Today, when someone in a neighborhood needs a plumber, they ask the group chat. A name gets recommended, thanked, and scrolls away; two weeks later nobody can find it. In Mela the community keeps a directory instead, and you can be in it — approved by the community’s admin, labelled as a Community Partner, one of at most five in your category. When a member goes looking, they find you, not a scroll.
In the vendor directory of a specific community — an HOA, a congregation, a school, a club — beside the businesses its members already recommend to each other. Members open that list when they need a plumber, a caterer or a tutor and want one their neighbors trust. Your listing appears only in communities whose admins have approved you.
A directory scoped to one neighborhood or congregation is a short list, read by people who live and gather within a few miles of you and who already ask each other for names. It is not a public marketplace: nobody is bidding against you for attention, the directory carries no other advertising, and a recommendation made there stays there instead of scrolling away.
Seats are limited on purpose. With at most five sponsored listings in a category, a member who opens the directory sees you, not a page of competitors.
A listing runs per community for a year. Applying is free and no payment is taken with the application; the price for each community is confirmed with you in writing before the listing is activated. There is no per-lead fee and no commission — members contact you directly, at no charge to them or to you.
The directory categories today, so members can browse by need:
Free to apply · reviewed by Mela · approved by each community · price confirmed before activation
No. A code from a community admin routes your application to that community. Without one, apply to the Mela Vendor Network and we may connect you with communities in the areas you serve, subject to their approval.
Members see the contact details you list — phone, email, website — and reach you directly. Mela does not sit in between and does not charge for contact.
No. Each community approves its own directory. You appear only where you have been approved.
Yes, at any time. The directory belongs to the community.
A recommendation is added by a resident who used the business and costs nothing. A sponsored listing is bought by the business, labelled as sponsored, and still needs the community’s approval.
No to both. Review and each community’s approval are separate decisions, and a listing makes you findable rather than sending you enquiries. Mela does not publish member counts per community and never shares member contact details with businesses.