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It’s the founding CEO’s job to personally email the first 1000 users

blog.thestartuptoolkit.com

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Re: It’s the founding CEO’s job to personally email the first 1000 users

#61

Post by bjoernbu »

singer wrote: post #21
fabiandesimone wrote: post #15

I've done this since day one in my startup (I'm in day 112). Not being a hacker I have to be really careful where to put my dev money, so any automation I might want to do I have to figure out ways to do it without involving the devs (that money goes to the service I'm building) I have a combination of processes: 1. User must fill out a form with their name and email in order to get the download link. For this I use…

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.

I do this and I'd definitely recommend it to anyone else. At least "real", "evil" spam mails. Clicking an unsubscribe link is a confirmation of your email address and will usually lead to more spam than less.

Re: It’s the founding CEO’s job to personally email the first 1000 users

#62

Post by drumdance »

lurker14 wrote: post #51
singer wrote: post #21

Earlier 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.

The customer is always right. Maybe your emails aren't appreciated in the spirit they are sent. Just because you cajoled someone to check a box to use your site, doesn't mean they appreciate your email campaign.

No they're not. There are a lot of jackasses in the world.

He didn't "cajole" anyone to do anything and the truth is the vast majority of people don't care one way or the other.

Re: It’s the founding CEO’s job to personally email the first 1000 users

#63

Post by mkopinsky »

mnutt wrote: post #25

One other thing that is also useful: for any automated message you send, make sure that it comes from a real address that you monitor. Many, many customers reply directly to the automated emails.

+1. (Especially) for a startup, there is no reason for announcements to come from no-reply@startup.com. I have, as a consumer, replied to emails coming from info@startup.com with praise/complaints/feedback, simply because it's easier than copy/pasting customerservice@startup.com from the bottom of the email. You _want_ to get those kinds of emails, so make sure you monitor whatever address the automated emails come from.

Re: It’s the founding CEO’s job to personally email the first 1000 users

#64

Post by mkopinsky »

rumblestrut wrote: post #60
rumblestrut wrote: post #11

I've mentioned this in another thread before, but Wufoo sent me a handwritten thank you note for being a (paid) customer one year around Christmas. Now THAT made an impression.

Ha! I found that postcard today. Here's the front and back. http://ericjgruber.com/images/wufoo-thanks-front.jpg http://ericjgruber.com/images/wufoo-thanks-rear.jpg (Note: Frank, who the card was addressed to, was the cardholder on the account but I used it all over our site, to clarify.)

You can never go wrong with dinosaur stickers!

Re: It’s the founding CEO’s job to personally email the first 1000 users

#65

Post by gizzlon »

singer wrote: post #21
fabiandesimone wrote: post #15

I've done this since day one in my startup (I'm in day 112). Not being a hacker I have to be really careful where to put my dev money, so any automation I might want to do I have to figure out ways to do it without involving the devs (that money goes to the service I'm building) I have a combination of processes: 1. User must fill out a form with their name and email in order to get the download link. For this I use…

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.

Does the link unsubscribe instantly, or must the user log in bla bla bla ..

More often than not, I find following those unsubscribe links very annoying because I have to log in and fill out 5 different forms.. and then it doesn't even work :(

Re: It’s the founding CEO’s job to personally email the first 1000 users

#67

Post by chadgeidel »

Timothee wrote: post #43
chadgeidel wrote: post #35

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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 th…

Cool, I did not know that!

I actually do unsubscribe, but I would imagine that many just hit the "spam" button to "make it go away".

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