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Grex > Member > #2: E-mail solicitations to frequent users | |
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ajax
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E-mail solicitations to frequent users
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Sep 28 03:57 UTC 1996 |
Colleen suggested in the previous that we send e-mail to the most
frequent users of Grex who aren't members, soliciting donations. There's
already a script around here that ranks people by the number of hours
they log in to Grex. I think we should give this a try, sending e-mail
to the top 100 or 200 non-member Grex users. A polite, "soft-sell"
message explaining how Grex is financed, and why they were selected for
the mailing list, could definitely garner some new memberships.
I could see some people not liking the "big brother" aspect of our
counting how many hours each person was logged in (in fact I don't care
for it much myself!), but that's always been a matter of public record
whether people know about it or not, and whether we send them a message
or not.
If people in this conference think it's a good idea, it should
probably be discussed in the co-op conference to get a bit more public
comment.
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| 40 responses total. |
giry
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response 1 of 40:
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Sep 28 04:58 UTC 1996 |
I think it would be a good idea to try out anyway. It would keep the
issue of membership in mind. I mean heck, I even forget about membership and
I am a member, i have to be reminded to send in the check.
The top users would probably be the most willing to become members.
I would be interested to see how many of the members rank in the top groups
and how many don't. Maybe I will look it up.
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scott
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response 2 of 40:
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Sep 28 11:21 UTC 1996 |
I think that when danr was Treasurer he occasionally did this.
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giry
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response 3 of 40:
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Sep 28 16:26 UTC 1996 |
Well being the insomniac that I am I took the time to look some of this
stuff up. I went through the top 350 users or so, and out of those users 34
were members. I stopped at 350 because the monthly total was less than 25
hours for the month of Aug.
If danr did this before does that mean that it doesn't need to be
discussed in coop?
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ajax
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response 4 of 40:
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Sep 28 20:08 UTC 1996 |
I just sent some e-mail to Dan asking if he'd done this, and if so
what the results were. I suppose there's no real obligation to discuss
this in co-op, as anyone can just do an unofficial mailing, but I think
it would be good to get additional input.
Interesting figure, 34 of the top 350 being members. I think e-mailing
people at around the 25-hour-per-month mark sounds about right. Or maybe
make the cut off 30 hours per month, so it's about an hour a day.
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danr
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response 5 of 40:
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Sep 30 11:40 UTC 1996 |
I did indeed e-mail many users back when I was treasurer. And, I even used
the 30-hour/month criteria. :) Overall, I think it was effective and think
it would be worthwhile to start doing this again.
In addition to the 30 hour/month crieteria, I also e-mailed people who had
a large number of logins, but perhaps very little on-line time. I surmised
that these people were using Grex for e-mail and should be members just as
much as people who party or conference heaviliy.
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giry
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response 6 of 40:
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Oct 1 00:45 UTC 1996 |
So is this something that "we" want to do? I would be willing to help out in
anyway that is needed.
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omni
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response 7 of 40:
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Oct 1 12:56 UTC 1996 |
I dunno. A gentle reminder is nice, but could be tantamount to pressure.
I would rather see a fee structure that people could live with, and then see
if we need to issue subtle reminders. A little guilt never hurt anyone ;)
I would also like to offer some PBS style premiums, like buy 2 months of
Grex and get a t-shirt free. Cost $20. Buy a mug for $12 and get a month of
Grex free. Does anyone see this working?
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ajax
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response 8 of 40:
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Oct 1 16:35 UTC 1996 |
I can see a "gentle reminder" being equated to "pressure," but it's an
awfully small amount of pressure, and I don't see what's wrong with a
little pressure anyway. It's certainly not a sin by Christian standards,
given the practice of passing a collection plate!
Also, I would view this not so much as a gentle reminder, as a polite
request. Many people are unaware of how Grex is funded, and for those
people, the e-mail would be educational, not memory-jogging.
I think the issue of fee structures and premiums should be discussed
separately, so I'll start another item for that. The reason I think it
should be separate is that I don't think a fee change will affect
whether people think mass e-mail is a good idea or not. I'd support it
even with a different fee structure.
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giry
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response 9 of 40:
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Oct 2 04:17 UTC 1996 |
Well since this is the beginning of the month the figures could be
looked up to see who the top users were for September. I agree with ajax about
this just being a gentle reminder. I think if everything is explained, like
why the user was selected to be mailed, that it wasn't just a mass grex
mailing. I don't see too many problems. I would be interested to see the
results of this.
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danr
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response 10 of 40:
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Oct 4 16:09 UTC 1996 |
I don't think i have the text of what i sent anymore, but I always was careful
to explain the funding structure of Grex. That's really important.
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ajax
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response 11 of 40:
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Oct 4 22:30 UTC 1996 |
Here's one I just wrote. Seems a bit lengthy. Comments and
alternatives appreciated!
Dear Grex user,
I'm writing to ask your help in keeping Grex running and improving.
Grex is funded by donations, membership sales, and fund-raisers.
Since you're one of Grex's more frequent users (this message is being
sent to people who average more than an hour of Grexing per day), we
wondered if you could help us in this regard.
