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Rate my weekend project, Thursday Flowers: a thoughtfulness service

thursdayflowers.com

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Re: Rate my weekend project, Thursday Flowers: a thoughtfulness service

#22

Post by adamfblahblah »

ssharp wrote: post #20
adamfblahblah wrote: post #3

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm so on the fence with the ads. I agree they clutter up the design. We've made the big $0.04 on the ads so far... I'd much rather send well formed and target recommendations with the suggestions. tl;dr - we'll probably kill them, but thought it would be cool to buy a beer with the proceeds.

Definitely kill the AdWords. Those ads, at least for me, are not relevant at all (diabetic socks, huh?). As others have suggested, you can monetize with the affiliate ads in the emails that relate to what you're suggesting ("Need flowers? Try FTD.com"). Those ads will bring in higher revenues because they are relevant. AdWords feel really cheap here.

DEAD. I hated them as well.

Re: Rate my weekend project, Thursday Flowers: a thoughtfulness service

#23

Post by adamfblahblah »

smbwrs wrote: post #12

Wonderful idea. I signed up. Nth-ing the suggestion on tweaking the ads. They're definitely jarring. Perhaps try to pick up some sponsorships? 1800Flowers, etc.

The ads are dead. We'll probably look for sponsorship if running the sites ends up costing anything. It is on google app engine, so everything is free right now.

Re: Rate my weekend project, Thursday Flowers: a thoughtfulness service

#25

Post by adamfblahblah »

ses wrote: post #18

This is just an opinion, but if you need reminding to be thoughtful, you've already lost a lot of the essence of what thoughtfulness is all about. Being given suggestions about how to be thoughtful further removes the 'thought' from the so called 'thoughtful' act. Though I haven't signed up, in technical terms I'm sure its a fair achievement for a weekend project, however I really think it misses the mark in an area…

Isn't it a thoughtful act to sign up for this service? :)

We're not ignoring non-romantic thoughtfulness in the sense that we don't know about them and the potential in those users, but rather ignore them in order to get something out the door and gauge interest.

We too worry about showing up like spam. Our current algorithm is to send a mail no sooner than 7 days but no later than 21 days after the last notification, which hopefully isn't too often. We're looking at adding user accounts to let people customize this timeframe and the suggestions.

Thanks for the feedback!

Re: Rate my weekend project, Thursday Flowers: a thoughtfulness service

#26

Post by rgraham »

ses wrote: post #18

This is just an opinion, but if you need reminding to be thoughtful, you've already lost a lot of the essence of what thoughtfulness is all about. Being given suggestions about how to be thoughtful further removes the 'thought' from the so called 'thoughtful' act. Though I haven't signed up, in technical terms I'm sure its a fair achievement for a weekend project, however I really think it misses the mark in an area…

You are what you repeatedly do. Practice makes perfect.

If you're not thoughtful on your own I can't really think of a better way to train yourself to be. Practicing thoughtfulness when you know you're not great at it seems quite thoughtful to me.

I also think anyone who is frequently trying to do romantic things can fall into a rut. New ideas are welcome and fun.

I like the idea. Congrats on shipping.

Finally, I think providing a way to purchase/deliver the ideas in the email is a good way to make some affiliate cash.

Re: Rate my weekend project, Thursday Flowers: a thoughtfulness service

#28

Post by jamesjyu »

adamfblahblah wrote: post #3
jakewalker wrote: post #2

Are you really making enough from the ads on the bottom of the page to let it clutter up your design? If you continued to develop this so your special offers would allow me to do whatever it is (send flowers, etc.) with one click or one reply e-mail, that'd be great.

I'm so on the fence with the ads. I agree they clutter up the design. We've made the big $0.04 on the ads so far... I'd much rather send well formed and target recommendations with the suggestions. tl;dr - we'll probably kill them, but thought it would be cool to buy a beer with the proceeds.

Yes, please kill them. You're trading long term value for a (very) small amount of short term value.

Go long term, all the way.

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