[downandout]

I tried something like this, but instead people would just take take and submit video of a problem they had with one tap (the noise their car is making, the leaky faucet, showing and telling what interior design work they need done in a house etc). The idea was to let businesses see the videos for free but make them pay if they wanted to contact the customer.

I got no takers on either side - no one submitted videos and, if they had, I had no businesses interested in viewing them. These marketplace ideas seem like better businesses than they are. I'm convinced that the only successful ones will be those that are hyper-focused on a single niche. "Oh that's the app/site I open if I need X" instead of "I can get anything I need from this app/site". It seems that consumers just don't like having too many options from a single source (with a few notable exceptions, but it is effectively impossible to become one).

Good luck with yours though - I am just sharing my experience.

[sfyp]

Thanks for the feedback. I am trying to create an effortless approach for both consumers and businesses, but I agree local search is a tough nut to crack.

[grimtrigger]

What kind of marketing did you do? It seems like a pretty reasonable idea but I can imagine it would require a heavy investment to get a sustaining userbase.

[downandout]

I did some Adwords ads - spent about $5k. The plan was to get some sense of ROI (positive or negative) and then try raising money with proof of concept and estimated budget in-hand. I tried targeting consumers, thinking that at first if I got even a few leads we could have a call center call the relevant businesses. When no one submitted their videos (despite a dead-simple, two tap submission process) I tried to pivot. I started pitching businesses on a cloud-based service to receive, review, and reply to video from their customers (including automated appointment scheduling etc) through their existing websites/apps. Out of hundreds of businesses I contacted, not a single one expressed even the slightest interest.

It seemed like it would be a great business, but the market told me otherwise. That's why I said these marketplaces sound like better businesses than they are.