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Web site helps you make decisions
By TONY BOOM ASHLAND — A local firm’s Web site helps people choose everything from the breed of dog they should own, the political candidate that best reflects their ideals or which Civil War general they most resemble. SelectSmart.com offers interactive decision-making tools — selectors — that help consumers evaluate purchases or hobbyists explore preferences by clicking on questionnaire choices. Web surfers can create their own selectors to add to the site. The site averages 8,000 visitors per day. Its software has been developed for and licensed to the Christian Science Monitor, Gurl.com, the now-defunct PetStore.com and other national firms. "We build off the collective knowledge that is out there," said Curt Anderson, who owns the firm with his wife, Lori. "We are a repository for collected passions." While marketing director at Darex Corp., Anderson developed a selector that helped customers decide what type of drill sharpener they needed. "It was so popular that it struck me that something with more popular culture could really take off," Anderson said. He developed the concept during nights and weekends. The site went online in 1999 with three selectors on dogs, cats and wines. The site’s growing demands prompted Anderson to go to a half-time schedule with Darex four months before SelectSmart became a full-time job in March 2000. As Web surfers discovered the site, they suggested new topics and used a "make-your-own" free selector to explore their interests. More than 2,000 selectors have been created and 200 are available online. Religion was one topic suggested for selector development. It now accounts for 28 percent of visitors — the largest segment. Dog selectors, the next largest segment, account for 5 percent of traffic. Site visitors to a religions selector would answer questions about their beliefs and hopes. The selector than analyzes the answers and determines which religion most closely matches an individual’s choices. "Our goal isn’t to say this is what you’ve got to believe," said Anderson. "We are trying to inform people about various faiths and to engender some discussion." Creation of questions for the selectors and correlation of answers to produce results is the most time-consuming and challenging aspect of the process, Anderson said. For example, someone creating a selector on Civil War generals would need to know the personality traits of each general and to develop questions that would assess user characteristics against those traits. Selector categories include philosophy, machinery, movies, jobs, home and garden, with some 200 selectors including "Temptation Island," Harry Potter, baby’s names and "Romeo and Juliet" characters. SelectSmart’s presidential candidate selector helped draw as many as 80,000 visitors per day before the election. A version of the presidential selector was developed for the Christian Science Monitor. Most of SelectSmart’s software was developed by Frank Pasmore of MakinMoWaves in Ashland. Licensing to other firms is SelectSmart’s largest revenue generator. The company also earns money from advertisers on its Web site. In the future, Anderson sees growth potential for the company in the "bricks and clicks" category — traditional businesses with Web sites. The firm recently introduced a line of software programs called SelectsMart Webware to help small businesses get online. Like its Web site software for selector creation, the new product line can be used by anyone who can do e-mail, said Anderson. It will allow firms to develop online stores, order forms, help pages and other services. USA Today chose SelectSmart as one of its "Hot Sites" in June 2000. The site also has been mentioned in Business Week, Newsweek and the New York Times. "Dilbert" creator Scott Adams listed SelectSmart as one of the pragmatic sites he uses regularly. Reach Ashland bureau reporter Tony Boom at 482-4651, or e-mail tboom@mailtribune.com |
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