Josiah Mackenzie

Q: What is Walamu? How does it work?

A: Walamu.com is the fastest and cheapest way for college students to get things done. It’s basically Craigslist meets college. We are all about simplifying the college experience for students whether that means allowing them to buy or sell something on campus, find out where their sociology class’ study group is being held, or find a ride back home. Users can sign up if they have a college .edu e-mail address and post in either the marketplace or the classifieds. The marketplace allows users to sell items they no longer need and the classifieds is for announcements such as study group sessions, parties, available jobs, roommate requests, and more. Now students can come to one place instead of rushing to the bookstore or flipping through the newspaper and this saves students a lot of time and hassle. One thing is for sure- no matter how big get we will always be about simplifying the college experience.

What gave you the inspiration to launch the site?

I noticed that college students around me were spending a whole lot of time trying to do mediocre everyday things, when they could be have been doing college stuff. I saw kids waiting for their textbooks to arrive from Half.com two or even three weeks into the semester (myself included). These students could have gotten the same books from students on their campus in a matter of days. I also noticed students spending way too much time because they had to rely on their friends to find possible roommates and students having to go through multiple sources to find out where study groups were being held. Let’s face it- with 200+ new faces in the class it can be a bit intimidating finding the right people to study with. Walamu simplifies all this by creating a portal for each college where students can go to minimize the time needed to get through these mediocre tasks and allows them to actually live the college experience instead of just worrying about it.

How did you develop the site?

I had to hire a web developing company. I’m still learning how to do all that .

In terms of the site itself, I wanted it to be as simple as possible for users to use and minimize the number of pages users would need to click through to find the information they need.

Looking back at the development process, is there anything you would have done differently?

Definitely. Something to remember is that when you’re hiring a contractor to do develop your product is that you have to act in a way to create some sort of self-acting motivation for your developer to complete the project with the extensiveness, accuracy, and promptness you would like. You have to keep in mind that if your contractors aren’t working like you’d like them to, it’s probably your fault and not their’s.

What is the best thing you did during your “pre-launch” time?

The best thing I did prior to launch was getting some hype going, both locally and on the web. I realized it was important to get out there, even if my product wasn’t ready, and let people get an idea of what Walamu can do for them. I also put a well-planned marketing strategy for the new school year so as to be ready for when we launch and beyond.

How do you plan on spreading the word about your service to students?

Our core marketing strategies is one that consists of total guerrilla marketing tactics including word-of-mouth, PR, outrageous flyers, and some sort of viral campaign (still working on that one). However, since Walamu intends to grow organically from where it is located right now, word-of-mouth, Facebook, and some crazy flyers will likely be key marketing tools. Being at college means tons of opportunities to network and naturally people want to know what you’re up to so I could always put in a little plug about Walamu . Of course that is not going to bring us the kind of growth we are aiming for, but it’s never a bad idea to let people know what you’ve been working on. As we improve our product and cater it to the feedback of our local audience, we will certainly rely on marketing tactics that carry much more weight.

To see Walamu in action, click over to Walamu.com