In February, fellow Four Loko enthusiast John Biggs wrote a post on Fitango, a social marketplace that allows users to learn about and buy action plans for everything from finance to fitness and romance. As Biggs pointed out at the time, many of us have problems self-motivating when it comes to getting in shape or, say, learning to speak Mandarin — and oftentimes, we’re not sure how to best attack these goals.
As such, Fitango offers its members step-by-step guides, or action plans, which include videos and detailed instructions on how to approach your education. The idea behind the plans being that you are more likely to confront your self-improvement if these efforts are broken down into manageable, bit-sized subtasks. And it helps if you have to pay for it. After all, becoming a concert-ready jazz pianist doesn’t happen overnight, and it isn’t free.
Then, once you embark on your education, Fitango gives you the ability to track your progress, ask questions of experts, and post messages and notes to help others in their educational pursuits. There’s even a badge system to help reward users as they progress, most notably a “mother-in-law” badge for members that religiously nag their friends and keep them from back-sliding.
Since launching in December, Fitango’s action plans have been determined by experts, who are chosen by the company. But the fact of the matter is that everyday users have valuable insight into performing certain tasks, too, and many of us are more inclined to listen to self-improvement advice if it comes from our friends. So, the startup is now offering regular users the ability to create and share their own action plans.
Now you can make your own action plan, and you don’t even have to know how to code. Huzzah! Embedding a video in your plan is as easy as dropping in a Youtube link. And, what’s more, if you think that your action plan is of value to your fellow Fitango-ers, you can distribute your plan through the Fintango Marketplace.
But, you won’t be able to sell your plan, because Fitango wants to ensure that when a user purchases an action plan, he or she is receiving Fitango-certified expert instruction. So you won’t be able to make big bucks (or, really any bucks), but you can have the satisfaction of knowing that you helped other people achieve their goals. And that has to be worth something, right?
Action plans are also easy to view and interact with on your iPhone or iPad. Fitango’s mobile version offers the same features as its Web version, with the exception of being unable to upload video or mp3 files. Fitango has also updated its iOS apps, which are pretty slick, and even offer retina graphics — if you’re cool like that. Fitango does not yet offer apps for Android, but those are in the works.
The New York-based startup currently has over 10,000 registered users and is drawing 20,000 monthly visitors, according to founder Dov Biran. And Biran and one outside investor have seeded Fitango with cash “in the millions”, according to VP of Business Development Parinda Muley.