Fave

Getting people to join something new is difficult!

So far I've done minimal marketing as the past 10 days have been more about fixing any bugs.

I've trialed Google Ads and discovered you basically can't get any traffic for less than $2 a click. Bing Ads average around 50 cents a click. Still testing though.

I'm so glad to be able to launch a viable alternative to Facebook groups!

The development process was difficult... since I'm not a coder it's difficult for me to understand how long something should take to develop. I've learned to take my estimate and multiply it several times!

In the beginning, I thought the project would take about 3 months. Turned out I was fairly close. Of course in my mind, I was hoping it would just be a few weeks!

I've had a team of two full-time devs working on this... one frontend and one backend. It's all javascript which will hopefully mean that building cross-platform apps will be much easier.

Since I don't know how to code I spent a lot of time crafting the home pages and emails. I really wanted to capture people's attention and make them stop and think by appealing to their emotions.

Here's one of the emails... what do you think?

---

Do you sometimes hesitate before posting something on Facebook?

You start to wonder what your friends or family are going to think if you post how you really feel about that news story, new diet, celebrity, or politician?

Then you start to feel a bit anxious and icky about it, so you don't end up posting anything.

You probably set up your Facebook account a long time ago. A lot of things have changed since then. Your opinions and interests have likely changed... maybe you've even changed partners!

Along the way, you've managed to amass a large number of random 'friends' ranging from old classmates to friends of friends you met at a party once.

Now, your precious thoughts and feelings are being laid bare for everyone to see, ready to be dug up at any time in the future, and possibly used against you.

Posting anything on Facebook is risky when everything you do is linked to your real name.

Ok... so now that we hardly post anything on Facebook anymore let's get scrolling.

Ummm, now you realize your feed has become clogged with information you find way too personal or totally irrelevant.

Time for a change.
Wouldn't it be nice to make a fresh start in a place that genuinely focuses on the topics that interest you? What if all the things you're really passionate about, in groups, could all be in the one place?

This is why I created Fave. I’ve taken the best features of modern chat services and old-school forums to create the best Facebook groups alternative.

Anyone can create their own group and moderate it how they wish. And you can create or join as many groups as you want, all in the same platform.

Fave is all about communities where you can be yourself because you're only surrounded by people in groups who care about the SAME THINGS.

A place where you don't have to think twice about posting how you really feel because you know everyone else in the community 'gets' you.

On Fave, you can create or join as many groups as you want, all within the same platform.

And now that you can create a new personality, you can freely share your thoughts without feeling judged.

It’s time to let the world see you for you, and turn that brightness level to the max.

Don’t dim your light for others. Shine on!

I have an embarrassing confession.

I've told my daughter to go to bed on time and stop staring at screens so much, while I'd stay up late scrolling through Facebook. I'd justify it by saying, "this is my time now, I can do what I want".

What a hypocrite! So I decided to change that one thing.

Instead of wasting time on Facebook, I decided to use my time more wisely and do something worthwhile. I had to set some goals.

My first goal was to build something meaningful.

If you're reading this, then that means I accomplished this goal and launched Fave! Woohoo!

It's been months of hard work and delays. What seemed like a simple idea, to begin with, turned into a mammoth task. Still, I wanted to wait until everything was perfect before hitting the launch button.

You might be wondering why I decided to build Fave?

I've always been fascinated with building communities since way back when Geocities was a thing. I've seen some big communities come and go (remember Myspace?), so I wanted to build something long-lasting and not just a passing trend.

What's not a fad are the personal hobbies and interests that we all tend to have….your favorite topics!

Although particular interests can grow and subside over time, you probably have several core passions that make you feel warm and fuzzy inside. The things you seem to know a lot about. More than the average person. A lot more.

Some of mine are retro games, aircraft, good magazines (the few that are left), and technology and gadgets.

I'm a self-confessed Apple addict who manages to always justify upgrading to the latest aluminum thing for 'work and research purposes'.

I also have to admit, I have an unhealthy obsession with Dragon's Lair. I'm not that great at the actual game, but watching people play it for the first time in Chuck E. Cheese in the 80s set off some kind of chain reaction. It sparked my lifelong interest in computers, graphics, and gaming that helped shape me into the person I am today.

So I thought, wouldn't it be great to have a single platform where I could discuss all this stuff with other people, and leave out all the other junk like what you just ate for breakfast or how much you drank last night.

A place where it's kind of unlikely I'll stumble across a lot of my friends or family. They're probably not going to be joining all the same niche communities as me.

That's Fave.

You might be wondering what the name Fave means?

Fave is where you discuss your favorite topics. See what I did there?

So, think about what you could also achieve if you spent your time getting involved in Fave communities, instead of wasting time on Facebook.

Since Fave is all about your favourite interests, the time you spend on Fave is worthwhile. Every minute is spent engaging just on your favorite topics... and not being sidetracked by a lot of meaningless stuff.

My second goal is to grow Fave into the largest community platform.

I really want Fave to be the ultimate alternative to Facebook groups.

Not a small goal, I know. But as Michelangelo said: "The great danger for most of us lies not in setting our aim too high and falling short; but in setting our aim too low, and achieving our mark."

The funny thing is that I can't actually achieve this goal by myself. There's only one of me. I can only do so much.

This is where you come in.

What are YOU actually spending your time on?

Are you wasting too much time scrolling through feeds of irrelevant updates?

You should ask yourself, "how would the person I want to become spend their time?".

Most likely, it's not scrolling through Facebook.

What are the things that you're really passionate about? Wouldn't you rather be spending your precious time talking about those things in communities of likeminded people at Fave?

I get that not everyone has the time or interest to build or run their own community. But maybe you could spare a little bit of time daily or weekly to jump in and answer questions, give advice, or help moderate a bit.

Otherwise, why don't you dive into some communities and start engaging by posting your thoughts, leaving the rest to others? That's totally fine, too.

There's already a bunch of great communities to explore, or you can search for something more specific.

Don't see the community you want? You can build one today.

I've made it so easy to create and manage your own community, you'll actually enjoy running it. I even created a whole Knowledge Base packed full of articles and guides to get you started.

I almost forgot to mention the coolest thing!

A really great feature you'll love is that everything is in real-time.

That means new discussions pop up in channels as soon as they're posted. New replies appear in threads as soon as they've been sent. It's like one giant live chat room. Just way better.

See you soon on Fave!