Online health community, Trusera has announced it will be closing its doors.
Launched in June of 2008, the health network was home to a unique userbase of people, “who have been there.” If a user was diagnosed with a disability, Trusera offered a place where they could find information from other users suffering from that same disability. Users could create profiles and share their health experiences through stories, photos and videos. The site took this information and notified users automatically via email when there was new matches based on their medical conditions.
Unfortunately, the site never grew enough to reach profitability. Trusera attracted tens of thousands of users per month giving free access to ad and sponsor supported content. The company had planned on making profits through customers seeking less expensive Online solutions for their health problems. In a Seatle Times article from January of 2009, CEO Keith Schorsch said the recession was actually helping Trusera, “A lot of people are going through health experiences that are shared by others…the economic downturn has provided a real opportunity for us to get more customers."
Turned out not to be the case as Trusera’s $2 million in angel funding finally dried up. In its official blog, the company explained, “These difficult economic times make it difficult to sustain even strong communities like ours.”
Trusera will be securing all the information on the site and closing to the public on May 27th. Schorsch hopes to reintroduce Trusera at a later date when he can find some funding. It’s listed some steps for users to take before closure:
* Copy or export your stories and journal entries. We know your stories and journals are valuable. Remember to take the time to export or copy your content so that you can retain it. We have created a feature to make it easy to do so. Click here to learn more.
* Reach out to your Friends on Trusera. If you would like to keep in touch with friends on Trusera, be sure to message them to see if they would like to stay in touch through other online communities, social networking sites, or email. If you have a personal blog, share that address with friends on Trusera.
Keith Schorsch should team up with Virtual Organization Management Institute in order to offer its members knowledge on "how to virtual organize their social network" for their individual and collective benefit.
The cost to Trusera is ZERO and the direct economic benefit is huge.
At the very least, it should give its members that option in order to prevent the shutdown of this valuable service. Trusera has absolutely nothing to lose!
We have been trumpeting this option for not only social networks who are on their last gasp but also those who are relatively well-funded by investors. After all, just because you have funding from investors shouldn't automatically exclude other revenue generating options.
The bottom line is this: no option should be left off the table.
In fact, I just published a very timely article on Vator yesterday titled "Social Network Monetization Strategy: What's Missing?"
As well, I have published other articles or papers, and am conducting seminars, on that very subject titled "Content Monetization Strategy for Social Networks" and "How to Virtual Organize Your Social Network" at http://www.virtualorganization.net