Hometalk

Hometalk was founded by Yaron Ben Shaul, Miriam Illions and Celeste Kumelos in 2011. In 2012, the company relaunched the Hometalk website with several new features{{cite news|title=Hometalk Completely Relaunches Its Site|url=http://www.businessinsider.com/hometalk-completely-relaunches-its-site-and-now-has-100000-users-talking-about-their-homes-2012-6|access-date=17 February 2014|newspaper=Business Insider|date=June 2012}} resulting in the acquisition of more than 100,000 members and 400,000 Facebook fans.{{cite web|title=Ask Your DIY, Renovation and Gardening Questions on Hometalk|url=http://mashable.com/2012/06/20/hometalk/|publisher=Mashable|access-date=17 February 2014}}

Hometalk was listed among The Next Web's “ten of the best apps for home and work from 2012",{{cite web|title=10 of the Best Apps for Home and Work 2012|url=https://thenextweb.com/apps/2012/12/21/10-home-and-work-apps-2012/#!vBAFu|publisher=TheNextWeb|access-date=17 February 2014}} and by the end of 2013, site visits increased from 2 million to over 4 million. In February, 2014, Hometalk members co-hosted live Pinterest parties at 100 Michael's stores throughout the United States,{{Cite news|url = http://www.retailcustomerexperience.com/news/michaels-stores-hosting-live-pinterest-parties/|title = Retail Customer Experience}} and then, two months later, Hometalk was listed as a Webby Award Honoree in the 18th annual Webby Awards.{{cite web|title=Webby Awards Honorees for Web/Community|url=http://www.doityourself.com/stry/the-nuts-and-bolts-got-a-green-thumb-take-the-garden-quiz-and-prove-it#b|access-date=2 July 2014}}

In 2016, Hometalk was voted #1 in The Next Web's list of "60 of the fastest growing companies in tech".{{Cite web|url=https://thenextweb.com/scale/vote|title=CELEBRATING THE FASTEST-GROWING COMPANIES IN TECH}}

Also in 2016, Hometalk made its first big push into Facebook video.{{Cite web|url=http://www.businessinsider.com/youtube-faces-challenges-as-media-companies-turn-to-facebook-2016-7|title=YouTube faces challenges as media companies turn to Facebook|website=Business Insider|access-date=2016-07-28}} The Wall Street Journal then featured the company's surge in video virality, citing its [https://www.facebook.com/Hometalk/videos/vb.201765839840980/1442241432460075/?type=2&theater eco-friendly oven-cleaning video] that garnered 38 million views in under three weeks.{{Cite news|url=https://www.wsj.com/articles/some-media-companies-cool-on-youtube-distribution-1469095200|title=Some Media Companies Cool on YouTube Distribution|last=Shields|first=Mike|date=2016-07-21|newspaper=The Wall Street Journal|issn=0099-9660|access-date=2016-07-28}} In October, [http://www.facebook.com/Hometalk/videos/1568299619854255/ another video] surpassed 55 million views, and The Next Web cited a reason for the video's virality: "Perhaps the video embodies the very ethos of Hometalk: People empower and teach each other to make their homes better (without spending more money!)."{{Cite news|url=https://thenextweb.com/insider/2016/11/11/hometalk-started-diy-revolution/|title=Hometalk has started a DIY revolution|last=Graft|first=Brian de|date=2016-11-11|newspaper=The Next Web|language=en-US|access-date=2016-11-11}} Hometalk partnered with a talented group of video creators who have successfully driven well over a billion Facebook video views to over a thousand videos. (Hometalk's [https://www.facebook.com/Hometalk/videos/vl.1752658171641462/1600223349995215 most popular video] has 112 million views.){{Cite news|url=https://www.forbes.com/sites/omribarzilay/2017/08/15/with-66m-monthly-visits-hometalk-is-on-its-way-to-become-the-next-houzz/2/#713232b14239|title=With 66M Monthly Visits, HomeTalk Is On Its Way To Become The Next Houzz|last=Barzilay|first=Omri|work=Forbes|access-date=2017-08-16|language=en}}

Hometalk has been monetizing its platform through programmatic advertising. But as for its future, Hometalk's then-CEO Ben Shaul explained: “Our mission is to become the end-to-end DIY destination, whereby we not only inspire people with awesome content, but we also empower them to do the projects themselves. This includes the ability to teach Hometalkers more DIY skills, to get them the relevant materials, and to connect them with each other to DIY together. Each of these initiatives has strong business components, too, which would enable us to diversify from our current revenue source - programmatic ads.”{{Cite news|url=https://www.forbes.com/sites/omribarzilay/2017/08/15/with-66m-monthly-visits-hometalk-is-on-its-way-to-become-the-next-houzz/2/#713232b14239|title=With 66M Monthly Visits, HomeTalk Is On Its Way To Become The Next Houzz|last=Barzilay|first=Omri|work=Forbes|access-date=2017-08-16|language=en}}

Hometalk's attracts a targeted userbase of home and garden consumers: 95% are female, 94% are over the age of 35, and 85% reside in the USA.{{Cite web|url = http://cdn.hometalk.com/resources/design/help/hometalk_media_deck.072015.pdf|title = Hometalk Media Deck}} Hometalk has built a social network for DIYers. Unlike instructional videos on YouTube or the one-way communication on many how-to sites, Hometalk is a community where members can ask questions about projects and get responses within minutes.{{Cite web|title = Hometalk Offers Social Network for DIYers|url = https://tech.co/209434-2016-02|website = tech.co|access-date = 2016-02-23|language = en-US}}

Hometalk is often featured across various media outlets, such as Huffington Post,{{Cite news|url = http://www.huffingtonpost.com/hometalk/|title = The Huffington Post - Hometalk}} Country Living,{{Cite news|url = http://www.countryliving.com/diy-crafts/g2887/hometalk-blogger-christmas-crafts/|title = 19 Blogger Crafts That Will Perfectly Complete Your Christmas Decor|access-date = 2015-12-23|via = Country Living}} Fox & Friends,{{Cite news|url = http://video.foxnews.com/v/4266239472001/how-to-make-your-garden-grow/#sp=show-clips|title = How to make your garden grow|access-date = 2015-12-23|via = Fox & Friends}} NBC,{{Cite news|url = http://www.nbcnewyork.com/video/#!/on-air/as-seen-on/Egg-Decorating-by-Shawn-Rabideau/298243191|title = Egg Decorating by Shawn Rabideau|access-date = 2015-12-23|via = NBC New York|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20150402032823/http://www.nbcnewyork.com/video/#!/on-air/as-seen-on/Egg-Decorating-by-Shawn-Rabideau/298243191|archive-date = 2015-04-02|url-status = dead}} and The Today Show.{{Cite news|url = http://www.today.com/home/decorate-your-super-bowl-party-6-diy-projects-2D80464679|title = Decorate your Super Bowl party with 6 DIY projects|date = 2015-01-31|access-date = 2015-12-23|via = The Today Show}}

{{Reflist|2}}

• {{Official website|https://www.hometalk.com/}}

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