Cagora is Coming – Expect Some Buzz!
Cagora is a new social community and marketplace that is opening up officially next month (in April 2009). I expect there will be a lot of buzz about this – both online and offline – over the next year, so you’ll want to check this out pretty quick. If you haven’t already signed up for your free account at Cagora you’ll want to do that today…
The name Cagora was derived from Agora, which was an open marketplace and public assembly in ancient Athens, Greece. The “C” represents Community, and the name Cagora represents a Community Marketplace online similar to the Ancient Agora of Athens.
Rob Anderson is the man behind Cagora, and I’ve had the opportunity to meet with him twice to hear about the concepts behind this new community – once in Atlanta last year, and again on my recent trip to Australia.
I struck up a great friendship with Rob over the last year, and took a serious interest in the Cagora project – both of which are going to benefit you. 
There are a couple of things I want to tell you about Cagora, so you’ll get an idea of why I’ve taken such a serious interest in it. On the surface it appears to be your basic social network or online community, but it’s actually very deep and complex in it’s inner workings – and in it’s profit potential. And that is what sets it apart from sites like MySpace and Facebook.
Once you grasp the full potential of Cagora, you’ll understand why I’m so excited about the public launch. I have a strong gut feeling about it, founded in two very good reasons…
First is that I know what Rob Anderson has invested in this project. Cagora is not something that was thought up and brought to launch in the last 90 days – this project has been in the works for almost a decade now. Second is the number of people on board, from founding members to investors. This is not a fly-by-night-site but a project similar in size to pioneers like eBay, MySpace and Facebook to name a few.
What sets Cagora apart is that it’s for real people- Not just for teens, not just social, not just online. I see Cagora as a great way to bridge the gap between offline and online worlds, from interest groups to local markets, and all of the pockets in between.
Like I said before, it’s complex. And you may not wrap your brain around it in one sitting. I know I didnt. But it’s complexity is part of it’s beauty, and you don’t actually have to study it just yet or feel like you have a good grasp of the concepts.
All you really need to do at this point is make sure you’re signed up as a member. Register for a free account. You’ll want to do that now – before Sunday, March 15th – and I’ll tell you why…
In order to give Cagora a proper launch, Rob is giving founding members 2-Tier JV status. That offer is only good until March 15th, but if you join before then you’ll have that member status forever. If you do nothing else with Cagora, make sure you sign up. Period.
If you wait, and this thing hits as big as I expect it will… you’ll be kicking yourself this time next year:
http://cagora.com/launchjv/go/lynnterry
You’ll see the video intro at that link ^ and you can register for free there as well. The video will give you a better overview of what Cagora is all about, and how you can benefit from getting involved.
There’s a reason that you haven’t heard about this anywhere else yet, and a huge opportunity lies in that reason. I am working closely with Rob Anderson on the public launch of Cagora, and to bring in the founding launch partners. The people who will help spread the word about it, and ultimately stand to earn the most profit from it.
Several weeks ago I held a private meeting with my inner circle and a select group of A-list Internet Marketers. The following week I hosted a public webinar where Rob gave a detailed presentation about Cagora. And now I’m inviting you.
Again, if you do nothing else, just make sure you sign up (yes, it’s free) before Sunday March 15th. Even if you do nothing with it now, you’ll be ’set’ should you decide to look into it more later. There is a lot of earning potential (much of it long-term passive earning potential) and having that 2-Tier status could make a huge difference to you later.
Sign up here:
http://cagora.com/launchjv/go/lynnterry
I am already earning money with Cagora – and you can too. As a free member, you’ll earn 20% on any sales within Cagora. If you become a Community Partner, you’ll earn 40%.
I chose to become a Community Partner myself and invested in two local areas: Warren County, TN (my hometown) and Mornington Peninsula (my favorite vacation spot). This puts me in a sweet position, because I can earn more passively if people find & join through these two areas of the site (even if I dont refer them personally).
I won’t get into all that because it starts to get complex from there. Like I said, just go through the quick sign-up process for now, and you can explore the options later if you like.
