The Business+Referral Network

6 thoughts on “The Business+Referral Network”

1.  
   1) Look around the home page – what is your initial impression of what you see?
   Lots of space. Maybe a little bit too much, especially along the right edge. Helpful that what this site is about is up-front and direct. I think if you moved e-mail and password login to far right and made some other aesthetic changes. Also “Free Sign Up” button has some kinda hazy pixelation.
    
   Typo in “About Us” section: “oppotunities” (2nd paragraph, 2nd to last sentence)
   Typos in “Terms and Conditions” section: “judgement” “user.s” 
   In “Privacy Policy” you used “enquiry” spelling which is fine, but “inquiry” is more commonly accepted. Either is fine, but thought you ought to know.
    
    
   2) Think of something you want to find on this website. Now try to find it. Did you find what you were looking for? Was anything confusing? How was the navigation?
   Wanted to find “About”. Right there on the bottom–super easy to find. Nothing confusing–very straightforward.
    
    
   3) Are you encouraged to (create a new account, subscribe, sign up for a free trial, etc.)? Can you tell us why (or why not)?
   I am! This seems like it’ll be pretty helpful for me, especially since I’m job searching right now.
    
    
   4) Go to search engine of your choice and find one other company that offers a similar service. Compare the two companies. Which one do you prefer? Why?
   https://www.getgreatreferrals.com/index.html
   Definitely prefer your site because it’s so minimalistic. The other site really overwhelmed me with information. Yours enabled me to read concisely and make a quick sign-up decision. Plus, with the simple nature of the website, it’ll be more attractive for people to sign-up and network. Less clutter provides better opportunity to do what you need to do.
    
    
   5) When you logged in were you encouraged to click on Add contact or Import contact? Can you tell us why (or why not)?
   Yes. Since this is what the site is for, I think this will help me network quickly and efficiently. Will be adding contacts from my LinkedIn.com account.
    

2. 1) Look around the home page – what is your initial impression of what you see?
    
   I see a basic page for a community website. There are just fields for signing up or signing in. There is a huge space on the left, where I presume a photo or video is supposed to go. It could make a huge difference.
    
   Oh, I clicked on “Why bizcoterie?” and there was a video in the spot that is empty on the home page.
    
   Personally, there isn’t enough to grab my interest.
    
   2) Think of something you want to find on this website. Now try to find it. Did you find what you were looking for? Was anything confusing? How was the navigation?
    
   I wanted to find out how the website looks and how it works. In order to get any info, I had to register. Before I could do anything, I had to fill out the profile. So the process was cumbersome.
    
   Once completed, I went to the navigation bar to find out how to use the site. The FAQs page was easy to find.
    
   3) Are you encouraged to (create a new account, subscribe, sign up for a free trial, etc.)? Can you tell us why (or why not)?
    
   Not at this time. The set up doesn’t feel at all friendly. The profile is very fixed. Everything has to be filled in. The company’s product/service field is the only place where any specific information can be given about the business. There is no place to give any information about the person. There is no place to put a photo.
    
   It’s very sterile. Networking is about relationship-building and helping one another. This site doesn’t feel as though it is encouraging that.
    
   4) Go to search engine of your choice and find one other company that offers a similar service. Compare the two companies. Which on do you prefer? Why?
    
   I belong to ReferralKey.com, although I haven’t used it. (I spend most of my time on LinkedIn because I’m a career professional.) The only other community website that comes up on the first page of Google when I typed in “online business referral networks” is USReferrals.net.  So I went to ReferralKey.com which I haven’t been on for a very long time—2-3 years.
    
   The home page is considerably livelier. The colors are brighter. Updates are continually scrolling. There is a recommendation from Mashable on the home page, which gives me a feeling of trust. There are links to other sites that talk about ReferralKey.
    
   My home page has a great deal more flexibility. There is a place for a photo and for adding the information about my business that I want to include. There is live networking.
    
   All-and-all ReferralKey appears to have more features. And it feels more . . . homey, comfortable. But it doesn’t have a navigation bar or a FAQs page. There is “Help,” which allows for sending a message instead.
    
   I would really need to take the time to learn how to use both effectively in order to make a real decision. And, at this moment, you haven’t given me a reason why I should use bizcoterie.com instead.
    
   5) When you logged in were you encouraged to click on Add contact or Import contact? Can you tell us why (or why not)?
    
   No. It just doesn’t feel very comfortable. It’s cold. I don’t feel any need or desire to invite my friends and contacts on here. There are ways to improve this. Color. Layout. Enabling photos, videos. Groups. Chats. Updates. Likes. Graphics. Something.
    

