www.weedle.com

Mr Biz

Was anyone at the launch of www.weedle.com recently? Impressive software/concept and with $4m in Angel funding behind they're obviously serious.. What do you make of it?

Rogue-Trooper

Yep I went down to it for a look-see. Met them at the Entrepreneur Show in the RDS a while back and set myself up on Weedle shortly after so I ended up being invited along.

I personally don't really expect to get a lot of work from being on Weedle (I'm not in a main-stream sector) but my main reason for setting up a profile was to give myself some web-presence. I now come in top of Google searches which is what I wanted from it (I kind of didn't really exist on d'interwebs before that despite 20 years in my field!:o).

Don't ask me about the technology behind it as I don't know anything about these things! All I know is that through some techno-magic they manage to get their members up in the top of the searches so it works for me!

Axwell

I also was at the Entrepreneur show and had a look at it and spoke to the guy behind it. Hes already been successful in business and seems to have lots of plans for Weedle and where its going so I think it will be a success in time.
The fact that its global also means that if it doesnt take off here it has the chance to work in the states or another part of the world. I think the concept behind it is a good one but as to how this will work out and if it will generate work for people with profiles on it only time will tell.

happyeveryday

Like the previous two posts, I'm pretty impressed with this concept and would expect to hear a lot more about this in years to come.

Didn't personally set up a profile, just not for me. But I would think for any one-man businesses, contract/freelance worker this would be a must use tool.

Like axwell says this is already outside Ireland and according to the guys behind the company they got a huge reaction from a recent trip to the west coast of America.

Great to see Irish innovation that has potential to be a real global animal. Time will tell.

CompanyBureau

Yes it's a great concept - Not sure I like the name though...

Mr Biz

If successful it has the possibility of being the Facebook of Business/Skills. With a large percentage of businesses now advertising on Facebook you wonder why Facebook dont have a Facebiz.com/company option for example so businesses can interact with each other outside personal pages.

Top Google positions on Weedle is most appealing for people/skills who may never have been found originally.. The concept of connecting people with skills to people who need them for free should really take off

Best of luck to them!

Chet Zar

Mr Biz wrote: »

If successful it has the possibility of being the Facebook of Business/Skills. With a large percentage of businesses now advertising on Facebook you wonder why Facebook dont have a Facebiz.com/company option for example so businesses can interact with each other outside personal pages.

Top Google positions on Weedle is most appealing for people/skills who may never have been found originally.. The concept of connecting people with skills to people who need them for free should really take off

Best of luck to them!

Which perhaps begs the question - if Facebook see an opportunity and see this taking off, will they step in on Weedle's turf?

Axwell

Facebook avoided this path when they decided not to let businesses create a profile on facebook to begin with. You could create a page for your business through your own profile but not sign up directly as a business. Personally I think that was a mistake and they could have even perhaps charged a small fee to allow a business register a profile on it.

Weedle have gone the route of connecting people providing services with people who need them. Its free to sign up and focuses on individuals rather than busineses. So an individual providing a specific service rather than a business. Its putting individuals in touch rathers than the business and the customer, keeping the social netoworking aspect integral to it.

I think the owner has the know how and the contacts to get this out there and make it work. Along with the investment it received from across the pond in the states and being able to have break into the market over there with the site it has let Weedle expand very quickly and get coverage globally as oppose to just starting out small by focusing in Ireland for example and hoping to branch into Europe.

petergfiffin

Had a quick look but don't see what it offers over Linkedin, maybe I'm missing something here

Rogue-Trooper

petergfiffin wrote: »

Had a quick look but don't see what it offers over Linkedin, maybe I'm missing something here

To put it in simple terms, if I'm looking for an architect in Dublin (for example) I can put it in a Google search (or directly into a Weedle search) and those with matching profiles on weedle will come up towards the top of the results. LinkedIn won't give you that - you can only search people or companies, not skills. I wouldn't use LinkedIn to 'cold search' for a skill or trade.

It works 'alongside' LinkedIn rather than in competition to it.......or at least that's my take on it (I stand to be corrected!).

Chet Zar

Rogue-Trooper wrote: »

To put it in simple terms, if I'm looking for an architect in Dublin (for example) I can put it in a Google search (or directly into a Weedle search) and those with matching profiles on weedle will come up towards the top of the results. LinkedIn won't give you that - you can only search people or companies, not skills. I wouldn't use LinkedIn to 'cold search' for a skill or trade.

It works 'alongside' LinkedIn rather than in competition to it.......or at least that's my take on it (I stand to be corrected!).

Pretty much - it's really more the technology powering it though which allows anyone to get to a top position for their particular skill on Google - a level of visibility they could otherwise never hope to get through regular means.