Post-auction analysis - OMGs!, LOLs!, WTFs!, whatev....

[Bruce]

Please do delete them. As long as you do what you are supposed to do, that is all that matters. But we have lots of new buyers every time, and we need to present all the answers they may need THERE, so they don't call and ask us questions.

You are not saying you can't find info you need buried in there, just that you don't need ANY of it (and you shouldn't, having ordered many times) so please just delete them and they won't be painful.

Am I missing something?

[MoviePosterBid.com]

Bruce I am happy to see you removed all negative competition remarks from your website.  I always found that beneath you

Brian, glad to see you back and I completely agree with this statement

[enki]

Please do delete them. As long as you do what you are supposed to do, that is all that matters. But we have lots of new buyers every time, and we need to present all the answers they may need THERE, so they don't call and ask us questions.

You are not saying you can't find info you need buried in there, just that you don't need ANY of it (and you shouldn't, having ordered many times) so please just delete them and they won't be painful.

Am I missing something?

Yes, I believe you are.

The issue is not that you are trying to pass along all the information. The issue is HOW you are passing it along, and the presentation.

Right now, it's just a wall of text that is so overwhelming with random information that it's impractical for anyone to actually read it. Most people, new customers or old, will not spend the time to try and break it apart to see what is of interest or relevance to them - they will just ignore it. I understand the need for trying to limit phone calls and emails and to address as much as possible in the FAQs and email updates, but you yourself admitted to people completely ignoring them in the past when the answer was clearly outlined multiple times in multiple sources (ie: the thread about shipping policies). I imagine your issue(s) stem not from the information not being readily available, but from it not being easily perceivable.

Additionally, many of your emails follow the same generic template. "We have over 999 posters for less than $1!...." followed by dozens of links. Any useful tidbits of new information gets swallowed up. For example, your last email (which I just read since we're talking about it) had a lot of very relevant pieces of information that I'm sure MANY if not ALL of your customers would be anxious to hear. Specifically:
1) New Website Server Update
2) Previews of the Mini/Majors
3) Personal Hotline
Granted most of us are already aware of these since we read them online already here. But I have to assume that 95%+ of your customers never come to this forum or others you may advertise on. So why make it more difficult for your existing customers to readily see the information?

My point is, I think you need to heavily revamp your email marketing system. Break it up by section. Put emphasis on the items that actually mean anything. But the repetitive generic marketing information at the bottom. Don't just use walls of text, through some (small) pictures in there. Make the email look more like a page of information then a term paper. Figure out a handful (3-5) of points or updates that are unique and important to that email that you want to get across and focus on them.

If people aren't reading your emails, they are just a waste for everyone - including you. The more you make them enjoyable to read, the more people will read them.

[Silhouette]

+1 , too large = instant delete.

+2

[ATLfun]

 

Right now, it's just a wall of text that is so overwhelming

 OMG, pot calling the kettle black....        Just kidding, but your response is as long as Bruce's emails.
   

Yes, I believe you are.

The issue is not that you are trying to pass along all the information. The issue is HOW you are passing it along, and the presentation.

Right now, it's just a wall of text that is so overwhelming with random information that it's impractical for anyone to actually read it. Most people, new customers or old, will not spend the time to try and break it apart to see what is of interest or relevance to them - they will just ignore it. I understand the need for trying to limit phone calls and emails and to address as much as possible in the FAQs and email updates, but you yourself admitted to people completely ignoring them in the past when the answer was clearly outlined multiple times in multiple sources (ie: the thread about shipping policies). I imagine your issue(s) stem not from the information not being readily available, but from it not being easily perceivable.

Additionally, many of your emails follow the same generic template. "We have over 999 posters for less than $1!...." followed by dozens of links. Any useful tidbits of new information gets swallowed up. For example, your last email (which I just read since we're talking about it) had a lot of very relevant pieces of information that I'm sure MANY if not ALL of your customers would be anxious to hear. Specifically:
1) New Website Server Update
2) Previews of the Mini/Majors
3) Personal Hotline
Granted most of us are already aware of these since we read them online already here. But I have to assume that 95%+ of your customers never come to this forum or others you may advertise on. So why make it more difficult for your existing customers to readily see the information?

My point is, I think you need to heavily revamp your email marketing system. Break it up by section. Put emphasis on the items that actually mean anything. But the repetitive generic marketing information at the bottom. Don't just use walls of text, through some (small) pictures in there. Make the email look more like a page of information then a term paper. Figure out a handful (3-5) of points or updates that are unique and important to that email that you want to get across and focus on them.

