GoHuman Blog

We had a bit of a time delivering the good news to our 7th Flip HD video camera winner a couple of weeks ago, but persisted thanks to all the great help Sasha Veljic has given to GoHuman.com. Sasha had a lot to say about GoHuman, so I’ll just let him say it!

“When I was introduced to GoHuman.com, its values and vision attracted my attention and admiration.  Primarily it is the vision of a better marketplace that is helpful to small businesses.  More and more people are interconnecting through the Internet.  That gives a chance to everyone.  The fact that GoHuman is built from the bottom up, with no top elite wielding power and reveling in greed is the principle factor that drew me in.

“I live in an area that has been affected by conflicts resulting in tremendous economic catastrophe that has plagued our nation for almost 20 years and continues due to current corruption and lack of legal state.  Living in strained economic conditions with many limitations and lack of commodities freely enjoyed in the West lead me to the conclusion that Internet-based small business venture is the best opportunity for me and others.  Besides, among GoHuman founders there are individuals who never cheated me in our past business relations, so GoHuman is a continuation of honest, altruistic business ventures with proven true business people that I share the same vision with.

“Internet here is not cheap.  However, it is a window to the world.  GoHuman has the best possible potential to provide all participants with equality on the market place.  Each user is able to form a list (circle) of reliable co-workers that can be better coordinated across local areas and the entire world.

“I believe I have caught the vision of GoHuman since its very inception.  A good cause cannot have a bad effect.  GoHuman values are timeless and its success certain.  My vision is to be a part of a successful worldwide business movement that will also cause changes in East Europe.”

Thanks Sasha! Beautifully said.

Hire Sasha for translation services (English and Spanish to Serbian).

WIN your own Flip HD camera by sharing a local service you provide or need!

Denise Hubbard of Port Townsend, WA is GoHuman.com Flip HD video camera winner #8!

An early pioneer of GoHuman.com in her area, Denise helped her community by bringing local businesses on board.

She said, “I have been watching GoHuman grow its little local networks with great excitement! I know that I use the Internet the way my parents & grandparents used the phone book and the ‘yellow pages’-so- the concept makes total sense to me. GoHuman has the added bonus of reviews from clients, something our generation demands & can access thanks to this technology. Yay 2009 & YAY GoHuman!
I feel proud to be a part of it so early on….
I look forward to getting rave reviews ”

Thanks for the support, Denise!

Hire Denise and Townsend Bay Property Management for professional property management services in Port Townsend, WA.

WIN your own Flip HD camera by posting a local service you provide or need!

Another week means another camera goes to an active GoHuman.com community member. Congrats Mark Schnee of Forney, TX, who just won our 6th Flip HD video camera!

Mark believes in GoHuman.com’s potential to level the playing field for independent professionals.

He said, “I love that you and Wade and your team are creating a community with positive relationships and where we can share our abilities and services with others who are in need of them and find and develop relationships with those that supply our needs for a talent or service.  GoHuman!”

Thanks Mark. We’re doing it for you and millions of other people doing quality work who deserve more. Hire Mark to play piano for your next event.

It’s not too late to win a Flip HD camera by posting before Halloween!

A very special congrats to Kim Cooper, of Los Angeles, CA, who just won our 5th Flip HD video camera. Hire Kim to help plan your next memorable moment!

Kim has been a stalwart supporter of GoHuman.com since the very beginning, and we’re glad she was able to pick up a Flip camera to spread the love.

She says, “I LOVE GO HUMAN because it’s the only site that lets me find local businesses in my area AND provides feedback directly from previous customers. It takes the guessing game out of hiring a person or a business.”

Thanks for all the continued support, Kim.

It’s not too late to win a Flip HD camera by posting your service before Halloween!

Congrats to Tim Farley, the 4th winner in our weekly Flip for Your Community HD camera contest. Hire Tim for computer repair and graphic design today!

Tim joined GoHuman.com because he sees “GoHuman.com as an online community, in which we will be able to connect and communicate with people and businesses in our neighborhoods who share similar challenges and interests. And through this interaction… support and spend more of our dollars with local independents that desperately need and deserve support.

”If we all join together, we can all help make our community a better place to live and work.

“GO HUMAN!”

Thanks Tim. I couldn’t have said it better myself.

You still have multiple chances to win a Flip HD camera by joining GoHuman.com and posting your service before Halloween!

We’ve just announced our 3rd HD Flip video camera winner, Rich Weiser of Katonah, NY. Rich is helping us find local marketing coordinators (LMC’s) for GoHuman.com to find and help businesses that don’t otherwise have access to Web marketing resources. Thanks Rich!

Rich likes GoHuman.com because “It’s a vehicle that’s been designed by people to serve people. Opportunities exist for all who get involved, and the services and benefits to the community are easy to access and unlimited in potential. As the space grows, I believe the light will shine on the power of the GoHuman neighborhood and what it has to offer.”

Flip for Your Community for a chance to win a camera by joining GoHuman.com and posting your service before Halloween.

You’ll have noticed the GoHuman byline above: “change the way your world works.”

Well, the folks at GoHuman.com aren’t your only friends who have that dream – witness Google’s 10th birthday initiative 10^100.

