Posts Tagged ‘genietown’

Recently GenieTown, a new local marketplace, was launched in the USA. This service aims to offer and search for all forms of services.

This new site aims at services from professionals, from private persons and from ‘Genies’, as the experts are labeled here. The principle of the site is that everyone and anyone can possess abilities that someone else could make use of. And that, irrespective of whether one is a licensed business or a talented ’self-taught’ person. The services offered or searchable here cover the full spectrum of needs. They range from help with building renovation, housework or garden tasks, child sitting or pet sitting, through car repair, computer problem-solving, tax returns, to music tuition.

GenieTown offers a web presence to the service ‘providers’, where they can describe themselves and the services offered. When looking for an expert, one can either search the Genie (experts) for the specific area, or alternatively post a request with the issue at hand, and invite the Genies to respond to the help request with a proposal or quotation.

As with most Web 2.0 projects, the Genies and the clients are able to describe and rate each other. In so doing, they can accumulate points– which then reflect not only the quality of the services delivered, but also their involvement in the community; the inclusion of articles with tips and tricks or the answering of questions can all add to one’s ratings.

In a press release delivered by the presenters, GenieTown is a kind of mixture of the YellowPages (online directory), Craig’sList (online classifieds) and eBay (auctions).

GenieTown is still in Beta, and is concentrating at present on the San Francisco Bay Area.