One of the positive aspects of social media is that it gives you the ability to see what products and businesses your friends use, like, and recommend. I like Donna. Donna likes a particular photographer. I'll probably like him, too. Or, if you are in need of a plumber or electrician, a quick tweet to your network could yield at least half a dozen recommendations. It's old-fashioned word-of-mouth marketing with a new media sensibility.
West Hartford's Tim Tracey was ahead of the curve in making that realization. In 2007, he founded YouGottaCall.com, a website that fosters social media connections among small business owners, the customers who recommend them, and those customers' trusted friends.
"The idea for YouGottaCall.com seemed like just a natural step in the direction social media was heading," said Tracey. "When I first saw LinkedIn in 2004, it opened my eyes to the ways business could actually benefit from social media. Yet LinkedIn seemed to overlook the needs of small business owners who serve local consumers."
As a long-time business person and networker, Tracey knew the value of word-of-mouth referrals. He was also aware that the expense of paid advertising was outside the reach of many small businesses. He saw the emerging social media landscape as a viable alternative, so he started working on the YouGotta Call web concept with software developers.
Similar referral services exist online, but YouGottaCall's concept is unique (in fact, they were awarded a patent in the summer of 2011 for their innovative referral/reward process). Angie's List is one comparison that Tracey often hears, but he is quick to point out the differences. "Angie's List is publishing service, not a social network. It's like an online Consumer Reports directory that includes reviews from strangers about businesses. There is no way for subscribers to know who is writing the reviews or whether you can trust them."
Angie's List also operates on a paid subscription model, an approach that he says is decreasing in popularity. "Consumers have become used to the idea that if a website offers good value, it will earn its money from traffic."
Tracey, whose job at YouGottaCall.com is "Founder and Connect-gineer," refers to his site as "a real social network." When you join YouGottaCall (membership is free), you build connections and share recommendations with people you already know -- friends, neighbors, co-workers. Tracey also points out that YouGottaCall is not the place for kvetching about bad experiences. "We just feature positive recommendations about trusted businesses. Our reasoning is simple -- when you need a recommendation from a friend for a good plumber, you don't want to know about the ones they do NOT like. You just want to know who they trust."
YouGottaCall.com's patented financial model also sets it apart. They earn money from their Trusted Service Providers (or TSPs), but it's not a "paid listing" as such. Businesses only pay when they get a new client or customer based on a YouGottaCall referral. Because every business is different in terms of how much money a new client actually generates, the business chooses up front how much money they want to pay for each successful YouGottaCall referral.
There is also a charitable aspect to YouGottaCall, which led them to create the tag line "Good referrals. Doing good." When people register, they select a favorite charity with which to align. YouGottaCall uses a database application to track the details for each referral on the site, and they verify with each member and each business that a referral led to a sale. When that happens, 80 percent of the referral fee goes to the designated charities. The donation is split between the two charities selected by the two parties involved in the referral.
Tracey recognizes that the system relies on participants being honest and letting YouGottaCall know when a referral has been successful. "People ask, 'Can't members go around this system?' Yes, it would be easy to do," he said. But because the amount paid for a referral is voluntary, and so much of it goes to a favorite charity, he says he hasn't seen examples of members trying to skirt the system.
Getting started on YouGottaCall is simply a matter of visiting the website, registering, and searching for businesses of interest. If you are a business owner, you can claim your page, or they will add it if it doesn’t exist yet. Then you can use the site to connect with others and grow your network by giving and getting referrals. "Success on YouGottaCall requires the same keys as success with marketing on other social media networks, like Facebook," said Tracey. "You have to connect, not just join."
According to Tracey, just about any business that benefits from word-of-mouth referrals is a good fit for YouGottaCall, with one possible caveat. "Restaurants and clubs are a notable exception. They benefit hugely from word-of-mouth and social services like Yelp and Groupon, but they don't fit in well with our model. It is too difficult to track referrals and their new customers."
Since its debut, YouGottaCall has signed up more than 300 TSPs and nearly 600 members. It is still primarily a Connecticut service, but they look forward to expanding to neighboring areas. Once they incorporate a more robust mobile platform and deeper Facebook integration, they plan to go national.
Tracey finds both missions of YouGottaCall -- helping businesses and raising money for charity -- to be gratifying. "Each successful referral is rewarding to us," he said. "Members have refinanced homes, bought cars, gotten drains cleaned, remodeled kitchens, printed business cards, hired personal trainers, and even gotten their lives simplified with professional organizers. The return on a business's YouGottaCall investment is always positive because they only pay for results, and they determine the amount they pay. For business owners, that’s a beautiful thing!"
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