Need a Logo or a Website? Compare 8 Free Bids Today. Over 50,000 Designers Worldwide. DesignQuote.net

DQ News: Hatch’d: A Idea-based Social Network for Improving Business

Allow me to introduce you to Hatch’d: a recently born social network with a drastically different purpose than the social media we’ve become accustomed to. Instead of supporting interpersonal, social conversation like Twitter and Facebook, Hatch’d was conceived as a way to simply and efficiently share ideas. Hatch’d is a new take on outsourcing that aggregates product development ideas into one location for the creation and improvement of better products and services.

Easily Communicate Your Ideas

Have you ever had an idea that would allow a company to improve their product or service, but you could not find an effective communication channel that allowed you to be heard? For example, emailing customer service always seemed so distant and ineffective; and posting on Facebook, writing on a company’s Wall, or Tweeting at the business seemed just as hopeless. Now, Hatch’d is working to be the location for you to share and businesses to hear ideas.

Hatch’d works much in the same way as Twitter. A user can share an idea in 140 characters and can utilize the familiar @Username to directly target a business. For example, Brad H. shared his idea “@McDonalds serve breakfast all day.” Users can then vote ideas up or down and can comment on ideas to generate discussion. Through these social aspects, business owners can gain better insight into the minds of their customers and the rationale behind their ideas.

Standard social networking features have also been built into the site. For example, visible on a user’s profile page is a portfolio that displays your posted ideas, picture, and short biography. Users also have the ability to follow other users and businesses to track what is being discussed.

Crowdsourcing What Hatchd Will Become

Admittedly, due to how new the service is, the creators of Hatch’d still do not know what exactly the social network could be. On the About section of the site they ask users to “help figure that out” by sharing an idea @Hatchd.

The largest opportunity for Hatch’d and where I predict the service will find the most success, is for businesses to read ideas that will allow them to better serve their customers. Because voices are often lost in the crowd on sites such as Facebook and Twitter, Hatch’d is a promising tool for its narrow, yet distinct purpose as an ‘idea-network.’ Furthermore, due to this purpose, if a business creates an account on Hatch’d users can trust that their opinions are read and considered.

But Not Perfect, Yet

One aspect of Hatch’d that seems to stray from this well-defined intent is Groups. The About section describes this as a place to “brainstorm ideas with your friends. Plan a vacation with college friends or your family! [Hatch’d wants] to make it as easy for you to toss around ideas here as it is for you to do with your friends over lunch or hanging out at your apartment.”

While the ability and support to discuss ideas with your friends is nice to have, it seems more appropriate for Facebook, where interpersonal conversation is the norm, and even more effective “over lunch or hanging out at your apartment.” To me, Hatch’d needs to be about communicating ideas solely with businesses. Discussion with friends, like I previously said, is sort of played out at this point. Trying to be too many things could lead to its downfall.

Hatch’d is still in beta mode, but it seems solid and bug-free. Expect new features and improvements to roll out regularly. Hatch’d is also competing in Advertising Age’s contest for a reward of a $25,000 partnership to work with respected brand marketers to help launch its product.

Check out Hatch’d and start sharing your ideas!

What do you think Hatch’d’s strengths are? Where could it improve?

About the author: August Drilling works in the marketing department at CliqStudios.com, the online supplier of quality oak kitchen cabinetsand is a blogger, social media enthusiast, and Apple aficionado. You can follow him on Twitter @ardrilling and read insight and odd musings.

Want to be our next guest author? Click here for details…

Need a Logo for your new company? Compare 8 Free Bids Today. Over 50,000 Designers Worldwide. DesignQuote.net

Why Your Email Funnel Should Have a Custom Thank You Page & How to Start One if Yours Doesn’t

There are many reasons why you should consider creating a custom Thank You page for your email funnel. For one thing, a custom thank you page is more personal, creating a one on one atmosphere between you and your visitor. It can also be a good spot to as

Help! I Have Too Many Business Ideas!

A reader asked: I have so many ideas for businesses that I don’t really know which one to start first? Everytime I start something, I get distracted by a new business idea. Help! What do I do? If your answer to the question “What kind of busin

The 3 Best Reasons Why the Time is Ripe to Get Your Business Valued

  If you have no immediate interest in selling your business then you might think a business valuation is an unnecessary expense. But there are a whole host of reasons why you should be getting an understanding of the value of your business that don’

Overcoming Management Confidence Issues

A new survey, conducted by CIPD, suggests that 21% of employees fear that they will imminently lose their jobs and that over a third believe their standard of living has dropped in the last six months highlights what a stressful time it currently is for w

How Small Business Owners Can Use Open-Source Code

Open-source code is a big part of the Web 3.0 revolution because it fits one of the key driving factors: collaboration. Open-source code is developed by several people (even thousands) working together to make a usable tool or program. Even when it’s fini