Multi-tasking...a guiding principle behind Ownersite's products.

Much like Food Network's Alton Brown, we are big fans of "multi-taskers."

When we set out to develop Ownersite, our intention was not to merely build the best fuel log or the most useful reminder system, but to look at the entire life cycle of vehicle ownership and provide a comprehensive suite of tools to enhance it. The result is Ownersite. While it's possible that no two subscribers approach the use of Ownersite in the same way, it is likely that each any every subscriber finds functionality to get a better handle on their respective vehicles.

We approached the initial launch of Home Ownersite in the same exact way. Ownersite Technologies is not a developer of "personal finance" products (the industry already has Quicken on the desktop and Mint on the web), rather we see ourselves as developers of "personal asset management" tools, not for our subscribers money, rather for the most expensive items they will likely purchase with that money.

With all of that in mind, I am excited to announce even more functionality forHome Ownersite. In the past two weeks we have rolled out a Journal module and an Insurance module. Home Ownersite is more useful than ever as a repository for all aspect of home ownership, from a complete and sharable home inventory product, a log of maintenance, repair & renovations to a centralized location to store details on tax records, mortgage(s) and insurance.

In addition to all this, we have also expanded the Home Care articles section of the main website with even more educational content, with even more to come in the coming days.

Ownersite has grown and improved over the years thanks to the feedback of our dedicated subscribers. We believe that Home Ownersite will grow and improve in the same way.

Helping home owners better prepare for disasters

When we first started developing Home Ownersite, we knew that the primary component that would draw subscribers was the inventory capability. The idea of keeping a home inventory is something that naturally resonates with consumers that want to be prepared in the event of a natural disaster.

As we looked at the market further, we realized that there is so much more to being prepared for a disaster for home owners than just the inventory. Corporate America has embraced risk mitigation through disaster planning for years, so we sought to find a company that helps the Fortune 500 decrease their risk to bring similar concepts to the consumer. What we found, and who we decided to work with, is the highly respected RP Risk Advisors.

There are already printed and static resources that advise on how to prepare for a flood, fire, hurricane, tornado, etc (we even link to them in Home Ownersite's Resources section), but no true interactive, online resource that takes into account your unique risk level based on a number of factors. Working with RP, we have started developing the first online, interactive resource for home owners to prepare for a disaster.

We are very excited to bring our subscribers this functionality, which should be rolled out in early 2009, so keep watching this space (or your Home Ownersite account) for more information. The press release is embedded below.

pr_homerp_090108

Introducing more helpful resources from Ownersite, our new Car Care section

With the launch of our new Car Care section, we think Ownersite will become an even more useful resource for vehicle owners, whether they subscribe to Ownersite or not. To visit this new section, click on the Car Care link up above.

The Car Care section contains about 20 articles (with plans to grow) covering many aspects of vehicle ownership, from basic everyday car care tips, to advice on saving fuel, increasing the value of your vehicle or even selling your vehicles. We believe these articles keep with the overall theme of Ownersite, to help increase the safety, reliability and value of our customers vehicle.

We would love your feedback on this new section. Some may have noticed that it originally included advertisements, but we decided to do away with those, again in keeping with our ad-free theme for the application.

Note that this is not the same content that is contained within the Ownersite application from the Car Care Council, rather it is yet another independent perspective on how to enhance vehicle ownership.

Enjoy!

Announcing The Launch of Home Ownersite

Over the years, we have heard from so many subscribers that they would love to have something similar to Ownersite, only for their homes rather than their cars. Almost a year in the making, I am very excited to announce the launched of our second product in the "personal asset management" category, Home Ownersite.

The desire to build this product rests with the fact that a home is the most expensive investment most people will ever make. With that in mind, we wanted to build upon the success (and functionality) of Ownersite with something that would hold broad appeal to homeowners, and at the same time enable the important information sharing that comes along with Ownersite. I plan to talk more about what Home Ownersite is in the near future, but the official launch is now underway!

Incredible review of Ownersite on Gear Diary

Judie Lipsett just posted her very thorough and informative review of Ownersite on her blog, Gear Diary. I had the opportunity to meet Judie a couple months ago at a Ford media event and I can tell you that she is definitely a car person, something that shows through in the review. Thank you very much for the kind words, Judie!

The new Ownersite product demonstration is live!

I am very excited to announce that the new animated demo of Ownersite is up and running! To view the demo, click here or click on the image below and a new window will open up.

We have been looking to replace the outdated "tour" of the site with something more modern and compelling, and this definitely fits the bill. It should give new visitors to the site a much better idea of the benefits of an Ownersite subscription without having to page through text and screenshots. There was a lot of content to cover in a very limited time, so we had to leave a few things out, but the majority of the important points are there.

Many thanks to the good folks at Autodemo for making the process quick and easy. I think the final product speaks for itself. Enjoy!

Welcome to the first entry in our blog!

It took a while, but Ownersite Technologies has finally decided to enter the world of corporate blogging. I am not exactly sure what took us so long, but maybe the fact that I have been around and making my living from this whole Internet thing for well over 12 years now caused my trepidation. I've seen a lot of changes, mostly along the lines of "what's old is new again" going from Web 1.0 to Web 2.0. The same principals hold true when building a business. You have to have a legitimate business model. That never changed.

What has changed is that blogging is now considered mainstream in corporate America. The Web 2.0 folks have been saying the for a while now. And, hey, GM does it, though I imagine the corporate lawyers are scrutinizing every post, so it has reached the most structured of organizations. So, now we too, have decided to do it.

I plan to use this blog to post thoughts about the industry, announce minor (non press-worthy) changes and enhancements to Ownersite (and other related and exciting applications soon to be announced), as well as muse on topics of interest.

We'd love your feedback, but please keep it professional and productive. Oh, and we ask that you do not use the blog comment form for support issues. Thanks and we hope you enjoy this!