Back when the MyFrontSteps Facebook app was known as “Homebook”, we spent a whole week trying to convince all our friends to sign up and start using it.
In a promotional campaign we dubbed “Project Virus”, every day we’d spend some time using the app, tweeting about the app, linking to the app from our Facebook status updates, telephoning long-lost friends to encourage them to install the app, and so on. Then at the end of each day we’d look expectantly at our site statistics for signs of growth. The numbers crept steadily upward for a while, then reached a plateau. Then the week ended.
That was months ago. Since then we’ve made so many changes to the app – starting with the name – that it might as well be an entirely different product.
We’ve switched to Plan B, you see. Plan A was based on the idea that we had to use a sort of misdirection to get people to use our software. What I mean is, we thought that if we gave folks a forum to natter about their houses and upload photos of their home improvement projects, they would flock to MyFrontSteps, and later on we would add in all the stuff about finding and sharing trusted local experts.
But the nattering and photo-uploading features were only circumstantially related to what MyFrontSteps is really all about. And, well, umm, people didn’t use them. Hence, Plan B.
Plan B is to put the benefits of MyFrontSteps right up front. So what are the benefits?
- You can search a directory of local experts – professionals in every service category you can think of, from acupuncturists to zookeepers – and see which ones your friends trust.
- You can help your friends by trusting local experts.
- You can ask questions and get them answered by friends and experts.
- Lastly – and this is the big one – if you recommend an expert and your friend does business with that person, you and your friend could share a reward. I’m talking about actual money.
We’re just getting started, so a lot of the experts haven’t set their rewards yet. So far most of the action on the site revolves around asking and answering questions. That’s cool, though. As people build up their trust networks and figure out how the rewards work, those features will start taking off.
In the meantime – have you got a question? Wondering how to fix a gasket, or how to mount a widget, or where to buy a doodad? Need to hire someone to haul away your trash or buff your bow-tie? Wouldn’t you like to put your question in front of all your friends and a bunch of local experts?
Maybe it’s time to take another look at MyFrontSteps.
0 Responses to “Time to take another look?”