Tom Markiewicz - Latest Comments in How Do You Prefer Web Startups Communicate?

Re: How Do You Prefer Web Startups Communicate?

Timo Zimmermann — Tue, 14 Jul 2009 01:48:37 -0000

I prefer blogs I can subscribe. At least for big updates.
My feedreader is something I use on a daily basis and I have time to sort the feeds. Check updates and new features of products on a free weekend and read the stuff that is really important on the go on my iPhone.

A notification on the site is nice - you reach every user. IMHO really important since not everybody will subscribe a email newsletter, a blog or something else.

Twitter is nice for short stuff like "we are working on feature xyz", "fixed 950 security holes" or "we just sold all your information to facebook - haha" but not for big updates. The chance to miss something is just too big.

(btw.: did you ever take a look at your page and tried to comment with NoScript enabled or JavaScript disabled?)

Re: How Do You Prefer Web Startups Communicate?

tmarkiewicz — Mon, 13 Jul 2009 17:39:54 -0000

Great news. I wasn't criticizing you guys btw, just pointing out that even with useful web apps like Everlater, end users can forget to go back.

Re: How Do You Prefer Web Startups Communicate?

ryanwanger — Mon, 13 Jul 2009 17:34:52 -0000

We haven't been sending out email updates with Everlater, but we plan to as soon as the site is open - which is soon. So maybe just announce any big features via email - and talk about the small stuff on the blog. Not sure about notifications within the site, but it's something I'd like to do.

Re: How Do You Prefer Web Startups Communicate?

tmarkiewicz — Mon, 13 Jul 2009 17:32:57 -0000

Good point about logging Ryan, but the issue there is if it's a new service, the user may not have it into their routine to visit on a regular basis. I think this is especially true if the service itself is new and trying to build out a base of loyal users.

I ran into this yesterday with RescueTime. They have a major change to their feature set coming this week and I only knew about it by randomly logging it which I normally don't do too often. They had a blog post on it and the site notification, but in this case I think I would have preferred an email.

Here's another example that should be close to your heart. Has Everlater made any updates I should know about since I signed up? I wouldn't mind an email every so often that would keep me updated and reminded that I have an account there. If it's too much email or I don't care, I could just unsubscribe to it from settings in the app itself.

I think the overall trend is a combination of the blog with some major updates on Twitter combined with a notification function on the site itself.

Re: How Do You Prefer Web Startups Communicate?

ryanwanger — Mon, 13 Jul 2009 16:12:15 -0000

I'll subscribe to the company blog usually.

An email is fine once in a while for big new features (it doesn't bother me TOO much if you haven't asked for permission, as long as you aren't doing it constantly).

Twitter: no.
Facebook: no.

I would like to see more notifications when I log into sites. THAT is the time I will use your new feature, and not necessarily when I happen to check my email and read about it.

Re: How Do You Prefer Web Startups Communicate?

tmarkiewicz — Mon, 13 Jul 2009 15:51:52 -0000

Thanks for the feedback.

Do you think there is a big overlap with blog/feeds and Twitter? This is my confusion right now. For newer services, I find that personally Twitter versus their blog is an either or for me. I don't want to see the info duplicated. But I'm wondering if I'm just an edge case.