If people aren't reading your emails, they are just a waste for everyone - including you. The more you make them enjoyable to read, the more people will read them.

[Charlie]

Am I missing something?

I also have yet to figure out why someone would get annoyed with an e-mail that is too long... Just because it is there, doesn't mean it has to be read in its entirety.

You mumblers need to just scan and choose what you want to read. 

[ATLfun]

Brian, glad to see you back

 Thank you, sir. And I totally remember who my supplied me with 3 of my 4 Pulp Fiction posters with one being free.   


Brian

[Silhouette]

Brian, glad to see you back and I completely agree with this statement

..you mean the gold watch comment is finally gone?!

[Bruce]

Yes, I believe you are.

The issue is not that you are trying to pass along all the information. The issue is HOW you are passing it along, and the presentation.

Right now, it's just a wall of text that is so overwhelming with random information that it's impractical for anyone to actually read it. Most people, new customers or old, will not spend the time to try and break it apart to see what is of interest or relevance to them - they will just ignore it. I understand the need for trying to limit phone calls and emails and to address as much as possible in the FAQs and email updates, but you yourself admitted to people completely ignoring them in the past when the answer was clearly outlined multiple times in multiple sources (ie: the thread about shipping policies). I imagine your issue(s) stem not from the information not being readily available, but from it not being easily perceivable.

Additionally, many of your emails follow the same generic template. "We have over 999 posters for less than $1!...." followed by dozens of links. Any useful tidbits of new information gets swallowed up. For example, your last email (which I just read since we're talking about it) had a lot of very relevant pieces of information that I'm sure MANY if not ALL of your customers would be anxious to hear. Specifically:
1) New Website Server Update
2) Previews of the Mini/Majors
3) Personal Hotline
Granted most of us are already aware of these since we read them online already here. But I have to assume that 95%+ of your customers never come to this forum or others you may advertise on. So why make it more difficult for your existing customers to readily see the information?

My point is, I think you need to heavily revamp your email marketing system. Break it up by section. Put emphasis on the items that actually mean anything. But the repetitive generic marketing information at the bottom. Don't just use walls of text, through some (small) pictures in there. Make the email look more like a page of information then a term paper. Figure out a handful (3-5) of points or updates that are unique and important to that email that you want to get across and focus on them.

If people aren't reading your emails, they are just a waste for everyone - including you. The more you make them enjoyable to read, the more people will read them.

I tried to read this, but gave up and deleted it!

[Neo]

Good to see you've returned, Brian.

I tried to read this, but gave up and deleted it!

 

[MoviePosterBid.com]

Thank you, sir. And I totally remember who my supplied me with 3 of my 4 Pulp Fiction posters with one being free.   
Brian

hey I'm glad you're back for two reasons..

1) it's good to see you back (I was about to phone call your office last week!)
and
2) Brude needs your help in the political threads

[Zorba]

   I have a couple more in my sights at the mini/major and then I can go on a new hiatus.  

I am glad to see you back but couldnt you have taken just one more week off? I mean Cmon! 

[ATLfun]

I am glad to see you back but couldnt you have taken just one more week off? I mean Cmon! 

  No worries mate, I am basically looking at the daybills. 


  Brian

[CSM]

  No worries mate, I am basically looking at the daybills. 


  Brian

What are these daybills you speak of?

[MoviePosterBid.com]

which of you has some connection to zazoo which is asking to save a cookie when I view this thread

[Through the Stones]

Thanks Brian. As to deleting comparisons, here is what I wrote in a different thread:

"As to comparisons [between our website and others], I think they are like comparing apples to oranges. Each company is different, and I leave it to others to decide who they choose to deal with. I am spending all my time on making eMoviePoster.com the very best it can be, and I am constantly analyzing the company, trying to find ANYTHING about it that can be improved in any way, and of course that is why I constantly solicit feedback from our users.

The only comparison that matters to me is comparing the eMoviePoster.com of three years ago (and five years ago,and ten years ago) to the eMoviePoster.com of today, and I see a ton of ways that we are now even better than we used to be (and I think we used to be pretty darn good!). I very much hope I will feel the same way three years from NOW!"

I have a few small suggestions for your site unless there is a fix I don't know about but it concerns my Watch List and my Want List.  Why do I have to log in twice to view them?  When I go to the homepage, I log in and then from there try to go to my Want List but it takes me to another log in page?  Am I doing something wrong there?  Another would be to maybe add links to the Watch List to a top bar or something so it can be accessed no matter where in the website you are?  Last, I would love to be able to have my Watch List go at least a day beyond the auction close times so I can look at final prices in one lump.  I don't know if that's difficult considering how many auctions you have going but... OVERALL I love your site and absolutely love just browsing all the cool cool stuff!  Thanks for what you do!

