You’ve probably seen them on Techcrunch, Mashable, or a host of other startup-reviewing blogs. “We have 500 invites for the private beta (get ‘em while they last)!”
Most who have been around these blogs see this and have become aware that usually, even if you are too late to get an invite, you can request one and get it within a day from the site itself. In theory, with so many of these out there, they shouldn’t work.
Yet, they do. Here’s why:
“It’s private. It’s beta. Your friends will envy you.”
Those who are active on Twitter have seen the desperate cry for help…
“I need an invite to (nextgreatstartup.com) and they’re out. Does anyone have one?”
We want to help our friends. Sometimes we want our friends to be jealous of us, too. A little invitation-envy never killed a relationship.
Early Adopter Status
There are those who have an eye for what will be big and what won’t be. They can see “The Next Big Thing” from a gigabyte down the road. For the other 99.9% of us who either:
- A) Thought MySpace was a fad that would flop by 2006
- B) Thought Cuil was really a Google Killer
- C) Trusted AOL when they bought, well, anybody
- D) All of the Above
…well, let’s just say that we have our instincts. With some websites exploding on the scene, it is important to users that they achieve “early adopter” status. It’s a bragging right of immense recognition into what is hot. It’s a feeling of power to be an expert on a site before the floodgates open. Most would like to start on the ground floor while the upper floors are being built.
“OMG if I miss this I’ll die!”
Most people know that it isn’t hard to get an invite if you miss the initial blast.
Most.
Some people still think that if they miss the private beta, they won’t be able to get in anytime soon. Even worse, sometimes the private betas with limited invites are truly private betas with limited invites. Once they’re gone, wannabe users really do have to wait.
That sucks. Trust me.
Potential, potential, potential!
The number one reason, after everything else, is that some startups just look like they will be really cool. Some fill a gap that we’ve wanted filled. Some fill a gap that we didn’t know existed until someone came up with a startup that filled that unknown hole.
Regardless of what drives people to click on the private invite button and type in the magic code, they simply work. They are an effective way to get a base of users to truly beta test a product. They are also effective in giving a boost of real users even if real beta testing has been completed.
Just as we hear “the next 17 callers will receive…” on the radio or “place your order in the next 10 minutes and we’ll send you…” on the television, we will always see “Hurry, only 500 Beta Invites available!” from now until the end of the Internet.
That won’t happen until 2012, or so I’ve heard.
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Clever.