Where Are They Now?

Share this on:

A web developer's attempt to blogAlmost a year ago I saw some enthusiastic adverts for Rippln. So I had a look at what they had to say.

They were full of hype and Rippln was touted as being the next big thing, it was growing faster than Twitter or Facebook.

It was supposed to be an app that you could play games on/ buy products and then if anyone you recommended that game or product to bought in you'd get a cut of the fee, and then if they in turn passed it on to someone else you'd get a cut of their fee too, and on and on. And if you managed to recruit people, all the better. Sounding familiar?

I was suspicious and wrote about it at the time.

The banner ad used by Rippln in their publicity emails

But I joined the mailing list to see what tactics they used, and I wasn't disappointed, here are some of the headings of their email campaign:

  • THE GAME IS ON [your special invitation awaits]
  • Something BIG is Coming...
  • This is EPIC!!
  • “Social-Preneurship” Interview #1 Released! (plus Guessaroo updates!)
  • Gamification + Communication = EPIC (live webinar tonight)
  • did you watch the revolution?
  • [TONIGHT] Look Inside Rippln
  • BIG UPDATES
  • 2 Reasons Why you DO NOT Want To Miss Tonight's 9pm EDT "State of Play"
  • Reply from Michelle Prevot on "Why I Love Rippln"
  • “Why I’m So Excited About Rippln” Video Contest (NOW OPEN)
  • Sneak Peak at "Ripple Fame" Video Contest (Coming Soon)
  • Call Reminder TODAY: Prepare for Your VIP Status (3 reasons to Player Up FAST)
  • We've got a Sneaky Surprise...

The emails were so full of hard sell it was disturbing: how only a few people got it; how it was an opportunity of a lifetime; why you needed to sign up so you didn't miss the boat.

And they put on events which were more like rallies:

Image of Rippln fans at one of their early conventions

So what has happened to it now?

Nothing has gone viral as they told us it would, and the company has gone very, very quiet, and the people that signed up are starting to complain, well the ones that aren't too embarrassed that they got taken up with the hype.

But it's not all bad news, some people, I'm sure, have got very rich from it, the people who set it up: Jonathan Budd and Brian Underwood. I bet they are crying all the way to the Bahamas.

The moral: If a scheme involves recruiting other people, offers life changing financial gain and goes on and on about how fantastically your life can change if only you believe, be suspicious, it's probably too good to be true.

Web design in Leeds: A timetable

What feats of web genius have I been practising on this Tuesday?

11 hours 49 minutes Taking remedial action to improve my search engine rankings.
1 hour 54 minutes Website security work
11 minutes Email

Total: 14 hours 6 minutes

Was good doing a bit more research today, learned a few things that I didn't know.

Exercise: Nada

Tomorrow: Write down some of my processes for future reference.

Share this on:
Mike Nuttall

Author: Mike Nuttall

Mike has been web designing, programming and building web applications in Leeds for many years. He founded Onsitenow in 2009 and has been helping clients turn business ideas into on-line reality ever since. Mike can be followed on Twitter and has a profile on Google+.