This is not an MLM set-up, and Rob doesn’t want it perceived as such, which is why the opportunity to become a 2-Tier JV Partner is very limited. It is a generous opportunity, and only available to people who sign up during pre-launch before March 15th, which is why you want to register now.
Once you sign up, flesh out your profile a bit and explore some of the local areas or interest groups. There are opportunities to add your links, there are niche & local forums, and much more you can do to both contribute to Cagora and gain some exposure for yourself and your business.
To see an example, this is my profile on Cagora:
http://usa.cagora.com/people/lynnterry/home
See you there!
p.s. The one thing you want to make sure you do is sign up for a FREE account today. Go ahead and put that link on your MySpace & Facebook profiles too. Why risk losing out if this thing goes BIG? You’ll earn commission even as a free member, and if you get in now, you’ll earn 2-tiers of commission.
I’m meeting up with Rob Anderson again next week while I’m in Melbourne, so I’ll be sure to get some pictures and/or video to share here when I return!
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I am on Cagora – thanks to you Lynn! Here’s my profile page:
http://usa.cagora.com/people/TraciKnoppe/home
Can’t wait to see photos/video of your meetup with Rob! Have a safe trip.
Follow me @TraciKnoppe on Twitter.
Thanks, Traci – I’ll be in Melbourne on Monday and staying over for a few days. Looking forward to catching up with Rob and getting an update on the Cagora launch in person.
Thanks for posting your link – I’d love for everyone that has a profile or property on Cagora to post a link so others can see some examples of what we are doing there.
Follow me @lynnterry on Twitter.
Not quite sure I get it yet, but here’s the link nonetheless:
http://usa.cagora.com/people/crettig/home
Hi Lynn — I’m on also — although not so sure what this will all lead to.
Here’s my profile link:
http://usa.cagora.com/people/youcould2/home
I’ll be watching to learn more.
Peace …
Even if Cagora ISN’T huge, who can complain about joining something with such potential for not even one penny??
http://usa.cagora.com/people/WAHumor/home
Follow me @DanReinhold on Twitter.
I’ve signed up, but don’t have everything set up yet. Still trying to see how this can be used.
http://kentucky.cagora.com/people/ephillips413/home
Hi Lynn – I’m the community partner for my county and my town. Developing the profiles is right near the top of my to do list
I’ve also already started making money from Cagora, and I’m really excited about the future
Lisa and Lynn,
If you don’t mind me asking, how are you making money from Cagora?
Eric,
The big opportunity right now is in spreading the word. The VRE (Virtual Real Estate) is HOT and its going to go fast over the next few months. That includes local areas and interest groups. Just letting people know about them is how you can earn money – 20% as a free member, 40% if you’re a Community Partner. Lisa and I are both CP (meaning we’ve bought some VRE of our own at Cagora).
Follow me @lynnterry on Twitter.
Hey Lynn,
I’ve become a Community Partner as well. I’ll be looking for ideas on capitalizing on this status as well as ideas to help grow the community. Should be fun!
chriscobb
Follow me @chriscobb on Twitter.
Hi Lynn – Thanks so much for giving us the opportunity to get in on the “ground floor”. Joe and I are community partners for our area in NC. We especially like the idea that part of the income generated from Cagora goes to non-profits in our community. How great is that!
http://camping.usa.cagora.com/people/Sherrinc/home
Hi Lynn and everyone,
Please do go ahead and signup today – as Dan says really no risk – I did want to let you know though, that with some delays on a rewrite of the Community Blueprint that we are going to send out an email soon about extending the JV opportunity until March 31st.
http://cagora.com/launch41/go/lynnterry is a draft of one of several new versions of marketing pages we’ll have up shortly.
Further to Lynn’s comments on how you make money here – it will be very much through commissions, revenue share and a share of our profits (80% distributed) that you will earn.
As Lynn and the other successful marketers teach, the real opportunity on line is Niches targetting mainstream users. We’re adding the other ‘long tail’ opportunity of Local Search (bricks and mortar small biz money) and then making it easy with a turnkey system that’s powered by Community.
