPages did, listing a business’ address, phone number, product/service offerings, etc. with the added bonus of some reviews mixed in.  While this is a step in the right direction, Redbeacon takes it one step further.

Users can submit a request for whatever type of service they are looking for and can specify when, where, and exactly what they need to have done. Redbeacon will then send out a message to those service providers that match your criteria (that have of course created a Provider Services account) and then those providers can bid on your service request. From there you get to choose which provider you want to go with, based on their bid price, reviews, etc. Best of all this can all be done online, absolutely FREE.

In my opinion this site has a lot of potential. However I think for it to really take off, it’s going to need a lot of qualified service providers actively involved and bidding on service requests. What do you guys think, would you consider using Redbeacon for your local business needs?

If you’re like most people then I’m sure you’ve browsed through online classified sites, such as Craigslist or Backpage, looking for a good deal on one thing or another.  But I’m sure a lot of people out there have the same worry I do.  Can I trust the people selling this stuff?  Are they being honest when they say it’s only been “slight used” (I know they’re probably not but still…).  And on the flip side, I’m sure sellers are thinking, can I trust these people who want to come look at whatever it is I’m selling?  Unlike Ebay where there usually isn’t a physical exchange of the product, with Craigslist there usually is.  This can be a scary and sometimes dangerous thing.  So what can be done to help make these types of online classified sites safer?

Enter ListSafer.com.  Seeking to make these marketplaces safer, ListSafer has created a platform where both buyers and sellers can create profiles where they can upload photos, as well as post ratings and reviews on the other users that they buy from as well as sell to.  I think this is an interesting concept that could start to catch on pretty quickly, especially for those people who use Craigslist or Backpage frequently.  I wouldn’t be surprised at all if ListSafer badges started popping up on these and other online classified sites in the near future.

For those of you out there who are obsessed with cars, as well as those who just have a healthy appreciation for them, this site will help you get your daily dose of all things car related.  Covering a wide range of topics, Jalopnik has something for everyone.  From diehard enthusiasts to casual observers, this site has something for all the car lovers of the world.  From this interesting article about deciphering your cars VIN number, to this article (with plenty of pictures included) about an American muscle car classic, the Corvette.

Updated with new information, articles, and pictures on a regular basis, Jalopnik is a great way to find out what’s going on in the world of automobiles.

If you’re looking to try out a new restaurant, bar, hair salon or dentist but aren’t sure where to go or which one to choose, check out Yelp.  Soaring in popularity since Google began including reviews from Yelp on their local listings section, the concept is simple: a place to talk about what’s great and sometimes what’s not so great about the places and business you visit.  Known as Yelpers, the users that comprise Yelp make the site what it is.  The very definition of Web 2.0, Yelp is a great site for users and businesses to find each other, and learn more about what the other is all about.

Once an account is created (free of course) you too can become a Yelper and upload photos, add a bio, and most importantly begin reviewing!  And with the addition of Mobile Yelp users on the go will never again have to randomly choose a restaurant or bar without first seeing what their fellow Yelpers have to say about it!

**Update** Yelp now has both an iPhone and iPad app, both of which are free. Since I wrote this post I’ve come to use Yelp all the time, especially when I’m trying to decide which restaurant I want to eat at. If you have either one of these devices, I highly recommend downloading their app.