Come to think of it, the main reason I joined was the people who invited me. I don't know what, if anything, Plaxo did to attract high quality people but they did and that gave them credibility.
Secondary, yet important factors in which Plaxo certainly played an active role:
- Incredibly easy to use and intuitive
- They do the work for you (a list of nine people “I may know” was on their home page, and I knew 4 of them)
- The feel is different, faster pace and more fun but without reducing their credibility
So what?
- Invest in good viral marketing especially if you have many competitors: The value of recommendation increases as service offering gets commoditized
- Many startups invest most of their funds in technology,… don’t!: Of course, you need outstanding technology in order to even “play” but it is not enough to succeed and make the difference
- Service is key but comes far behind recommendation: The country manager of Viadeo Spain actually spent time on the phone with me and provided as good a service as one can, yet, while I intended to, I never developed my Viadeo network
If any of you knows where to find good insight on how to manage “word of mouth”, “recommendation” or “viral marketing” let me know…
