Morning Musing 10-9-09
As a team we get together early, just about every morning, to catch up, discuss direction moving forward and generally get on the same page. I will certainly do my best to spare you from the unappealing details, but in an effort to shed additional light on our company direction and our perception of the SMB consulting market, I will be sharing a couple of relevant highlights from these meetings here in our blog.
Thought for the Day
It seems like the world of consulting proposals and contracts with their talk of scope, approach, tasks and deliverables have ventured away from the simple needs of independent consultants and their clients, "Here is what we agreed to go do".
Company Updates
Product: New Designs almost complete mapping out the new Proposal Process for consultants and their clients. The team is focused on providing everything you could ever want in a proposal with the flexibility you need to pick and choose the pieces necessary for your project. And if that wasn’t enough, we’ll make sure to keep it simple.
Marketing: Getting ready to launch our Innovation Group, a core group of users who have graciously volunteered to give us early feedback on upcoming product releases. Upcoming fun for the Innovation Group includes a first look at the new comprehensive software platform designed for the independent consultant (including the aforementioned Proposal Process) and some video reviews.
Passionate About Quality
One of the things that the team at Mavenlink is most proud of and vows to protect is the high quality of the Mavens that have joined our charter community. There is no question that the individuals and firms that have signed up to date are impressive both in the depth of there expertise and there ability to deliver valuable services to the small business clients that need there help. As we continue to roll out new features to showcase the talents of our Mavens, you will see us work passionately to maintain the high caliber of professionals that we hope our clients and maven community come to expect from Mavenlink.
Measures in place:
- Screening of Maven profiles, backgrounds and experience
- Requiring real names and robust profiles for transparency on the site
- Linkages to other social and business networks
- Community Feedback- Ratings provided by peers and Clients relating to quality of services and real work performed on Mavenlink
- Building a business model that targets quality of service not quantity of providers or bidders
- Groups for peer to peer development and education
Upcoming Maven Programs:
- Updates to the find a Maven experience
- Enhancement of the Maven Profile and Mavenlink promotion and marketing of individual Mavens
- Training, Skill Development and Career Development to succeed as Mavens in the new economies of work
- Additional Screens to validate certifications, background
- Development of a business connections within Mavenlink focused on expanding your trusted personal network for getting work done
Our goals for these initiatives are pretty straightforward. The quality of the Maven community is critical to build Client trust. When deciding whether or not to conduct work within Mavenlink, we know potential Clients are interested in assessing not only the Mavenlink platform but also the resources available to them, often starting their evaluation of the site at Meet our Mavens. The expertise and targeted coverage of our Maven community will continue to be a differentiator for us all. Additionally, we want to develop a level of trust between Mavens, enabling the community to swarm together and collaborate where appropriate to solve complex, multi disciplinary challenges and projects. If we are successful in developing a strong and talented pool of expert providers, there is limitless potential in the work that can be done by the community. If we are successful, Mavenlink will be a site that enhances, not detracts, your personal brand.
