Halogen Network

For the past few years, A Small World has been the only invitation-only social network to build and hold its community, in the face of the explosive growth of Facebook. ASW has provided its members with a blend of edited content and advice, exclusivity and offline benefits (like access to unique events) that has generated a community of about 300,000 active members. The one feature that I come back for is the city-based travel guides, which are primarily user-generated and good – the result of asking insiders where to eat, stay and drink.

Now another network is attempting to buck the Facebook trend – Affluence.org. CEO Scott Mitchell has decided to impose a very high net worth bar ($3million) and reject most of the people that apply to join – currently only one in forty get in. Scott’s vision is to build a community that is geographially diverse, but more consistent in terms of needs, interests and concerns (since members are in the same – such that referrals and recommendations  can be trusted.

We think the financial exclusivity approach is smart and have have started working with Affluence.org. We expect to bring advertisers into the community over the next 60 days – and that the savvy luxury advertisers will participate in the community, rather than just advertise to it. More about Scott’s venture here and also at Robert Frank’s blog here.

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• Affluence, The Social Network That Makes Your Life Better … If You’re A Millionaire (techcrunch.com)