Tip of the Week - GigPark

GigPark is a social network where you can share referrals to and recommendations about local businesses and services in your area with people you know and trust.

Let’s say you lost your earring down the drain and you contacted a plumber who rescued it for you within minutes. He arrived on time, was polite, pleasant and fixed a faulty pipe in the process all for a reasonable price… and best of all, he didn’t have plumber butt. You’d refer him to your friends, right?

Well, GigPark lets you do just that online. Once you register (it’s quick and painless, I promise), you can add your recommendation to your profile and let everyone you’ve connected to, know. You can add the contact information and website address too.

So, let’s turn the tables a bit. What it you’re looking for a plumber in your area and you have no idea who to hire. You need someone in a hurry who you can trust. GigPark offers a couple options. First you can check to see if anyone in your network has recommended a plumber in your area. If so, you’ll be able see the contact information, reviews and number of reccomendations that plumber has received. If not, you can ask if someone has a recommendation and people in your network will let you know if they know of someone who can help.

Need more of an incentive?
From now through March 31, for every three new recommendations you make on GigPark, you’ll be entered in a draw to win an iPhone.

How do you find out about new businesses and services in your community?

Tip of the Week – REM gets social and streams new album for free

REM has always done things a bit differently than the other major bands and performers. When it comes to sharing music, they seem to have a good grasp of what their fans want.

Mr. Bargainista is an avid music fan but other than music, news, the odd video and business transactions, he doesn’t spend much time on the ’Net. I’m usually the one showing cool things to him. So when he told me that REM was going to release their next album, Accelerate for free on Facebook, I was both pleasantly surprised and intrigued.

REM will be streaming Accelerate using the social networking application, iLike. Fans will be able to listen to and share the entire album using iLike, Facebook, iTunes and several other social networking sites for free on March 24 – one whole week before Accelerate’s April 1 release date. The iLike launch will include all 11 original tracks and an exclusive behind-the-scenes video of the making of the album.

Connie Crosby pointed me to the NinetyNights video promo they started on January 1. Every night from now through March 31, REM is releasing a video in HD for one night only. Fans are able to embed the video on their blogs, link, share, and download the videos for free. Have a read of the usage policy – fans can pretty much do whatever they like with the files.

Tonight is Night 75 and I’ve embedded Mr. Richard for your viewing pleasure:



What do you think of REM’s approach? Will you be listening on March 24?