From Little Things Big Things Grow

Hope you enjoy the video that one of our users, Robin Wyllie, put together while flyering yesterday.
It has been a real pleasure getting to know Robin and his contributions have been tremendous!

Robin has definitely captured the spirit of myJambi in this video--we all have something to offer, and we are all the answer to another person's need; it is just a question of getting the word out to that person and being able to find them when they need you.

Thanks Robin!

Love,

The myJambi Team

Take Mr. Miyagi's Advice: Log-on, Log-off (& Log-on)

Last week I talked about the awesome new features myJambi has to offer. But what good are these features if you aren't taking advantage of the basic function of the website: finding trustworthy people to do stuff for you? Or the flip side of that, doing stuff for other people and getting paid.

First things first. You should log on to the site every day. New offers and wants are posted on a constant basis. You don't want to miss that opportunity to sell your custom-made Mariah Carey mixes or find someone to knit your dog a pair of monogrammed booties. myJambi is the place to go to buy and sell a diverse range of services and you don't want to be missing out.

So maybe you're just confused about the process and that's what's keeping you from making some money by answering all those proposals in your inbox. Easy as pie. Someone bids on your service, an email gets sent to you asking you to approve it. All you have to do is login to myJambi and approve the bid and you are charged a minimal fee (5% of your rate +$1) to book the appointment. For each subsequent appointment booked on myJambi with that buyer, you will only be charged $1. Keeping your payment info current on myJambi will make this process easier in the future. That said, if you aren't comfortable with the SSL encryption technology on the site used to protect your credit card information, you can delete or modify it after every transaction. You'll always get an invoice whenever you have been charged, and should you feel you've been charged in error, myJambi will take care of the issue quickly.

Ok so maybe you just don't want to pay the myJambi transaction fee. Why don't you just include it into the hourly rate you charge your buyer? You'll still come out ahead. And if you have a cash back or frequent flyer program on your credit card, you'll actually gain something for paying that small fee, in addition to the money you make selling your services. It really is a small price to pay to have access to a network of buyers that grows on a daily basis and to build up a real reputation thanks to those buyers' reviews. And don't forget that every time you work with one person, that person's entire network is going to be finding out about it as well.

So take the advice of Mr. Miyagi, tailored to the Jambi lifestyle: log-on and log-off, often.

--Lili

My Fellow Jambies & Jambettes

I'd like to introduce myself, I'm Lili Jambi, the newest voice of the Official myJambi Blog. My qualifications for this job include knowing all the words to Katy Perry's "I Kissed A Girl" (David's requirement), how to use the spell-check function and a love of all things myJambi. All kidding aside, I got this job by perusing the Wants on myJambi and sending a proposal in. Next thing you know, I have the much coveted position of Jambi Blogger. See kids, dreams do come true on myJambi!


Longtime fans of the site may have noticed a few changes since the site launched its beta version on July 2nd. All of a sudden, there are bidding and booking functions, reviews and ratings and scheduling-oh my! I'll admit, I was intimidated for about five minutes before diving into the scheduling and calendar features, my personal favorites. You can update your preferred work schedule, so people wanting to book a time with you will not make an appointment for 7 AM if you are ahem, not a morning person.

After the beta launch three weeks ago, the myJambi team has been adding new features and functions on a weekly basis. One feature added today can be found in the bottom right-hand corner of every page. The small rectangular button features Jambi, our little mascot, and says "Having trouble? Tell us now so we can help!" Click on that little buddy and a feedback popup emerges. You have the option to categorize your issue via a dropdown menu and a box below that allows you to go into detail about your issue. This function is important because you can't fix what you don't know is broken.

Another cool function is that now when you are creating an offer, if you leave the price area blank, it defaults to "price negotiable" which sounds a whole lot classier than "i'll take what I can get" or "i'll do it for free."

For someone who has watched this site grow from a crazy idea in a mad scientist's lab to a functioning website, the new features are exciting. I'll keep you updated on these new features as they're released, in addition to blogging about the process of creating the first myJambi commercials, throwing the first myJambi picnic and following the myJambi street team around the five boroughs. Stay tuned kids, the best is yet to come.

--Lili Jambi

Hi all,

My name is Daphne, and I am an intern at myJambi. Like many other college students, I am a frequent user of internet sites to find good deals in town and opportunities to provide services.

I recently went apartment hunting in New York City… which spurred some thoughts about anonymity online that I wanted to quickly share. When looking for new digs in Manhattan, where are you going to go but online classifieds sites? So that’s what I did, too. As I searched through the classified ads, I encountered numerous brokers claiming to be homeowners, and one interesting fellow in particular. All I knew was his email, address and what his apartment looked like. I fell in love with it immediately. The price was intoxicating, and so was the location (right in the heart of the East Village!) The “owner” suggested that if I wanted the apartment, I should immediately transfer the deposit into his Western Union account, since he was “abroad.”

I showed my roommate the correspondence. “It’s a scam” she said. “Don’t do it.”

Anyway … the point of my story is that there’s a big, big problem with anonymity, right? On classifieds sites, you just don’t know whether the person at the other end is trustworthy or a total fraud. I did some quick research, and apparently up to half of the listings for old couches, gigs, and summer sublets are shady hoaxes. The anonymity offered at these sites doesn’t really work for people who want to offer and buy services. You never know what the job entails, whether the service provider (or the buyer, for that matter) is actually going to show up, or what the working conditions are like.

To keep it short and sweet: myJambi solves the anonymity problem by allowing our users to get to know each other. You can check out profiles and detailed service posts, read reviews and endorsements, and provide feedback in turn. You can also search for people by degree of separation from you. That’s because you’re much more likely to trust someone that comes with a recommendation from a friend. This way, you really know what you’re gonna get!

Be safe!

Daphne and the myJambi team

Fun Site for a Cloudy Day

During our pre-Beta QA blitz, we needed a little distraction every now and then. Jess over at Alexander Interactive kindly pointed us to this awesome little word cloud site. This is us -- or at least, our blog -- as a word cloud.

It's a bird! It's a plane! It's myJambi Beta!

T-0. Launch. Our little mascot Jambi just flew by to drop our Beta release in our lap. Well, hello there. Nice to meet you, myJambi Beta. Would you like to say a few words to introduce yourself to our users?

Banter aside, myJambi Beta is our core product and we're mighty proud of it. We think you'll find it pretty cool, too! We'll be sure to walk you through exciting new features in the coming days, but for now, here's a short & sweet summary of what you're gonna get on myJambi 2.0:

* Bidding and booking. Bid on services offered and wanted on myJambi. Negotiate a price and time and you're good to go.

* Easy, convenient scheduling. Schedule your initial service appointments as well as follow-up appointments right there on the site. Keep track of your service engagements all in one place.

* Trustworthy reviews and rankings. Get the inside scoop on service providers and buyers based on feedback from other users.

* Advanced search. Search for providers or buyers based on their availability, requested deadlines, project costs, myJambi ratings and social connections.

Pretty exciting, huh?

Well, that's it for tonight. The troops are going home, exhausted, but ecstatic... like we just delivered a baby. And we did. Welcome to the world, myJambi Beta.

Over and out,

The myJambi Team