My presence in online public discussion groups dates back to the CompuServe forums I frequented starting around 1993, where I helped customers with Incat’s CD-R software, and CD-R technology in general. I was eventually invited to start a section specifically for Incat software. Then a friendly user wrote me: “Hey, you should be out on… Continue reading On the Usenet: Supporting a Company in an Online Public Forum
Category: what I do
Newsletters: Customers Love ‘Em – If You Do Them Right
Begun in 1998, the newsletters I wrote/edited for Adaptec and (later) Roxio covered technical, how-to, product news, and other information of interest to CD-R users. I initially did all the writing myself, then hired other writers as the topics became too varied and the schedule too punishing for one person to handle (and I had… Continue reading Newsletters: Customers Love ‘Em – If You Do Them Right
How to Write a Product Newsletter That Will Get Raves
Distilling what people have written over the years about why they liked our newsletters, here’s my advice on how to write a successful company newsletter: You first need to decide: is your newsletter only about selling things, or is it about building relationships with customers and a sense of community among them? Obviously, I favor… Continue reading How to Write a Product Newsletter That Will Get Raves
Subscriber Comments About the Adaptec Discussion List
In response to complaints of censorship on the discussion list, Stan (a long time Adaptec/Roxio List recipient) wrote: Adaptec/Roxio has always ‘paid the freight’ for their own, honestly identified “moderated” <news group> & openly controlled forum. “Their” newsgroup exists as a wise, long term business decision to: 1) Cultivate real world user feed back –… Continue reading Subscriber Comments About the Adaptec Discussion List
The End of an Era
Yesterday I said goodbye to the subscribers of the Roxio newsletters. And the email came pouring in. Sure, I’ve heard from people about the newsletters before. I always knew I was doing something right there. But (in spite of my considerable ego) I didn’t expect the warmth and kindness of some of the messages I… Continue reading The End of an Era