[MoviePosterBid.com]

Stones, I'd say that's because Bruce's auctions are hosted by a thrid party while his member area is hosted by his own servers, ergo you need two logins.

[50s]

Please do delete them. As long as you do what you are supposed to do, that is all that matters. But we have lots of new buyers every time, and we need to present all the answers they may need THERE, so they don't call and ask us questions.

You are not saying you can't find info you need buried in there, just that you don't need ANY of it (and you shouldn't, having ordered many times) so please just delete them and they won't be painful.

Am I missing something?

There is nothing I've seen comparable to the length of these club messages. There is good reason why, and that is that there are much more effective ways to communicate than like this on the web. Such a webpage is simply information overload.

First time I saw (as a newb) I was astounded not knowing where to start and thinking, what is this! To be honest it looks like the business must be a chaotic mess as a near first impression, which is a shame because many of us longer term customers know that in fact the opposite is true - a very well run efficient business. The newsletter to me looks unprofessional and lets down the rest of the site.


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Here is a tip from Dummies.com regarding web newsletters:

Keep it short. Limit the Subject line to 50 characters, including spaces. Restrict most newsletters to no more than two scrolling pages.

Your newsletter is for me over 12 screen fulls.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
People have very short attention spans on the net. That's the way it is. Web User Experience Guidelines

3.) Your user is not going read everything you show them. You have three seconds (used to be five) to give them a reason to read for another three seconds. And so on. You screw up those three seconds? Good bye.



~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Best thing I suggest that can easily and quickly be done is at the top of your newsletter provide a list of links to all the sections below it. Like a table of contents. People can then easily see what the contents of your newsletter is go to the section easily by clicking a link.
Sarcasm alert: table of contents and hyperlinks were invented long ago and there to be used.
If not sure how to link to a section in a web page, anchors are what you need.

Having red color to highlight the sections is great, but using red elsewhere in the newsletter waters done the effect losing any real effectiveness.

If people need answers as you mention, best thing to do is to create a FAQ page or include it in the newsletter if you must, which is a list of questions linking to the answers. FAQ's have been around for yonks and serve this purpose very effectively. Side note, emovieposter 'FaQ' section is next to useless, probably the worst I have seen -  my living is managing teams who build and maintain large corporate websites. Just saying, there is room for improvement, like any site A better user experience, means customers can easily find the information they are looking and makes decisions to purchase quicker and easier, which is all good for ones online business.

[Bruce]

There is nothing I've seen comparable to the length of these club messages. There is good reason why, and that is that there are much more effective ways to communicate than like this on the web. Such a webpage is simply information overload.

First time I saw (as a newb) I was astounded not knowing where to start and thinking, what is this! To be honest it looks like the business must be a chaotic mess as a near first impression, which is a shame because many of us longer term customers know that in fact the opposite is true - a very well run efficient business. The newsletter to me looks unprofessional and lets down the rest of the site.


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Here is a tip from Dummies.com regarding web newsletters:

Keep it short. Limit the Subject line to 50 characters, including spaces. Restrict most newsletters to no more than two scrolling pages.

Your newsletter is for me over 12 screen fulls.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
People have very short attention spans on the net. That's the way it is. Web User Experience Guidelines

3.) Your user is not going read everything you show them. You have three seconds (used to be five) to give them a reason to read for another three seconds. And so on. You screw up those three seconds? Good bye.



~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Best thing I suggest that can easily and quickly be done is at the top of your newsletter provide a list of links to all the sections below it. Like a table of contents. People can then easily see what the contents of your newsletter is go to the section easily by clicking a link.
Sarcasm alert: table of contents and hyperlinks were invented long ago and there to be used.
If not sure how to link to a section in a web page, anchors are what you need.

Having red color to highlight the sections is great, but using red elsewhere in the newsletter waters done the effect losing any real effectiveness.

If people need answers as you mention, best thing to do is to create a FAQ page or include it in the newsletter if you must, which is a list of questions linking to the answers. FAQ's have been around for yonks and serve this purpose very effectively. Side note, emovieposter 'FaQ' section is next to useless, probably the worst I have seen -  my living is managing teams who build and maintain large corporate websites. Just saying, there is room for improvement, like any site A better user experience, means customers can easily find the information they are looking and makes decisions to purchase quicker and easier, which is all good for ones online business.

