Social Networking, How To Pull Users In

A partner and myself are planning to launch a social network around about summer of this year. As you will all be aware the social networking world is next to the hardest market to break into after search engines. So we've been developing the system mainly to improve upon all the current social networks much like Virb did.

Although I know that some of you may not of heard of Virb before and this is because their launch and marketing wasn't up to the standards they need to get in the users.

So we want to improve upon this with our site Klydo.com. We first of all need to develop a unique feature or improve vastly upon a feature found on other sites where people demand a better operation. We've done the later by making the skinning and widget system incorporating everything from other sites. Secondly we need to launch in a "exciting" way which brings together BETA testing and hype creation. Building up a big hype from current users.

Anyway, to the point now. We've decided to make the first couple of months invitation only. Taken this idea from seeing the early launch of Pownce although we will be doing it slightly differently. As they allowed you to get an invite via email, where as we will be more secluded to people who know us, then people who know them, then people who know them and on it goes. This was it should create a bit of mystery about the site and generate a mass amount of interest.

What do you think about the idea?

I would say your on track. I personally do interviews with many industry giants, and many of them based the success of their website around the initial 'hype'. You want to get the word out, and by making it invite only, bloggers (like me) will be on their toes and heels to get access to your site, and will eventually blog about it unleashing your site into the eyes of thousands of visitors. Repeat this a few hundred times, and blog readers will go from one blog to another reading about the same site - thus a good way to brand your website, and make it a household name. Hope that helps, it was a bit sketchy but I'm tired.

Sounds great so far, you seem to be headed in the right direction.

Also, are we able to suggest possible features?

If you're trying to "develop a unique feature or improve vastly upon a feature found on other sites where people demand a better operation", I'd suggest an integrated messaging system. A large part of my, and other people's frustration on social networking sites is when your friends lose interest in the site or aren't online on the site to read a message, yet are on their IMing client. If you can integrate IMing services (YIM, AIM, MSN, and possibly ICQ) into your messaging system, it'd be much more convenient for users to talk to each other straight from your site. An integrated messaging system can also allow for current users to pull in their online buddies that don't yet have an account on the site.

Hope you consider it and can't wait to see your site become public.

Just checked your site and the icons look really good.

Why don't you use something like Aweber to capture leads?

This will help you launch the site and you can also get some feedback from people who are interested in signing up.

Also, work now to start building up relationships with bloggers ands newspapers.

Start building up a contact list of all local and national newspapers who have written about social networking. Then gather up a list of blogs who write about social networking and social media.

For the national newspapers you'll need an angle for your story. From what I've seen recently the national papers are concerned with privacy, so if you could show that your social network offers more protection for privacy you might stand a chance of getting in there. Also, look around, a lot of the journalists have their own blogs and are already on facebook/twitter/linkedin.

Try to make contact with them now and you'll at least have a little network of people who might write an article on you when you launch.

Good luck man. I looked into making a social network for a college fitness blog I run and was really put off by what my developer buddies were telling me. Basically they all said I should go for Apps on facebook instead. I really hope you succeed, I'm not the biggest fan of any networks currently available...