Wednesday, March 2, 2011

Adaptu - Have You Tried It?

I was reading a post from a personal financial blog and noticed an ad from Adaptu. The ad caught my attention because it was asking for a pledge to eliminate $1,000 in debt. Seems like a good thing to do but why is it a good thing to spend money to advertise? I was shocked when I clicked through to the landing page and found the simplest form I have ever seen online. It asked for First Name and Zip Code. That is all the information they ask for when you take the pledge. How are they going to market to me with just my first name and zip code? Are they really doing this for me, not to collect information about me? How are they going to sell me anything? Why is this worth advertising?


Who Are You Adaptu?

Maybe I am overly skeptical, I like to think of it as appropriately careful, but who set up this site and is it really for the benefit of the community it serves? From the About Us page:
Adaptu is a new, free online financial life planning and management service. Members of Adaptu can create a personalized view of their financial life and engage with a community to help take a more active role in the financial decisions that will affect their lives.
Wow, that sounds really nice. Several words in that paragraph resonate with me: free, personalized, community, help, decisions. I make financial decisions that affect my life. I'd like free help from a community.

Where's the catch?

I know that online communities aren't free to operate. There is a cost. I know that businesses work to provide a good or service at a price that allows them to make a profit after paying their costs. So who profits from Adaptu? Again from the About Us page:
Adaptu is a wholly-owned subsidiary of StanCorp Financial Group Inc. The Standard has a 100+ year legacy of helping become more financially secure so they can confidently pursue their dreams. Adaptu shares that common cause and is continuing to push this legacy in a new way.
Other than leaving a word or two out of that description it sounds pretty good. I expect they mean that they help people become blah, blah, blah. I haven't created an account yet. I am impressed by this method of promoting a Financial Services company. I would like to know what others think of this community. Have you tried it? Please let me know what you think in the comments.

4 comments:

  1. Hey Ed,

    All great questions. As far as the pledge goes, we have partnered with Baker from ManvsDebt.com as he travels cross-country spreading his knowledge of financial freedom. Part of his road tour is getting people pledging to crush $1,000 of their debt. The name and zip code allows us to track what cities are taking the pledge. The intent is not to sell you anything with this information. We hope that by pledging to tackle debt, people will actually rise to the challenge and do it. The Adaptu community is positioned to help support anyone who wants to achieve that goal.

    In regards to “where’s the catch?” there really is no shocker. As you noticed, we are a subsidiary of StanCorp Financial Group. The Standard saw there was an opportunity to move into a new online social market that has been generally untapped by the financial industry, and thus created Adaptu.

    And finally, who are we? It seems as though you are already are on board with our ability to provide free help from a community, but we have a great set of tools as well. You can upload financial accounts, create budgets, view historical and projected spending on our monthly calendar, and much more. I definitely hope you consider creating an account and engaging with the community. Plus, freeing yourself from $1,000 of debt can never be a bad thing. I’m happy to answer any other questions that you may have!

    Jenna
    Community Manager
    Adaptu

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  2. Jenna,

    Thank you so much for answering my questions! I will be looking into the financial tools that you make available through your community.

    I'm also looking forward to crushing that $1,000 of debt.

    Ed

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  3. Good luck crushing $1,000 worth of debt. Hope you keep us posted on your progress and success!

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  4. I haven't tried Adaptu, but the thought of fighting the $1,000 worth of debt is really fascinating.

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