FreeBirthdayTreats

FreeBirthdayTreats.com is a great example of a niche website that has maximal utility with minimal complication. I call sites like these Nichepedias — they have a very useful database for a very specific action or set of knowledge. The question is, how long do such sites exist before they are gobbled up by the larger compendiums of niche information? What meta-database of niche database sites is currently in greatest use? The birthday treat niche is not important enough for Mahalo and not a google-friendly search; you have to think up a question before you can search for it.

Much is made of social media and its collaborative and informational benefits. I love talking about the wisdom of the crowds and any form of collective intelligence online. But there are times where the objective is too niche for the crowd to care much about it, like where to go for a free birthday ice cream. Then again, what would this website look like if it were turbocharged by the community-at-large? Perhaps we just mash it up with Yelp and Google Maps and call it day?Thanks to Francisco Dao for turning me on to this website; it has renewed my interest in niche sites that compile useful or interesting information we didn’t know we needed and then love to share.

Attention marketing people: Are you starting to wonder what you’ll offer people on their birthday?