Product Review of Intelius.com

I write a lot of letters. Not emails, mind you, but real honest-to-goodness old-fashioned letters that require an actual stamp. As part of my job, I read the newspapers, making note of local folks who have done something positive or are need of a kind word, and prepare letters for my employer’s signature. It’s very satisfying to know that I’m part of such a worthwhile endeavor.

The most difficult part of this project is finding addresses — especially for women, who very often do not have their names listed in phone directories. With more and more people opting out of the traditional phone with land lines and relying solely on cell phones, the local phone directories are not as helpful as they used to be. It can be very frustrating when I’ve got this great letter in mind, but don’t know where to send it.

So when I was invited to participate in a compensated review from BlogHer and Intelius I jumped at the chance.

Intelius is an online source of phone numbers, addresses, and pretty much anything that is part of a public record. I was provided with a free 24-hour pass to use the People Search feature. With the pass I was able to find 6 out of the 7 addresses I was looking for that day. Two of those were women who were not listed in the phone directory, but because Intelius lists relatives, I was able locate them. The reports you generate are viewable online for 45 days.

The ability to do this online — all in one place — saved me a little time, not to mention the eyestrain I usually get when searching through the phone book. All in all a pretty good deal for me.

Interestingly, Intelius has much more to offer. Background checks, business people searches, sex offender reports, and identity protection services are among the additional features. If you run a small business and need quick and detailed reports of prospective employees, you might find the Employee Screening option to be a valuable resource. Kids interacting with strangers online? You might want to try the Social Net Search.

The best way to get a handle on it is to visit Intelius yourself and take a look around. After you do, come on back and post your own review in the comment section.

As for me, I’ve got some letters to write. Hmmm… I wonder if I should request an Intelius account for the office…

In addition to Intelius’s data search service, the free iSearch.com search engine allows you to quickly and easily uncover information about anyone.  This is a great, targeted search that looks not only at public records, but also through social networking platforms.  Get your search started at http://www.isearch.com.

Visit the BlogHer/Intelius Review Round-up Page