These days, it seems there’s an online social community for
every niche – from pet owners, to married people looking for flings, to gadget
freaks. But few of these startups take advantage of what I call the “invitation-only
effect,” a marketing technique that ignites demand and causes members to value
their membership even more. I can recall my friends begging me to send them a
Gmail account invitation and dozens of online salespeople bribing me for an
invitation to the elite iMedia
Summits attended by the nation’s biggest ad buyers.
Erik Wachtmeister, founder of aSmallWorld.net, believes this technique
is one of his company’s key strengths. His fast-growing online network,
currently with almost 300,000 members, aggregates affluent world travelers who enjoy
sharing suggestions about shopping, restaurants, local sights, nightlife and
more.
Wachtmeister has been smart to add additional services so
that the site isn’t limited to just profiles and forums. Members can now buy
and sell items (need a vintage Bentley?), find rental property, view 65
detailed “city guides” and read through the ASW emagazine that covers
film, automotive, fashion and events.
From what I’ve experienced over the past year, the network
appears to be a fairly trustworthy circle of intelligent professionals and
friends of friends, but unless I’ve been planning a trip abroad, I haven’t
found the need or desire to frequently log on. Curious about the future of this
elite society, I reached out to Wachtmeister to learn how the business is doing
and what’s up his sleeve.
Weeks: You started aSmallWorld by inviting a small set of
affluent and global trendsetters to join, and then allowed some of those to
invite their like-minded friends. Did you do any marketing or did the interest
mostly grow through word-of-mouth? How many members does the community
currently have and will you ever cap the membership level in order to maintain
its prestige?
Wachtmeister: The interest in ASW has grown through word of
mouth and through the press. We have never actively sought out membership nor
have we ever placed any advertising. The community has grown 100% organically.
The community currently has 285,000 active users. We evaluate growth daily and
are vigilant about how and when the community grows. I don’t think we would ever
grow larger than one million people.
Weeks: Publishers and social communities have been
disappointed by advertisers’ scaling back their interactive media budgets due
to the slowing economy. Are you seeing lower ad rates or a decreasing fill
rate?
Wachtmeister: Not at all. We have had a very successful year
in terms of advertising revenue. We have an incredibly desirable audience and
now more than ever advertisers are looking for integrated ways to connect with
this group.
Weeks: Do you have any other approaches, outside of
advertising, for bringing in revenue?
Wachtmeister: We have certain revenue-share deals and are
always looking for interesting brand partnerships. Of course, these
partnerships must deliver significant value to our community. For example, we
have a successful revenue sharing deal with the Kiwi Collection. On the site we
have a feature called ASW Hotel Finder, which is powered by Kiwi. Through
booking a reservation through this booking agent, members can receive special
perks that are unique to ASW members only such as lower prices, the opportunity
to upgrade, late check-out, a bottle of champagne upon arrival, etc.
Two brand partnerships that have worked particularly well for ASW members are
Mercedes and Net-A-Porter. These brand partnerships add to our members’
experience on the site. As examples, Mercedes offered our members tickets to
exclusive events like Nelson Mandela’s concert in Hyde Park London, the Formula
1 in Monaco, and the
opportunity to race a Mercedes SLR at Le Castellet in France, and
Net-A-Porter has edited special collections for ASW members as well as offered
free shipping and personal shopping.
Weeks: What is your ultimate financial goal for aSmallWorld?
When do you expect to get there?
Wachtmeister: The ultimate financial goal is to create as
much value as possible for our members, partners and shareholders. We have an extraordinary position as the
leading global online community. We are building a very exciting business!
Weeks: Does ASW incorporate online dating tools or
applications?
Wachtmeister: The whole purpose of ASW is for people to meet
on and offline in an intimate and trusted environment. Our members meet for
networking for both business and social purposes. We have never overtly
promoted any form of dating, but we realize anecdotally that people meet on the
site all the time. Many of our members have met and gotten married. The
intimate environment on ASW creates an ideal setting for people to meet, as
everyone is already connected by a few degrees – similar to how people
invariably meet their future partners at weddings and benefits without there
being any separate singles sections.
Weeks: Have you considered opening up your platform to
developers?
Yes we have thought about this – we’re open to
it but are unlikely to create an open API that any developer could drop widgets
onto. We would first want to vet applications to make sure that they are appropriate
for our community. In theory, the process could become more scalable based on a
curated vetting system by members of our community.
(Image source: Cache.daylife.com)
