glen

It seems pretty commonplace now for signups to go something like this:<p>Step 1 Sign up and verify you are not a robot --><p>Step 2 Connect and invite friends through an email import program --><p>Step 3 splash page or call to action to start using the site.<p>It seems like if the big guys are doing this, then there is likely a lot of data to suggest it works. Additionally, the book - the Viral Loop -- seems to suggest this is a critical piece to viral growth. The question then becomes, is there a wrong time to implement this functionality in a site's development? i.e., is this something you should launch once you have a fairly significant userbase?<p>Any experience experimenting w/this?

We are getting ready to launch our new service (www.nixty.com). We have a list of a couple of thousand people that have signed up for the beta. I'm putting together an invitation to ask these people to join and help spread the word. I'm wondering if anyone on HN has experience with crafting these invites? Sort of like A/B testing with invites; e.g., we did this and got X conversion rate; we changed this and it went up! Are there any specific recommendations/suggestions? Thanks!

Edit: Added the below example:

NIXTY - the service that empowers education for everyone! - is launching. You are receiving this email because you know one of the co-founders or you have signed up to be notified when the service went live.

NIXTY helps students save money, grow and excel. It helps educators make money, and save time and energy. Everyone who joins gets a free ePortfolio and access to over 200 video courses from the top universities on the planet.

Sign up here (hyperlink) and help us spread the word!

Thank you, The NIXTY Team