It may seem like the last thing the web needs is another parenting website, but you wouldn’t know that by the impressive growth the new website CircleOfMoms.com chalked up over the past couple of months. The site, launched in October 2008, has already grown to over 850,000 registered users. Seventy-five percent of the users are US-based.
Circle of Moms is what you would expect from the name. It’s a community that lets moms connect with friends, talk about their kids, and join topical Q&A communities. Users have created over 1,000 such communities for topics like parents with toddlers, special needs children, and even recipe swapping. Many have tens of thousands of members. This holiday season the site will also be turning on a gifting widget to let moms recommend the best gifts for kids by age group and gender.
Brand advertisements, beginning next week, as well as affiliate revenue from gift purchases are the main modes of monetizing the site in the short run.
But the story doesn’t stop with a site that’s struck a chord with mothers; Circle of Moms has grown its user base with a unique multi-pronged approach. The site has a standard web presence plus a Facebook application. The combo allows moms to interact with each other through both the main site and Facebook. The Facebook application itself currently has over 840,000 monthly active users.
Founder Ephraim Luft says that the Facebook application and website have helped re-enforce each other, with mothers on Facebook pulling in friends on the website and vice versa. He plans to continue integrating with other platforms in the future to ensure mothers can continue to access the services regardless of where they are on the web.
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