So just like Facebook, YouTube and Wikipedia we’ll be creating ONE community per Niche and Local area and getting mainstream people to add the content, create the traffic and buy the products so that our affiliates and Community Partners who kick start things get to benefit for years to come.
It’s a bit like the “Tom Sawyer” approach of giving people pain brushes and having them do the work and you benefit for years to come as the ‘go to person’ or expert who kicked started things in your chosen niche or local community.
Imagine if Facebook changed their rules and only allowed one community per topic rather than 100s of groups and made that community into something that wasn’t just a place to socialize but that it was seen as a search destination to find what you want online – products, services, engaging content, seminars, advice, local businesses, non profits etc.
AND you could be the Partner for that ‘World’
AND they then shared the traffic and profits with the people like you who created this new style network of one-stop local and special interest worlds.
The products that you will earn from tend to be digital recurring products that will throw off commissions for years to come – even if you never spend a cent. We are rolling them out in phases.
1. Community Partnerships (Entrepreneurs)
2. Sponsorships (Businesses)
3. Local Search Dominator (Local Businesses)
4. General Advertising (eg Bonsai in Denver)
5. Expos and Seminars (Consumers)
6. eBooks and Home Study Courses (Consumers)
So the more people and businesses you get tagged with you as their referrer, the bigger your long term income potential,. If they join now and buy in 10 years – you earn
Hope that explains it a little better
Hi Lynn,
Thank you for the heads-up on Cagora. I probably would have missed it, but now I am signed up. Let’s hope it is as BIG as you and I think it will be.
Peace!
Hi Lynn,
Here is my referral link: http://cagora.com/go/LiamCostello
I have surfed some of the sites. Can someone explain how to get to the area to become a community partner? Thanks.
Whoa… lots to go through here! Am not sure I understand it all, well enough to figure out what to do. I am established fairly well online in 2 particular niches – which might be good “Special Interest” worlds, if their categories exist. And I am also doing much more work right now, helping local brick-and-mortar people with Internet Marketing – so there’s THAT potential, too.
Where can I read about the foundations of this idea? I had tried SearchBigDaddy, seemed to be a big deal for while, but that fizzled out…
Hi Bill,
If you go to any of the Local Menu worlds or to Local Interests you can drill down from broad areas to local areas. For example you can start with USA and go to the various states and then to cities and suburbs. You can also look at interests like Internet Marketing then article marketing. Each segment you can make a favorite. In the menus you will see dollar amounts for becoming a community partner.
As a community partner for a “world” you are in the driver’s seat in terms of future advertising opportunities and commissions and selecting charities for the world.
Rob Anderson can provide additional information and videos explaining community partnerships and the opportunities.
Feel free to drop me an email if you want more information about my involvement. I think Lynn is traveling, but she will also have more information for you when she arrives at her destination.
Chris Cobb
Follow me @chriscobb on Twitter.
Thanks so much, Chris. I see exactly what you mean. After a while after my sign-up I got references to more explanatory areas for community partnerships. Maybe they were there before, but I just didn’t see them.
As Terry said, it is a lot to get your mind around right up front, but I am beginning to get more and more of it and it is looking more and more exciting.
I was involved for a while some years ago with an MLM organization that was trying to do some similar things, but without the organizational structure. Their big hitters had gotten there with spam email engines just as they were getting pounced on and they had no good techniques for new people to build downlines legally.
I realize that this is definitely not an MLM situation, which I think is good. The local area or ‘world’, zip codes, and niche structure is very fascinating.
Thanks again.
Bill Costello
Thank you Chris
I will be out of town for about a week, but I’ll check in on comments here at the blog and also at the SSWT Forum. Those will be the best way to reach me as I’m not taking email with me this trip.
Bill & Diana – be sure to get in touch with Rob Anderson if you have any questions at all. I’m glad you see the HUGE opportunity with Cagora! Amazing, isnt it?
Browse through the site, the areas, the documents in your account, etc – there’s a lot of cool stuff to check out!
Follow me @lynnterry on Twitter.
