SuperFan is the name of the social media site SuperFan.com. It's a very interactive site that allows users (called Fans) to register their favourites (faves) from a variety of sectors like celebrities, schools, movies, gadgets etc. Users can become fans or even superfans of the already registered items, organisations, groups or personalities. Joining is very easy as one can use the Facebook profile and an own profile in SuperFan is created within a minute or two.
Everything is based on a points and credits system. Fans have to spend credits to become fans or superfans. On the other side they can earn points when their faves are picked up by others. It is also possible to set up battles between faves and let the other users vote on who's better or worse. An interesting feature is writing or taking quizzes on the faves. Finally, as here, one can write blogs on the faves or any other subject. Status updates can be sent also to Facebook and Twitter.
Sounds very interesting, doesn't it? You learn more about other fans or friends likes and dislikes and you can see the ranking of your faves based on the battles. In quizzes you test what you know about your faves and learn more about them through the feedback on correct or wrong answers. This should be something everyone is interested in.
SuperFan grew it's user base very quickly over the last few months. From virtually zero in 01/2009 to over 51k unique monthly visitors in 09/2009 measuerd by compete.com. It more than doubled the unique visitors over the last month. As in all social media sites everything depends on how enthusiastic the users will be in spreading word of mouth to their friends and contacts and to invite them into SuperFan. Therefore the next few months will be decisive about whether the site makes it to the big names league. Will SuperFan be able to cross the chasm (I explained in another blog)? And what will the business model look like? Will it be based on ads or on user paid premium content? Tune in. And stay tuned.
Thursday, October 15, 2009
Monday, October 12, 2009
Silicon Valley everywhere?
Why are almost all of the great websites and internet applications created in the Silicon Valley? Think of Google, Amazon, PayPal, Digg, eBay, Facebook etc.
Is it the proximity of the universities, Stanford and Berkeley? The venture capital powerhouses residing there? The inspiring environment? The multiple founder phenomenon (founders starting their 2nd or 3rd website)?
Probably it's a combimnation of all these. Certainly the universities have contributed a lot by fostering an entrepreneurial and creative climate. And the money was there to make the entrepreneurs think big. As well as the trial and error approach to founding companies. Many successful websites are the consequence of ideas taken from others that were not so successful or even went bust. Serial founders like Marc Andreessen, Max Levchin, Kevin Rose contributed a lot by being the living examples of entrepreneurs making dozens or hundreds of millions out of multiple companies founded by them. Very attractive and inspiring for other young talent to join their firms, found their own, having the ambition to make it there, too.
Will this climate also emerge elsewhere on the planet? Will the next big thing come from the Valley again? Or from Russia, India, China, Bresil, South Africa? Anyone could do it, anywhere. Web 2.0 makes it easy. Little investment is needed. So, let's see what comes next. Hot spots are the Web 2.0, the iPhone, the social networks, ...
Is it the proximity of the universities, Stanford and Berkeley? The venture capital powerhouses residing there? The inspiring environment? The multiple founder phenomenon (founders starting their 2nd or 3rd website)?
Probably it's a combimnation of all these. Certainly the universities have contributed a lot by fostering an entrepreneurial and creative climate. And the money was there to make the entrepreneurs think big. As well as the trial and error approach to founding companies. Many successful websites are the consequence of ideas taken from others that were not so successful or even went bust. Serial founders like Marc Andreessen, Max Levchin, Kevin Rose contributed a lot by being the living examples of entrepreneurs making dozens or hundreds of millions out of multiple companies founded by them. Very attractive and inspiring for other young talent to join their firms, found their own, having the ambition to make it there, too.
Will this climate also emerge elsewhere on the planet? Will the next big thing come from the Valley again? Or from Russia, India, China, Bresil, South Africa? Anyone could do it, anywhere. Web 2.0 makes it easy. Little investment is needed. So, let's see what comes next. Hot spots are the Web 2.0, the iPhone, the social networks, ...
