Case Studies are a great way of learning the tricks and techniques that have already worked for successful marketers, this presentation charts the success of My Yearbook

1. Case Study of
MyYearbook.com
Harrison Kenyon
Marketing

2. OverviewOverview
MyYearbook.com was founded in 2005 by Dave and
Catherine Cook. Catherine was 15 years old at the time
and a self declared nerd. She got the idea for My
Yearbook by flipping through the pages of her own year.
She came up with the idea of creating a social site as a
way to connect with members of her high school.
In fact, Catherine and her brother were complaining
about the photos which had been chosen and wished
they could have picked their own. Then an idea sparked
about making the yearbook available online, and from
there things grew like wildfire.

3. My Yearbook has now become the leading online
community for teens. It has over 20 million users and is
growing by an estimated 20,000 users per day.
According to CEO Geoff Cook, the company ended
2009 with an annual revenue run rate of $20 million
(meaning its revenue for the most recent 12 months) —
up 70% from 2008. Most of that comes from virtual
currency within games that the company has built, with
titles like Blind Date, Owned and Quiz.
OverviewOverview

4. How the Company StartedHow the Company Started
Catherine and David received investment from their
brother Geoff of $250,000. He had already created two
successful online websites, and liked what he saw.
Once Catherine got the idea of creating a website she
started developing a basic outline of what she wanted
on the site. This included:
•Classes
•Groups
•Profiles

5. Knowing that she would be competing with the likes of
Facebook, she wanted to give her users more than just
a way to find friends. She had to decide who her target
market was and then design the site accordingly.
Catherine targeted her site to teenagers and added
specifically designed core features. Many of the
features that are on the site today are based upon
ideas and suggestions from users.
How the Company StartedHow the Company Started

6. Creating My YearbookCreating My Yearbook
Each page of the site was initially drawn by hand until a
basic outline was developed. Then Catherine and David
hired a team of developers from India to design the site.
This involved long hours and many discussions at 4am in the
morning. They got very little sleep but were committed to the
project.

7. Why it WorksWhy it Works
Content is widgetized and can be posted on Facebook,
MySpace, Xanga and more. This helps spread the word
about the site and the quality of the features. Two popular
core features are Battles and Quizzes.

8. Promotion:Promotion:
Made t-shirtsMade t-shirts -- promoting the site and wore them
everywhere.
MembershipMembership - is gained by word of mouth and
listening to members and giving them what they want.
AdvertisingAdvertising - Securing advertising with big
companies brings in huge revenue amounts.

9. Features:Features:
Leader board popularityLeader board popularity gives users the chance to vote.
Gold StarsGold Stars are used instead of Likes. Ability to share likes and
dislikes, music, favourite movies and restaurants and more.
Virtual CurrencyVirtual Currency – This feature allows users to earn Lunch
Money. This is done by completing activities on the site or by
buying it with real cash. The Lunch Money can then be spent
on virtual gifts or donated to charities.

10. Features:Features:
To date, My Yearbook has helped save 3 million square
feet of rainforest, sent 22,000 books to Africa and
bought 40,000 pounds of rice to feed the hungry. Lunch
Money can be donated by using the Causes function.
A third of the site’s revenue comes from the Lunch
Money feature. That is almost an eight figure number.
There are now over 40 games that incorporate easily
with the Lunch Money feature. Certain games provide
the chance for users to earn bonus currency.

11. Within the first month of installing games on the site,
there were over 1 million games being played daily.
ChatterChatter – This feature incorporates media sharing and
gaming to bring members together. Inside this stream
there are many games that can be played by members
including Ask Me, Rate Me and 2 Truths and a Lie.
This feature allows members to meet each other. The
Chatter feature was installed in April 2009 and by April
2010 1 million posts were being made each day!
Features:Features:

12. Time LineTime Line
•Officially launched in April 2005 from their home in Skillman, New
Jersey.
•First launched in their high school Montgomery High School in New
Jersey.
•November 2005 allowed all schools nationwide to join. By 2006
opened an office in New Hope, PA, with a staff of 12 developers.
•2006 – Signed a contract with Cliffs Notes to provide study guide
free for all members.
•2006 - Had raised $4.1 million from U.S. Venture Partners and First
Round Capital.

13. •2006 – Was voted by Nielsen Net Ratings to be among
the top sites for kids between 12 and 17.
•April 2009 - the site added the Meebo instant
messaging client in order to provide real time chat.
•January 2010 – A new site design was released for
more mass appeal. This sign was chosen through
member interactions.
•February 2010 - My Yearbook reported that the
company ended 2009 with a $20 million dollar run rate.
Time LineTime Line

14. Time LineTime Line
•May 2010 – iphone, iPod Touch, and Android applications
were added to bring the Chatter feature to real time mobile
devices.
•December 2010 - my Yearbook partnered with Viximo
service to provide better gaming opportunities for users.
•July 2011 – My Yearbook was bought by Latino social
networking site Quepasa for $100 million in cash and stock.

15. Revenue SourcesRevenue Sources
My Yearbook draws its revenue from three main sources:
•Advertising
•Virtual-currency sales
•Monthly subscriptions
Advertising makes up two-thirds of its revenue, with the
other sources making up the rest. It has an established
sales office based in New York City and Los Angeles.
My Yearbook attracts such advertisers as Neutrogena and
Disney.

16. Lessons LearnedLessons Learned
Listen to your members and users and then act on it. Take
their ideas and turn them into viable on site features.
Specifically target one market.
[Our site is] specifically for high school students, and we
really listen to the suggestions of our members.
Current membership stands at over 20 million members with
60% being female.

17. Recent AwardsRecent Awards
My Yearbook Co-founder Catherine Cook and CEO Geoff Cook
were recently named the Ernst & Young Entrepreneur Of The
Year®
2011 Greater Philadelphia Award Winners.
This award is chosen by a panel of independent judges and was
awarded on June 15 of this year.
In her acceptance speech Catherine shared her vision for the
future of the company.

18. Recent AwardsRecent Awards
"After six years of building My Yearbook into a
profitable business with $30 million in revenue, we
are thrilled to be recognized by such a prestigious
organization," said Catherine Cook. "We have big
mobile plans this year with 40 percent of our visits
now coming from mobile. We plan to mark the next
six years, continuing our pursuit in making My
Yearbook the best place to meet new people, online
and on mobile devices."

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