Shop Talk is a weekly column featuring locally owned and operated businesses. This week, we hear from Rick and Mary Robinson, founders of www.OneontaOnTheMap.com, who submitted their answers in writing.
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How long have you lived in the area?
Mary Robinson: 19 years. We moved from Rhode Island to here in 1990. Rick and I grew up in the Washington, D.C., area and also lived in New York City.
Tell me about your business:
Rick Robinson: It's a free directory of businesses, events, happenings around Oneonta.
Mary: We focus on what makes the area unique: small businesses, local artists, musicians and online businesses owned by Oneontans.
Rick: The 3 C's of our business model are:
Community _ the community builds the website. Businesses add and edit their own listings and events, and tell what makes them unique. Our Web visitors, the local community of students and residents and anyone interested in Oneonta, are all part of our community.
Contests _ we give gift certificates to local businesses.
Coupons _ we're working on this feature now.
Describe a typical day in your business:
Rick and Mary: There is no "typical day." We have day jobs programming and substitute teaching. After work and on weekends, we work on programming, Twittering, blogging and promoting Oneonta On The Map. We just try to keep crossing items off our "to do" list.
How did you get started in this line of work?
Rick: I've been a database programmer for more than 20 years, working from home and telecommuting for a New York City advertising database company, which is now part of Nielsen.
I became interested in Ruby on Rails, an Internet programming language, and was looking for a personal project.
At the same time, Google Maps made their software available for applications development.
Mary: I graduated (the State University College at Oneonta) in 2006 with a minor in computer art.
I've always enjoyed databases, print and Web design, blogging and promoting small businesses.
Rick and Mary: We saw the need for directories where information was not generic, dated or inaccurate, and would be personally tended, as well as avoiding loud, obtrusive advertising.
Mary: I checked out Twitter and immediately was twitterpated with business possibilities, so we decided to make it part of the site.
Where do you see this business in five years?
Rick: This is a prototype; we hope to build more "on the map" websites and sell the program so other people may put their town, hobbies and interests "on the map."
We are going to add features and enhancements, make it all automated, and program the site for mobile phones.
What have you learned from your work?
Rick: Patience, with growing the website and ourselves.
Mary: Networking and interaction, talking to business owners, the community, Twitter followers, etc., can be a lot of fun (someone Twittered me with "fun is the new competitive edge in business").
Rick: I've learned about following up and believing in our ideas and execution. A business or website is a process, an evolution, and never will be perfect.
What is the most challenging part of what you do?
Rick: Time and stress management. We are both pretty much working full-time day jobs. We have many features we'd like to implement, but they all take time.
Mary: We've made the listings free and invested our own money from Silly Goat Software, our consulting business.
We're trying to follow the Web/Twitter/New Economy business model by giving free listings. We hope to charge nominal monthly or yearly fees for businesses to create and distribute their own coupons on our site, and that a high volume of businesses will buy in.
We have limited funds to invest and don't have the $37 million from private investors that Twitter received. But we're open to discussion if anyone would like to sponsor our endeavor.
The most enjoyable?
Mary: Rick has it set up so that when a business adds a listing, it sends e-mail to his cell phone. When I hear that special ring, it's like, "Yes, a new business!"
We also enjoy going out in the community, meeting people and spreading the word; we had a booth at OH Fest.
Rick: The contests and giveaways are fun too. Of course, adding new features is fun, and it's always good when the code works.
How do you define success for your business?
Mary: Success for us is:
When we're making connections between businesses and visitors or residents.
When everyone is finding the info they need fast and it is presented simply.
When locally made products are promoted.
What are some advantages/drawbacks of doing business in this area?
Rick: An advantage is that we've lived in the area 19 years, and we visit these businesses almost daily. The amount of information to organize is not overwhelming.
Mary: The community connections are an advantage. I'm a SUNY Oneonta grad, was a nontraditional student, work at Job Corps as a substitute instructor right down the street, our kids grew up here. We know about life in East Meredith, where we had a hobby farm for 10 years, as well as Oneonta.
Another advantage is that it is easy to personalize the Web page. Oneonta has its own unique "niche" as far as getting search engine placement.
Rick: As far as drawbacks, the economy is difficult for most everyone right now, but that's why our listings are free.
What sets you apart from your competitors?
Mary: Our business model really isn't about competition, unless you consider that on the Web, we are all competing for everyone's limited time and attention.
We're giving free listings and promotion to area businesses, free information to locals and tourists. We're talking about things to do in Oneonta, family events. We link to Oneonta World of Learning for family events and The Oneonta Calendar. We also put up events for hamlets outside Oneonta that we want to promote; we're not limited to the city.
Rick: We tried to streamline our Web page so the information is simply presented and people find the information they need fast; we want them to stay connected with us either by checking our page or on Twitter.
We've had a few small giveaways (gift certificates to local businesses).
What advice would you give to someone trying to enter your field of work?
Rick and Mary: Go for it! There are unlimited possibilities and niche markets and people to reach through the Internet. The kind of person who would do well sponsoring a site like ours would have a lot of community interest and writing skills, and enjoy networking and promoting businesses.
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To suggest a business for Shop Talk, contact Emily F. Popek at 432-1000, ext. 255, or epopek@thedailystar.com.
