First Name Basis

I was walking with my friend Dana the other day and she commented on my shoes. I told her that I got them from Ashley and she knew exactly which store I meant. This led to a discussion of how we know most of our favorite service providers by their first name. When I tell my husband that I have an appointment with Julie, he knows that I am going to the dentist or if it is with Jess, I am getting a massage. When he says that Jim will be stopping by, I know that it is our landscaper or if he is going to Mark’s that he is going to our mechanic. This holds true for most of the people who provide us with home and personal services.

Why is this? I think it is because when you share your home and yourself with other people, even for less than hour, on a regular basis, you want to know them personally. What do you think?

It Works!

Remember the first time you put together a piece of furniture and it didn’t fall apart?  Pretty good, right?  There is a great feeling of accomplishment when you build something that does what it is supposed to do.  I took a few minutes to talk to Steve Lowtwait about his experience using Fidatto.  I will warn you that I am no Megan Sweeney when it comes to shooting video (seriously, that woman is a genius!) but I gave it a try.  You can see the results here but what makes me so happy is that not only did Steve find a mechanic to help him with his car but he was able to help out another friend who was looking for an Insurance Agent by suggesting his to her via Fidatto.

Yep, that is why we built Fidatto and why we are so proud that it works!

Getting a little help from your Twitter friends…..

Some days are hard.  You have plans to get so much done but realize that you just can’t do it all.  I started to design the window decals for Fidatto and quickly realized that they looked awful.  I am not a graphic designer, nor do I play one on TV.  I started with this:

 

I was in a time crunch (of course!) and put out a call for paid help on Twitter.  I was extremely lucky to hear from Sarah Wolfsont who had some time available to redesign the mess.  In a matter of hours, she developed a dozen sketches which were far superior to mine.  We discussed a few of them and she provided another set by the next day.  We finalized them on the third day – you can appreciate the tremendous difference:

My point is that when you feel like you are in over your head, let people know.  You might be surprised how much help is available.  Sure, it costs money but so does a bad decision.  Thank you Sarah!

Real Fidatto Recommendations: Casa Bonita

Who: C.H from U.K.

What: Casa Bonita: http://www.casabonitadenver.com/

Where: Denver, Colorado

Fidatto Recommendation:

I never imagined my life without Casa Bonita… until I moved far away and couldnt visit as often as I liked.  There is something about the smell of chlorine that makes enchiladas that much better.  I recommend Casa Bonita to anyone (but really only the people I like cause people I dont like dont deserve Casa Bonita)

68% of Millennials Ask Friends Before Choosing a Restaurant

I’m a Millenial. I was also amongst the first Facebook users in 2004, when it launched for college-only students. We have multiple gadgets, were born with technology, had a cell phone in middle-to-high school and leverage social media to help us make our decisions. It’s odd, I can’t imagine it any other way.

A recent study from AdAge showed that that 68% of Millenials won’t make a major decision without running it by their network first. Crowdsourcing at its finest: Millennials, the 80 million people now aged 16 to 34, have buying and brand preferences that in many cases diverge sharply from their parents. But millennials need help from friends and family in making just about any decision, including which restaurant to eat at.They’ll use technology (social and mobile) to gather opinions. Sixty-eight percent won’t make a major decision without running it by their network first.

Other finding from the study mentioned:

Millennials prefer brands with a well-developed social- and mobile-media presence.

This is good news for Fidatto and really, the reasoning behind launching a recommendation application that sources your real friends on Facebook and while on the go, with our new iPhone app.

Behind The Scenes: Fidatto Marketing Dinners

Here at Fidatto, we have fun while we work.

Luckily for the Fidatto team, Fiona (our Chief Hustler) is a wonderful hostess and cook. We typically have weekly meetings in the evening on weeknights. We gather in Fiona’s home around her kitchen table to brainstorm, enjoy delicious food, wine and strategize.

Fiona says she enjoys working together and welcoming the team, “it’s more comfortable, casual and connected. I feel pretty strongly I want to cook for everyone. It’s part of being a guest at our house and this Fidatto family.”

Our (homemade) menus have included: 

• Homemade personal pizzas (pizza stone in the oven)
• Salmon salad
• Lasagna
• Grilled panini with pepperjack cheese and chicken and green beans
• Pureed cauliflower (substitute for mashed potatoes)
• Lemon chicken and roasted brussel sprouts
• Espresso chocolate mousse
• Raspberry coulis under chocolate tort (raspberries from Fiona’s garden!)
• Spicy guacamole
• Crispy peanut tofu (courtesy my food blog! Keepin’ it in the family)

Lucky, right?

Yum!

Welcome to our blahg, er blog…..

Hi, I’m Fiona Schlachter, Chief Hustler for Fidatto.

What does that mean?

I get to spread the word about Fidatto – the awesome Facebook application my partners and I created to help you and your friends share recommendations.  Sure, there are other sites offering something similar, but we make it easier for you to get to the good stuff…..fast!  All of the recommendations are from your friends and we only allow positive comments making it easy to find what you need when you need it.  Fidatto was born in beautiful Boulder, Colorado but is available anywhere in the United States.

In July 2011, we will release our first mobile version of Fidatto as an iPhone app.  We couldn’t be more excited.  The app is free and allows you to easily find and share favorite services and places with your friends using your iPhone.

Remember, Fidatto only works if you love it so please let us know what we can do to make it better.  We will share ideas about where we go next and talk about what is happening with our users and who they recommend so check back often.

Thanks for stopping by!