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"This post is part of Mashable\u2019s Spark of Genius series, which highlights a unique feature of startups. If you would like to have your startup considered for inclusion, please see the details here.  The series is made possible by Microsoft BizSpark.\nName: Bizual\nQuick Pitch: Bizual is an awesome new service that makes it easy and affordable for small businesses to attract new customers and find great suppliers.\nGenius Idea: Say you're the owner or marketer for a small business that doesn't have a multi-million dollar marketing budget or an army of marketing personnel.  How do you get the word out about your product?  How do you attract new customers?  These are the problems that Bizual attempts to solve.Bizual is a marketing platform that helps small businesses and freelancers gain reach and customers through Bizual Offers, which are simply special deals businesses provide on their products and services.  Some of the offers already on Bizual include 30% off on design services, free strategy consultations, or even 50% off any sink.  Many of these Bizual Offers are useful, not only for businesses looking to find great deals or get exposure, but for the general customer as well.\n\n\n\n\nBizual also rewards creativity and value by having a Digg-like voting system.  You can vote offers up, which brings them up on the Most Popular Offers list.  This community-based system helps find the most useful offers on the website.  You can message those providing offers, see their profiles, add them to your favorites, and search through offers, members, and tags quickly and easily.\nLike so many other sites, Bizual suffers from the problem of critical mass.  For offers to really be useful to small businesses, there needs to be more members.  For members to get value out of bizual, there has to be more Bizual offers.  Bizual also needs to make a distinction between customers just looking for great deals (there are many in these times) and businesses looking to get momentum; right now, it has the feel of a small business exchange.  \nNone of that takes away from the usefulness of Bizual, however.  It's well-executed and could definitely be a great boon to both customers and small businesses.\nInvite Code: When signing up for Bizual, please use the invite code Mashable for full access.\nSponsored by Microsoft BizSpark\nBizSpark is a startup program that gives you three-year access to the latest Microsoft development tools, as well as connecting you to a nationwide network of investors and incubators. There are no upfront costs, so if your business is privately owned, less than three years old, and generates less than U.S.$1 million in annual revenue, you can sign up today."^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://mashable.com/2009/04/03/bizual/>