Free Weight Loss Membership

Let me start with the disclaimers:

• I don't know anything about this site I'm going to talk about (other than I visited it and it looks ok)
• I'm not recommending it -- just passing on news
• Use it at your own risk

Now, having said that, I wanted to pass along information I received from an email the other day. The email read:

I recently came across your blog and I thought you might be interested in the flowing story as New Year’s Resolutions are upon us.  The bottom line is that SparkPeople.com, a leading diet and health website, is now offering free lifetime memberships.  You can run with this however you want; and feel free to contact me with any questions.

Ok, never to be one to pass up the chance to let everyone know about free offers, here's the piece:

Every year, two of the most common New Year’s resolutions among Americans include losing weight and saving money—and for good reason.  An estimated 65 percent of Americans are overweight, and our nation’s savings rate is negative for the first time since the Great Depression, meaning that collectively we are spending more than we earn for the first time in about 70 years.

Although the implications of these issues on our health care system and economy are complex and difficult to fix, on a personal level they don’t have to be. In fact, you might be able to tackle two of your resolutions at the same time by saving money on your diet and fitness expenses this year.

Marketdata, a market research firm that has tracked diet products and programs since 1989, estimates that the average dieter spends about $652 per year on diet and fitness products and services.  Although investing in your health is a good thing, it does not have to cost a lot. 

SparkPeople.com, a leading diet and health website, announced today that it will begin offering its services to consumers for free.

This move is significant in an emerging $200 million industry, led by subscription-based players like Weight Watchers Online and eDiets.com, which charge between $100 and $300 per year for their services.

SparkPeople’s goal is to give away at least $100 Million worth of online services in 2006.  Before switching to the free, ad-supported model the company charged users approximately $100 per year for membership to their premium diet and health site. 

Chris Downie, SparkPeople.com’s founder who sold his first company to eBay in 1998, commented on his company’s decision saying, “The free, ad-supported model fits our mission of helping millions of people reach their goals using health and fitness as a springboard to success.” Downie explained that “a convergence of factors including the dramatic increase of online ad spending, a growing obesity problem, a strong consumer demand for personalized online programs, and our expertise managing large online communities all played heavily into this decision.”

Here's the translation: "No one was willing to pay $100 per year for this membership. The company's in financial trouble, so in a last ditch effort to save it, we're trying to see if we can give away the service and make money selling ads."

Ok, that was a bit cynical, even for me, but I was part of the dot-com boom/bust a few years ago and I wouldn't be surprised if this was what was happening.

But if it sounds interesting to you, check out the site. It costs nothing and may actually help you if you need/want to lose weight.

Comments

[Blaine Moore (Run to Win)]

I want to gain weight.

[FMF]

Blaine -- allow me to introduce you to a wonderful way to gain weight. Go to www.moosetracks.com. :-)

[fivecentnickel.com]

Blaine, if you really want to gain weight you should stop exercising so much... ;)

[Chris]

Hello!

Thanks a bunch for posting about SparkPeople!

I completely understand your cynicism - I was cynical about many dot-coms myself. Here's some background for anyone interested, it fits pretty well with this site's mission in many ways.

SparkPeople is doing well as a company - we've made several large sales to insurance companies and other types of large companies (I'm not allowed to mention them because of our contracts - but our customers include multiple companies in the top 20 of the Fortune 500).

However, my main goal when starting this company after my first company was acquired by eBay was to build our own brands into sites that help millions of people reach their goals using health and fitness as a springboard to success. With that first company, we kept our expenses so low by doing everything ourselves that we never needed outside financing, and I've tried to replicate that with SparkPeople.

You are definitely right that building a consumer brand from scratch in this category is really really hard since there are established companies. But, we believe our program helps people in a better way. So, we work hard to keep our expenses as low as possible to be able to offer the site free with a minimal amount of quality advertisers. I look at Craigslist as a model for this - they have only 18 employees and a minimal amount of paid advertising.

Who knows what'll happen, but we're having fun helping a lot of people and working hard to be the small company that takes on the big sites with what we think is a better mousetrap.

Thanks again!

Chris Downie

[FMF]

Chris -- Don't take me seriously. Sometimes I just get into one of those moods. ;-)

Boy, things have changed a ton when a website talks about keeping costs low. I remember us going through $30 million like it was water. But that was "back in the day" -- before we all went bust, that is.

Anyway, good luck with the concept!

[Chris]

Haha - I seriously know where you're coming from - without knowing the whole story I would have had the same reaction.

I think that's one of the benefits of being from the midwest (we're located in Cincinnati, not exactly the internet capital of the world) - we're conservative around here with money for the most part.

Thanks - and good luck with your site too!

Chris

[Blaine Moore (Run to Win)]

Heh, FCN & FMF...that may seem like a good idea, but it really isn't. First, I do not like sweet foods or beverages so I do not have a lot in my diet. An occasional ice cream is good but I can not eat it regularly. And if I stop exercising so much, then I lose weight, I don't gain it. If I am not exercising then I will not get hungry, and if I am not hungry then I will forget to eat. My normal 3000 to 4000 calories a day can quickly drop to 1200 or so if I am not working out and not being mindful about eating. My body is funny that way.