PinBud blog

Posts Tagged ‘pinbud help’

You will notice that on PinBud’s homepage we slightly changed the official slogan. Now it reflects better the core function of PinBud.

We also changed the action buttons on the search pages. We used “Contact selected” and “Next step: Contact selected” but this was confusing because PinBud, unlike Yellow Pages, Google Local and other local search engines, is first and foremost about planning and quote request. This is why we changed all the action buttons and now the buttons reflect better the core function.

PinBud is very convenient for both users and businesses. The users:

• will make an informed decision
• they can negotiate prices
• they can keep online an history of the contractor and its actions
• if a business is present in PinBud listings, it means that this business has nothing to hide and it’s pricing policy is very user friendly!

The contractors will benefit from PinBud in many ways.

• There are no pay per lead fees
• The prices are affordable and we offer even a free package
• They are free to take any jobs they want and to decline any other jobs

So, why don’t you “Get quotes from local businesses with one request” ?

The first version of PinBud was launched in Canada at the beginning of 2010. Since then we've manage to grow steadily the number of businesses that have open an account with us, so PinBud.ca features now quite interesting listings in areas such as:

• plumbers in Calgary
• general contracting and renovations in Calgary
• interior design in Calgary
• basement renovations in Calgary
• office & shop renovations in Calgary
• fireplaces in Calgary
• tax preparers in Calgary
• accountants and bookkeepers in Calgary
• interior design in Edmonton
• painting in Edmonton
• graphic designers in Calgary
• realtors and appraisers in Calgary
• and many more…

We still have to populate certain categories, such as dentists in Calgary, where we would love to see more plain members. As we wrote earlier, PinBud's 'own radius' feature is ideal for businesses such as a dental clinic or a veterinarian cabinet in search for clients. Using 'own radius' feature, combined with vouchers, a dentist or a vet can easily get clients from outside its community.

But we have now almost 300 businesses that can be contacted and participate in bids for a lot of jobs. Thus, we have also experience the first  "single requests for service" / "get quotes" and we must say that our system works like we wanted: it's simple to understand, simple to use and the first users seem to love it.

So, don't wait anymore:

• open your account 
• fill-in the profile
• get reviews
• publish your badge
• answer and bid…
• enjoy PinBud!

PinPiazza is one of the many PinBud features that we didn't try to promote heavily. But now it is time to better explain what PinPiazza is and how it works.

First and foremost one must understand that 

• PinPiazza is not a free classifieds website

No, PinPiazza is not a classifieds website. PinPiazza is a place where both users and (clever) businesses can showcase their assets and skills, in a much more friendly way than in a simple photo gallery or a free ad.

It is true that only users can create content in PinPiazza; but business owners can ask their (happy) clients to showcase whatever they are proud of on PinPiazza. Unlike a free classifieds website, PinPiazza

• lets the user attach to the asset presentation links towards related service providers

For example, if you have a cat and you are happy with the last veterinarian check-up, you can showcase the cat on PinPiazza and list the veterinarian as preferred vet. You can write nice words about the vet business and recommend it. Or, if you are unhappy with the work that a plumber did to your home, you can showcase that bad work and list the plumber's profile attached to that project.

Moreover, unlike a free classifieds website, PinPiazza 

• offers interactivity: users can comment and rate assets and skils

That being said, let's see how a user can create a PinPiazza asset. Assets on PinPiazza can be of two types:

• private: only the user/owner can see it; this is useful if you want to make a preliminary research for, let's say, "fixing my car", "renovating my home" etc. and you need to retain companies for these jobs; you can write your own notes / reminders. Or you can use it as an inventory for your stuff.
• public: the asset will become visible on PinPiazza and you can list it for sale or for rent or for trade. Or just to share with other users. 

In order to create your first asset, just login to your account (you can use Facebook connect) and press the button: "Manage your assets" in the menu on the right. Then follow instructions on the screen.

Rules:

• you must enter a valid city for the asset's location
• if you want to make it public, every asset must be approved by admin to filter out spam.
• to add a business as a preferred service provider, just click on this icon when you found your preferred business: 

How can a creative business owner like you take advantage of PinPiazza?

• as we said above, ask your (happy) clients to showcase your work and to make you a "preferred service provider" assigned to that work.
• leave comments on user assets, participate in discussions, make some self-promotion, say: "I would have done…" or "I could make a better job…"
• and many more!

Are you content with your rating and do you have a website? Now you can display your rating on your website with the PinBud badge. The badge can be found in the Business Account > Business Info menu.

Below is a sample badge similar to the badge that you can display on your website or chosen page. Ok, ok, we understand that to have a 0.0 rating isn't something to be proud of… but this is just a sample! You've got the idea. If your rating is below, let's say… 3.0, you should avoid to display the badge and better find several happy clients and ask them to write some positive reviews for you. But if you have 5.0 ratings, why don't you show off your rating with PinBud badge ?

The source code is very lightweight: just 0.39 kb, and looks like this:

<!-- PinBud rating display starts here --> <span id="pinbudbadgeplace"></span> <script>var serverPinbud='http://www.pinbud.com/';var userid='u*s*e*r*i*d';</script> <script type="text/javascript" src="http://www.pinbud.com/getBadge.js"></script> <noscript>Visit our profile on <a href="http://www.pinbud.com/">http://www.pinbud.com/</a></noscript> <!-- PinBud rating display ends here -->

So, what are you waiting for?

• create your profile
• get positive reviews
• publish your badge!