Friday, July 31, 2009
Response to 'Time for a Twitter Reality Check'
In response to a question around 'Time for a Twitter Reality Check' asked in LinkedIn I wrote the following (you may want to have a look at the original article first):
I look at Twitter as a startup with huge potential, like Google or Facebook were a few years ago. Personally I use Twitter as a marketing channel to bring people to my website and blog. Some make direct money of this by generating enough traffic to their blogs to be attractive for AdSense to place ads. Others are looking for jobs and find offerings, or they can attract recruiters to their CV / LinkedIn / Xing / Viadeo / Hi5 webpage. Still others get user feedback and support requests (like Dell). Or they distribute coupons, 'secret passwords', promotions like Starbucks and generate massive physical traffic to their outlets. Some use it to attract people to their Craigslist ad extending reach. CNN and many other media bring traffic to their websites and news channels. The British and Swiss Government use it to distribute information about events, politics and legislation. Churches distribute bible verses. etc. etc. So there are many faces and uses of Twitter.
You can't really say that users are only interesting if they're active. It is the normal business model for broadcasters to have passive users and still they make money out of the business model (news or entertainment against suffering commercials). Similar for 'gurus' and celebrities who give some little stuff or nice words to their fans. The user activity lies in consuming the information, just like reading a newspaper. Listening to the global chat. And sometimes this becomes very active like during the Iran elections, where even the White House asked Twitter not to interrupt the service, as it gave voice to the Iranian opposition (and channels to CIA and NSA, probably).
Is no one 'using' (what do you mean by 'using') it? Have a look at Alexa stats: yesterday 3.45% of Internet visitors (most from US) used Twitter (Google: 34.35%; MSN: 11.69% sinking; Facebook: 21.93%; AOL: 2.34%). With this Twitter is on rank 15 of the top sites accoring to Alexa. Not bad. No one??
'Using' for evil? NO. Most 'users' are listeners, spectators, consumers. Personally I've found huge value and insights from using Twitter. I found stuff and made connections with interesting people I didn't know about 5 months ago, and I'm a rather senior guy.
Numbers lie? You trust Nielsen? Have a look here http://en-us.nielsen.com/main/news/news_releases/2009/june/time_on_facebook . 3712 pc year on year growth in the top 10 social networking and blog sites list.
And just thin of the combination potential if Twitter did join forces with Amazon, Goole, CNN, Facebook or whatever. Does Twitter as a company have a value? Yes? Well, the founders already founded Blogger and sold it to Google. Why would anyone want to buy it? Think.
Ok, nuf 4 now. Sure, I do agree with some of what you say, BUT, I'd advise not to underestimate the power of Twitter. I think it will become or already is a major force on the web. And the potential is by far not exploited. Creative firms and users have found and will find ways to build new businesses, marketing approaches, distribution models based on Twitter.
What do you think?
I look at Twitter as a startup with huge potential, like Google or Facebook were a few years ago. Personally I use Twitter as a marketing channel to bring people to my website and blog. Some make direct money of this by generating enough traffic to their blogs to be attractive for AdSense to place ads. Others are looking for jobs and find offerings, or they can attract recruiters to their CV / LinkedIn / Xing / Viadeo / Hi5 webpage. Still others get user feedback and support requests (like Dell). Or they distribute coupons, 'secret passwords', promotions like Starbucks and generate massive physical traffic to their outlets. Some use it to attract people to their Craigslist ad extending reach. CNN and many other media bring traffic to their websites and news channels. The British and Swiss Government use it to distribute information about events, politics and legislation. Churches distribute bible verses. etc. etc. So there are many faces and uses of Twitter.
You can't really say that users are only interesting if they're active. It is the normal business model for broadcasters to have passive users and still they make money out of the business model (news or entertainment against suffering commercials). Similar for 'gurus' and celebrities who give some little stuff or nice words to their fans. The user activity lies in consuming the information, just like reading a newspaper. Listening to the global chat. And sometimes this becomes very active like during the Iran elections, where even the White House asked Twitter not to interrupt the service, as it gave voice to the Iranian opposition (and channels to CIA and NSA, probably).
Is no one 'using' (what do you mean by 'using') it? Have a look at Alexa stats: yesterday 3.45% of Internet visitors (most from US) used Twitter (Google: 34.35%; MSN: 11.69% sinking; Facebook: 21.93%; AOL: 2.34%). With this Twitter is on rank 15 of the top sites accoring to Alexa. Not bad. No one??