Grex membership dues are $6 a month, or $60 a year. This provides
three main benefits: you get to vote (or run) in Grex elections, you
get to use outgoing telnet service, and you get the satisfaction of
supporting a worthy cause! We need a copy of some type of ID for
membership, but even a personal check with your name printed on it
is sufficient. Non-membership donations are equally appreciated,
and still give you the satisfaction of supporting a worthy cause!
You can send contributions payable to Cyberspace Communications to:
Cyberspace Communications
PO Box 4432
Ann Arbor, MI 48106-4432
By the way, Cyberspace Communications is just Grex's corporate
name - it's not a big company or anything, it just runs Grex. We
have no employees, just a bunch of dedicated volunteers.
If you can't contribute at this time, that's fine - Grex is glad to
provide free service to many people, and hopefully you'll keep
us in mind. If you can contribute, we'd be most appreciative!
Thankyou,
Whomever (Treasurer probably?)
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scott
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response 12 of 40:
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Oct 4 22:41 UTC 1996 |
You might push the reasons for funding a bit more. That phrase from the motd
a while back about where Grex *doesn't* get money from was really good.
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snafu
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response 13 of 40:
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Oct 5 22:36 UTC 1996 |
A question.. Do you have to pay the $60 year fee all at once? or can you do
payments, like $20 a month for 3 months? If you can, you may want to include it
in the letter...
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scott
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response 14 of 40:
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Oct 6 01:01 UTC 1996 |
I think you have to pay the $60 all at once.
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mta
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response 15 of 40:
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Oct 6 20:50 UTC 1996 |
Right, if you make payments, you've opted for the $6 a month selection.
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mta
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response 16 of 40:
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Oct 6 20:53 UTC 1996 |
Hmmm, I didn't realize that this had been done in the past. I do know that
if it came up in co-op it would probably inspire a firestorm of controversy.
There are many people who feel that contacting people personally to solicit
memberships is an intrusive thing.
Me, I'm still not sure what I think.
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danr
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response 17 of 40:
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Oct 6 23:57 UTC 1996 |
To tell you the truth, I didn't care what others thought at the time.
We were definitely in a bind financially and we needed the money. I was the
fund-raising committee at the time, and I decided it was in our best interest
to do this.
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mta
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response 18 of 40:
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Oct 7 01:31 UTC 1996 |
Well, Dan, I certainly agree that in a crisis it's easier to get forgiveness
than permission. I didn't intend any retroactive judgement at all.
What I meant by "what I think" is what I think about using this technique now,
when we could use more members defintely, but it isn't a crisis.
One thing that would influence me, though, is how often it was proposed to
be done. Once a year? No big deal, I think. Once a month? Definitely
overkill. Once per user, as they reach 30 hours of usage a month? Hmmm,
that has possibilities and could *very easily* be defended on educational
grounds. On the other hand it could be a logistical nightmare. Maybe.
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giry
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response 19 of 40:
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Oct 7 17:42 UTC 1996 |
I think that even though grex isn't in a crisis, it could use the money to
get a faster internet connection and a fasted system in general. I think that
is something that we all could use. I don't think that a mail once a month
is overkill. Some users who may not be able to afford it at one time maybe
able to afford it at a later time, and a gentle reminder wone hurt anything
at all.
Should this be brought into coop?
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mta
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response 20 of 40:
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Oct 8 02:51 UTC 1996 |
The problem comes in when someone isn't in a position to buy a membership for
a year r two. If they've recieved 12 "reminders" just how welcome are they
going to feel?
That's why I'd like it to be seldom, if at all.
Keep in mind that getting a faster system and a faster connection is an onging
project. While it's a good thing, it isn't a project that you can ever really
finish here. As fast as we get there are always more people who want in, and
who then slow the link and the processing.
I think I'd better shut up -- I';m sounding like a nay-sayer, when i actually
think getting more member is crucial. (I've just been beating my head on the
topic for 5 years and come up with lots of things not to do...)
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scott
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response 21 of 40:
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Oct 8 16:18 UTC 1996 |
Well, why *not* do it now, since it has been years since the last spam?
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ajax
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response 22 of 40:
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Oct 8 21:56 UTC 1996 |
I think Misti raised a good point that frequency should be thought
out with the proposal. I agree that monthly sounds too frequent,
unless we track who's already been e-mailed, and don't resend to
them very often. I think 2-3 times a year would be a good number.
(I also agree with Scott; the first mailing is less controversial :-).
Do people think this item should be linked to co-op, or should a
new item be entered in co-op to discuss it, with a summary of the
discussion so far? I kind of favor the latter.
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mta
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response 23 of 40:
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Oct 9 00:38 UTC 1996 |
I agree Rob, a new item will allow us present the best thoughts in a coherant
manner to start with. That's likely to be more successful.
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danr
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response 24 of 40:
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Oct 12 00:22 UTC 1996 |
I disagree that once a month is too frequent. It's just an email after all.
It takes many viewings before people get the message. That's why they call
them ad "camapigns." If you only send out these messages two or three times
a year, I don't think they're going to be very effective.
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