Today I got to thinking; there is so much happening right now in Social Media land, it would be cool to really showcase a few of the success stories that have spun off of this new way of communicating. I’m not talking about Mark Zuckerberg, or Jack Dorsey, or any of the other Social Media giants. I’m talking about the local entrepreneurs who are always thinking of ways to grow Social Media into more local markets.
At the first Twitter event I ever attended, I met several “idea” people who were running hard and fast with their ideas and having a great time doing it. Among them was Tim Tracey, founder of YouGottaCall.com.
Tim’s vision was to create a place that would promote the spreading of everyday business referrals. The idea alone was brilliant, but throw in the site’s potential to raise money for charity and it had me eager to see it become successful.
In 2008 Tim released the beta version of YouGottaCall.com. Since its release, Tim has worked tirelessly to promote the site through organic support and growth, taking WOM (word of mouth) to a whole new level. Tim utilizes Twitter, Facebook and Linkedin to promote his webiste along with his trusted service providers and charities.
In addition to Social Media, Tim is fully engaged in real life, attending offline social media events like tweetups and conferences, and the more traditional forms of networking like business after hours and chamber events. All of this happens nights and weekends, as Tim works full time in the insurance industry.
The whole concept just makes sense!
“What we did was take what people are already doing – word of mouth referrals – and created a system to facilitate it online.”
Lisa Farren, Marketing & Development Manager for the non-profit Good News Garage in East Hartford CT., talked about Tim’s “passion about the process and the website”. Lisa has known Tim for many years and was eager to help when he approached her about having Good News Garage register as a charity with the website. According to Lisa she has no doubt that YouGottaCall.com will benefit her organization as the website grows and gains traction. She is excited to see other charities joining in and believes strongly the new release will help move the website forward.
This Friday June 11, 2010 is the release of the second generation of YouGottaCall.com. Tim is very excited about the release; it has a new look and feel, enhanced navigation and improved social media engagements.
The point is, we hear about all these cool start up websites and business concepts yet it is happening right here, right now, right next door. Why don’t you check it out and see what you think of YouGottaCall.com. It is a great example of what the new business arena of the world wide web is doing for “idea men” like Tim Tracey.
