BTW, I was thinking that famous people like CEOs should sign their emails, espicially after the iPhone 4 antenna/BGR fiasco. At that time iOS 4 did not support S/MIME, but now that iOS 5 do, I wonder if famous people will use it.
It’s the founding CEO’s job to personally email the first 1000 users
41–50 of 67 posts
Re: It’s the founding CEO’s job to personally email the first 1000 users
#42Earlier quoted context omitted.
The link is extremely easy to find. It's the only link that appears at the bottom of my emails. Checking the box in my Gmail inbox and clicking the "Spam" button is much easier than opening the email and hunting down the unsubscribe link.
"It's the only link that appears at the bottom of my emails." Personally, I've noticed an increasing affinity for the 'tag as spam' button. It takes a certain amount of effort to scroll down, and find the unsubscribe (I'm not even sure if it's there), vs. having my inbox cleaned up by just clicking the darn 'tag as spam' button -- dead easy. Also, there's the uncertainty about how daunting the unsubscribe experience…
Adding a large button to the top would certainly make it easier for those people who open the emails and want to unsubscribe. And I wouldn't worry about the increase in unsubscribers. I'd rather help people unsubscribe than have them mark my emails as spam.
I'm assuming that the majority of people are not even opening the emails though. Hitting the spam button is just too easy. I think the system is broken.
Re: It’s the founding CEO’s job to personally email the first 1000 users
#43Earlier quoted context omitted.
Do you have any trouble with people reporting your drip emails as spam? I found that some people are reporting emails instead of clicking the unsubscribe link. Unfortunately, many email clients make that button more convenient than tracking down an uninstall link within the email.
You know what would be neat? When you click the "spam" button in Gmail (or other clients with similar functionality) and there's an "unsubscribe" link in the email then Gmail could suggest visiting the link with some kind of a notification and buttons labeled "unsubscribe" or "no, this is spam". I suppose that could be abused however.
Actually, Gmail does something close to that.
When you click "Report as spam", if it detects it's a mailing list, it offers to (try to) unsubscribe properly:
http://gmailblog.blogspot.com/2009/07/unsubscribing-made-eas...
It's a bit strange that they don't give you the option then to unsubscribe without marking as spam (you can do it but with more clicks), but I would think that if you unsubscribe and mark as spam the overall system doesn't take the spam factor at all or as much. In that case, it's probably limited to your own account.
Re: It’s the founding CEO’s job to personally email the first 1000 users
#44I'll go further and say that it's the CEO's job to personally CALL as many of the first 100 users as possible (if your startup is not aimed at developers/geeks). I've been doing what this post recommends for Cilantro. We've hit 100 signups since launching the MVP 2 months ago. A few random things I've noticed and done in addition to what's in this post: - My response rate is lower than I thought (below 20%). My hunch…
Personally, I hate to be called. It's a huge interruption. Email I can choose to deal with, but a phone call is too in-your-face.
Do you allow people to opt-out (or better yet, opt-in) for this call?
Re: It’s the founding CEO’s job to personally email the first 1000 users
#45Earlier quoted context omitted.
"It's the only link that appears at the bottom of my emails." Personally, I've noticed an increasing affinity for the 'tag as spam' button. It takes a certain amount of effort to scroll down, and find the unsubscribe (I'm not even sure if it's there), vs. having my inbox cleaned up by just clicking the darn 'tag as spam' button -- dead easy. Also, there's the uncertainty about how daunting the unsubscribe experience…
Adding a large button to the top would certainly make it easier for those people who open the emails and want to unsubscribe. And I wouldn't worry about the increase in unsubscribers. I'd rather help people unsubscribe than have them mark my emails as spam. I'm assuming that the majority of people are not even opening the emails though. Hitting the spam button is just too easy. I think the system is broken.
I'm assuming that the majority of people are not even opening the emails though.
It's probably partly our fault: we geeks have been telling our friends and family not to open suspicious or unsolicited e-mails for years.
