Showing posts with label internet. Show all posts
Showing posts with label internet. Show all posts

Tuesday, 24 March 2009

Brownbook.net is The First Ever Business Directory to Support Google Street View


Companies that enhance their listing in Brownbook.net can now take advantage of Google Street View by adding it to their page - as if it were a widget- showing users exactly where their business is located

United Kingdom -- Brownbook is the first business directory in the world to support Google Street View.

Using Brownbook’s enhanced listings, any business can simply embed Google Street View code directly into their business page to provide a 360 degree view of their business location, in addition to its map location. It is very easy to grab the code from Google Street View’s “Paste HTML to embed in website” field and paste it into a Brownbook HTML Page Unit of an enhanced listing.

“The fact that Brownbook users can take advantage of the very latest technology on the internet such as Google Street View,” says Dave Ingram, Brownbook CEO, ”shows that Brownbook really is on the ‘cutting edge’. To be able to add photos, videos, reviews, widgets, bidgets, text, a map, and now Google Street View lets business owners show off their business in much greater detail than a typical directory listing, and it’s shockingly good value for money at just $22 a year.”

Brownbook was also the first to include the following fields, all available in the free listing: Blog url, Twitter username, VoIP address and instant messaging username.

Here is an example of a Brownbook listing that includes a Google Street View Page Unit: http://www.brownbook.net/business/31015039/pulse-light-clinic

Screen shot of Google Street View and map
within a Brownbook listing

About Brownbook

Brownbook is the free directory that anyone can edit. Anyone, in any country, anywhere in the world, can add, edit and review businesses in any country. Business owners claim their listing to optimize it, get alerts and customize it with photos, videos, logos, widgets, and any additional information. They can also use Brownbook Bidgets (Business widgets) to easily add features like reviews, maps, and video on all their other web presences. Free access to Bidgets is the latest in a constant stream of enhancements to the site. Other recent enhancements include the introduction of a 30-day free trial, an affiliate scheme, the addition of a field in business listings for a Twitter username as well as a field for a company blog url – with many more enhancements to come. Brownbook, which offers a unique business model that rewards contributors with a lifetime share of revenue, was launched in the UK in May 2008 with 2.2 million UK businesses listed. It expanded to USA, Australia and Canada in July 2008 with an additional 25 million records. It now lists 27 million businesses in 240 countries, and is available on the web http://www.brownbook.net and on mobile http://m.brownbook.net Brownbook.net has a totally open ethos with its OpenSearch API and Micro Formats that allow Brownbook.net data to be used everywhere by anyone. The site is currently receiving 650,000 monthly visitors with a 40% growth rate. Blog: http://blog.brownbook.net Press and Images: http://blog.brownbook.net/press

Please contact Marc Lyne to arrange an interview and/or for additional quotes:

Marc Lyne, COO
Brownbook.net
London Road
Sayers Common
West Sussex
BN6 9HS
United Kingdom
+44 (0)208 1235 466
marc[AT]brownbook[DOT]net
http://www.brownbook.net
Share/Save/Bookmark

Monday, 23 February 2009

Business Owners Can Try Brownbook.net Advanced Features FREE for 30 Days


Business owners can now try fully customizing their listing in Brownbook’s business directory to enhance their presence online as well as create a professional website using Brownbook’s ‘web site creator’, before making any financial commitment

