Category Archives: eneighbors

Neighborhood Safety

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I received an email last week from one of my neighbors concerning an incident in the neighborhood where an ice cream man asked a child to get in his van. The email contained a message from the local police department that was originally sent to McGruff coordinators and included a case number for anyone experience a similar situation.

Safety situations like this one have to be the most important thing a resident of any neighborhood would care about. Especially if they have children.

The email I received had about thirty email addresses throughout the chain. I know that there are over 300 homes in my neighborhood. That means that potentially only 10% of my neighbors are aware of this problem. Obviously word of mouth plays a significant part in alerting the community, but that still leaves a significant portion of the neighborhood uninformed.

The Bulletins feature of eNeighbors is the perfect tool to instantly alert your entire community of any type of emergency. I think this is one of the most valuable services eNeighbors provides. Additionally, this scenario made me think of potential integration points with local safety officials. Imagine if the city police were able to alert multiple neighborhoods by using the eNeighbors network of communities.

Learn more about eNeighbors

eNeighbors Stats

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We’ve been up and running with our beta application for about 2 months now, so I thought I’d share some stats with you. So far, traction is good, and the activity trending is very promising.

Overview:
15 neighborhoods online
1222 registered users at 1157 unique addresses

Most of these communities have only been active for a few weeks. So far, our adoption rate is about 20% which is right on track with what we’ve seen in the past. It usually takes about 2-3 months to get to an average of 60-80% of a neighborhood online.

These neighborhoods are already posting some impressive traffic patterns:

Reporting period 4/12 – 5/11:
5,500 visits
55,000 page views
4.75 minutes average visit duration

Even more impressive, out of 1222 registered users, only 7 have opted to not receive our eNewsletter.

All of these data points reaffirm our assumptions: we have a uniquely captured audience that perceives great value from our service.

Have a great weekend! It’s beautiful outside (at least in Kansas City, anyway).

The Tech Threshhold

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The Pew Internet & American Life Project recently published a study on the usage of information and communications technology (there’s a great breakdown here). This includes internet and cell phone usage. The most interesting part that jumped out at me was the number of users that either are annoyed by technology (29%) or don’t use it due to inexperience (23%). So, I ask this question:

If technology was easier to use (and understand), would more people be comfortable using it? Or, does the very nature of technology limit the number of users that will adopt it?

In context, this is very relevant to me relating specifically to the work I did on the eNeighbors application interface. My design efforts were focused on simplicity and a very “non tech” look and feel, but even more importantly, the very essence of the application was designed to focus on a small number of tasks and to perform those tasks easily and efficiently. In short, I was targeting the inexperienced technology user with no prior exposure to things like web 2.0 sites, Ajax tools, RSS, blogs, etc. Does this make it more likely to be used, or will those individuals who resist using technology still be reluctant to adopt the tool?

I think the key is relevance.

If a technology tool can provide a service or information that is relevant to the user, those previous biases can be overcome since there is a very real reward for exerting that extra effort.

When it comes to content, there are certain types of information that we’ve become numb to. TV commercials, banner ads, etc. have lost a significant amount of their impact due to the fact we encounter them when they are not relevant. I think the future of online advertising is heavily dependent on this concept of relevance.

I realize that is exactly what Google keywords does (and why it’s been so successful), but ultimately, the amount of quality within those pieces of relevant information needs to grow before we once again grow numb to it. That level of quality is going to be based on filters and behavioral awareness. There must be a limit to the information, otherwise it loses it’s impact. And that it is exactly why there is a race to the “local” finish line. The question is: where does that line exist?

I like to think it’s in my own backyard.

Getting your Board “on board”

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Yesterday, Chris touched on one of the hurdles we are trying to overcome right now here are eNeighbors — getting neighborhoods through the signup process. In addition to that, there is usually an issue getting the board of directors of a given neighborhood to get on board (pun intended) with the idea of paying a monthly fee for a web-based service.

We’ve had conversations with both residents and actual board members, and they tell us that they hit a wall when they try to get the board to make a collective decision. For one reason or another they are hesitant to make the commitment. So, I’ve come up with a quick cheat sheet (if you will) for convincing your board of directors that they need eNeighbors.

