Hi Guys,
We’re coming out with a newsletter for our customers.
What you see here is the first we’re going to send. Please let us know what we can do, as we want to improve.
What would you like to see next?
Thanks again!
Marantz Volume Monitor v2
5 weeks ago
Looks great.
ReplyDeleteI think it looks nice, but I hope it's not in PDF form - I hate having to start the stupid reader since it takes so long.
ReplyDeleteWhat format would you want?
ReplyDeleteHTML email that shows up right in the inbox, with a link to the newsletter online if I'm using a mail reader that doesn't support HTML mail (e.g., Blackberry).
ReplyDelete@Travis : Foxit Reader FTW! It's ultra fast, especially compared to Acrobat's reader
ReplyDelete@Dennis: True, but it still means I have to start a whole other application just so I can read - let's be honest - advertising. And it doesn't help me if I'm in a text-only format (mobile/Blackberry) that doesn't support PDF (without a for-pay app) but does have a browser.
ReplyDelete@Travis, what infomation do you think developers and managers who are interested in unit testing (but not neccessarly practice it) find valuable.
ReplyDeleteI think that's two separate groups. I think developers will be more interested in tools to help them get their jobs done, ways testing makes things easier/better, and HOWTO articles. I think managers will be more interested in ROI and time savings sorts of articles, comparisons with projects that don't do unit testing, and case studies. Obviously the two aren't mutually exclusive and some from each group will find all of those things interesting, but I think a lot of folks will have certain interests.
ReplyDeleteI don't really have any awesome suggestions on what TO do, but I have some what NOT to do notes. I get a lot of newsletters for a lot of different reasons.
The MSDN and Technet newsletters try to pack a LOT in there and they come out all the time. Maybe it's just monthly, but it feels like I'm wading through these things every day. The text is super tiny and it's blurb after blurb about the tons of things going on. There are case studies, downloads, security bulletin info, an editor's note... all jammed in one big thing.
I, personally, skip the editor's note, skim the items, and usually just hit delete. It's information overload. There's so much that nothing catches my eye.
There's also a lot of irrelevant stuff for me - for example, I don't work in Sharepoint (though a lot of people do), so I really don't care that there's such-and-such Sharepoint beta and 57 articles about how to use it. There may actually be something hidden in there between those articles that I'd be interested in, but I miss it. It's drowned by too much [irrelevant/uninteresting] content.
I get newsletters from other software companies, too, like RedGate. They sometimes have some interesting articles on Reflector and its uses... but when they add a new feature, they write a ton about it and don't include any screen shots in the newsletter. It's a giant hunk of text. I admit, I get tired after the bajillionth paragraph where there's no break, no images, no whitespace. Fail.
I get newsletters from training facilities that have a totally unrelated story at the top (like an editor's note) and then just a list of their upcoming trainings. If the list isn't above the fold - deleted. I'm not scrolling through a truckload of cruft to get to the part that's interesting. I have too much mail to get through to fight that.
I also get some newsletters from places I do business, like my car dealership. Sometimes they have discount coupons and such, so that part's valuable... but they also have, like, cookie recipes and junk in there. Filler. NO. STOP.
I think a good newsletter should have a good amount of content, but not so much you overload the reader. I should be able to get what I need in, say, 60 seconds or less. Aim for 30. If there's a big article, maybe print the first teaser paragraph and then take me to the web site to read the rest. Think along the lines of a newspaper - proper use of whitespace and [relevant] images to break up overwhelming blocks of text.
Great feedback, will try to implement this in ours
ReplyDelete