I’m quoted in “Four CMU students draw businesses to market with free Web sites, domain names.” (David Templeton, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette), talking about Mave, a “cyberspace marketplace” created by four CMU students.
There are a number of different approaches to the problem of connecting individuals and businesses on the web, of giving referrals and enabling trusting relationships, and it’s impossible to predict which strategy will come out on top. But I’m impressed with the mymave.com site — it’s well thought out and looks easy to use.

I’m more impressed, though, with the guerilla marketing tactics the founders are using to gain name recognition and awareness:

Mr. Tressler said he and his partners have worked 50 hours a week launching and promoting Mave. Using “mymave.com” stencils, they painted ads on snow and scrawled the name in chalk on Oakland’s sidewalks.

Nice to see people using offline marketing to build awareness of an online marketplace.