Joe Cassara has always been a self-starter. From running his own t-shirt business while at Syracuse University, to starting his own consulting business afterwards, he had this great “worth of mouth on the web” company idea.
Cassara had the idea to create a hybrid social network-resource site where professionals can list what they do and get found by people who need their services. It’s not Angie’s List, nor is it LinkedIn, but it’s where people can recommend others they actually know; hence the name “YouNeedMyGuy.com.”
“A lot of the time we want the answers to that question, ‘Who can do this job?’ – but we don’t want to ask the question publicly,” said Cassara. He cited the fact that after posting something like that on Facebook, users would receive ten phone calls the next day from people in that field, without knowing how good they were.
Cassara himself got the idea for the site after hiring someone to hang dry wall who ended up flooding his basement.
“I wanted to ask my friends but I didn’t want to put a public post out,” he said.
For just $10 a month, YouNeedMyGuy will post your profile on the first page of the designated job category; and the site itself ranks very well on Google because, says Cassara, “Google loves recommendations.”
Right now, the site has 8,000 users and generates a great deal of business. As a customer service statement, Cassara’s business sends a handwritten letter everyone who upgrades to the paid version saying “Thanks.”
As an entrepreneur, Cassara “has been up and down the mountain,” so to speak, and balances family life with work. His advises innovators not to “puff up” but, “let your work speak for itself.”
His site provides work for many professionals – lawyers, plumbers, writers, accountants, dry wall guys, and more. To find out more or sign up for free, visit www.YouNeedMyGuy.com and listen to our podcast “The Next Best Thing” this Thursday on SyracuseNewTimes.com for the full interview.
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