Adam Korbl is the co-founder of Cellswapper. He is also a serial entrepreneur, sporting a shopping list of web 2.0 sites that are currently under development and beta testing. At the top of his list are Mecanbe, a social network for self-improvement set to launch in the next few weeks, and Social Grapes, a social data aggregator that allows users to browse and set up customized alerts for millions of people profiles and events.

What are some of the challenges you are currently facing with Cellswapper?

Our toughest challenge so far has been in building awareness. Not just brand awareness, but informing and educating the market that there is a viable way out of unwanted cell phone contracts. Most people are totally unaware of this fact.

Research indicates that almost half of cell phone users would consider switching their cell phone plans if not for those hefty early termination fees. On the other hand, nobody seems to be searching Google for “get out of my cell phone contract”. It’s just not something on the radar of possibility for the majority of people. We are working hard to change that.

What is Cellswapper’s competitive advantage over competitors such as CellTradeUSA and Resellular?

Well, those guys also have an excellent product and I’m sure they have many satisfied customers. On the other hand, despite the fact that we have only been out of private beta for a short while, our traffic and reach is more than both of those guys combined.

We accomplished this by leveraging the magic word “free”. In a web 2.0 and open source era, users don’t want to have to pay for anything. That’s why we allow our customers to post their plans for free. With Cellswapper, you don’t have to make a commitment to get out of a commitment.

Another major focus for us has been in providing outstanding customer service. We are well aware that Cellswapper represents a revolutionary concept. That means that consumers are cautious and even afraid to try it out. When people are touched by genuine, human support, they sense that our priority is to help solve their problem. Heck, we are basically a .org!

Finally, we are planning on extending the Cellswapper concept globally. We have had many requests to launch our service in Canada and the UK. As a result, we are launching Cellswapper Canada in the next few days and the UK and Australian branches will be live within a few weeks.

Cellswapper seems like the kind of service that pretty much everyone will inevitably use provided you are aware that such a service exists in the first place. How is Cellswapper going about its marketing strategy to the public?

Great question but if we want to maintain the competitive advantage you asked about in the previous question, I probably shouldn’t answer this question *grin*.

Firstly, you have to checkout our cool little animation. This was supposed to be a central part of our viral campaign, but so far it hasn’t been so viral. Maybe your readers will help spread it a little more (wink wink). We are also open to suggestions for the sequel coming soon to an embedded YouTube player near you.

Our strategy definitely revolves around creating buzz. I am a big believer that Cellswapper is capable of creating waves through “word of mouth” alone. This has been the primary cause of our overwhelming traffic until now, and given the potential size of the market, I am certain that this will also be the key to our growth in the future.

Despite my confidence, we are also providing some artificial stimuli to boost our viral campaign. In fact, just yesterday we launched our new referral program. It’s a unique program because when you join you get to create your own referral name, such as Adam or Folksonomy, or whatever.

Now when tell your best friend, mother, or even your spouse about Cellswapper, you just slip your referral name into the conversation. This way, not only will they think you’re a really nice guy for helping them out of an unwanted cell phone contract, but you’ll also get a nice cash reward from Cellswapper.

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