fondalo launches user side beta

Late Monday afternoon, fondalo opened it's system to users. Reminds me of the famous movie quote... "if you build it they will come." Well, they came, they are using and are inviting others. Does that happen anymore with start-ups? Apparently it does when you build something the market has been unknowingly dying for.

There were some incredible comments and quotes over the first 24 hours. Lots of, I don't get its and several ah ha moments. I am going to share a few tid bits that were gleaned. A new term has emerged that is already being used in and out of the site. fondaloing... I guess it is a verb? Never the less we loved it! Still another comment we saw within the system as one user explained fondalo to a friend they invited. "Imagine that you have 100 friends and they have 100 friends and they have 100 friends. Within a few degree's of separation there are thousands and then millions of us. Now imagine the buying power of that group. That is fondalo!!!."

Could we have said it any better ourselves?

Still another person called me this morning and asked, "Are you telling me you built a facebook type network that lets people buy things cheaper?" Before I could answer, she continued, "OMG, this is incredible. I am going to finish signing up and invite all my friends."

We think people are getting it.

Here is what has been taken away from our first few days. First, the concept is sound. Consumers understand social networking and have a need to find a way to use it that benefits them beyond just posting where they are and what they are doing. Secondly, though a totally new concept of socially building buying power though an online user controlled environment, the economic drive is there. Consumers see a huge value in pooling communities, networks and connections to save money, get more for less and forge new relationships with retailers, brands and products.

What's next for fondalo? We have a mission to build the user base to critical mass levels, educate and facilitate effective use of the system and build sizeable groups of people around products, services and brands they are interested in. Finally, we will help fondalo users to leverage that mass to get great offers from local, regional and national companies.

happy, ummm fondaloing!

Social Networking and the Economy - Did they converge?

While doing research this last week in preparation for the beta user-side launch of fondalo on Monday, April 17th, I started thinking about the economy. To be more accurate, I was considering how economic down-turns and more specifically significant recessions effect consumer behaviors. We all know how bad things are. Just turn on the television or radio in the car and you will hear all about the sky falling on us.

Typically, negative economic times have tended to foster a back to basics mentality within the population. Friends, family and watching expenses start again playing a larger roll in the average persons life. Priorities begin to take on new meaning as a more simplified and cost effective way of life takes precedence over keeping up with the Jones'.

As I began to ponder this and thinking back to past economic times and how the above rang true for me personally growing up, I also compared it with my current situation. New 6 week old child, start-up getting ready to launch our beta system tomorrow. Things are really coming into perspective.

As my attention migrated back to my research I decided to check some of the most recent numbers related to social networking sites and how they coincided with the economic news we are all being bombarded with.

As this recent compete.com diagram of Facebook, MySpace and Twitter sessions per month seems to indicate, users are spending more time getting socially connected, and the trend seemingly increases as the conditions worsened.

Knowing that MySpace has a younger demographic then the other two, might be a reason for the less obvious upward curve, however clearly there seems to be a trend coinciding with the latest economic crisis. Whether this trend continues as the conditions continue to deteriorate or if more data showing possible connections to a higher percentage of people being out of work remains to be seen.

The point is, people do seem to be getting back to basics similarly to the great depression, where a high point of family and friend connections were very strong. Albeit, there was no internet back then, but the basic premise of family staying together, spending more time, socially integrating, certainly held true.

Using the information we just uncovered and processing it forward to other areas, we can potentially make some additional discoveries. I can't remember the last time I watched the news and did not see a story of a family that is having to change their buying habits, cut costs or go without. We all either know of or are experiencing these same scenarios being played out all around us. What does it mean and how will it effect social networking further?

Back to basics for consumers and businesses alike in this economy is making smart financial decisions. Buying things you need or want that have value and exceptional prices. In general, getting more for your money. That's where fondalo comes in.

fondalo combines the need for buying power that we all need right now with the ability to socially connect in the process. One of the foundations of fondalo is human nature. People hang around people like them. People relate to people like them. I know this is not an absolute statement, but you will find more similarities with your friends and family then you will with a perfect stranger on the street.

Therefore, leveraging your social networking with a collaborative environment controlled by users pulls together the two biggest news items of the day. The rise of social networking and the rapidly declining economy.

What's next for social networks, where's the benefit?

Facebook, Twitter and the countless hundreds of other social networking sites that have popped up in their wake have transformed the internet. There is no debating this fact. But have you stopped posting, re-tweeting and commenting long enough to ask where is the benefit?

Now don’t get me wrong, business, guru’s and even the Hollywood crowd has bought in and are seeing results derived from social networks. Facebook recently announced their 200 millionth user. Twitter’s popularity is growing at a massive pace, potentially beyond useful, at least in the short term.

I read another article the other day talking about the social networking craze and how critical mass and dominance of different networks all competing for the cherished user reduce the benefits of social networking to users; you know, the persons and individuals that made Facebook the enterprise it has become.

So I ask what is next for social networks? Where is the benefit? We thought it was time that someone spent some time analyzing these questions. We asked ourselves, what does social networking really do well? What’s inherent to social networks that’s currently being overlooked, and how could it be leveraged to benefit users?

What was most interesting to me as we delved deeply into these questions is how obvious some of the answers were. Once the light came down from above, I was even more amazed at the fact nobody, not even the biggest boys online, had addressed it.

What is inherent to social networks is an incredibly effective tool for building large groups of like-minded and connected people. I know, I know. You are sitting there reading this saying Duh, right? Stay with me for a moment…

Now ask yourself, what should a tool that can achieve massive groups so efficiently be doing next that would bring a previously unknown benefit to users? The answer is buying power. It's so obvious.

We asked ourselves what would happen if social networking could be leveraged by creating a hybrid of collaborative and social systems? The answer was buying power that could be used to deliver products and services to users with a pricing advantage given to purchasing agents at the largest retailers.

Still need an example? You need to buy a new laptop computer. You gather 400 other people that want the same or similar item and go to the manufacturer or retailer and tell them to make the group an offer. Do you think the company is going to be able to get the group to buy their product at the same price they are advertising on their site for a single purchase? Think again!

What about the companies? If they did not have to spend excessive advertising and marketing costs and guessing on demographic and geographic targeted of consumers and could just go right to the people wanting their product, isn’t that worth something? You better believe it is. A lot!

The idea? Revolutionary! The task of designing and developing systems that would be able to do this? Daunting!

What you will see over the next several years is social networking migrating from building thousands of “friends” comprised of your elementary school mates, and guru marketers clogging up your network feeds into something that delivers benefits that positively impact your life financially.

Intrigued? Check out fondalo and see how this revolution of bringing power to the people is changing everything!