Content Fairy – Guy Redwood's Blog

Ecademy continue to loose the plot. There’s a new pricing structure where those that don’t pay, can do very little. I think this is a huge mistake – but maybe their tipping point allows them to cull the free loaders. Can you imagine a hotel foyer that allowed business people to use it, only if they wore handcuffs or were part of their business club? It wouldn’t work. People would feel uncomfortable, they’d always be one in your group who isn’t a member and has to wear shackles. It’s the ‘open to all’ aspect of Ecademy that got it off the ground, and now they’re turning their back to bite their roots. I don’t think ecademy should be free, there should be a basic level that is useful to all, so that the network will grow and be useful to all, with a membership plan that is value for money. I have a sneaky feeling that some of this culling of freeloaders has to do with keeping the service alive from an infrastruture point of view. In 2004, they went through a significant period where the website was too slow, taking over a few minutes and several ‘page refresh’ button hits to just to get the home page on your screen. At the time I was paying my full monthly fee and asked if there was anything I could do to help them with the infrastructure problems. (I always offer to help people before filing complaints) To which we got the classic denial of any problem, go away kinda thing. It was only at the local meetup where you found everbody else was having the same problem. To which one ecademy advocate/leader stated that you don’t need to use the website, it’s the gatherings that are only useful.

I think I was well within my right to get annoyed that I couldn’t access the website that was costing me 10 pounds a month to use. It’s not the amount – more the principle. When you’ve got tousands of people paying ten pounds a month, investing their time for free to build a network – where exactly was all the money going?

Anyway – in the ‘testimonial’ part of their website they list a few people happy with the service. Well dig a little deeper and it once again demonstrates it’s just a pond full of accountants, life coaches and recruitment consultants.

I can honestly say I’ve already made a not insignificant sum of money directly linked to Ecademy, for which I am thankful

Of course you have, you’re one of them head hunters. Why would I join a network to meet you? I know why you need to meet me.