RealStew - Quantum Leap for Online Communications

QUANTUM LEAP FOR ONLINE COMMUNICATION The way the world communicates and interacts could be revolutionised by an online platform conceived and developed in New Zealand.

RealStew, official launching tomorrow, has cleverly integrated all the disparate ways we connect - chat, email, social media, user groups, websites and blogs - on one aggregator platform housed in a single internet browser with a unique dashboard.

“A library of applications is all condensed into one tab,” founder Paddy Delaney said, “allowing for extraordinary convenience and comms management. There’s no need to log in and out of different sites, all the tools you need to engage are on the one platform.

Everything you love about the web is in the one place.”

Delaney had the idea for RealStew in 2009, wanting to create a one-stop global communications centre to respond to a challenge: How can we have online conversations more efficiently and effectively?

In the process of integrating email, social networks and communications tools like Skype he also saw how RealStew could act as a Customer Relationship Management (CRM) system and help businesses track, leverage and monetize their customer relationships.

“We set out to build a platform where uploading contacts was a breeze and users could readily connect, engage and interact,” Delaney said. “As we refined the structure it became obvious that the environment allowed users to seamlessly share and transact with their networks.

“Testing RealStew in the real world, on the quiet, we saw how the aggregator platform could be all things to all people, helping build stronger relationships with contacts and customers. Chatting one-to-one or one-to-many is easy; attaching documents is simple.

“Soon, individuals won’t just be able to consolidate their communications channels, they’ll be able to play games, utilize the cloud storage, find a mentor or a date, buy auction items, and invest in us or other companies.

“Businesses will have an enhanced ability to find customers, generate qualified leads, raise capital, establish an online booking system, trade shares, lend, and borrow...anything! As a hub with a scalable apps library, RealStew’s potential for growth is unlimited.”

New Zealand’s leading business incubator, The ICEHOUSE, has helped guide the development. Since its inception in 2001, the award-winning development factory has helped raise over $50 million in capital for more than 3500 owner-operators and entrepreneurs.

The ICEHOUSE quickly appreciated RealStew’s potential, taking an equity stake in return for mentoring services. They then identified the key markers for business success and provided networking leads.

“We’re grateful for their support,” Delaney said. “Being so focused on building the tech to power our back-end systems meant we weren’t concentrating on the business metrics that mattered. Since their involvement there has been a noticeable change in our closure rates and a substantial increase in revenue, simply through word-of-mouth referrals.

“Now we’re turning our attention to marketing our initial suite of apps, chiefly our flagship blog and customized website, while continuing to roll out key applications to entrench the value proposition for existing users and attract further users.”

Most of the inceptive apps have been developed internally, but Delaney says third parties will have an increasingly important part to play in launching new apps.

“We want the best-of-the-best on our platform. For instance, our RealQR program has been a joint development with an external company because of their knowledge in that space.

“The melding of our system with their knowledge has resulted in an app with better analytics that integrates superbly with our Contact Book. As RealQR continues linking the physical and digital world it will create a knowledge pool that businesses can use to provide targeted special offers and better customer service.”

Other apps that have also resonated strongly with users include RealStew’s Cloud Storage, which allows the upload of important documents, instructions and dates and alerts with just one click, and RealBlog, a tool that integrates blogs from across different platforms and - in a world-first - allows bloggers to have real-time conversations with readers.

Becoming part of RealStew is by email invitation from existing members; a referral method that Delaney says is the quickest and easiest way to build a network of like-minded people.

“Users can opt out at any time and there will never be pressure to buy and build your App Library. Members simply have the choice to purchase the individual apps that meet their needs and enable them to better manage their business or personal networks.

“If you add up the cost of running Nimble and Sales Force and Wave Accounting and using PayPal - all different programs run by totally separate companies - you’ll find we’re extremely cost-competitive, with the added bonus of being so much easier to manage.”

The upside for members is that being part of the RealStew network has direct financial benefits. A cast-iron 54% of all revenues will be returned to members via an electronic wallet.

“Instead of profits being returned to billionaires and faceless capitalists we aim to distribute wealth amongst our community. The returns will be dependent on how much we grow, while the percentage gifted back to individual members will be based on how much they use RealStew and interact with, and build, their networks.

“We see ourselves as a social co-operative and firmly believe in sharing our success by returning benefits to the members who use RealStew. As our network grows, so will the benefits for each user.

“We are looking to make the world a better place - one person at a time.”