I am tempted to say this is good news for SecondShaadi, but honestly, if the divorce was caused due to FB, there was a case for it right from the start…! FB would only be an excuse…not the cause…!
its human tendency to consider things that are free, as fishy!
Consider yourself..in normal life. While almost all of us would jump in joy if someone offered their services free…would we also not have that edgy feeling “why would they do it for free…whats the fine print”. Cynicism is fundamental to the human nature
Yet…its fascinating how the same individual doesn’t blink an eyelid when services are offered for free on the Internet. Its the done thing…everything on the Internet is FREE. Google is…facebook is…twitter is (well almost!)…! People would much rather go for free services on the Internet than pay for stuff…! As if suddenly, FREE on the Internet is not fishy anymore.
They are not entirely wrong. There are several ‘brands’ that offer themselves free on the Internet. Brands that people would trust and have trusted. So if an NYTimes or a ToI offers its news for free…people dont consider it fishy. Its not as if ToI would give stale (or worse still, untrue) news for free members and the ‘real’ news for paid members. It cant.
But personally…I treat ‘Paid’ as a form of commitment. Think about it…SecondShaadi can also be a free service. But would it be a better one at that, if free? Leave aside the revenue problem…the bigger problem will be the nuisance that will get created because of this “free” service. Across fake profiles, spam profiles, spam forums and worse troubled genuine members.
So payments is a form of self selection. The system is selecting the genuine ones from the non-genuine ones. Not that all free members are not genuine…maybe some never really feel the need to pay because of several reasons (too expensive, no matching profiles etc). But the fact that you have paid…has to reflect genuineness.
Even that is not an easy step. Pricing the service too low can also mean the same problems as that of free services. But second guessing what’s the users threshold of “just perfectly priced that I can actually pay and yet not be genuine” is very tricky!
Only last week, we had a member pay up to upgrade her membership on SS. It became obvious in a day that she meant trouble. Spamming! So clearly even out highest priced product was worth it for her to upgrade and spam. She saw value even in that amount! Could we have guessed that..! No..!
Seth Godin has this excellent piece on the same issue. He suggests that money creates a sort of friction that is important for some services. Because it reflects commitment! Recommended read
This sums it up – Commitment slows things down in the short run, but ultimately aligns interests.
or maybe…there is someone who wants them to…get married!
Matrimonial sites comprised the highest share of online advertising between June-August 2009! Followed by Travel and Education
SecondShaadi has a big(!) role to play in this :)
and with a purpose…
Mornings with Sundays continues…we went to the Lotus Temple on Jan 27. Have been there multiple times before…and though it doesnt really offer a whole lot of photography opportunities…it was still a pretty good spend of time…
Also, clicked some really impromtu snaps of Pihu and Sarthak – Ruchi’s Neice and Nephew…they have come out decently well…do let me know how you find them…!
Check out www.picasaweb.google.com/warikoo
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life hasnt been life of late…the project is killing…late hours…lack of sleep…i think my hair is graying faster than before…am not putting on weight as easily…have started to dislike paneer tikka…even pineapple has lost its charm…
anyways…the module is coming to an end…so lets see what shapes up after that…
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Planning on the TV Campaign for SecondShaadi from Feb 15th..so really looking forward to that…its quite exciting to see your product come live on TV…! We are also working towards our new product scheduled for a beta launch in April. Quite a challenging exercise…keeping our minds decently busy all along…!
Baaki sab mast hain…life is good…
~a
I submit….this is the best consulting firm ever…
www.huhcorp.com
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Livemint.com covered SecondShaadi.com yesterday. Nicely done.
http://www.livemint.com/2007/07/04154115/Paradise-Regained-Tying-the-k.html
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~a
so…its official…your eyes, as of this moment, are witnessing an above 17 blog..! if i hadnt used shit 21 times…or ass 8 times…or my fav word gay 5 times…or omg the friggin adult word slap 4 times…things would hv been very different…
this basically means that if my kids were to be gay…they would ofcourse use the word ass a lot…and will hv to be born 17 directly..!
CRAP..!!
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SecondShaadi.com has generated a lot of press interest..! I had PK calling me frantically informing me of the Indian Express frontpage..! and a google search on SecondShaadi generates quite a few results..!
We are very close to 1,000 profiles now…23% of these are females..and only 15% of these are never married. Which basically proves that the site is automatically attracting the right audience…
BTW…did you know that India apparently has the lowest divorce rate in the world..at 1.1%
but we still believe that the idea will work…! it will…
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am in manali this weekend…nowhere compared to mussoorie…! will post some snaps…
~a
8.30am
Friday
Mumbai Airport
tringgg tringgg…
hello
haanji sir…u hv reached
yes yes…where r u…?
at the exit itself…should i go and fetch the car…?
yah yah..plz do…where should i wait…
i will come where the laal peeli start
(figuring out where that is)…alright…i will wait…
After 10 mins
where are you boss…?
sir…right there…can you see the 2 media vans…right behind that…
boss…there are no media vans that i can see…where are you…?
sir…just where the passengers get out…am on the road…directly opposite…
i dont see you dude…ok…am standing right infront of the premium parking
ok..i have gone ahead of that…will come back after taking a round…
another 10 mins…
boss…its been 20 mins…where the f r u…?
sir…right there…premium parking…
yaar…either i am blind…or you dont know the airport well…are you at the jet arrival terminal
sir..i have been coming to the airport for the past 15 yrs…
you are at the domestic airport…rite…?
haan sir…are you at the right airport…
boss…mumbai mein ek hi airport hain…
MUMBAI…???? sir…i am in delhi…!!!!
WTF…!!!!
so…this friday morning…i spent 30 mins of my life trying to convince someone in delhi…that he is in mumbai…!
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but i give it to mumbai..! cant repeat it enough..but this was my first rendezvous with prime traffic in mumbai. it took me a mind numbing 2.25 hrs to reach the airport frm nariman point. a whole 2 hrs…! in the cab..! hands numb…mind zonked…life paralyzed..! i shudder to think the potential loss in national income that happens in the city cause of simply being on the road driving…when you could easily be working and far more productive than listening to radio mirchi and “pal pal pal frm munnabhai” for the godforsaken 586976th time..!
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VP and I finally launched our site. We have been working on the plan for the past 2 odd months…! its completely VP’s baby and I am simply an external advisor devoting time towards the strategy of the product over and above my fulltime ATK committments. Its been a fantastic ride so far…and atleast for me last thursday, when the product was launched, was a special moment.
for VP though…having handled the complexity of www.desimartini.com already, this was jst another site..!
our business plan…a matrimonial site specifically targetted at remarriage.
www.secondshaadi.com
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my routine browsing this afternoon took me to this show called ‘Britain’s got talent’…and a certain Paul Potts. at the end of his performance…i was sobbing like a 5 yr old…jst couldnt contain myself. i hv figured that singing has a spiritual connectiong with me. ever since i went to the US…music has become my meditation. unfortunately…my voice can allow me to appreciate it vocally…but i remember when i spent simple hrs…jst listening to music with tears in my eyes…!
this was yet another instance…and totally deserved…(in my limited capacity)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rDB9zwlXrB8
Life’s really good right now…
~a