Hi Lynn, My referral link is http://usa.cagora.com/people/jcole/home I am a community partner for williamson county just south of Nashville. I sent out some e-mails to family and had a couple sign up tonight. Have fun on your trip. John and Sharon Cole
Diana and Bill,
I’m connecting with you directly , but if anyone else has questions or would like a free consult on how to get the most out of Cagora, then please just drop me an email to rob@cagora.com
Thanks for the heads up Lynn. After reading your post, am now off to get my spot for free.
I tried to subscribe 3 or 4 hours ago but still get USA Access Denied and haven’t gotten any kind of email – does it usually take this long? Didn’t know whether to start over. It does NOT let me log in using the email and password I signed up with.
No, Diana, it shouldn’t take that long. I’m sure Rob will straighten it out if you contact him. He’s very quick to respond.
Hi! Here is my referral link http://usa.cagora.com/people/jcole/home Hope you have a fun trip. John Cole
When Robert explained Cagora as Facebook with only one group per niche it all ‘clicked.’ Talk about beauty in simplicity. Here’s my page http://canada.cagora.com/people/karriflatla/home
I’ll be watching this one closely. It’s time to funnel the madness into something more manageable for those who don’t live and breathe the web like we do
Thanks for the tip-off Lynn!
Cheers.
I signed up to clicknewz after hearing you on IMW, just in time to catch this opportunity.
Should be fun!
Hey Lynn, thanks for the heads-up, I’ve been looking for something similar to this. BTW, your new Clicknewz look is ‘great’! Thanks again…
Not really sure wht to do next but I am on board!
John, keep reading the materials, watching the videos, and asking questions. It took me a little while to wrap my brain around it all, but now that I understand it I’m totally on board
Still not sure what I’m doing but I joined up. I have to still fill out my info and find my way around.
http://usa.cagora.com/people/angienewton/home
I am doing the same – fleshing out my profile & properties, checking out interest groups and joining a few, etc. That’s a good place to start. Rob is working on some new material for us, so keep your eyes peeled for email updates
Follow me @lynnterry on Twitter.
Lynn, if you don’t mind me asking – email me privately if you want – you say you’re earning money already with Cagora.
How?
I’m really trying to focus my time/money/efforts on what I KNOW will produce an income for me – and Cagora is an unknown quantity as yet. Just haven’t grasped the earning potential, I think. I’ll ask Rob this too but would like your insights. I respect YOU – otherwise I’d fluff Cagora off as “just another launch”, there have been hundreds (if not thousands!) that I’ve looked at in the past 10+ years.
Diana
If you scroll up and read Rob’s reply, that should help explain things for you about the profit potential:
http://www.clicknewz.com/1863/cagora/comment-page-1/#comment-212302
The way that I am earning money with Cagora already is by capitalizing on the “community landrush” – by selling VRE (virtual real estate) on Cagora. NOW is the time to do that, as it will sell *fast*.
Follow me @lynnterry on Twitter.
VRE – so you’re making commissions right now from people who are paying to become the partners of the worlds and niche areas?
That’s another thing I don’t understand either – how you make money as a Partner for a niche. As I understand it, there’s not really a way to promote your own products – if you earn income, it will be from advertising, information products and conferencing products, for example. (See http://usa.cagora.com/earninfo)
How do I know, before spending my money on becoming a partner, that there will BE info products etc in the niche/world I choose? If I could promote my own products/affiliate links, I’d be a lot more comfortable.
Diana
PS Appreciate your patience! Just won’t promote what I can’t understand.
Lynn – so you’re actually getting commissions when people pay to become a partner for one of the niches/worlds, is that what you’re saying?
I’m not real clear how the income potential works there, either. According to http://usa.cagora.com/earninfo, you can earn commissions on advertising & info products & conferencing etc – but I don’t see anything about being able to sell your OWN products or promote your OWN affiliate links.
What if there aren’t info products etc for my niche? What if advertising demand isn’t high? If I could promote my own products I KNOW I’d make money – perhaps I’m wrong, but I don’t see a way to do that.