It began in September 2008, asking the public to submit world-changing ideas, from which Google would select and invest $10,000,000 into the most promising.

I’m quick to give a big “thumbs-up” to this, because with Google’s money, public image and presence they’re in a fantastic position to bring in some great ideas out of the 150,000 which have been submitted so far! Hey, who wouldn’t want better methods of clearing landmines, or more effective ways of making our taxes work? So, expect some great things out of Google!

But the skeptic in me keeps reminding me that Google, as a publicly traded company, has an over-riding legal responsibility to constantly deliver the greatest profit for its shareholders!

So what happens to the vast majority of those 150,000 ideas which have profit-making potential? Have the rights been signed over to Google?

One assumes the people contributing these ideas do want to help the world, so they don’t mind if they personally don’t make anything out of it. Or, perhaps they are hoping Google will recognize their genius and take them onboard. But are there any guarantees?

And what about the ideas which would bring great good to the world – but not great profit to Google? What if an idea would be of huge benefit to the world, but also reduce Google’s profit, increase a competitors’ profits, or reduce Google’s market power?

Isn’t Google, like any large corporation, despite having lofty sounding ideals and the greatest of goodwill, trapped by the capitalist system?

I expect, and I’m ready to applaud some real world-changing improvements out of the 10^100 initiative, and I hope I’m wrong in my fear that the best will never see the light of day.

If you’ve spent some time on GoHuman.com lately, you’ve probably read about our ongoing Flip for Your Community Contest, in which we’re giving away one HD Flip video camera each week to active users on the site.  Pretty cool.

You may have also seen that this camera give-away is a prelude to a related but much larger contest just around the corner – the “I heart local business” million dollar video contest.   More details about this contest are forthcoming, but at a high level, we’re opening up our site for people across the country to post videos about their favorite local businesses, with the top vote-receiving videos receiving valuable prizes.  Again, not too shabby.

Well, this contest excites me not only as a Partner in GoHuman.com, but also as a certified film buff.  I can’t wait to see the visual stories start to roll in, some of them no doubt captured by the very HD Flips we’re giving away right now.  

I also can’t help but throw out a few approaches that you might consider taking in entering this contest.  Indulge me as I try to inspire you to move into pre-production, with the big contest quickly approaching (hey, it’s been pretty slim pickings at the theater lately):

• Go Chaplin.  You’ll probably be filming in color, but you can still stage a video that doesn’t require sound to deliver a punch.  Keep it low-brow comedic but with surprisingly high-brow, poignant overtones.  Consider usage of a funny mustache.
• Go Hitchcock.  In addition to seamlessly structuring your compelling story, you’re going to need a memorable silhouette and the willingness to cameo.
• Go Lynch.  Probably not “Twin Peaks” or “Mulholland Drive” Lynch for this contest… think of “The Straight Story,” his surprisingly heartwarming tale about a guy going cross-county on his riding mower. 
• Go Burton.  Scour your closet for quirky costumes and props.   Cast the business owner as a likable outsider.  And, if possible, get Johnny Depp or Helena Bonham Carter on the line.
• Go Gilliam.  See “Go Burton” above, but ratchet up the quirkiness by a factor of about three hundred.  
• Go Coen.  These directors have historically focused on particular regions of the country and the distinctiveness therein.  Perfect.  Now just grab a sibling, bring them on board, and figure out a way to inject twisted but entertaining dialogue into your story. 
• Go Spielberg.  Who says your video can’t be both well-made and a commercial smash?  You and your favorite business should for the gold (Grand Prize?), but try to keep the budget reasonable.
• Go Moore.   Your favorite business is the protagonist.  That part’s easy.  But you’ve got to stir it up a bit.  Prepare to be thrown out of a corporate lobby in a related field of business.  And don’t forget your ball cap.

Hmm.   On second thought… probably better to just grab your camera and use your own style.  Impromptu or prepared, raw or staged, whatever fits.  In other words… Go Human.

Two weeks down, two HD cameras given away to productive GoHuman.com members! Congrats to Vallea Woodbury in Chicago, our 2nd winner. Hire Vallea to plan your next event.

Vallea believes in the vision of GoHuman.com, and had this to say:

“Gohuman.com is a spectacular resource. Instead of an anonymous yellow pages, it gives local merchants like me a place to advertise in a more personal way that shows potential clients a bit about who I am and gives them an opportunity to see feedback about the way I work. It’s especially an asset for those of us who can’t compete with the marketing campaign budgets of larger businesses.

“On the flip side, I also get to support the people offering services in my area when I need something. It’s a way of building a network of local, quality, business people. In today’s economic environment, this kind of opportunity is extremely important. I can’t wait to see GoHuman.com reach its potential.”

Thanks Vallea! We can’t wait either, and it’s support from people like you that will get us there.

You, too, can Flip for Your Community and win a camera by joining GoHuman.com and posting before Halloween.

We’ve got our first Flip HD video camera winner! Congrats to Tony Odesa of AmeriPro Appliance Repair in Los Angeles. Check out Tony’s listing.

You can Flip for Your Community and win a camera by joining GoHuman.com and posting before Halloween.