'Using' for evil? NO. Most 'users' are listeners, spectators, consumers. Personally I've found huge value and insights from using Twitter. I found stuff and made connections with interesting people I didn't know about 5 months ago, and I'm a rather senior guy.
Numbers lie? You trust Nielsen? Have a look here http://en-us.nielsen.com/main/news/news_releases/2009/june/time_on_facebook . 3712 pc year on year growth in the top 10 social networking and blog sites list.
And just thin of the combination potential if Twitter did join forces with Amazon, Goole, CNN, Facebook or whatever. Does Twitter as a company have a value? Yes? Well, the founders already founded Blogger and sold it to Google. Why would anyone want to buy it? Think.
Ok, nuf 4 now. Sure, I do agree with some of what you say, BUT, I'd advise not to underestimate the power of Twitter. I think it will become or already is a major force on the web. And the potential is by far not exploited. Creative firms and users have found and will find ways to build new businesses, marketing approaches, distribution models based on Twitter.
What do you think?
Monday, July 20, 2009
We choose THE MOON
'We choose THE MOON'. I heard these words from John F. Kennedy over 40 years ago. And it was unbelievable. Except, that it was the President of the United States saying this. And we'd better believe him. He set the agenda, and, as we all know, on this very day forty years ago 'the Eagle has landed' on the moon.
It is one of the dates in my life I can remember exactly. I was actually meant to be on a small airfield near La Chaux-de-Fonds attending flight school. But, due to some strange reasons, all of my three colleagues had decided to leave the course and therefore it was stopped. I would go back to another course in August only for the rest of the flight training leading to the private pilot's licence.
Thus I was at home in my summer college vacation with plenty of time. This allowed me to follow the full TV coverage of the Apollo 11 mission's approach to the lunar orbit and the moon landing, which can now be followed again on the web. There were a lot of explanations by our Swiss commentator Bruno Stanek. Everything was very thrilling as in the ex-ante situation it was not for sure, that things would work out so well. The characteristic noises of the communication between Houston and the astronauts were the messengers of superiority of American technology, of the American 'can do' mentality, of the ingenious achievement of this huge project team.
Finally, the Apollo 11 crew succeeded, Buzz Aldrin landed the Eagle, and the names of the astronauts Neil Armstrong, Buzz Aldrin and Michael Collins would become unforgettable for my generation and immortal for the memory of mankind. We admired their courage, their perseverance, their will to go to the limits. Many young guys like me were fascinated by the technology and we re-planned our career objectives. I choose to become an engineer and an airforce pilot.
In the middle of the night CET the whole family got up to watch the first steps of a man on the moon. And Neil Armstrong's words while stepping down from the lunar module as the first human being on the surface of the moon were imprinted into our minds forever: 'One small step for man, one giant leap for mankind'. Today and tomorrow we commemorate this awesome event with its effects far beyond technology. Still fascinating to look at the pictures again and a lot of memories, like this little story of a kid saving the mission, about a very exciting and remarkable day of our life.
It is one of the dates in my life I can remember exactly. I was actually meant to be on a small airfield near La Chaux-de-Fonds attending flight school. But, due to some strange reasons, all of my three colleagues had decided to leave the course and therefore it was stopped. I would go back to another course in August only for the rest of the flight training leading to the private pilot's licence.
Thus I was at home in my summer college vacation with plenty of time. This allowed me to follow the full TV coverage of the Apollo 11 mission's approach to the lunar orbit and the moon landing, which can now be followed again on the web. There were a lot of explanations by our Swiss commentator Bruno Stanek. Everything was very thrilling as in the ex-ante situation it was not for sure, that things would work out so well. The characteristic noises of the communication between Houston and the astronauts were the messengers of superiority of American technology, of the American 'can do' mentality, of the ingenious achievement of this huge project team.
Finally, the Apollo 11 crew succeeded, Buzz Aldrin landed the Eagle, and the names of the astronauts Neil Armstrong, Buzz Aldrin and Michael Collins would become unforgettable for my generation and immortal for the memory of mankind. We admired their courage, their perseverance, their will to go to the limits. Many young guys like me were fascinated by the technology and we re-planned our career objectives. I choose to become an engineer and an airforce pilot.