February 23, 2009 – Worldwide

NEWS FACTS
  • Brownbook.net’s advanced features are now available on a FREE 30-day trial basis.
  • Advanced features are:
  1. Claim the listing - lock it down so only the business owner can update it, and get alerted anytime anyone reviews or tags their business (usually US $10/year)
  2. Bold, Boxed and Priority in search results (usually US $2/year each)– to make it stand out, visually
  3. Customized listing (allows rich media i.e. photos, videos, logos, detailed information, widgets and bidgets) plus reviews and map with drag-and-drop page layout (usually US $6/year) – to enable a unique presentation of the business
  4. Standalone business website using Brownbook’s ‘web site creator’ (usually US $98/year) with the business’s own design and brand – not a Brownbook logo in sight
  • The 30-day free trial is available by simply clicking the ‘This is my business’ link at the top of all unclaimed listings.
  • Towards the end of the 30-day period, the business receives an email reminder to pay via Paypal.
  • If the business decides not to pay by the end of the 30 days, their listing reverts to the free listing format which comprises full address with map, telephone, cell phone, fax, e-mail, live web link, VOIP, IM, business tags and location tags.
  • Businesses listing on Brownbook improve their search engine optimization (SEO). The advanced features give the business an opportunity to really showcase their services and consequently their search engine ranking. Bownbook is used by many businesses as a powerful online marketing tool.
  • 7 out 10 small businesses still do not have a website. By offering Brownbook’s ‘web site creator’ free of charge for 30 days, business owners will find out for themselves how easy it is to create a professional-looking web site.



ATTRIBUTABLE QUOTES

Attributable to Marc Lyne, co-founder of Brownbook
  • As founders of Brownbook, David and I have always shared the view that Brownbook must be free or almost free, low cost or no cost. To that end, we created Brownbook where all businesses anywhere in the world can add all their details for FREE. To support that ethos, weve just introduced a FREE 30-day trial for the advanced Brownbook features that help businesses generate more business. This means that businesses can try all our products for FREE before making any commitment whatsoever.
  • We’re so confident that people will like all of the Brownbook advanced features that we’ve introduced a FREE 30-day trial for all Brownbook’s promotions. This means businesses can actually try out what they are getting before making any commitment.
  • We are making available, free of charge for 30 days, $120 worth of advanced business promotions to give people a chance to try before they buy.
  • Our advanced business promotions are already markedly less expensive than similar services in traditional business directories and consequently represent incredible value for money, but we’ve just pushed the boat out even further by making them all available free of charge for 30 days.
Marc Lyne, Co-founder of Brownbook

BROWNBOOK KEY FACTS

  • Brownbook is the free directory that anyone can edit. Anyone, in any country, anywhere in the world, can add, edit and review businesses in any country
  • Business owners claim their listing to optimize it, get alerts and customize it with photos, videos, logos, widgets, and any additional information
  • Business owners use Brownbook Bidgets (Business widgets) to easily add features like reviews, maps, and video on all their other web presences
  • Unique business model that rewards contributors with a lifetime share of revenue
  • Launched in the UK in May 2008 with 2.2 million UK businesses listed. Expanded to USA, Australia and Canada in July 2008 with an additional 25 million records
  • On web (http://www.brownbook.net) and mobile web (http://m.brownbook.net)
  • Brownbook.net has a totally open ethos with its OpenSearch API and Micro Formats that allow Brownbook.net data to be used everywhere by anyone

USEFUL LINKS
Examples of premium listings:
Examples of Brownbook’s ‘web site creator’ sites:

CONTACT US
Please contact Marc Lyne (marc[AT]brownbook[DOT]net) to arrange an interview and/or for additional quotes:

Marc Lyne, COO
Brownbook.net
London Road
Sayers Common
West Sussex
BH6 9HS
United Kingdom
+44 (0)208 1235 466
marc[AT]brownbook[DOT]net
http://www.brownbook.net
Share/Save/Bookmark

Thursday, 5 February 2009

Brownbook is listed in Outsell Inc's Top 30 Companies to Watch in 2009


Brownbook earns its place on Outsell Inc's list for demonstrating that there is a new business directory business model that works and can lead to new pricing architecture

