“Thursday Market allows me to showcase my business in a more professional and curated manner than platforms like Facebook,” said Faith Cosgrove, an interior designer and owner of The Studio Resource Group.

Thursday Market today announced the national launch of its social referral network for service professionals. Thursday Market gives consumers the opportunity to search for service business referrals from friends and neighbors, and gives those service professionals an opportunity to engage the friends and neighbors of their satisfied customers. The site, which was released in beta last year, currently has over 1.1 million connected users in limited regions and 3,000 registered service professionals.

“When seeking out trusted service providers to do work in your home, who do you turn to first? For most it’s friends and neighbors to get the scoop on who does the best work,” said Eric Doebele, founder and CEO of Thursday Market. “Playing off this understanding, we built a platform where consumers can share their unique insights with those closest to them. Local professionals also get the chance to put their ear to the ground for future business leads.”

Thursday Market and the Local Consumer

According to a study published last year by BrightLocal, 79 percent of consumers today trust online reviews as much as personal recommendations. Thursday Market has taken the unique step in creating a platform where online reviews and personal recommendations are combined, increasing the reach and credibility for local service providers, such as hair salons, landscapers, lawyers, fitness trainers, contractors, wedding photographers and more. And Thursday Market’s consumer users are benefitting from the marriage.

On Thursday Market, consumers can:



Find the right local service provider for their needs and tastes, based on recommendations from people they trust

Browse potential service providers in their area without fear of their data being pulled by service provider websites

Thursday Market and the Local Service Professional

Currently, local retailers and service providers miss over 85 percent of consumer feedback, which leads to huge problems in terms of searching out and engaging potential customers. The Thursday Market platform now gives local service providers and retailers an opportunity to research and engage a satisfied customer’s trusted friends and neighbors.

On Thursday Market, service professionals can:



Engage with satisfied customers in a private forum

Receive word-of-mouth referrals and third-party endorsements from happy customers

Generate market awareness without a marketing budget

“Thursday Market allows me to showcase my business in a more professional and curated manner than platforms like Facebook,” said Faith Cosgrove, an interior designer and owner of The Studio Resource Group. “The other reason I like Thursday Market is that I work with a lot of other service professionals, from stone masons to flooring experts and more, and the site allows me to build a virtual team by encouraging those service pros to join the platform so we can endorse each other and build out our referral networks.”

About Thursday Market

Thursday Market is the only social referral network for service professionals. The site gives consumers the opportunity to search through service business referrals shared by their friends and neighbors, while providing service professionals an opportunity to engage the friends and neighbors of their satisfied customers. Founded in 2013 by entrepreneurs Eric Doebele and Jack Phan, Thursday Market is based in Seattle, Wash. For more information, please visit http://www.thursdaymarket.com.