Press Releases
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
SMALLTOWN, INC EXPANDS SERVICES INTO SAN CARLOS, CALIFORNIA
Company's Network of Hyper-Local Websites Progresses Down the San Francisco Peninsula
SAN MATEO, Calif. – December 17, 2007 – Smalltown® (www.smalltown.com) is building a network of local websites where businesses and their neighbors post, discover and share everything about their town. Today the company publicly launched its newest website in San Carlos, adding to the Smalltown sites in Millbrae, Burlingame, San Mateo, Belmont and Foster City.
Smalltown websites feature Webcard™ postings, multimedia online listings that are redefining yellow page directories and classifieds. A Smalltown Webcard posting offers local merchants and service providers a new way to advertise online directly to their communities. Webcards include text, photos, videos, coupons and the ability to respond to reviews. Community members can also contribute content to Smalltown sites in the form of reviews, discussions about local topics, and classifieds.
"We intentionally developed a simple advertising service that addresses the unique needs of local merchants," said Hal Rucker, CEO and co-founder of Smalltown. "In a little over a year in just our first five towns, we have accumulated over 20,000 Webcards, 13,000 registered users, and hundreds of customers — all validation that we built a better mousetrap. This progress exceeds our expectations."
More About Smalltown Webcard Postings
Webcards are analogous to an index card that one might post to a bulletin board at the local grocery store, yet they are enhanced by rich content and functionality, and can be linked to form a unique "word of mouth" knowledge exchange. Users can also access information found on Smalltown Webcards through popular search engines on the World Wide Web. Smalltown websites create an integrated network of hyper-local sites, one "Smalltown" at a time.
Smalltown
Privately held and headquartered in San Mateo, California, Smalltown was founded in 2005 and publicly launched in 2006. Smalltown is building the infrastructure for today's Local Web, which will support a network of hyper-local Smalltown community sites equipped to empower local economies and promote the vitality, individuality and immediacy of each local community. Smalltown also owns and operates the Local2Me website (www.local2me.com) and the Local2Me email service for sharing local information. Smalltown is funded by Formative Ventures, an early-stage technology venture capital firm launched by partners with firsthand operating experience in growing start-ups into successful companies. Currently open for business: Smalltown, Belmont; Smalltown, Burlingame; Smalltown, Foster City; Smalltown, Millbrae; and, Smalltown, San Mateo. For more information visit Smalltown at www.smalltown.com.
