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Very nice feedback! I agree there's plenty of room for improvement here -- it started as a side project I threw together over a weekend and it's always had a bi

Very nice feedback! I agree there's plenty of room for improvement here -- it started as a side project I threw together over a weekend and it's always had a bit of a "cobbler's children" status. That said, the fact that it skews educational over salesy is very intentional -- I'd much rather have you find it to be a phenomenal resource and come back over and over (and then buy the book) than I would have it try to sell you hard on the first visit, which is probably unlikely to be optimal timing. To that point, I didn't see you mention signing up for the mailing list or not, but if you did, it's "working" as intended for visit one! But yeah, overall, you're quite right to turn my own advice back on me!

dkrich 12y ago
I completely agree with the OP's advice. Without knowing anything about the site at all (I'm not familiar with your services at all so I can probably offer a pretty useful data point), I clicked through, looked for about five seconds at the Basecamp example, and clicked the dreaded back button. Not because the info isn't useful, but because I didn't have the desire to look beyond that right at that moment. Chances are that after a day or two I would have forgotten that the site existed and never returned (not a slight, it's just a realistic fact about most people). It's very unlikely that any resource is going to be so useful from a single use that users will frequent it from that day forth. It requires a bit of nudging/reminding over several interactions. I think it's a mistake to avoid being salesy. People who want to improve their conversions (presumably your targeted customers) want solutions that your book or mailing list very well might solve. In fact it wasn't until I read the OP's comment that I realized you had a mailing list or training materials to sell. One suggestion would be to put a WP-style banner at the top asking people to sign up for your mailing list. It isn't overbearing and if people aren't interested, they won't sign up. Anyhow, not trying to sound condescending, just offering some advice that I think could be helpful.
- samuelhulick 12y ago
  Thanks for the feedback, and I didn't take it as condescending at all. I tend to lean away from brazen self-promotion, so it's nice to hear I could turn it up a notch or two. Sounds like I have an A/B test coming up!

dkrich 12y ago

I completely agree with the OP's advice. Without knowing anything about the site at all (I'm not familiar with your services at all so I can probably offer a pretty useful data point), I clicked through, looked for about five seconds at the Basecamp example, and clicked the dreaded back button. Not because the info isn't useful, but because I didn't have the desire to look beyond that right at that moment. Chances are that after a day or two I would have forgotten that the site existed and never returned (not a slight, it's just a realistic fact about most people). It's very unlikely that any resource is going to be so useful from a single use that users will frequent it from that day forth. It requires a bit of nudging/reminding over several interactions. I think it's a mistake to avoid being salesy. People who want to improve their conversions (presumably your targeted customers) want solutions that your book or mailing list very well might solve. In fact it wasn't until I read the OP's comment that I realized you had a mailing list or training materials to sell. One suggestion would be to put a WP-style banner at the top asking people to sign up for your mailing list. It isn't overbearing and if people aren't interested, they won't sign up. Anyhow, not trying to sound condescending, just offering some advice that I think could be helpful.

samuelhulick 12y ago
Thanks for the feedback, and I didn't take it as condescending at all. I tend to lean away from brazen self-promotion, so it's nice to hear I could turn it up a notch or two. Sounds like I have an A/B test coming up!