3. 1) Look around the home page – what is your initial impression of what you see?  Your company is a great idea! However, the website looks unfinished and that something is missing in the big space. I looked at it on firefox and chrome.
    
   2) Think of something you want to find on this website. Now try to find it. Did you find what you were looking for? Was anything confusing? How was the navigation? I was able to find the FAQ very easily which helped me understand your purpose a lot more. I think the FAQ and Blog would be easier to find if they were listed on the top next to the “Home” page. The size of the font is a little small, too.
   Great video and description of your company, but when I clicked it to play, the opt in box to the right disappeared. I had to click the home button to get to it.
    
   3) Are you encouraged to (create a new account, subscribe, sign up for a free trial, etc.)? Can you tell us why (or why not)? Yes I would because it is a good fit for my business. The “free sign-up” button looks great, but the sign up fields are too small of a font, too. That area doesn’t look in proportion to the rest of the site. I personally wouldn’t become a member until the website is more complete and finished looking, but the signup process was flawless. The verification email came immediately.
   4) Go to search engine of your choice and find one other company that offers a similar service. Compare the two companies. Which one do you prefer? Why? I Googled: “business referral networking sites” and “business referral network” and looked at other sites. Their website looked more colorful and “finished”. I went to https://www.teamreferralnetwork.com/, they have a different looking website for you to compare to. As for the services, yours would be just as good, but their professional website makes more to work with them.
    
   5) When you logged in were you encouraged to click on Add contact or Import contact? Can you tell us why (or why not)? I was ready to move forward after creating my profile. I liked yo r description of “get a referral” and “provide referral”.
    
   Other notes: Overall, your company is a great idea! I think your website needs some touching up so it jumps out at you more.

4. 1) Look around the home page – what is your initial impression of what you see?
   My initial impression of the home page was that it felt empty. I did get the idea that this site is for business referrals but that was just it. I felt like that after signing up, there isn’t any guarantee that I will get referrals or see/meet other people.
   The layout isn’t really good to the eye. It looks like the elements of the page were all crammed together to one side leaving a huge empty space on the left. Maybe it would be better if more info or images were added to the homepage to balance it and make it look more fresh.
    
   2) Think of something you want to find on this website. Now try to find it. Did you find what you were looking for? Was anything confusing? How was the navigation?
   I wanted to know how the process works and easily found it in the FAQ page. The explanation was informative but I was hoping to see some screenshots or a demo video to at least see what it is like.
   Turns out that there is actually a video and it was in a separate page under “Why bizcoterie?”. I actually did not see this link immediately. And after clicking it, I had to refresh the page a couple of times to get it working. The video’s contents was somewhat similar to what was in the fact but it was great to see something visual.
   Now I’m also wondering what the user control panel looks like. Is it easy to navigate around in? Can I export my referrals?
    
   3) Are you encouraged to (create a new account, subscribe, sign up for a free trial, etc.)? Can you tell us why (or why not)?
   No. I can’t tell if there is anything active in this site. Even after importing my contacts, there is no guarantee whether they will join as well and participate or whether there are other active members.
   Maybe it would be great if you can include testimonials in your homepage. This will boost the site credibility and encourage people to sign up. It would also be nice to see a list of the members/businesses in the site because as of now, it looks like there aren’t any members.
    
   4) Go to search engine of your choice and find one other company that offers a similar service. Compare the two companies. Which on do you prefer? Why?
   So I searched “business referral network” and found http://www.referralkey.com. I actually prefer Referral Key over bizcoterie. Referral Key’s site was more inviting and looked a lot more credible. I noticed that they have testimonials and an active list of “What’s happening on Referral Key”.
   Compared to bizcoterie, Referral Key made me feel that I will find more referrals and make more connections in their site. It looks busy with plenty of members to connect to.
    
   5) When you logged in were you encouraged to click on Add contact or Import contact? Can you tell us why (or why not)?
   No. I feel like the site is unfinished. The interface is simple but others might find it too simple. And as mentioned earlier, I do not see any activity in the site. I tried searching for other users (vendors) and couldn’t find any. I feel like the chances of finding other contacts in the same field won’t be much even if I added my own contacts.

