So it just hit the news that two of the founders of the ridiculously fast-growing start-up Groupon ($0 to $6B in two years) have invested in a newly emerging space – local vendors offering quotes on retail services like plumbing, mechanics, delivery, etc. They just gave Openchime $700,000 and it works like this –

Local retailers sign up for the website by describing their service offerings. Customers looking on their site for, say a handyman, would list their needs and receive quotes from the local small business owners.

Will this business model really help small business owners pick up additional customers? Right now it’s free, but I can see a future where they charge local vendors per quote or per month if it takes off. Apparently, some very smart people think so, but in case you wanted to test drive them yourself, I’ve tried the three top websites in this space, Openchime, Red Beacon and Thumbtack here for your review.

Openchime (2.5 stars)

What I like:

Offers an easy to sign up interface and explains the importance of keywords in the vendor description (i.e. use keywords you think customers would type into Google when describing your business on Openchime).

Completing the 5 steps took me about 7 minutes.

Be sure to insert “keywords” into the description of your business listing.

Avoid making the description too long.

Inserting keywords into the title of your business listing is even more critical.

Insert a descriptive, keyword rich phrase in Step 3 that describes your services

You’re almost done!

What I don’t like –

They didn’t offer me an instant email with a link to see what my profile would look like, only that

“Your Listing is Awaiting Approval.”

Bummer user experience for the first time merchant who is curious to see what the information they just supplied looks like. Teenagers aren’t the only ones who want instant gratification anymore.

Another negative is to have to click 4 mouse-clicks to finish a profile page.

Thumbtack (2.25 stars)

Thumbtack has a clean, simple homepage layout.

What I like –

Their signup process for local merchants is effortless and resides mostly on a single page you have to scroll down through to complete. Their signup process doesn’t emphasize the importance of inserting keywords into the title description of your local business or the description – but it is equally beneficial here as well.

They also claim they have an “automated listing on Craigslist.” Really? I thought this was against Craigslist’s terms of use?

Don’t forget those keywords…

One form, one two mouse-clicks.

What I don’t like –

Again, the lack of even an email confirmation from someone I just gave potentially sensitive information to dilutes my initial enthusiasm for their user experience.

Red Beacon (2.0 stars)

What I like – Honestly, not much. Their sign-up process is somewhat muted. But at least they have video testimonials (yawn).

These images are so common on stock photo sites, I'm curious why they went with this design.

What I don’t like –

The design seems like someone got mentally lazy and picked some orbital figures from istockphoto.com. Also, their transactions and reviews seem either fake or out-dated. Not saying that they are, just that they seem, let’s just say – quirky.

Here’s what the profile page of local merchants looks like in Red Beacon. BTW I found this by taking a name from one of their testimonials and Googling the person, since Red Beacon’s own website doesn’t have an easy to use search function.

The verdict –

It remains to be seen whether consumers will flock to a model like this, but if these are the top three, there’s a bit more room to improve. A bit, bit more.

I suppose most of us are so jaded by politics that it would be odd to hear someone gush about a website from the Federal Government. But the new Small Business Administration website deserves the praise.

Packed with immense amounts of new content, the SBA site provides tutorials on writing business plans to detailing the types of grants offered by SBA backed programs. It even has a community forum where, because of the relative newness of it (or they’re just trying to get the community going) actual employees of the SBA will answer questions on the forums.

It slices! It dices!

But really. It is nice. Way to go Fed. You did a swell job with our tax payer dollars. This time.

With answers from the SBA too?

Raising money from investors can be a daunting task for any small business or startup. My first business ended up raising $17M in two rounds of funding, and later raised much more. It was a boatload of work each time, and it always felt raising $500,000 was just as much of a hassle as raising $5M.

From an entrepreneur’s view – especially ones with some track record – you know that you’re a domain expert and know where the market is headed, knows the customer base and the pains you can solve for $__ price, the profitable costs of customer acquisition, market growth over 5 years, etc.

Conveying all of that, and the opportunity that lies within those metrics, can often be challenging. Probably more so to less sophisticated investors (like your friends and family).

Profounder is a recently launched SaaS company that allows small business owners to raise money from their friends & family as well as other interested 3rd party angel investors registered on their site They will charge 5% of the raised fee or $1,000. In addition to the record keeping and potential introductions to new investors, they also help take care of the regulatory and compliance issues that vary from state to state, and even help distribute payments.

When Blake Lively told his college professor he wanted to start a small shoe company, he was told “you’re going to need a million dollars.” Other experts told him “retail was dead” and that “shoes are a crowded market.”

Did that stop him from pursuing his small business dream and create TOMS?

Heck no! In fact, it drove Blake even more to produce and sell his canvas slip-on shoes to the world.

By hiring interns off of Craigslist, his statement that “they didn’t know it couldn’t be done, just that it was fun to work together” underlines the spirit of small business entreprenuers who, despite all the odds, start something great. Now, with dozens of employees and millions of dollars of annual sales, Blake hasn’t rested on his laurels and has started a non-profit to donate shoes to children in impoverished countries in Africa.

Blake and company – you are an inspiration. Keep going!

Blake Lively (right) with one of his employee-partners.

* This is not investment advice, just a piece of envy from one small business owner who is both in awe of such talent and a tinge jealous success has come so relatively quickly for the founders.

The trio of investors in LinkedIn as well as the CEO Jeff Weiner and founder Reid Hoffman are holding on to their shares of LinkedIn even after the IPO set for Thursday. Does that mean the smart, insider money sees something bigger than a $4B valuation?

Check out the WSJ deal post on LinkedIn investors holding onto their shares.

One of my favorite top 10 rules of entrepreneurship are also from their founder Reid Hoffman.

Reid was also one of the founders of Paypal.

Often, useful tips and marketing methods (or even just a supportive, helpful opinion) can be found on blogs. And while Google has been good for searching for information online, many of the listings in search results are nowadays filled with ads, large brand websites, or filler content known as doorway pages.

Recently Google released a search engine just for blogs. I’m finding that the more I use it, the more helpful, targeted information I find that’s useful for small business owners. That’s because blog content is often written by other entrepreneurs and professionals that speak to other the SMB. Try it – you’ll most likely find tons of useful information you won’t find in a normal Google search!

Many don't know Google has a search engine just to find blogs.