Appreciate your patience – I just will not promote something I can’t understand.
Diana
Yes, correct. Have you read the Community Blueprints? Rob is coming out with new blueprints as well, which should be available within the next few days. That should explain things more clearly
Follow me @lynnterry on Twitter.
Diana – Here’s some more info on how the partnerships work
http://cagora.com/community-partners/go/lynnterry
I’ll be emailing out over the next 5 days some Video scripts
we’re having done about Cagora to help fast track
getting the ‘light bulb moment’ of what Community Marketing (also called by others Tribal Marketing) can do for your niche.
http://cagora.com/tour/go/lynnterry has the forms to subscribe
to the newsletters
As far as how you can promote your products one of the main
ways is through the ads in the right hand column
http://organicgardening.cagora.com
see how on the right hand side that links out to
a blog that one of our Community Partners (CP)
has created to get sales of her products
(actually at this stage they are just affiliate
products she’s pushing but could just as
well be her own should she develop them).
She has that ad spot free until July 31st as the CP
and then gets $750 in ad credits to continue
to advertise in that spot for her $750 outlay.
Think of Cagora as a traffic source to drive
people to your own nice offers and yes
as a Community Partner you get extra exposure just
like About.com
(You’ll see Organic Gardening has a link
to Patricia’s profile)
Cagora gives you the opportunity to have
a competitive advantage of being the
main ‘Go To Person’ in your niche.
Although if you miss out or decide not to
grab it, you will still be able to participate
and get free exposure or buy ads. It’s just
that the first person in will have the
Partner advantage and get a share of
your and others advertising spend
in these really targeted niche communities.
Imagine if Facebook changed their rules and
had only one Group and you could get that
extra brand exposure to help you dominate
your niche. Cagora has only one World
per topic and rather than just being a place
to meet like Facebook, It’s a learning, meeting
and marketplace: a little like going
to a 365 x 24 x7 Expo for your niche that brings
together visitors, experts, businesses and
non profits all under the one roof.
I couldn’t help but feel a bit antsy reading “One time out of pocket Expense (2 yearly fees deducted from earnings ONLY if revenue share is high enough)” on the side by side Affiliate/Developer comparison chart (http://canada.cagora.com/compare-side-by-side). Rob – can you tell me how those fees are structured?
Thanks.
The fee to be a Community Partner varies depending upon the size of the Niche or Local Community
You’ll see pricing if you are logged in
http://cagora.com/local/menu/go/lynnterry
http://cagora.com/interests/menu/go/lynnterry
The vast majority of worlds will be $500
(The Long Tail) but Manhattan is $5000 and
Music is $16,000
So if you became the partner for a $500 world,
then unless you earn $5000 in Rev Share within
2 years, no extra fees are deducted for the
next period.
After that we deduct fees assuming your Rev Share
is at least $1000 and with every fee deduction
you get Ad Credits and your referrer earns
commissions
Cannot log in and am waiting for a new password to be emailed to me – but just to make sure, is there a March 31st deadline I should be trying to beat (as far as telling others) or is it now April 30th?
Diana
There has been a problem with logins over the weekend. You just need to click the reset password link, enter your email, click on the link in the email that comes shortly, click the login button and then enter your password twice. You can use your old password if you want.
Follow me @chriscobb on Twitter.
Hi Diana –
The deadline for the JV affiliate status is the 31st. People can still sign up after that, but it will be at the single-tier affiliate level.
Hope that helps!
That clarifies it – thanks! Hope I get my email soon so I can log in – was 4 hours or so ago that I submitted the reset password request.
you might want to check your spam folder or submit it again. I just submitted my request and the email came right away.
Been checking – no luck. Have tried 4 times. ????
If anyone does have problems with the password reset you can just email rob@cagora.com with what you’d like it set to and I’ll take care of it myself.
With the deadline of tomorrow for 2nd tier to disappear – despite really not wanting to change the date again I have had quite a bit of feedback that with delays in getting these new movies and the blueprints out, we are considering an extension.