5. 1) Look around the home page – what is your initial impression of what you see?
   Your logo. A tagline, and a way to sign up. It doesn’t look like you have a premium site here and without testimonials, how does anyone know how reliable your content or information is? You need more to prove to the user that you can pull through and provide what you say you do.
   2) Think of something you want to find on this website. Now try to find it. Did you find what you were looking for? Was anything confusing? How was the navigation?
   I wish your homepage would say how it works with perhaps a video, and selling points of why you are better than your competitors. The navigation doesn’t encourage me to click or sign up. The problem is that you brand has little to no credibility at this point. You need testimonials from satisfied customers, you need some selling points of how people have succeeded using your service, you need a video explaining how your service works. All I see is Patent Pending, which means your service is relatively new and untested.
   3) Are you encouraged to (create a new account, subscribe, sign up for a free trial, etc.)? Can you tell us why (or why not)?
   I signed up for free for purposes of usability testing. If I was to just stumble across your site, I probably would not sign up because your homepage does not clearly communicate what you do (something to do with business referrals). It doesn’t look like a professional service at this time.
   4) Go to search engine of your choice and find one other company that offers a similar service. Compare the two companies. Which on do you prefer? Why? 
   When I type in Business referrals in a search engine, I don’t get many alternatives as far as websites. BNI works with people getting together offline in the real world. Google Business referrals is of course premium looking. This is not a very good question. You should tell us who you are competing with since it is not obvious.
   5) When you logged in were you encouraged to click on Add contact or Import contact? Can you tell us why (or why not)?
   Not encouraged. Again, why would I want to import my contacts so it can be added to your database? I don’t want to give you info so you can spam me or my friends. 
   I don’t see how your business works. Perhaps you should share how it works and why people would use it. It is not obviously clear.
   Your website is pretty 1 dimensional and lacks content and character. It looks like a website that is brand new and untested. You need a professional designer to get you a premium looking site.

6. 1) Look around the home page – what is your initial impression of what you see?
   My first impression was that anyone can follow this website using Twitter. Lots of space in between fields, which looks amazing, nicely organised home page. It looks like it has something to do with work business management people, but I am really not sure about what. I don’t understand what’s meant by “The Business+Referral Network.”
   As I see bottom of the page it has written “Patent Pending”. I would like to see few of the testimonials on the home page where it will be easy to recognise “what does this website is really about”.
   2) Think of something you want to find on this website. Now try to find it. Did you find what you were looking for? Was anything confusing? How was the navigation?
   The information which has given on the website is very limited. The various pages under “Blog” explain this very well in easy, digestible bites. Honestly, this is all set up beautifully and I’m impressed with the range of features you offer. Everything mentioned in one shot using “Blog”. No, nothing was confusing. As I said, once I got the information under “Blog”, everything became clear. One more link a video clip under “Why bizcoterie?” has explained very deeply step-by-step procedure and the background music is really soothing.
   3) Are you encouraged to (create a new account, subscribe, sign up for a free trial, etc.)? Can you tell us why (or why not)?
   If I really into a online business or any kind of business I would definitely needed the services of bizcoterie, I would definitely sign up for this. This is truly one of the most powerful, feature-rich services of its kind that I have come across. More over, the good news is there is no fee for joining which is really wonderful to get signed-up very quickly without any second thought in mind. This is  very much helpful for small businesses or big businesses that would like to use those features but have a dozen employees or thousands of employees. Nevertheless, I can see that this would be a great resources for small size, mid-size and larger businesses, and certainly the free accounts provide a lot.
   4) Go to search engine of your choice and find one other company that offers a similar service. Compare the two companies. Which on do you prefer? Why?
   I searched on “Get Referrals, Provide Referrals for free.” The first result returned was a service called Simple Refs. I was surprised to see it since I really wasn’t aware that anything like this existed.
   Simple Ref’s home page presentation is very different than yours. It’s much briefer, and the look and feel is more strictly business, whereas yours is friendlier and more casual. You’ll notice that they have a tag line which instantly communicates what Simple Refs does. It’s “Purchasing a advertisement spot.” There’s no guesswork involved. Also, you’ll see that they do this service at free of cost. On the other hand, their home page seems very generic. I like that yours has “personality.”
   5) When you logged in were you encouraged to click on Add contact or Import contact? Can you tell us why (or why not)?
   Bizcoterie looks like an excellent service, although after comparing it to Simple Refs, they may have the look and feel advantage.
   Right now, I think the most useful thing you could do would be to redesign your home page. It’s “pretty,” but I had to dig deeper into the site to understand what Bizcoterie is, where it was pretty obvious what Simple Refs was as soon as I read the free signup tagline. I like the home page and honestly “Why bizcoterie?” really soothing background music and very informative. My suggestion is that you revise testimonials points in your home page to make them less vague. But employee activity streams keep you in the know about progress on group projects is much more informative. As long as you genuinely help people solve their problems and let them get that feeling, would not suggest you put the free signup on the very first page, in my opinion you will scare a lot of them away.

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