1. Amazon
If you have a company that sells physical products, instead of spending resources on building your website you should consider using Amazon to see if your product gains traction.
2. About.me
Similar to LinkedIn, about.me is a “social media” for professionals. You will use about.me if you are a freelancer (e.g web designer) and you want to find more clients.
3. AngelList
The largest start-up community, you will be able to find jobs, developers, venture capital or simply launch your product on its subsidiary, ProductHunt! Visit AngelList.
4. Bandcamp
Is your business in the music industry? Consider promoting your music on Bandcamp which generated over $500M in sales for artists.
5. Behance.net
Online portfolio website for creative artists such as photographers, graphic design and fashion. When you think about promoting your product on social media, try finding an influencer here. Seriously, just look how two great people promote those amazing Adidas Sneakers.
6. BlackPlanet
If your company targes African-American, BlackPlanet is the perfect social network you should look at! You can advertise to an audience whose median age is 32, the majority has graduated college and 65.6% are female.
7. Care2
See the latest petitions and what activists around the globe are doing. It’s a social network where you can find supporters to different causes. For example, if your venture has anything to do with helping homeless people, you can start with care2 and grow your community.
8. Citysearch (US only)
Do you need more information about U.S businesses around you? Perhaps your clients are businesses in entertaining, dining, retail or travel industry? Citysearch is a city directory worth taking a look at!
9. Crunchbase
Do you want to discover the latest trends in your industry? Perhaps your competitor is a global company in SaaS? Or maybe you just look for new prospects or simply conducting market research. Cruchnbase is a place for everything.
10. DeviantArt
Are you looking for talent? Perhaps an artist who is naturally born to make artwork. DeviantArt is a network for such purposes. Worth visiting any time, even for fun.
11. Diigo
Diigo is not actually a website but a social bookmarking tool. It comes in the form of a Chrome Extension and allows you to make sticky notes, tags, share your research with colleagues and more.
12. Dwebox
If you ever need to manage your business email inbox, you can use our Chrome Extension which highlights all past & incoming emails from a specific address. Use cases: differentiate emails from paid customers to non paid; differentiate emails coming from different email departments of your business, improve efficiency, etc. Visit Dwebox.com
13. Etsy
Just like selling on amazon, if your product targets vintage niche and arts, Etsy is the perfect place for selling.
14. Eventful
Are you an event manager or looking to track information about events happening around the world? Find out where your future customers are going with Eventful.
15. Facebook
Probably one of the best tools depending on the industry you are in, Facebook can be used to acquire a high number of customers. All it takes is “hanging around” where your potential customers could be. For example, if you own an estate business you may find house buyers in Facebook Groups dedicated to teaching how to buy a house or groups for real estate.
16. Flickr
Flickr is online photo management and sharing application. You can find anything from photos and videos to connecting with great people in groups. If you own a web design icon library you may find some of your customers on Flickr groups.
17. Fotolog
Are you looking for users passionate about photography? Perhaps you have a photography or marketing business? Fotolog is a web magazine where you can find many people and resources.
18. Foursquare
Ever thought about a social site that is entirely location-based? With Foursquare, you may find your next customer eating in the same restaurant as you. Its technology is used by Uber, Apple, Spotify, Subway and many more organisations.
19. GetSatisfaction
Is your company getting quick traction and you can’t handle the number of support requests? GetSatisfaction is an online customer community tool which can help you accelerate sales and reduce your support costs (time & money)
20. GitHub
World’s most used Git site for hosting repositories & code review. On GitHub you will be able to see open-source projects and how they are coded. Useful if you want to open-source your project, create documentation and make it easier for others to help you with coding.
21. Goodreads
If it’s not clear already, CEOs and founders of most successful companies read a lot of books, on average 52 a year. With GoodReads, you will be able to see what books other people read, including your friends and strangers.
22. Gravatar
You will probably become part of hundreds of communities & websites. Why going through the same process every time of uploading an avatar on each website when you can use Gravatar?
23. Habitate
Do you want to let your customers engage in discussions, just like on a forum, but on your site no matter what technology you use? Habitate is free until you reach 1,000 members. You can also use it to gather feedback or simply provide support to customers.
24. Hacker News
If you are an entrepreneur you have probably already heard about Hacker News, the social news website that is focused on computing projects & entrepreneurship. It is owned by the famous Y Combinator, one of the most successful seed money startup accelerators from which Airbnb, Coinbase, Dropbox, Twitch and Stripe were born.
