Quiver & Quill

1. What web sites serve as a model as you market and develop Esnips?

eSnips started as an extension of a web research tool developed by Netsnippets (a company also founded by Yael Elish, our CEO, and Alon Elish, our CTO). Netsnippets (www.netsnippets.com) is an online information management tool, used for effectively conducting online research. Some of our cooler toolbar features (such as snipping and capturing) evolved directly from Netsnippets. But the focus of eSnips is completely different as it aims to be the one place for all our user’s sharing needs, so we looked to other social sharing sites for inspiration. For example, when we launched our “social” version introducing tags in March 2006, we looked at sites such as Flickr, blogs, and even delicious for inspiration.

2. At what point did you realize that the Esnips concept was going to be successful?

I think this was at the point where we started noticing the variety of original content that members were posting in their public folders on eSnips. Creative endeavors that I enjoyed were the jewelry, graphic arts, original music (with some great chill-out creations) and even customized Harleys and souped-up Barbies.

3. There are some many products and services emerging daily. It’s hard to grab someone’s attention. How did you cut through the clutter and find the people who love Esnips?

Being located in Israel, it has been a bit of a challenge to reach users worldwide. Several things have helped us. First, people who love eSnips tend to tell their friends about it. We’ve had quite a lot of friends referring friends or other members of their community to eSnips. Second, we came to the attention of both TechCrunch (http://www.techcrunch.com/2006/03/21/checking-out-esnips/) and Mashable (http://mashable.com/2006/03/22/esnips-bookmarking-and-media-sharing/) at about the same time in March 2006, which helped us reach a new audience. Third, we’ve attracted communities such as artists and karaoke singers with spotlight weeks that place them, along with their creations, on our home pages. Such efforts usually bring like-minded people to share on eSnips.

4. Does Esnips create a different kind of community than that which currently exists online?

eSnips uniqueness is that it allows you to create endless online “environments” that reflect your many facets. Many of our users create different folders for their different sharing needs: sharing photos with friend and families, sharing business files with colleagues, and sharing their hobbies and collections with the world. The same member can participate in an active Karaoke community on one hand and an artists’ community on the other. The focus is not just on the photo that you posted, but also on you and the rest of your interests. It’s a different focus that the one at the vertical sharing sites such as Flickr and YouTube, where the file itself is at the center of attention.

5. What are your top 3 favorite sites on the internet?

Although it’s not a site, I love looking at Second Life and what they’re doing. The entire concept of a “virtual life” is fascinating, and they’re constantly innovating with what a virtual life can include. On the other side of the spectrum, I enjoy the New York Times site not just as an extension of the newspaper, but as a barometer of what the mainstream is interested in. I also enjoy the LinkedIn concept as it explores the “six degrees of separation” theory. In between I read a few blogs and waste time on the content sharing sites.

6. What analogies have you used to express the Esnips concept to people who are not web 2.0 savvy?

To show express the breadth of the original creative content posted on eSnips I’ve often used the “street fair” analogy. Real fairs have artists, musicians, petitioners all vying for your attention in a few city blocks, and this is really similar to browsing eSnips public folders. To introduce new users to eSnips I’ve used the analogy of a house to express the different eSnips environments that each user can create. As in a house, you have your completely private folders/rooms, like your bedroom and bathroom, where you keep stuff but don’t share it. You have your semi-public folders/rooms where you invite your friends and family to socialize and discuss your interests, like your living room and kitchen. Finally, you have your completely public folders/rooms for anyone to see and visit, like your front porch. The analogy of a house really drives home the point that you need diverse sharing environments as most of us share different things with different groups of people.

7. How have the experiences working with a pre web 2.0 sites like genealogy.com had an impact on the way you approach Esnips marketing?

So much has changed since I worked on marketing Genealogy.com. My goal at Genealogy.com was to “capture” as many users as possible so that we could email them in order to involve them in genealogy products and sell them CDs and boxed software! The focus was on both advertising (online and offline) and creating features that users would want to register for. Partnerships with leading offline genealogy sources such as Ellis Island were also a major focus. With eSnips the progress in online advertising technology, especially search engine marketing, give me so much freedom in deciding who to target and when. The desire to create an online sharing community is stronger with eSnips, whereas with Genealogy it was more a one-on-one relationship. One thing that hasn’t really changed is the pull of user generated content. I know this is a buzzword for the web 2.0 sites, but in Genealogy there’s nothing more important than YOUR family tree. Sharing your tree and research with others was mostly beneficial as you could find long-lost cousins researching obscure branches of your tree. Current technology (including digital photography and broadband) has really made all this sharing much easier, truly bringing the user’s content to the foreground.

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