Last fall we wrote about Do Good 4 Debt, a site designed to let students relieve some of their educational debt in exchange for performing charity work. Student Gems, which launched shortly thereafter, picks up on a similar theme by matching students in need of work with businesses in need of occasional or one-time help.

Student Gems is open to UK students or recent graduates 18 and older. To register, students begin by creating a profile that lists all their skills, including anything from language translation or website design to any of 1,400 other skills categorized on the site. Businesses or individuals in need of help can then search the database for someone who has the skills they require for a one-off or occasional job; if they can’t find a match immediately, they can post their job requirements. Students can also browse through tasks listed by businesses seeking someone with a particular talent and initiate contact themselves.

Ad-supported Student Gems is free for use by both businesses and students; by mid-January, more than 1,000 students and 100 businesses had registered with the site, including a software house, a chartered accountant, a media company and even a firm of funeral directors. Cofounder Joanna Ward explains: “Most small businesses cannot afford to take on professional staff for small tasks. Studentgems.com allows them to find someone quickly and easily and negotiate a price that suits their budget.”

Given skyrocketing levels of student debt and a tough employment landscape, this just could do the trick both for students and for smaller businesses. One to bring to other parts of the world?

Website: www.studentgems.com
Contact: info@studentgems.com

Spotted by: Nigel Lamb

Early last month, when we first wrote about nvohk—an eco-friendly, surf-inspired clothing manufacturer—we noted it was a good example of a crowd-funded business model. Hoping to build a brand from scratch, the Los Angeles-based company launched a drive to recruit 5,000 “owner managers” who will each contribute USD 50 annually. In exchange they’ll get a voice in deciding everything from the clothing styles to the advertising of nvohk’s line of environmentally responsible clothing. Plus, they’ll receive discounts along with 35 percent of the company’s profits, the latter doled out in the form of reward points that can be used to buy clothing items.

Nvohk’s crowd-funded approach appears to have been right on the money. The company recently announced that 1,250 people have signed up to become members. An appealing and perhaps unexpected element to nvohk's approach is that the brand will be global from the start. "With about 40% of future members coming from outside the US to date, nvohk is a great example of how the internet and globalization are changing the business landscape forever," comments Brendan T. Lynch, co-founder of nvohk.

We’ve noted other examples of crowdfunding in everything from TV prodction to soccer teams. And while it’s too soon to know how well companies relying on this new form of grass-roots financing will perform, the diverse nature of start-ups using crowdfunding suggests it can work well for anyone with an attention-grabbing idea and the business plan to back it up.

Website: www.projectnvohk.com
Contact: info@projectnvohk.com

Dedicated readers may recall Crushpad, an urban winery we've already discussed on two separate occasions, and now the busy vintners there have given us reason to cover them yet again. Just before the holidays Crushpad introduced fusebox, a wine blending kit that lets users experience the wine-making process at home.

Crushpad's 15-pound fusebox was created to contain everything a group of four might need to explore how some of the world’s greatest wines are blended: Six 375 mL bottles of blending wine from some of Napa's finest vineyards, including Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Petit Verdot, Malbec and Cabernet Franc; one 375 mL bottle of Mystery Wine; one graduated cylinder and 4 pipettes; four wine evaluation cards; four tasting place mats; recipe cards, a vinography aroma card and a corkscrew. Using the kit, wine enthusiasts can try to re-create classic Cabernet blends or invent their own; they can also test their discernment skills on the included Mystery Wine by playing the “Guess the Mystery Blend” online game at fuseboxwine.com. fusebox is priced at USD 120 and available for shipping only within the United States.

“Crushpad’s mission is to turn consumers into creators,” explains Michael Brill, CEO of San Francisco-based Crushpad. “Whether it’s the multiyear experience of making a wine from vine to bottle or just spending a few hours with friends enjoying a blending session with fusebox, we want to give individuals the opportunity to experience the fun and sense of creative expression that comes from making wine.”

Crushpad has always specialized in helping enthusiasts understand and make their own wines, providing desirable status skills along the way. With fusebox, that experience becomes an insperience, making for a winning combination. Crushpad is in the very early phases of signing up fusebox retailers and distributors. One to bring to the rest of the wine-loving world!

Website: www.fuseboxwine.com
Contact: patrick@crushpadwine.com

Spotted by: RK

One of the big advantages supermarkets have long had over consumers lies in the sheer number of products they offer—with some priced higher and others priced lower than the competition, it's near impossible to say that one store offers consistently better (or worse) deals every time. Well, supermarkets, those protected days may be drawing to a close. A new UK-based site provides a central way for consumers to compare prices as they shop online and then place their order with the cheapest store.

mySupermarket is a free shopping and comparison website for supermarket shoppers that links the online portals of the UK's four main supermarket chains and compares prices on the fly. Consumers begin by choosing their favourite store—Tesco, ASDA, Sainsbury's or Ocada—and shopping through mySupermarket's lifelike online shelves. Grocery departments are displayed across the top of the screen, and clicking on any one reveals the shelves within. For each product, mySupermarket displays the weight or volume, price, special offers and price per unit; for foods and beverages, it shows the ingredients, number of calories, an overall traffic light rating, and detailed nutritional information. The best part is that as consumers shop, the site's Trolley Checker scans their trolley and displays its current total cost at each of the four supermarkets. The Price Checker, meanwhile, suggests swapping some products for others that are a better value, while the Health Checker makes suggestions for healthier substitutions. Once consumers settle on their product choices and store, they simply send their trolley for checkout at the supermarket of their choice.

Rumours suggest that a like-purposed site may be coming soon in the US from Grocio.com. Once sites like these give consumers the long-desired ability to comparison-shop for groceries, there will be no turning back. Transparency tyranny strikes again—better get in on this one early if you're in retail!

Website: www.mysupermarket.co.uk
Contact: enquiries@mysupermarket.co.uk

Spotted by: Junaid Kazi

There's no doubt content is king in today's world of new media; what's less clear is how to get it. DailyArticle.com offers website owners, ad agencies and others an affordable way to buy the full rights to original, relevant and professionally written content for their sites.

Back in 2006 we wrote about ScooptWords, which allows bloggers to sell their work, and sites like ConstantContent also focus on connecting writers with buyers. In most cases, however, purchases are for limited use and limited rights to the content. DailyArticle.com, on the other hand, is more like iStockphoto in that buyers get full rights to all the content they purchase, including the right to change it or resell it royalty-free. Hundreds of freelance writers contribute articles to the site of every length and on a multitude of topics, indicating for each the price they'd like to be paid. Content in the "Bargain Bin" costs less than USD 15, and there is also a small selection of free articles available. To ensure maximum value of all content for buyers' search-engine optimization (SEO) purposes, DailyArticle.com verifies its originality using Copyscape, and its editors approve the quality before posting. Publicly viewable articles on the site are even scrambled to prevent the content from being indexed by search engines.

Virginia-based DailyArticle.com was founded last fall, and so far it seems to be the only such site focused exclusively on full-rights ownership. One to emulate in the niche of your choice?

Website: www.dailyarticle.com
Contact: www.dailyarticle.com/contact.php

Spotted by: Gavin Powell