I’ve just spent a good 3-4 hours deep in the world of community marketplaces offering all kinds of awesome products and services, powered by the individual.  These sites are empowering people around the world to become part-time (or even full-time) entrepreneurs who get to choose what they do and when they do it.  It ranges from sites like TaskRabbit and Zaarly, which offer skill-based listings, to Vayable, which offers tour listings, to Airbnb, which offers accommodation listings.  Whatever the niche, the message is clear: personalized, personable services provided by your neighbors or that local in your destination city are on the rise.

Our society is seeing a shift away from “traditional” jobs and towards the more flexible, on your own terms type jobs that are a far cry from the salaried employee.  And those people clamoring for these unconventional/unpredictable job bookings find themselves serving a consumer that has evolved too.  It used to be that consumers had to go to the store and choose from whatever was available at the time, or customers had to sit through customer service calls before finally getting help.  Now it’s all about getting what you want when you want.  Who needs to sit through half an hour of automated phone menus when you can just hire the guy in your town to install that new TV?  Why go to the store and be forced to choose from food in flavors you don’t like when you can have someone come cook for you or bring you delicious baked goodies just the way you like?

It’s service to the max, because it’s customized for your needs.  On TaskRabbit and Zaarly, you can post exactly what, when, where, and how you want things done, then choose who to do it.  Or, for sellers, you can post exactly what and how you’ll do something, then determine the when and where with the “who” who’s booking you.  The great thing about these services is that it not only empowers people to make money for doing what they love and/or what they’re good at, but it offers a better experience for us as clients.  Get a tour of a city you’re visiting customized to your interests!  Discover that perfect room to stay in that’s closer to everything you want to see than any reasonable hotel option.  Let someone else handle the chores for once, so you can relax and take time to do what you love.  Meanwhile, the people doing this work find themselves more fulfilled AND with more money to line their pockets.  It’s a wonderful win-win situation.

Along those lines, I have a similar idea of connecting people with specific needs to those who can help fulfill them.  I’m still working on the details of the idea, but as far as I’ve seen there is no other service out there that completely addresses the issue.  I’m really excited to develop it further and hopefully I’ll be sharing it with the world sometime next year!  For now, you can use your imagination to try to guess what it might be… and hey, maybe you’ll come up with another brilliant (and viable) idea to take advantage of the power of community-powered marketplaces, where everybody’s a micro-entrepreneur!