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The web continues to define new niches every day. We find all sorts of different social groups using online tools day in and day out. From fans of television shows to people who make quilts, there are niche tools and sites for everyone.

Through all of this though, it’s important to remember traditional niches as well. While people are finding the small corners of the web that they feel they belong to, everyone belongs to broader, more familiar population segments. With that in mind, a new service has begun where you can send free online invitations from Manvite.

Manvite lets you set up an event and send an invitation to the guys. The whole site is specifically tailored to men with cute little interface items like text that says “Click here dumb ass”, below the obvious, large button after you’ve selected your event type. It’s rude, it’s crude, it’s comforting

I really like the no-nonsense front page. It’s direct, to the point and has a very appropriate look and feel. The events in the drop down list are sorted by popularity which is a good idea, but I have to wonder what the “Shoot Guns (Other)” means… They have “Shoot Guns (Hunt)”, which makes sense, but I can’t help but let my imagination run wild over the “other”…

Once you’ve chosen your event, you fill in a bunch of details that are pretty standard for any event invite. One interface critique is that after you finish filling out the invite you’re prompted for a username/password. No doubt the intent of the form was to show how easy it is to send an invite, but it is a little misleading for new users. Perhaps some sort of demo of the form with a “sign up now” button?

From a business perspective, they’ve already set themselves up a cafepress store with Manvite merchandise which isn’t a bad idea at all given that their overall theme is pretty good. They look to be wanting to generate their money from ads. That’s nothing new, but what they are doing that’s a little uncommon is that they’re soliciting ads directly. That’s a bold stance to take that has high risk/reward. If the site takes off, they stand to draw all of an advertiser’s revenue rather than just a cut. That being said, they’ll need to make a lot of noise to get noticed by advertisers.

Overall, I personally think they have a great site here that offers a fun service. You can invite the guys to whatever you feel like and check to see who’s accepted the invite, declined, etc… That way you’ll know just how many burgers you’ll need for the barbeque, chairs for poker night or rounds of ammo for the hunting trip.

The “no guts, no glory” approach to revenue generation shows that they’re planning to succeed. I like that, it’s a very bold (male) strategy. I wish them the best and they’ll be on my list the next time I’m putting something together for the guys.