Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

AwesomenessReminders now has 750 paying subscribers

awesomenessreminders.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

41–50 of 65 posts

Re: AwesomenessReminders now has 750 paying subscribers

#41

Post by jacquesm »

RyanMcGreal wrote: post #37
spoiledtechie wrote: post #36

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think I would want to purchase it right now actually. My girlfriend is somewhat a depressed personality and this would def be a good self improvement for only $15.00. Shes the type that always thinks negative about themselves. I imagine everyone knows the types.

Honest question: do you think a phone call from someone paid to say, "You're awesome!" will help your girlfriend's mood?

I think the answer to that is a 'yes' but it should come from her boyfriend, not from an anonymous stranger, but even so just the gesture of a thing like that might be a net positive.

Nothing beats the attention a real live human being can give you though.

Re: AwesomenessReminders now has 750 paying subscribers

#42

Post by jacquesm »

notahacker wrote: post #34
jacquesm wrote: post #33

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's not cold calling, that's something completely different. Also I don't think you're the 'target audience', (and neither am I) but I think that for some people this might be better than nothing at all. Btw, I think you're awesome, I've been reading your stuff here on HN and it strikes me as very insightful and your positive attitude is a shining example to the rest of us here. So, how did that make you feel ;) ?

probably better knowing he didn't pay for the compliment :)

How do you know somebody didn't pay me to do that?

Re: AwesomenessReminders now has 750 paying subscribers

#43

Post by jacquesm »

petercooper wrote: post #24
houseabsolute wrote: post #13

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Pffft. I'd farm the work out to mechanical Turk. Then you don't even have to do the work yourself. :) Much more scalable and less annoying too. You could even have them call you occasionally for verification they're really putting their hearts into it.

Even better, offer a discounted service to people who agree to make a few calls themselves ;-) It could run itself.

Now that is really smart!

But you could end up in a chatroulette style situation pdq too.

Re: AwesomenessReminders now has 750 paying subscribers

#44

Post by spoiledtechie »

RyanMcGreal wrote: post #37
spoiledtechie wrote: post #36

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think I would want to purchase it right now actually. My girlfriend is somewhat a depressed personality and this would def be a good self improvement for only $15.00. Shes the type that always thinks negative about themselves. I imagine everyone knows the types.

Honest question: do you think a phone call from someone paid to say, "You're awesome!" will help your girlfriend's mood?

Yes I do. A simple gesture like that. She would like. Think of it like a $10.00 set of roses. I think she would very much appreciate the gesture. Most women like it when you show that your thinking about them.

On another note, I talk to her every night and say shes beautiful. So whats another gesture telling her shes awesome.

Re: AwesomenessReminders now has 750 paying subscribers

#45

Post by 16s »

It's like Bruce's ant farm through the mail service... "Wait a minute! You mean I can fill out this post card and they'll actually mail a real, live ant farm to the address I write down! This is awesome."

Citation - I replied: "What's really interesting is that these people will send a tube of live ants to anyone you tell them to."

http://www.schneier.com/blog/archives/2008/03/the_security_m...

Re: AwesomenessReminders now has 750 paying subscribers

#46

Post by briandoll »

We've all likely seen startups come into HN asking for a review of their app when we thought "Hey, that was MY idea!", but we never shipped it, and these guys are.

Well, I thought this was a terrible idea when I first heard about it, and even if it folds after a single month, it was well worth the investment to build it.

ship it, ship it, ship it!

Re: AwesomenessReminders now has 750 paying subscribers

#47

Post by hiroprot »

credo wrote: post #31

Interesting pricing strategy A 1-month-only subscription costs $15.( http://www.awesomenessreminders.com/aboutus.php ) A monthly subscription costs $10/month (and the subscription can be terminated at the end of the month) Some people may pay $15 to avoid the hassle of explicitly canceling the service after one month. Most will probably prefer the $10 option because it appears like a great deal (in comparison with th…

Yeah, but unlike most other subscriptions that people tend to forget about, they'll be reminded of this one each and every day.

Re: AwesomenessReminders now has 750 paying subscribers

#49

Post by jdietrich »

I think the take-away lesson is that there's no such thing as a bad idea, only a bad implementation. The internet is such a ludicrously big place that it seems that if you do just about anything, you'll find a market for it as long as you can explain it concisely and do it well.

Re: AwesomenessReminders now has 750 paying subscribers

#50

Post by jeromec »

points wrote: post #32
jacquesm wrote: post #27

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's the most literal interpretation of 'make something people want' that you could possibly do, make them feel loved. To identify an human need like this and to have the guts to follow through on it is really something special, the funniest thing of all is that in the same thread where Zack launched this he was told off by people telling him to spend more time on his projects or nothing would ever take off :) I agre…

I disagree entirely. "make them feel loved." Having some stranger cold call me and read a script at me isn't going to make me feel loved. It's going to make me pissed off and hang up the phone. But OTOH I'm British - we don't go for the smarmy at all. Sure, there's a market for this, just like there's a large market for horoscopes. But at the end of the day, it, just like horoscopes, is preying on the stupid.

But at the end of the day, it, just like horoscopes, is preying on the stupid.

Okay, I take issue with that. It actually pisses me off. Unlike horoscopes you are not led to think you'll receive something which is not actually delivered. This is a legitimate product which delivers fully on what is sold. Enjoying a positive, potentially humorous daily event does not make people like "Holly" or "Logan" from the sample phone calls "stupid". In fact, I myself have considered signing up for it. I just haven't went through with it. Not many would think I'm stupid.

I actually had an idea somewhat similar to this. It was to send a randomly timed, positive email out to a list of participants. The email wasn't to say the participant was awesome; it was just to say something positive, as opposed to being work related email, or spam messages sitting in their inbox, just something to brighten their day. I never figured out what content to put in the email, but I now bequeath that idea to AwesomenessReminders to add to their service as they see fit, because their version and implementation of positive messages is really good (and obviously selling).

True entrepreneurs know the value of motivation and encouragement. Success usually doesn't come overnight, and because entrepreneurship is a road less traveled it can be an emotionally lonely one, even with loving friends and family, because they don't really appreciate, or understand what you're trying to do. This is why tricks like posting up motivational quotes, or pictures of nice things to buy often help entrepreneurs keep slugging away. It can be tough to manufacture the consistent optimism and positive energy needed to continue down a road of setbacks, disappointments, and obstacles which can drag on for months and years. Energy cannot be created or destroyed, but only converted or transferred. If you believe this fundamental law of science then you might possibly see the value of receiving a positive, energetic message, in a world where positivity in general is quite scarce (just turn on the news). There is nothing stupid about this; in fact, it makes perfect sense. Besides, it's lighthearted and fun.

Post reply on HN