Re: It’s the founding CEO’s job to personally email the first 1000 users
#46This is a great recommendation for a startup looking to differentiate based on customer service. I don't buy the implication that this isn't a great use of "executive time". I'm not the CEO, but I run a business unit and the buck definitely stops here. I still make time to: - respond to random emails I pick out of our customer service email queue - read all customer feedback submitted from the "feedback" tab on our w…
Agree that it feels like a waste of executive time.
Although, there's probably a bit that the exec could learn from early users, perhaps initiate conversations over features, gather pain points and so on. But there's no reason why this can't be handled by someone else on the team.
And '1000' is just a ridiculous arbitrary number. How quickly did the company get to 1000 users? Imagine replying to a 1000 early adopters who've signed-up over 5 days. It's absurd. I feel dedicating a % of the day for this, might make a little more sense.
Lastly, it's astonishing you find time for the stuff you've listed.
Re: It’s the founding CEO’s job to personally email the first 1000 users
#47I'll go further and say that it's the CEO's job to personally CALL as many of the first 100 users as possible (if your startup is not aimed at developers/geeks). I've been doing what this post recommends for Cilantro. We've hit 100 signups since launching the MVP 2 months ago. A few random things I've noticed and done in addition to what's in this post: - My response rate is lower than I thought (below 20%). My hunch…
Personally, I hate to be called. It's a huge interruption. Email I can choose to deal with, but a phone call is too in-your-face. Do you allow people to opt-out (or better yet, opt-in) for this call?
Hackers hate to be called ... the average Gen X small business owner doesn't. They are used to being on the phone. Plus, a single phone call can often get you information that would require 10 back-and-forth emails.
A Phone number is required because we're building them a website. If it wasn't required, then yes, I'd probably still ask for it but include an opt-in checkbox.
Re: It’s the founding CEO’s job to personally email the first 1000 users
#48This is a great recommendation for a startup looking to differentiate based on customer service. I don't buy the implication that this isn't a great use of "executive time". I'm not the CEO, but I run a business unit and the buck definitely stops here. I still make time to: - respond to random emails I pick out of our customer service email queue - read all customer feedback submitted from the "feedback" tab on our w…
Agree that it feels like a waste of executive time. Although, there's probably a bit that the exec could learn from early users, perhaps initiate conversations over features, gather pain points and so on. But there's no reason why this can't be handled by someone else on the team. And '1000' is just a ridiculous arbitrary number. How quickly did the company get to 1000 users? Imagine replying to a 1000 early adopters…
Whether or not it's a waste of time depends on the commitment you've made to your customers. Jobs obsessed over design for a reason. Our promise is to provide exceptional customer service, so that's how we prioritize our time.
Re: It’s the founding CEO’s job to personally email the first 1000 users
#49Earlier quoted context omitted.
"It's the only link that appears at the bottom of my emails." Personally, I've noticed an increasing affinity for the 'tag as spam' button. It takes a certain amount of effort to scroll down, and find the unsubscribe (I'm not even sure if it's there), vs. having my inbox cleaned up by just clicking the darn 'tag as spam' button -- dead easy. Also, there's the uncertainty about how daunting the unsubscribe experience…
Adding a large button to the top would certainly make it easier for those people who open the emails and want to unsubscribe. And I wouldn't worry about the increase in unsubscribers. I'd rather help people unsubscribe than have them mark my emails as spam. I'm assuming that the majority of people are not even opening the emails though. Hitting the spam button is just too easy. I think the system is broken.
@Nitrogen, that sounds like a different issue. But, yes, it could be an issue if you're sending email with confusing subject lines.
The comments at the following link show what I'm referring to -- people taking the easy way out: http://ask-leo.com/why_shouldnt_i_use_the_report_spam_or_jun...
Re: It’s the founding CEO’s job to personally email the first 1000 users
#50Earlier quoted context omitted.
Do you have any trouble with people reporting your drip emails as spam? I found that some people are reporting emails instead of clicking the unsubscribe link. Unfortunately, many email clients make that button more convenient than tracking down an uninstall link within the email.
Not really. My audience is very engaged :)
Can you post a link? I'd like to check out your product.