Video Startup RealPeopleRealStuff.com Voted Best of 2007 By Users at Global Trend-Spotting Site

NORFOLK, Va.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Video classified site RealPeopleRealStuff.com has been named as the second most-viewed of all new business ideas on Springwise.com, a website which scans the globe for the most promising new business ventures, ideas, and concepts. RealPeopleRealStuff.com has also been lauded in The Wall Street Journal, Los Angeles Times, and Marketplace on National Public Radio.

RealPeopleRealStuff.com, which launched on May 1, 2007, combines the popularity of online video with the practicality of classified ads, allowing both consumers and businesses to create and post their own video commercials, selling real estate, cars, products, and services. And it just might change the way that people buy and respond to advertising.

“YouTube made it easy to post funny videos,” explains Alan Jacobson, one of the site’s creators. “People have responded enthusiastically just for the chance to become famous – without a financial incentive. Craigslist made it easy to make money by selling goods and services online, but has no video capability. RealPeopleRealStuff.com offers both.”

Since its launch, RealPeopleRealStuff.com has established strategic partnerships with newspapers in the U.S. and Canada to bring their new advertising model to local markets.

Janet DeGeorge, a leading expert in classified advertising, says “While some people do post video ads on YouTube – which is free – it’s really not set up for advertising. You’ve got video ads from all over the world for homes and restaurants next to videos of cats playing piano. At RealPeopleRealStuff.com and its partner sites, you’ve got ads in a commercial environment, with consumers actively seeking your product or service, in your area.”

At a time when newspapers are seeing steadily declining revenues from classified advertising in their print product, video advertising may allow them to recoup some of the business they’ve lost to sites like eBay and Craigslist. According to Borrell Associates, the nation’s leading online advertising research firm, the nascent online video market is poised to grow more than tenfold over the next five years, comprising 33% of all online local advertising by 2012.

If the users of Springwise.com are any indication, RealPeopleRealStuff.com may well lead the way.