Same-Same but Different
Dating and finding a new job in many ways are very similar activities. When you are involved in that process as a business in a sense you’re playing “match-maker”. It’s not surprising then to find a job hunting site with a model that takes off of eHarmony’s.
Meet eHarmony
Founded in 1997 eHarmony is an online dating site whose approach is to do more than just serving up categorized dating opportunities. They try and stand out by delivering a better product through a “patented Compatibility Matching System®”. The value they are offering is twofold: less time spent shuffling through postings, and a more successful outcome (dates).
Another key feature they offer is what’s referred to as a “guided communication” which is used as a way of furthering communication between prospective couples by providing questions. Acting as a ice-breaker, or a way to get to know each other better, this process is supposed to enable for the best match possible before a date is actually initiated.
Additionally the focus of eHarmony has focused on the institution as marriage. This adds as a secondary filter in addition to the compatibility matching system as most of the clientele have a focus in line with the branding.
Meet Jobfox
Launched in 2005 Jobfox joined the crowded job placement and search marketplace. They try and stand out by delivering a better result through their “patent pending Mutual Suitability System™” (sounds familiar). They’re offering value much like eHarmony: less time spent sorting through postings, and creating more aligned meetings (job interviews).
Another key feature they offer is the ability to be introduced to the decision makers. I’m guessing this is similar to eHarmony’s guided communication but as it is only available to premium members (and not explained in their about section) I couldn’t gather any more information about it.
Lifting Successful Business Models
This is a great example of taking a successful business model in this case “guided matchmaking” and applying it to a new marketplace. The benefits of doing this are that it is a proven model, its one people are familiar with, and allows you to focus on other aspects of the service or monetization.
It looks like Jobfox has done more than just recreate a similar guided service, they’ve also created a tiered membership service which also reminded me of eHarmony.
The Verdict
I’ve never used eHarmony but I have had friends that have used it and appreciated its value. From how its described I found it to be remarkably similar to Jobfox. Given my current employment situation, I was actively utilizing Jobfox. Initially I was a bit disappointed with the service as the amount of information I had to enter (see time investment) was substantial. In the end though when I started looking at the matches they presented to me I was rather pleased with these results (as I’m sure most people on eHarmony are).
Conclusion
When outlining your monetization or what your service offering should be you really should explore existing models or similar goods. By doing so you can better understand competitive landscapes, your own unique offer, as well as be given blueprints for success.
I’m not sure if Jobfox is revenue neutral, or even turning a profit, but given my experience I think it has a good chance at success.
Have you ever considered opening up content so blog readers could post their own articles as well? I know this is off topic, but would you have any interest or observations on the blue ocean strategy.
http://www.blueoceanstrategy.com
We have a new project interest that touched on it. I’m trying to decide if it is worth study, or if it is simply a set of guys trying to make $40 bucks off a book.
I would be interested in opening it up, but at this point I’m just trying to stay on top of things while I’m growing readership and continuing my career.
As for blue ocean strategies.
I posted about this back in August but I definitely agree there is room to keep touching on it, as its a premise I firmly am behind.
http://mgmtnow.com/blue-ocean-strategies/
I’d encourage you to study it, while the underpinning principles may be found in other texts; their use of real world examples was stellar. While I was at Microsoft it was considered one of the must reads for marketing folks.
Good post. I would like to see you expand on this further with more case studies.
There are a lot of successful businesses that have taken a proven business model and then applied it to a new medium or changed the pricing and/or distribution strategy:
netflix mail distribution vs brick and mortar rentals
Zune marketplace unlimited subscription vs. iTunes pay per song
Craigslist free classifieds vs Newspaper pay per letter
Ok Nick, what about user content mailed to you for posting? You could still maintain control over the content (censorship).
I couldn’t resist…
I would really enjoy Sean’s first two suggestions, especially the Zune one. Give up a buck and enjoy the song forever or give someone fifteen bucks every month to continue keeping the lights on. Especially in this time when people are out of work and struggling to make ends meet, the subscription model seems completely wrong. The same could be said for Netflix. In a world where you have free music streaming such as Pandora, does this type of a model even make sense?
And please don’t just focus on iTunes. They may be the biggest player in that market, but there are others selling per-song downloads. In fact, I actually prefer Amazon because they distribute in MP3 format instead of MP4 secure. This makes it very easy to move the music around from device to device (home server, iPod, laptop, netbook, no-name MP3 player) without the hassle of the iTunes software.
You forgot a lot of the value of Zune now is it’s $15 for subscription + 10 songs a month.
The biggest problem I see as a user is overcoming disappointment when that 1 artist isn’t on it, or that 1 song isn’t available. I’ve downloaded over 1100 artists from Zune and so many albums, I appreciate the value I’m given.
I do agree with your assessment of the economic impact, and I just got done giving feedback to a resume builder how ridiculous their pricing model was. That being said I think if you look at Netflix and other subscriptions a lot of the time you can cut out another expenditure like cable.
When I have people come over to my house and we roll through my playlists and artists its a very easy sale on the value. The problem right now is the focus on hardware in advertising. They need to focus in on the service as thats the differentiator.
Zune is not the only subscription-based service available. I’m speaking to that whole type of license model. Again, my preference is overwhelmingly Amazon and the Pandora free service. I have Pandora running with a few channel selections that I like. When I find a group of 10 songs, I’ll pop over to Amazon and buy the MP3s. They are much more portable, and it is a one-time cost. Very rarely will I buy a whole album because it is uncommon that the whole thing is good. What you are describing is using the subscription-based service to browse your music out. That may not be an efficient way of finding new stuff.
Let’s also refocus on my other point. Hypothetically, let’s say you lose your job and all of a sudden fifteen dollars is a lot of money. If you cut off the subscription, you lose access to this music correct? This is where Zune and Rapsody have gone wrong in their business model. I have a whole separate set of issues with iTunes, but that can wait for another post.