Can you create a condensed version of what you just posted which follows the very guidelines it recommends?

It contains WAY too much info. I don't mean to be "smart" but if you can condense THIS in the way you want me to condense MY messages, then that will let me visually see what you mean.

[enki]

Can you create a condensed version of what you just posted which follows the very guidelines it recommends?

It contains WAY too much info. I don't mean to be "smart" but if you can condense THIS in the way you want me to condense MY messages, then that will let me visually see what you mean.

People (myself included) are trying to offer you constructive criticism and suggestion on how to improve your business. You did actually request and solicit feedback earlier in the thread. Now that you are getting some, which all has been polite and positive, you are being confrontational and flippant. If you don't like the suggestions and chose to ignore them, that's fine - it's your business and your decision. But if you don't want to hear them, you shouldn't ask for them in the first place.

[50s]

Can you create a condensed version of what you just posted which follows the very guidelines it recommends?

It contains WAY too much info. I don't mean to be "smart" but if you can condense THIS in the way you want me to condense MY messages, then that will let me visually see what you mean.

You do appear to be trying to be smart, but unfortunately failed, pretty much in fact like the layout of your newsletters. If I am correct that you are trying to be smart, then I would interpret you as lying.

What I wrote discusses one subject. Your newsletter comprise many different subjects. With many subjects, for ease of readability, there is the need for an index and clearly differentiated headings, all of which are not required for a one subject post.

Your newsletter is 12 screenfuls deep (on my computer). The bottom of one screen is called the 'fold' in web design. This graph shows the problem of having 90% of your content below the fold (hardly anyone reads it, as we are saying):



This is why an index up top is important for you - people will read that.

It's a shame (for you) it appears you don't want take on board/appreciate your customers suggestions based on their experiences using your site, especially when some of us are highly skilled in this field and are giving you free advice. I would say many of us want to help you make your site an even better site than it already is.

You obviously don't know that websites and businesses over the past 5 years are now more focussed than ever at putting the customer at the center of all decision making. Without the customers they fail to survive. Understanding customers is what many businesses strive to understand. Well, I won't go on, it's falling on deaf ears.

Your loss.

No hope 

[brude]

While I do appreciate Steve's expert advice, I believe there is a method to Bruce's 'madness.'

I might be one of the few, but I enjoy Bruce's rambling emails.
True, I don't read them in total, but I usually go directly to the site.
They serve as an effective reminder.

What I like most about them -- and the site -- is the old-fashioned feel.
They harken back to a time before corporate, slick-looking sites became the order of the day.
It makes them comfortable -- like an old pair of sneakers.
They are distinct and reflect Bruce's collector mentality as well.

I'll bet that if Bruce changed his style, most of us would regret it and soon be pining for the good old days --
"Remember Bruce's emails?  They were the shit back in the day, weren't they?"

Just my two cents.
 

[Bruce]

I truly am sorry for the first flippant remark. It DID strike me as odd that you offered a long page of criticism over my wordiness.

But I am absolutely serious. Can either of you condense down the long messages you posted without losing most of the content?

And if you do it through links, surely you know few people ever click on those links, so that is counter-productive.

If the long emails caused people to make mistakes, or to not order, I would see a need to change them.

But since we are not having mistakes, and since we are having record sales, it seems to me that this is a non-issue for most people (some read every word, some skim them over and read what applies/interests them) and truly seems that very few people have a real PROBLEM with them.

I COULD start a list of "people bothered by long emails" and send those people a "super-streamlined" version. Would you want that?

[50s]

The main issue for me is not about condensing it down or reducing the wordiness it is about making it more readable, being able to easily find the information in such a large document, rather than going ugh and not reading it. What I would like to see is an index and all the sections clearly seperated so it would be much easier to read. The idea is click a link, the page auto scrolls down to the relevant section. The links are your primary tool to get people to go below the 'fold'.

I am sure even if the business was running very well, you wouldn't rest on your laurels and not improve the business. It is great it is sounding like it is running optimally. I will just continue to not read the majority of the newsletter and rely on you having to repeat the information in this forum instead.   

[Bruce]

Thanks very much for finding a solution that works for you. While I may be not doing things optimally by following my own plan as opposed to what you suggest, ultimately, this is my business, and I weigh up all advice I am given, but the final decision as to what I do rests with me. If anyone solely wants to give advice ONLY if it is followed, then they should not offer it to me, because I can't make that promise!