Comments for Small Business Web Directory Launches at SXSW

Small Business Web Directory Launches at SXSW

2010-03-13T21:30:00Z

Upon first glance we were skeptical. Generally when someone says they're launching a business directory it's an SEO play with little value to users. Nevertheless, the small business web directory is a pleasant surprise. The group is providing a variety of useful resources to help startups integrate services and scale up their internal operations.

]]> Launched at last year's SXSW, the small business web is a group of software as a service companies that have joined forces to offer cheaper services to clients. Companies like Batch Blue Software, Freshbooks, Mailchimp, Shoeboxed and Outright have been integrating APIs in order to help businesses flourish. This week's launch will help startups stretch their dollars even further.

If you were fiddling with multiple platforms to manage your finance, human resources and analytics tools before, the directory can help you fix this through third party service integration. While a number of resource lists are available for accounting and domain management services, this collection is geared specifically towards productivity and life hacking. To check it out visit thesmallbusinessweb.com.

Comment from Chris on 2010-03-14

2010-03-14T17:50:06Z

I've been following the Small Business Web since last year's kick-off. The directory is much improved from the kitchy why-we-want-to-join statements to descriptions of the services provided by each vendor.

And, as a user of a number of the SaaS products listed, I can vouch for their quality. The real magic, however, is the commitment to integration through their open APIs. I wouldn't know an API call from Adam if I saw one, but the integration these folks have engaged in is great.

Comment from Michael on 2010-03-14

2010-03-15T05:44:32Z

This is a great find, thanks Chris for mentioning you can vouch for the SaaS quality. I needed a little nudge on looking closer at these. I've gone through MailChimp and feel its services could be a good fit. Now, to discover the others and the integration going on. If there's truly a cost savings through Small Business Web, then bundling a few of these services can be well worth taking this route.

Comment from Christophe on 2010-04-12

2010-04-12T14:56:54Z

As a small business ourselves and SaaS supporters, we are using online applications at http://www.GetApp.com that don’t always fully integrate. Integration is often mentioned as the number one issue prior to buying a new app by businesses. There are two kinds of integrations: 1)bottom up or one to many, where you integrate your app with a platform provider usually also publisher of a core business app such as CRM (Salesforce.com) or email (Google). 2) one to one, mainly by using an API to integrate an app with another

We encourage the SBW initiative, it is refreshing to see such an initiative from app providers themselves. We don´t see ourselves competitors at GetApp.com. We are a SaaS Apps portal which is 100% platform and provider neutral. Our main objective is to make it easy for enterprises to find useful information before buying, that includes an app store showing integration points. There over 400 handpicked app providers registered and some of them are starting to show their app to app integrations. If you are a SaaS app provider, please join the party, you should find a roof under our 300+ app categories.

Comment from shakti on 2010-04-26

2010-04-26T09:18:49Z

Its a great post, i appreciate it. SXSW is a best-in-class example of community immersion: understand users passion and inspire through communications and experience. The red thread that ties SXSW's music, film, gaming and entrepreneurship festival is undiscovered gems.