ListItRI.com will offer online local classifieds;
Site to be featured on Cox's High Speed Internet home page.
PROVIDENCE, R.I. (March 3, 2003): Rhode Island's newest Web site, ListItRI.com, will bring online local classified listings back to the Ocean State this month.
Filling the gap left by the demise of OSO.com, former OSO.com managers, Tom Viall and Linda Woods developed their new site based on OSO.com's very popular online classifieds feature but incorporating enhanced technology to make the site pages load faster and enable more search and management options for users.
Their company, Vega Interactive LLC, which plans to officially launch ListItRI.com on March 15, 2003, has entered into a promotional partnership with Cox Communications Incorporated -New England to feature the site on the start page of Cox's High Speed Internet home page -- http://rhodeisland.cox.net/"OSO.com's online classified tool was one of the most utilized features capturing over 25% of the total traffic to that site," states Ms. Woods. "We knew that once OSO went dark, it would leave a big gap in the marketplace." OSO.com maintained approximately 7,000 classified ads in their database at any given time and averaged 70,000 visitors each month.
Vega Interactive founders channeled their experiences and focused on creating a site that would offer an enhanced and even more useful online classifieds tool. "The technology behind the site is completely dynamic and flexible," explains Mr. Viall. "Working closely on OSO's classified tools for several years enabled us to monitor the site's effectiveness and catalogue user feedback. The database tool we created for ListItRI.com is literally the product of years of market research and usability testing. We've incorporated features into the site we know are important to people posting listings and people browsing those items, namely interactivity, speed and ease of use."
Viall and Woods announced that there are no plans in place to sell any pop-up/under ads on the site, and they have chosen to go the "membership model" route for generating revenue. Rhode Islanders can post a free listing for up to 90 days on ListItRI.com in the following areas: General Merchandise, Automotive, and Real Estate. Each of the areas has various sub-categories within, and a search engine will enable users to search for apartment listings, for example, by geographic area.
After the free listing time period expires, there is a nominal membership fee to continue posting listings. People can choose from a 30-day membership for the price of just $9.95 or an annual membership for the introductory price of just $39.95. Both plans allow for unlimited listings in multiple categories during the duration of the membership. There is also a "manage my listings" area where members can view every listing they have on the site with options for editing and deleting.
There will, however, be Cox promotional banner ads with links to Cox which will expose the listings on the site to more eyeballs. "It's a win-win for everyone. The pages will load faster because they're not loading a lot of ads that often call to other servers," adds Ms. Woods, "and members will benefit from the instant exposure to one of the area's largest online audiences through Cox."
Vega Interactive plans to launch a similar site in Connecticut -- ListItCT.com -- in conjunction with Cox Communications Incorporated-New England on April 1, 2003. Additionally, the company plans to launch eight more sites in other U.S. cities by Summer 2003.
CONTACT: Betty Galligan, APR
Newberry PR & Marketing, Inc.
(401) 433-5965
betty@newberrypr.com
