I get it. Hipster got 10,000 people to sign up by offering “early access” to their product if they invited their friends, and LaunchRock started an entire project based on the concept. With these successes (as well as fork.ly), it seems many new projects are utilizing this concept, even when it doesn’t seem to make much sense.

I really respect the companies who have had success utilizing this marketing method. I also think LaunchRock is a great idea. So understand it’s not the concept that I’m against. There are many situations where using this type of sign-up method (for early access) is valid and reasonable. For example, if you are performing problem validation, then this type of splash page is particularly useful. Or, if a user’s experience is enhanced by having their friends on the site (such as a social network), then it makes sense to push this requirement. 

Using “early access” as an incentive to obtaining a viral launch page is a nice idea. My frustration arises when this concept is used for ideas that do not benefit the people I must invite. For example, being informed that I have to invite friends to access a new blog, newsletter, or email is frustrating. If I want access to a new web application, such as an analytics service, I don’t want to pressure my friends to sign up so I can get access. In today’s world of information consumption, I quickly forget about the newsletter or service and move on.

While using early access on launch pages have provided success, I believe it’s time to offer other incentives to encourage launch pages to be shared with your friends and contacts. LaunchRock is seeing this as well, as their latest blog post shares how one company is utilizing the service for more then just early access. Startups should offer enhanced services to people who share, or something that is harder to achieve without sharing with your friends. lloquy.com enhances your influence score, which is one of the main indicators of reputation on the website. The ability to increase your reputation even before you have access provides a reason to share the site with their friends.

In summary, while early access may work for some websites, it does not work for others. Services like LaunchRock have made it incredibly easy to create a launch page, but it doesn’t replace the strategy of attracting users to your website.