25. Hello
Google had its social platform once called “Orkut”. Unfortunately, it failed as a product and the original engineer decided to create another social media platform called Hello. You can connect with people who share your interests & network.
26. Hi5
Hi5 was recently acquired by The Meet Group and is today a social networking website where your customers may be hanging around. Users can showcase their interests and therefore self identify as customers. It costs nothing so it’s worth giving it a try.
27. Hulu
Just like Netflix, Hulu is a subscription video-on-demand service mostly owned by Walt Disney Company. What can you use Hulu for? Differently from Netflix, it integrates a modest ad load. Advertising on Hulu can be a great way to target new customers in an uncompetitive environment.
28. Identi.ca
Are you building a social network? Use this open source project to start with the basics. Coding is necessary.
29. IGN
This entertainment website focused on video games, music and movies is a great place to learn about upcoming trends, read reviews and study connect with other users in the comments. You can listen to different podcasts, advertise or simply read the news to keep yourself informed.
30. ImageShack
Are you or your startup in need of space to upload images only? ImageShack is a subscription-based cloud with unlimited uploads and unlimited space. Use to store your images and get them whenever you need.
31. LinkedIn
One of the most professional social networks, you can recruit people or connect with decision-makers of companies. Use LinkedIn as a research tool and get all the possible advantages.
32. LiveJournal
This “blogging-social network” encourages people to share ideas and talk about their life story. What if you could find a co-founder or some inspiration for your company story?
33. MeetMe
If you want to find people nearby who share the same interests, give MeetMe a chance. It’s a platform with 100+ million people where you can connect and chat. Make friends and connections very fast.
34. MetaCafe
Tired of YouTube and want to look over a video hosting service specialized in short-form video entertainment? Perhaps you can meet new people, advertise or find content. Metacafe is a nice alternative worth looking at.
35. Mixi
Mixi is a Japanese social networking service. You won’t be able to use it without a valid Japanese cellphone number. If you can use Mixi however, you will meet amazing people.
36. Pinboard
Pinboard is an information-sharing, weekly email newsletter. You can start a pinboard & invite your followers. Members will be able to communicate via private, weekly newsletter.
37. Quora
If you don’t already have an account on Quora you should go and create one. It’s one of the best question&answers communities out there. Quora can be used for promoting your product and reach a wide audience worldwide.
38. Reddit
This is the excellent platform for giving your message exposure for free. Reach millions of users simply by posting in the right subreddit. The only disadvantage is that you may need Comment Karma or other forms of activity to post however once you reach it, it’s worth the time & work.
39. SlideShare
Also knew as the “YouTube of PowerPoints”, SlideShare allows you to upload privately or publicly presentations. It’s a cloud hosting service owned by LinkedIn that you can trust since it’s used by 70 million people worldwide.
40. SmugMug
Does your company need an image sharing & hosting service? SmugMug has been operating for over 17 years and stores over 2 petabytes of photos. Flickr, the online photo management application is owned by SmugMug.
41. Tagged
This social discovery website has amazing members who share tags and virtual gifts between them. It may be very niche-targeted but it could help some organisations. Visit Tagged.
42. ThisNext
On this website, you will find a community of engaging people sharing trends and unique products. You can also create new trends, follow people and engage with others.
43. TripIt & Tripadvisor
Do you have to travel for business meetings? Make it easier with TripIt which organises your travel plans. You may also share them with your co-founders and set helpful reminders.
In combination with TripIt, use Tripadvisor to see reviews of places you will meet for business.
44. Typepad
A blogging platform used by large media companies such as BBC, Sky News & the CBC. It’s worth taking a look if you have an organisation focused on news & media. Visit Typepad.
45. Vimeo
We love Vimeo because you can create high-performing videos for different reasons, including marketing & business promotion. Every organisation that takes care of its video image should use Vimeo.
46. Zazzle
If you live in the US and need an online marketplace where to quickly design your own products from manufacturers, Zazzle is a perfect choice. It offers digital printing, embroidery and many other personalization techniques.
47. Zillow
For real estate developers, Zillow is a database that helps with buying, selling and planning the next move. Furthermore, it’s possible to find resources for managing finances and many more details.
