Every once in a while a startup comes along that does a simple task, really well and creates a product that it is hard to find fault in. Today I came across OnMyList, just that kind of product. What I was most impressed about was that I immediately, “got it.”

OnMyList lets you create lists. Whether they are private “To-Do” lists, a roundup of things that you hate or a countdown of your favorite Micheal Bay movies. You can post these lists for all the world to see, browse through them or rate pre-existing lists to drive them up the ladder. Why is this one of the better ideas I have seen recently? Let me explain.

OhMyList

If this entire citizen publishing thing has thought us anything it is that people love lists. For some reason, we just can’t get enough of reading a stranger’s bullet points on some random subject. The problem is that if you want to find a place to put your list about, “The Top Dog Walkers In Boise Idaho,” you would be hard pressed to find a venue. This site provides a perfect platform.

If I had any real problem with OnMyList it would that the color-scheme is a trifle grating. There is only so much one can do with browns and lime greens. As far as the rest of the UI is concerned — it is simple, intuitive and is a pleasure to use compared to some of the AJAXified horror shows that usually come out of Web 2.0.

I think I like this product so much because it isn’t very Web 2.0. There is no AJAX, only a simple five-star voting scheme, and very little of the cruft that usually turns up when a site is unclear about its vision.

Web 2.0 Roundup

From a business standpoint, I do have a few questions about monetization. Right now, it seems like they are mostly working with affiliate advertisers and some Adsense on top of it. This might be the best plan as they try to get eyeballs into the system. What might be useful in the future is for them to considered some kind of sponsored list with some kind of company branding around them.

They allow users to import their lists into Facebook. It would also be nice if they had a widget to embed on websites. The MySpace crowd and many a blogger would love a way to offshore some of their lists. It would also help with the hardest part of making a product like this successful, promotion.

All in all, this site is worth a look. Make a list, read a few and explore the wonderful world of numerically sorted bullet points.

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