PotatoHead's Journal: The brilliance of Gmail

Went hunting for a Gmail account today and found the whole thing interesting. (Yes I did get one and I have no invites, at the moment I am still a noob!)

Searched and found the Gmail machine. Pressed refresh a hundred times or so. The amount of bandwith being spent there is amazing. Creative way to test your elite web hosting skills...

Stumbled on Gmail Swap. Damn cool site. They do the glaringly obvious by putting people wanting Gmail together with people who have invites. Reading through those different pitches really was entertaining --and tempting at the same time.

So, I offered up an SGI coffee mug. Took about 1 minute to get 5 offers for it. Naturally, I accepted the first one. Got the invite, took the mug to the post all done. (When I get some invites, I am going to do this to experience it from the other perspective.)

About 10 percent of the offers seemed to appeal. Most were creative and unusual. A few sob stories made the cut as well. Do no evil indeed. Seems this little marketing plan is doing some good at least 100 times per day.

To me, this is as profound as it is obvious. I am not sure Brin and Co intended for these things to happen, but they are. Not only are they getting people to market their service and build brand value, but they are also cultivating a nice feel good aspect to it as well.

Good show.

If you really want a Gmail account, ask around and be sincere and nice and you will get one.