Month: September 2001

News.com

News.com (slightly old): G.SHDSL is a new form of DSL that offers symmetric 2.4 Mbs speeds.  It can also reac 18,000 ft (finally something that can reach all your people that are currently out of range of current service).  True to form, the Regional Bells have no intention of offering this service to consumers anytime… Continue reading News.com

Customer e-mail.  What's the best thing a company can do to build grass roots support for its product or service?  Answer customer e-mails.  When I was at my last company (an online research company with a focus on financial services), I must have answered 30,000 e-mails sent to us by consumers, business people, and professionals.   I answered them all by hand with specific personalized responses.  It worked.   Our consumer research site grew in popularity until we reached our apex of 30 k unique visitors a day.  That initial active support by e-mail helped us build a business unit around the site that generated $500 k a quarter in profit (which was rare on the Web, particularly at that traffic level and the focus of our content). 

Many of the e-mails were off topic and not something we could make money from.  No problem, if I could provide an answer I did.  If not, I pointed to resources that could provide the answer.  Regardless, this extra effort helped build trust with the person on the other side of the SMTP connection and more often than not generated a relationship that led that person to use our services when they did need something we provided.

So, why do so many popular sites refuse to answer e-mails?  The portals are the best example of this practice.  Try to find an e-mail address on Yahoo, Excite, or Lycos where you can connect to a live employee. [John Robb's Radio Weblog

Customer e-mail.  What's the best thing a company can do to build grass roots support for its product or service?  Answer customer e-mails.  When I was at my last company (an online research company with a focus on financial services), I must have answered 30,000 e-mails sent to us by consumers, business people, and professionals.   I answered them… Continue reading Customer e-mail.  What's the best thing a company can do to build grass roots support for its product or service?  Answer customer e-mails.  When I was at my last company (an online research company with a focus on financial services), I must have answered 30,000 e-mails sent to us by consumers, business people, and professionals.   I answered them all by hand with specific personalized responses.  It worked.   Our consumer research site grew in popularity until we reached our apex of 30 k unique visitors a day.  That initial active support by e-mail helped us build a business unit around the site that generated $500 k a quarter in profit (which was rare on the Web, particularly at that traffic level and the focus of our content). 

Many of the e-mails were off topic and not something we could make money from.  No problem, if I could provide an answer I did.  If not, I pointed to resources that could provide the answer.  Regardless, this extra effort helped build trust with the person on the other side of the SMTP connection and more often than not generated a relationship that led that person to use our services when they did need something we provided.

So, why do so many popular sites refuse to answer e-mails?  The portals are the best example of this practice.  Try to find an e-mail address on Yahoo, Excite, or Lycos where you can connect to a live employee. [John Robb's Radio Weblog

OmniOutliner

Mac OS 10.1 is noticeably faster, especially if you are running classic applications. The DVD player runs much better than the OS 9 DVD player. I can work in a foreground application like Mail or OmniOutliner while a DVD plays smoothly in the background. I'm a bit disappointed with the Microsoft Word test drive. There… Continue reading OmniOutliner

only facility in the U.S. with FDA approval to manufacture Anthrax Vaccine

Anthraxination – A friend of mine worked for the only facility in the U.S. with FDA approval to manufacture Anthrax Vaccine. After he left, the company went through a good deal of turbulence and was eventually privatized (they were originally run by the government). This testimony to the U.S. House of Representatives shows that the… Continue reading only facility in the U.S. with FDA approval to manufacture Anthrax Vaccine

JY

JY takes on yield management at the airlines.  “Do you know Yield Management ? I didn't. Qantas states that “Airlines adopted yield management systems, also called revenue management systems, to maximise seat sales at the optimal (not necessarily highest) price – to maximise revenue return from each flight”. Here is another piece that explains Yield… Continue reading JY

John Robb's Radio Weblog

Another problem with the airlines before 9-11:  ineffectual anti-terrorist proceedures.  The only check the airlines made of passengers before boarding (outside of the security check point) was to check IDs at the gate.  Why did they check IDs?  Certainly not to find out if you were a terrorist, it checked to make sure a market… Continue reading John Robb's Radio Weblog

“'If somebody wants to do it, you can't stop them,' says [Kathleen C. Bailey, a former assistant director of the U.S. Arms Control and Disarmament Agency.] 'If it is a terrorist group, you may be able to infiltrate them. But if it is a single individual, it is going to be extraordinarily hard to know in advance what that individual is doing in their garage, closet, or basement… There are no emissions. With current technology, we have no way of sniffing out who is making anthrax in their basement.'… Even if Congress burned the Constitution and turned the U.S. into a police state, it could not eliminate the bioterrorism threat. 'Do you really think that you could catch the individual who wants to terrorize the population by making biological weapons? How are you going to know?'” [via A Boy and His Basement

“'If somebody wants to do it, you can't stop them,' says [Kathleen C. Bailey, a former assistant director of the U.S. Arms Control and Disarmament Agency.] 'If it is a terrorist group, you may be able to infiltrate them. But if it is a single individual, it is going to be extraordinarily hard to know… Continue reading “'If somebody wants to do it, you can't stop them,' says [Kathleen C. Bailey, a former assistant director of the U.S. Arms Control and Disarmament Agency.] 'If it is a terrorist group, you may be able to infiltrate them. But if it is a single individual, it is going to be extraordinarily hard to know in advance what that individual is doing in their garage, closet, or basement… There are no emissions. With current technology, we have no way of sniffing out who is making anthrax in their basement.'… Even if Congress burned the Constitution and turned the U.S. into a police state, it could not eliminate the bioterrorism threat. 'Do you really think that you could catch the individual who wants to terrorize the population by making biological weapons? How are you going to know?'” [via A Boy and His Basement

DayPop

DayPop. DayPop—Interesting News and Current Events Search [Eugene Pervago Web Log]