Startup Tips: The Secret Behind Customer Outreach Emails

Welcome to Bits & Bytes episode 6! Today is March 21 2015 and I am your host Jeff Weisbein! I am also sorry that I haven’t done a podcast in several weeks — its been pretty crazy around here (don’t worry, I’ll get to all that).

Take a listen! Of course, you can leave feedback here in the comments or tweet at me on Twitter. And don’t forget to subscribe to Bits & Bytes on iTunes!

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Episode 6 Show Notes

So let’s dive into this thing, shall we?

The Apple Event

First off, let’s talk Apple. Before I get to anything else — yes I am planning to preorder an Apple Watch come April 10. I plan to get the 42mm Stainless Steel one with a sport band and also buy an additional band for every day use.

Now with that out of the way, let’s talk about the event itself. Frankly, I was pretty bored for a majority of the event — I felt like the only truly new thing we saw/learned was the brand new MacBook and the Apple Watch pricing and shipping details. Aside from that, it was pretty boring.

I know BestTechie Senior Writer Brian Rubin agrees with me. Do you? Let me know! You can tweet me your thoughts, my Twitter handle is @jeffweisbein.

Now what about that new MacBook? Were you as shocked as I was? From a specs perspective, it’s not for me but that’s besides the point. The single USB-C port thing really threw me, especially since it also acts as the way to charge the device. I think Apple is on the right path here, but I also think this laptop is a bit ahead of its time (sort of like the original MacBook Air). Give it a few generations and the new MacBook will be a killer laptop you won’t be able to resist.

The other question is does Apple go this route with its other laptops (e.g. the Air and the Pro)? I think so, eventually. That’s the key — eventually. I also think you can expect the Air and Pro have more than one port (even if they are all USB-C), though I can’t imagine the Pro not having Thunderbolt.

KYA Update

Last podcast I talked a lot about what we were doing at KYA to improve the product and how we were just about to start doing outreach again to try and get publishers signed up with our new features now completed.

So anyway, we started reaching out to publishers with our new email and we were quickly surprised: it was working! Like, oh my god, wow — it’s working. Not only are people replying, they’re replying positively and wanting demos. On top of that the demos are going well! We have had publishers signing up! It’s incredible validation.

Here’s what I’ve learned so far: persistence is so important. You may not get a reply on your first outreach email and that’s OK, just send a nice follow up. Something like: “Hey so and so, I know inboxes can be a crazy place…”

On top of that, people actually appreciate people who follow through and show persistence.

One thing we struggled with early on was condensing everything KYA could offer into a short email. It’s super important that your initial outreach email is short and sweet. Don’t overwhelm your potential customer. Our current initial email is about a paragraph (3-4 sentences) in length and doesn’t even discuss specific product features — it does, however, mention a core benefit: we make it so you can spend less staring at numbers and more time creating relevant content for your audience. In the email, we also use the fact that we’re also bloggers/publishers to relate.

So yeah, we are continuing to chug along. I feel like we are making some kind of progress every day and that’s great. I don’t expect to always feel like that, but right now, it’s a good feeling to have so I’m just going to keep riding it.

If you are interested in signing up for KYA or getting a demo, head on over to getkya.com. You can also email me at jeff [at] getkya.com.