I’ll make a call on this tomorrow as we will want to be confident that it doesn’t get extended again. We are considering April 30th and pushing launch back to May 15th to maximize people’s opportunities to get in the people with leverage that you’d like with better converting front end pages.
So stay tuned- I’ll be back here tomorrow with news as well as an announcement via the newsletter http://cagora.com/tour/go/lynnterry has the newsletter subscription if you are not already on the entrepreneurs newsletter.
Cagora is a little confusing to navigate.
Hi Eric
it is a problem with it being so large
Before long it will have millions of pages and so whilst set up to Browse – it is often easier to Search – just bear in mind only half the worlds are up as yet
This version of the site is a prototype and part of the next phase is gettinbg the users to identify suggestions on the new navigation options. We will have several options including a 3D interface so you feel like you’re there for people who find the text based navigation less intuitive.
There are 4 aspects to things
1. The information as to what the Business Moderl is about and the Opportunity – this is under the tour http://cagora.com/tour-site-map/go/lynnterry and includes the main marketing communications pages
2. Then there is the Network of Local and Special Interest Worlds that can be either navigated by drilling down from high level worlds like USA via the tag clouds to Texas to Rio Grande Valley to McAllen or via the menus http://cagora.com/interests/menu/go/lynnterry and http://cagora.com/local/lynnterry
3. There there is all the content and people and businesses within a World
4. There there is the My Account members area with additional info
Lynn –
I was on a call with you over a month ago and went ahead and sign up to see how this unfolded. There seemed to be a lack of hype promoting this so I felt that what I was looking at was a serious long-term opportunity to get involved at the launch of a new marketplace which is appealing.
I have the a tremendous amount of respect for you and your diligence in vetting out anything that you associate with your name,so needless to say you confidence as expressed on you web call this morning caused me to come back tonight and get caught up.
Thank you for everything you do to raise the bar in our profession.
James
http://Twitter.com/AskJamesHolmes
Can anyone tell me if its to late to get invloved?
JV status has been extended to May 15 which is launch day. Would welcome your involvement. SEO world needs a community partner.
Follow me @chriscobb on Twitter.
Not At All – In fact we’ve had requests to extend the JV opportunity due to delays in getting the new marketing materials and blueprint out – so we have extended and anyone that joins before the full launch in Mid May will be a JV affiliate. Even after that there will still be lots of opportunity – but the early movers get a bigger slice.
The main marketing push won’t be starting until next week, so you’ve come in at a great time.
Did the JV opportunity make the adjusted May 15th launch day or has it been delayed? How is the community there? There are so many social networking sites out there…I am just wondering what sets this site apart from the rest and if it is worth attempting to balance yet another one in my marketing efforts.
Can anyone tell me if the JV opportunity actually launched on the postponed May 15th date or if it has been delayed again? How have all of your experiences been in using this social networking site? I already maintain quite a few but if it is an active community I am not above trying out another one.
Hi Rob Anderson here, so you’ll get a biased answer
Yes we definitely think it’s worth a balance. It is fundamentally a different business model to Social Networking although that is part of it. It’s a network of Community Marketplaces that has just one venue per topic not 100s of groups. We’re combining the Community aspects of Social Networking with the commerce/market aspects of companies like Google and eBay.
http://cagora.com/tour/go/lynnterry will give you and idea.
Note the apprentice training that started this week.
http://cagora.comlaunchearn/go/lynnterry is probably your best starting point.
The JV opportunity has been extended to June 30th and
its free so definitely worth hopping in.
best regards,
Rob
First off…Lynn sorry about the doublw comment there…please feel free to delete either one of them…for some reason I couldn’t see that my original comment was being considered for moderation so I thought I messed something up when I posted it.
@Rob…thanks for such a quick response. I will definitely check out both of the links you provided for Lynn’s pages as soon as I get to the office tomorrow and will get in on the JV opportunity under her.
Hi Lynn
Wow I see that every one has joined, I have to say that this is the first that I have ever heard of this and unfortunately like Face Book we are not allowed it here in the office so I have noted everything and will be signing up at home. Be seeing you soon on Cagora.