Since becoming involved in the blockchain world, I've seen more than a few ICO's being born and dozens of trading platform companies peddling their wares to the online world. As a marketer, I am always fascinated by the first rule of marketing
Know Your Audience
Thus, I've taken a careful look at who it is that pumps money into new token drops and flocks to the various trading platforms to do so. I've found that they are mostly male, mostly young, and come from a wide variety of backgrounds, geographic areas and income levels. In short, it appears to be a young man's game. It also appears to be a short term thing, hoping for a big score, quickly before moving on to a new opportunity.
I can't speak for all or even most women when it comes to how and why women invest in something, but I do know that when I invest I take my time and look over the company carefully, returning several times over a space of weeks or even months before making a decision. I carefully compare choices before settling on one. I think many women are the same. We see so much hype on a daily basis that we have become immune to it and dig deeper rather than do a knee jerk reaction impulse buy. We are loyal customers, and it takes a lot before we change to another brand, another company, another trading platform after we have made our choice.
When it comes to trading platforms, I must admit I have tuned most of them out. The noise level is high, the charts are boring and pretty much the same, the promises might use different wording but are pretty much the same. To me, as a female consumer, there is nothing to really differentiate each platform, and nothing that makes any one of them truly stand out in the crowded field. They all say they are easy to use, they all offer the same "big crypto coins" and they all compete on low or no trading fees.
But then something happened a few weeks ago that made a tremendous impression on me. I edited some video interviews for a trading platform - Trade.io. As I dug into the project, I became impressed with the people behind this company. Several were interviewed, as well as others outside the company including a woman who was helping put together an educational blockchain project that would train the people we need for the future of the blockchain eco system.
The interviewees ranged from C suite execs to sales and marketing, to tech types charged with keeping things up and running. I watched their body language as well as listened to their words. They were relaxed, but passionate about their work and the company. They had learned from the ineveitable mistakes that every young company makes, and had a clear path for the future. In short, they were pretty damned impressive!
After finishing the video work, I hopped over to the trade.io website and started digging. There were the things I expected, a user friendly trading platform engaged in buying and selling major and some minor cryptocurrencies. But there were several surprises that warmed the cockles of my female investment heart.
And every day interest is earned on those funds in the liquidity pool. In essence you're loaning your tokens to trade.io. Now THAT'S different. But I also saw a couple other areas on the website that drew me in.
Ico Consulting caught my eye. they seem to have a group of people dedicated to helping ICO's raise funding. They have taken their own experiences funding their own ICO and combined it with their financial and marketing team to help lead ICO's through the thicket maze that is ICO funding. They offer services from prep through launch and beyond. They even stressed community building and social media traction! They don't just grab a white paper and toss it into a Twitter blast, they're there for the entire journey and beyond.
The Angel Investment page was my next stop on this journey of discovery. Ahhh, they invest in ICO's that they have vetted and checked out. And they use some of the liquidity pool funds for that purpose. That ties everything together. They have a liquidity fund that I can buy into, then they consult with ICO's which gives them the opportunity to check that ICO out at a level rarely seen in other platforms, and THEN they do an Angel Investment to the cream of the crop! That's like Shark Tank for ICO's! A panel of experts going over the pitch, and rewarding the winners with an investment that gives them a leg up. As my Brit friends would say, "Bloody brilliant!". A complete ICO ecosystem!
Trade.io has a plethora of tools, everything from the typical media like banners and other ad assets to landing page layouts, swipe files, videos, and more. You name it, they've got it. Their explainer video on that page was very well done both from an information standpoint and from a technical video creation standpoint. I almost signed up on the dotted line right then and there - a company in a new niche, who exhibits extreme competency in every area of their business, and furnishes a rather incredible suite of marketing tools for the affiliate network. It sure ticked all my boxes for an affiliate network!
I thought I was done with the site, but then I clicked on the News tab. ICO News, Company News, Daily Commentary, Airdrops, Crypto News - they had it all. I almost felt like I was looking at a mini CoinDesk! I have to admit I probably spent about two hours going from article to article - each one well written and info packed, not fluffy stuff just used to fill space.
So bottom line - after two + years in the crypto/blockchain space, I'm going to dip my toe in the water and join the trade.io platform. It's different, it has a cohesive plan that will take the company and the investors into the next decade. It has the experienced management team I want to see handling my hard earned money. It has an affiliate program that looks to be a great partnership between affiliates and trade.io.
AND it pays me daily interest!
I know that the bulk of trade.io's users will be younger males looking to score a quick hit. And there's nothing wrong with that! But this trading platform is also the one that is attractive to the long term loyal female customer who wants to accumulate a nest egg as a hedge against the financial upheavals that the modern world tosses out on a regular basis. And THAT is what sets trade.io apart from the crowded field of crypto platforms, ICOs and investments.