February 5, 2009 - Worldwide

NEWS FACTS
  • In Outsell's "Information Industry Outlook 2009: No Guts, No Glory" report in which the 30 firms are listed, the reason for Brownbook.net's inclusion is "For demonstrating that there is a new business directory business model that works and can lead to new pricing architecture."
  • Any company included in Outsell's 30 to Watch list is considered to be in the right place at the right time, where new competition and threats are emerging, and in tune with way in which the landscape of information delivery is changing.
  • Outsell's analyst team selects 30 firms that are doing particularly innovative things - shaking up their respective marketplaces and challenging publishers and information providers to re-evaluate their activities - and publishes them in the list.
  • Outsell Inc (http://www.outsellinc.com), the only research and advisory firm focused on the publishing, information, and education industries, every year, looks at firms that they believe will have an important impact on the publishing and information-provider community.
  • The other companies in the list are: Apple, CNN, Elsevier, The Guardian, Thomson Reuters and Google BBN Ad Network, Blurb, British Medical Journal, CNN, Collexis, Critical Media, Data Explorers, Demand Media, Exact Editions, Flat World Knowledge, Google, The Guardian, Hakia, Hulu, IHS, LiveMocha, MarketTools, Nature Publishing Group, Public Library of Science (PloS), Safari, Thomson Reuters, Wood MacKenzie, and ZoomInfo.
  • These firms exemplify Outsell's theme - No Guts, No Glory - in the leading stance they are taking. It is, indeed, an honour to be included in Outsell's 30 to Watch list.
Dave Ingram, Brownbook CEO

ATTRIBUTABLE QUOTES

Attributable to Dave Ingram, CEO, Brownbook.net
  • We're very proud to have been recognised by Outsell as the company that is turning the online directory business model on its head. We're taking this as a nod from on high that we're doing good things.
  • Brownbook helps a business get found all over the web by heavily optimizing its listings for all the major search engines. In this way, our business customers are benefitting from what we call bread-crumbing - leaving calling cards that direct enquiries to their website from all over the internet.
  • Brownbook adopts the concepts of crowd sourcing, collaboration and peer production to offer a unique business model that doesn't rely upon advertising sales or large on-the-road sales forces and expensive call centres. This allows us to pass huge savings on to our business customers, as well as pay our members a generous lifetime share of our revenue.
  • Brownbook is different, primarily because it grants users the freedom to update their directory listings immediately and as often as they wish, as well as add rich media like photos, videos, and widgets. Everyone shares in the site's success through our lifetime revenue share program.
BROWNBOOK KEY FACTS
  • Brownbook is the free directory that anyone can edit - anyone in any country anywhere in the world can add, edit and review businesses in any country
  • Business owners claim their listing to optimize it, get alerts and customize it with photos, videos, logos, widgets, and any additional information
  • Business owners use Brownbook Bidgets (Business widgets) to easily add features like reviews, maps, and video on all their other web presences
  • Unique business model that rewards contributors with a lifetime share of revenue
  • Launched in the UK in May 2008 with 2.2 million UK businesses listed, expanded to USA, Australia and Canada in July 2008 with an additional 25 million records
  • On web (http://www.brownbook.net) and mobile web (http://m.brownbook.net)
  • Brownbook.net has a totally open ethos, with its OpenSearch API and Micro Formats that allow Brownbook.net data can be used everywhere by anyone.
USEFUL LINKS

Website: http://www.brownbook.net
Blog: http://blog.brownbook.net
Press and Images: http://blog.brownbook.net/press
Founders' Twitter pages: http://twitter.com/daveingram, and http://twitter.com/marc_lyne
Brownbook interview on Fast Company: http://tinyurl.com/ct5qby
Brownbook overview by Wikinomics: http://tinyurl.com/6omb2s
Dave Ingram interview on Intruders.TV: http://tinyurl.com/5vfos7

CONTACT US

Please contact Marc Lyne (marc[AT]brownbook[DOT]net) to arrange an interview and/or for additional quotes:

Marc Lyne, COO
Brownbook.net
London Road
Sayers Common
West Sussex
BH6 9HS
United Kingdom

+44 (0)208 1235 466
marc[AT]brownbook[DOT]net
http://www.brownbook.net
Share/Save/Bookmark