Could Smart Media’s Home Page Pays Be The Next Facebook? Home Page Pays might not mean much to many people yet, but the way it’s gaining momentum – not just in South Africa, but around the world – it will soon. Especially when its Version 2 launches globally in the next few months.
So what exactly is Home Page Pays? A product of Smart Media in the US, it’s essentially a website home page on which you’ll find practically every search engine and everything you could ever wish to find on the internet.
But what makes it different is that, as a user, you can earn points for every single thing you do on the internet – points that can be accumulated towards buying something you’ve always wanted – be it a laptop, ipod, camera or ipad.
And “every single thing” means just that, everything. From surfing the internet to studying on the internet to purchasing on the internet to playing games on the internet to banking on the internet.
So a loyalty program of some sort? Yes. But, again with a difference. With your normal loyalty program, you have to buy something to earn points. Not here. You get rewarded for whatever it is that you normally do on the internet without it costing a cent extra.
All people have to do is make Home Page Pays their home page. Right now, they may have Google, Yahoo or Moneyweb as their home page. Whichever it is, there’s no incentive to having it. With Home Page Pays, there is.
And once you’ve made it your home page, you’ll tell their friends,who will tell their friends, who will tell their friends – with the result that Home Page Pays will go viral around the world. Especially with the launch of Version 2 which will dramatically advance the features of the current version. After having already invested more than US25 million into the system, the CEO of Smart Media will clearly not stop at Version 2. Much like Facebook, version 2 will make way for versions 3, 4, 5 and 6.
Now, from a marketing point of view, what’s on offer is potentially exciting. You’ll now be able to brand your home page – and then give away countless Home Page Pays for free, taking your brand and any specials you may want to promote to free users around the world. Each time they go onto the internet, your ad will be on their browser. So a regular user of the internet may see your ad ten, twenty or thirty times a day, powerful stuff.
And the more free users you give the system to, and they give to their friends, the more people will see your advertising every time they use the internet. There’s just one caveat ; only those who register as representatives of Home Page Pays are allowed to advertise (Packages range from around R1000 to R3200, which are once-off costs). This is small change though when you consider what’s on offer.
The proof of this is that many people around the world have already signed up as representatives, and after attending a workshop hosted by Mark Shuttleworth’s brother, Grant, in Johannesburg a few weeks ago, I’m one of them. Besides allowing me to market my advertising agency through a system that will go viral, I’m now able to share in the advertising expenditure on the internet – and there’s tons of it, it’s exciting stuff. After all, when was the last time Google or Yahoo paid you to surf the internet? And when was the last time you were rewarded on Facebook?
Down the line, Smart Media’s Home Page Pays will be known around the world. And whilst it might take years to rival Facebook, (the system will have its own smartchat and smartchirp functionality with version 2), advertisers will be following its path with interest. See www.gerardkavonic.smartmediatechnologies.com for more.
