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Cool Tools: eCriteria
Introducing the eCriteria Online Database

The kind of capabilities that the internet provides for starting and developing a successful business are continuing to evolve. eCriteria, of Culver City, CA, provides one of the first web-hosted databases available, and it's the kind of tool that can take a business in a whole different direction, according to Dan Gutierrez, CEO of eCriteria and the developer of the eCriteria concept.
"We'd been doing databases on the web since early in the life of the Internet," he said. "We knew that small businesses were looking for an inexpensive solution, in a world where the only solutions that were available needed expensive, high-priced programmers to make them work."

eCriteria is a browser-based web application that lets anyone create a database online, that can be accessed and modified from any web browser. Anyone with a web site can create a link from their site to their database, permitting virtually anyone to enter information into the database.

Jeff Cohn, a solocareerist who works as a manager for a private angel investment group, has set up a side business that specifically relies on this kind of public entry of data. His DeadCellZones.com is "a brand new way to think about databases," he said. "Essentially, DeadCellZones.com is a community database, where people share information about poor cellular coverage areas." When people log onto the DeadCellZones site, the interface connects them directly with the eCriteria database, where they can both search for and submit data - in the form of cellular drop-off areas - to the database. Jeff works as the database administrator through a secure log on through eCriteria's website.

"Companies have traditionally been very protective of their data," Jeff said. "They view it as proprietary, and they tend not to want to share it. But over the next few years, I think we're going to see more and more communities built around shared databases."

"One of the things we've talked about, is that eCriteria makes data publishing so easy on the net. There's so much room for microcontent sites, such as DeadCellZones. People who have passions about certain areas can create similar community databases." Other such community databases, he said, could revolve around such topics as the locations of art galleries around the world, or cancer research.

FireTrucksPlus of Upland, CA, uses an eCriteria database to support an entirely different business model. FireTrucksPlus buys and resells refurbished fire trucks and equipment, using eCriteria as a kind of automated marketing mechanism. "With the economics the way they are, many fire departments today don't have the funding to buy new trucks and equipment," said David Escamilla of FireTrucksPlus.com. "Links from our home page permit users to list the apparatus they have for sale, or the apparatus they want to buy, right into an eCriteria database. We've configured the database for our needs, but eCriteria maintains the database, so we don't have to deal with that. All we've had to do was add the link to our site. It's been very beneficial to us."

Last year FireTrucksPlus sold more than 300 trucks, with many of the initial leads for those sales having been generated through its eCriteria database. "It generates a lots of leads for us," David said.

eCriteria makes three versions of the database available, including a standard, free version. Premium and enterprise upgrades add functionality to the database as well.

"A lot of companies use eCriteria for their websites, but others find they can use it as a replacement for their desktop database software," Dan said. "That way, their data is no longer locked up in a server or desktop PC, and it can be accessed by multiple users, whether they're in the office, on the road, on vacation, wherever."

For more information about eCriteria, you can check out their website, or call them directly at 310-410-0120.

John@solocareer.com
www.solocareer.com
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