In the middle of the night CET the whole family got up to watch the first steps of a man on the moon. And Neil Armstrong's words while stepping down from the lunar module as the first human being on the surface of the moon were imprinted into our minds forever: 'One small step for man, one giant leap for mankind'. Today and tomorrow we commemorate this awesome event with its effects far beyond technology. Still fascinating to look at the pictures again and a lot of memories, like this little story of a kid saving the mission, about a very exciting and remarkable day of our life.
Monday, July 13, 2009
Links zu Stellenausschreibungen und -portalen
Fach- & Führungskräfte
Here I publish a number of links to HR recruiters and job portals in Switzerland. The list will be enhanced from time to time (comments are in German).
Die nachstehende Liste soll Stellensuchenden in der Schweiz den Zugang zu Personalberatern für mittlere Fach- und Führungspositionen und Job Portalen erleichtern.
www.jobs.ch
Monster
TopJobs
Placement24
Experteer
www.job-online.ch
www.aab-personalservice.ch (Basel)
www.abs-personal.ch
www.asmartmove.ch
www.atkinsonstuart.com (Executive Search only)
www.bconsulting.ch
www.bellini.ch
www.catchyourjob.ch (HR Associates AG, Zürich)
www.cms-ag.ch
www.compers.ch
www.da-personal.ch
www.dmsselection.ch
www.esprit.ch (für Wiedereinsteigerinnen)
www.execunet.com
www.fair-job.ch (Langenthal)
www.futurestep.ch
www.go4work.ch
www.gst-stellendienst.ch
www.humanis.ch
www.ibt-personal.ch (Ost-CH)
www.inovajob.ch (TG, Winterthur)
www.interim.ch
www.ivp.ch
www.jobbase.ch
www.jobklick.ch
www.kaderberatung.ch
www.kaener.ch
www.melipartner.ch
www.nellen.ch
www.oprandi.ch
www.professionelle.ch (Frauen)
www.psp.ch
www.schaeferpartner.ch
www.selecteam.ch
www.s-p.ch
www.spoerripersonal.ch
www.swisselect.ch
www.swisslinx.com
www.triopersonal.ch
www.universal-job.ch
www.uniwork.ch
www.vsmgroup.ch
www.careerjet.com
Here I publish a number of links to HR recruiters and job portals in Switzerland. The list will be enhanced from time to time (comments are in German).
Die nachstehende Liste soll Stellensuchenden in der Schweiz den Zugang zu Personalberatern für mittlere Fach- und Führungspositionen und Job Portalen erleichtern.
www.jobs.ch
Monster
TopJobs
Placement24
Experteer
www.job-online.ch
www.aab-personalservice.ch (Basel)
www.abs-personal.ch
www.asmartmove.ch
www.atkinsonstuart.com (Executive Search only)
www.bconsulting.ch
www.bellini.ch
www.catchyourjob.ch (HR Associates AG, Zürich)
www.cms-ag.ch
www.compers.ch
www.da-personal.ch
www.dmsselection.ch
www.esprit.ch (für Wiedereinsteigerinnen)
www.execunet.com
www.fair-job.ch (Langenthal)
www.futurestep.ch
www.go4work.ch
www.gst-stellendienst.ch
www.humanis.ch
www.ibt-personal.ch (Ost-CH)
www.inovajob.ch (TG, Winterthur)
www.interim.ch
www.ivp.ch
www.jobbase.ch
www.jobklick.ch
www.kaderberatung.ch
www.kaener.ch
www.melipartner.ch
www.nellen.ch
www.oprandi.ch
www.professionelle.ch (Frauen)
www.psp.ch
www.schaeferpartner.ch
www.selecteam.ch
www.s-p.ch
www.spoerripersonal.ch
www.swisselect.ch
www.swisslinx.com
www.triopersonal.ch
www.universal-job.ch
www.uniwork.ch
www.vsmgroup.ch
www.careerjet.com
More information on Twitter for starters
As many before me have already published useful information on getting started in Twitter I would just like to give you a link to a website of Mashable here, a rich source for additional information on Twitter.
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