eCompliments asks websites to give away advertising

Here is an excerpt from our press release today.

eCompliments is an online review and referral site whose mission is to share the good TM. To this end they are helping charities share the good about their causes to the eCompliments community through in-kind free advertising. Organizations must be a registered 501(c)(3) to be eligible.

“What Google has done with Google Grants is just phenomenal. If businesses small and large could come together with this purpose we could have a similar impact,” says Founder Darin Manis.

Donations by corporations were down 4.5% in 2008 according to Giving USA 2008, the Annual Report on Philanthropy, published by the AAFRC Trust for Philanthropy. Some small businesses make charitable contributions individually but according to the same report giving by individuals also dropped 2.7%.

“It doesn’t look like charitable giving will be going up in 2009 by individuals or businesses. In fact, it’s likely we’ll see yet another decline,” said Manis. “Charities need donations and volunteers now more than ever.”

eCompliments is encouraging businesses of all kinds to give advertising spots to charities for free. Even smaller websites are encouraged to add a place for charities to advertise. There are many ways businesses can donate advertising including by time period, impressions, or based on a set advertising dollar value.

Through their ongoing initiative, eCompliments is offering free advertising for approved charities through banner ads on their site as well as through what eCompliments has coined as ECN advertising. ECN stands for Email Compliment Notification. When a compliment is made on the website an ECN is delivered to the profile owner (typically the business owner or manager) showing the compliment given. Just below this compliment is the ECN text ad.

“We hope that other businesses will join the share the good movement and offer free advertising to charities on their sites,” says Manis. “Together, businesses can make a crucial difference at this critical time.”

eCompliments invites charities and businesses wanting to join the movement to contact them for more information at sharethegood@ecompliments.com. The list of participating businesses will be distributed to the charities providing proof of their registered status.

eCompliments is a central depository for compliments and testimonials, about any person, place, thing or business. Find out more at http://www.ecompliments.com.

Share the good.

Our first press release

eCompliments announces the launch of a unique website designed as a central depository for compliments and testimonials about an array of positive influences. The new company is a review and referral site created to provide a social media platform that lives up to its trademark phrase Share the Good TM.

“We believe there is good in this world, even though sometimes it’s hard to find amid all the negativity. Our mission is to provide a focused public forum for ‘sharing the good,’ thus making the good easier to find,” explains Founder Darin Manis. “By fulfilling our mission, we believe we’ll facilitate even more good to happen.”

eCompliments is unique from other online review sites. While having a comparable quantity of over 12 million business profiles, the focus extends well beyond its business base. Users are encouraged to share the good about any person, place or thing including brands, blogs, bands, politicians, family members and friends, vacation spots, religions, ideologies, mentors and more. If you don’t see a profile of interest, you simply add it to the forum.

Unlike most sites which fall under the national review site family tree, eCompliments is a family-friendly
website where adult sexual content and profanity are against the site’s terms of service. The intent is to increase positive word-of-mouth by giving people a fun and vital opportunity to share their good experiences. Negative comments are allowed (compliments and complaints are separated), but the emphasis of the site is the positive.

“We believe our site can be credible to legitimate small businesses without being adversarial in nature. Our objective is to bring businesses and customers closer together, rather than driving a wedge,” continued Manis.

The site is free and anyone can create and/or search profiles. If your business is in the Yellow Pages, you probably already have a profile on eCompliments. The site offers upgraded professional profile versions at annual membership rates.

“Sharing the Good” is not just a trademark tagline for eCompliments, it’s part of the corporate DNA. The company donates 10% of every profit dollar to charities, as well as donating advertising space to selected charities. Interested non-profits can find more details on the company advertising page.

Share the good.

Nuts and bolts for compliments and complaints

At eCompliments we know review sites operate differently in their rules about posting comments. Here is a quick summary of how our site is set up:

• Compliments and complaints are separated for user convenience.
  
• Profile pages default to compliments in accordance with our mission to help people share and find the good. To read negatives simply hit the complaint button.
  
• Profile owners CAN post comments and responses to complaints.
  
• Complaints posted in the complaint box can’t be removed by the profile owner.
  
• Complaints that violate the TOS can be reported through the “report abuse” link. Our in-house attorney reviews and makes the determination.
  
• Posted remarks in the compliment box may be deleted by profile owner. This notice is plainly seen directly below all compliment comment boxes.
  
• Only registered users may post comments although anyone can read them.
  
• Users may remove any compliment or complaint they have posted at anytime.
  
• For the protection of our users we do allow “semi-anonymous” postings, however each user has to be a registered member of the site to post.
  
• Although all businesses and public profiles (brands, famous people, politicians, etc) have the complaint button option for users, personal and Personal Pro profiles do not. If you want to post a complaint against an individual that works at a business you must post the complaint on that business’s profile.
  
• We don’t have an algorithm which randomly (or otherwise) removes negative and positive reviews . With the exception of TOS violations we never remove compliments or complaints for any reason.
  
• The purchase of advertising or the Pro version upgrade does not directly affect the profile ranking in the eComplimeter algorithm. The only indirect affect it may have is to draw more traffic to their profile thereby increasing awareness and comments, which then can affect the profile ranking.

Share the good.

Resume trend is jobseekers' new friend

If you are a jobseeker than you know first hand how tough it is out there right now. In many cases it is very difficult to even get an interview, more-or-less a job offer. Coming from a recruiting and staffing background I have seen how fierce the competition is for about every available position.

I think at eCompliments I can now help tens of thousands of more jobseekers get their foot in the door with an employer than I ever could operating a large recruiting firm.

eCompliments provides a central place and process for the references, testimonials, recommendations and compliments made about you to be showcased. Your profile can really differentiate you from your interviewing competition and leapfrog you ahead others equally qualified. Let me explain

A recent survey by Harris Interactive found that better than one-in-five managers check out potential hires online. 24% of those said they “found content that helped solidify their decision to hire the candidate online.” People in the know, know that this is managers that “admitted” it. Running an Internet search on someone before they are hired has become “unofficially” commonplace.

eCompliments gives an employer an online profile that you want them to see. They can link to it from your digital resume or from your email. In addition, if an employer is punching your name into a search engine, their eyes will be quickly drawn to a result that says “Joe Jobseeker - Your City – eCompliments.”

Posting a link to your profile on your digital resume differentiates you from your competition. The eCompliments link conveys to the employer, “I’m not bragging but see who is.”

This gives the employer access to a central depository of positive things people are saying about you in real time. Whether it is your last supervisor’s testimonial, a compliment from a coworker or client, or a compliment from the charity you volunteer for.

Many employers will love the fact they can view the comments you have posted about other people, places, things, including businesses and products. This gives an insightful and unique perspective into your interests, viewpoints, and how you convey your thoughts and opinions. Compare this to your competition offering just a simple resume.

You can elect to get a vanity URL profile address which is ecompliments.com/yourname. Photos and images can be added, a PDF upload option for your resume or portfolio, and you can have the ability to make whatever compliment/reference you like best to be the first one listed and highlighted. You have complete editorial control and can add or delete your information as often as you like.

Set up and use your profile completely for free. We have an upgraded version called the Personal Pro that is currently going for $29 per year for jobseekers and students.

Differentiate yourself and get an edge over your interviewing competition.

Share the good.