1. It will make their job easier.
eNeighbors is all about communication. We all now the biggest issue in neighborhoods is that no one knows what’s going on. Communication is weak. By providing a web-based platform to communicate, neighbors keep each other informed. This takes the burden off the shoulders of the board.

2. It’s cheaper (and better) than a normal static website.
Most custom web designers charge anywhere from $1000 to $5000 for web development. This cost does not usually include the hosting fee either. Additionally, the board doesn’t have to make the updates to an eNeighbors site since every resident can do it themselves. Saves the board time and lets them focus on other more important issues.

3. It will make your neighborhood cooler.
And I’m not talking about the average temperature in your area. eNeighbors is a cutting-edge social network website. Nobody else is doing this. Your neighborhood can have all the bragging rights to being the “cool kid” on the block. eNewsletters, online social events, classified ads — these are just a few of the features that will make your neighborhood very attractive to people looking to move to your area.

Find out more about eNeighbors

Does “Local” Really Work?

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There’s been a rash of local listing websites sprouting up lately (CityWaboo, Oddpath, FatDoor) and even more adding new features to their existing services (Local, AskCity, Superpages, CitySearch).

All these sites claim to connect me with all sorts of restaurants, coffee shops, book stores, events, etc. in my area, but they all seem like they just rehash the same data. Additionally, it occured to me that I can search all day long for chinese restaurants in my neighborhood, but the only one I’m going to eat at is the one my friend says is really good because he ate there last week.

So, what does that mean? Am I unusual? Do people really perform random searches for new bars to hang out in? Where is the word of mouth captured in these scenarios? We all know the personal recommendations matter the most. JudysBook and Yelp are on the right track, but unless I know any of the people giving the review, what’s the likelyhood that I’ll seriously consider it? In my experience… not very.

So how do you connect hyper-local audiences so they can share their collective insight and personal experiences? Furthermore, how do local service providers then tap into that collective to grow their business?

Start by getting your neighborhood online.

I want eNeighbors

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We’ve had a lot of people tell us that they want eNeighbors in their neighborhood, but don’t know how to go about getting their neighborhood online.

If you’re a resident of a community association and you want eNeighbors, here’s a few suggestions:

  1. Email your board of directors. Email a board member and tell them to visit www.eNeighbors.com/overview/. We’ll be happy to walk them through a demonstration. If you don’t know your board members, their contact information is usually listed in your neighborhood directory or newsletter.
  2. Attend your monthly HOA board meeting. Most boards hold monthly meetings that are open to all neighbors. Be sure to bring our brochure for the board to review.
  3. Call your property manager. If your neighborhood is professionally managed by a property manager, give them a call and tell them that you want eNeighbors.
  4. Tell us to do it!We’d be happy to contact your board or property management company and explain the benefits of eNeighbors. Just send an email to sales [at] eneighbors.com and let us know who to get in touch with.

If you want to learn more about eNeighbors, take a tour.

Broadband Is King

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Broadband internet (DSL, cable, high-speed internet, or whatever you want to call it…) is now reigning supreme in the world of connecting people to the internet in the United States. AT&T and Comcast have officially surpassed AOL in subscribers bumping AOL to the #3 spot.

With broadband adoption over 50%, the future is bright for the internet companies, and hopefully this is a sign that web 2.0 will not burst like it’s ill-fated 1.0 version. To give you an example of why I believe this to be a great sign of the times and also why the web 2.0 companies are approaching this next era with more focus and realism, we at eNeighbors have approached our business model in the following manner:

1. We launched a web 2.0 application in less than 6 months for under $100k.

2. We have less than 5 people in the company.

3. We have no official office space (we all work virtual).

4. Finally, we are self-funded so far — no insane VC funding/spending here.

There’s no substitute for critical thinking and talent. We excel at both. The market is primed. Online use is on the rise. Google, Yahoo, YouTube, MySpace, etc. have made it commonplace (and cool) to be connected 24/7. This is a great time to be working in the online space. It’s so much more fun to go to work when you’re having fun!

Oh, and happy Cinco de Mayo!

Trial by Fire

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We had our first “server crash” today here at eNeighbors. From sometime early this morning till about 1pm, our site was down. Apparently our hosting company had some sort of hardware failure that took out a number of servers, routers, etc… I’m not a network admin, so the details are a little lost on me. However, we are back up and everything seems fine now!

I guess you’re not a true start-up company until you’ve had a server crash, right?