Back to Text Files

Imagine my surprise that after 20 years of web development I have come back to text files and static sites.

My 5 year absence from the Internet gave me fresh eyes with which to see the current trends in development. Many of which are positive, many remain unchanged, and a bunch are just silly.

Even though I have been a content creator for 20 years, this is my first “blog”. My content has resided in a mix of poetry as code, chat room logs by the millions and documentation for applications I have written.

The neat thing about my first decade spent writing software was the variety of companies, ideas and business models I got to be a part of. Every business is unique in that it a mixture of common processes and the personality of the founder. I have been fortunate to be able to share ideas with really smart and interesting people along the way. It has brought a richness to my journey that I really appreciate.

Where I am going from here

The obstacles ARE the path, right? The term Blindly Forward always speaks to my nature. I do not let things bog me down. Progress, always moving forward. My current fascination with low code platforms has me looking to find, and fill, gaps in the current email marketing ecosystem.

To put an even finer point on it, I am going to write a series of documents on tactics used by mailers doing serious volume.

Email at scale

One of the first things I noticed upon my return, email is a focus for marketing and many people suck at it. Even people who claim to be guru are really struggling to inbox unless they are doing very small runs of double opt-in. This has caused a couple of interesting dynamics. Many people are great at writing courses about how to send email, and they all repeat what they heard in other email courses. They are great salesman, but never really scratch the itch when it comes to getting people started.

With a great sales pitch, sent to 1000 people, and a product that costs $997.00, you should be making 10-15 sales in your sleep. Many are doing just that, they take the $20,000 in sales revenue, post a snap shot of that, and then brag about their paycheck. They do not tell you their conversion rate was 1%. Bulk Spam response rate is normally around 2%. So which is better? Easy, both.

This renewed industry focus on email as the premiere marketing focus, confirms what bulk mailers have been preaching for years. My belief is that, tactics long hidden from the general public are going to make great SaaS products for the masses. Cold B2B email is quite popular these days, as it should be. Effectiveness seems to stop at everybody coaching you on subject lines and pre-headers. There is so much more, and I love sending email. I also love to share the information that nearly 2 decades of sending email in all it’s forms has taught me.

Just warming up

I really enjoy knowing that you are here reading this. Once again I find myself working on platforms with passion. I have found myself losing myself in my code, plans and drive to share as much as possible.

I have multiple stories to tell, and tell them I will. It’s been quite a ride these last several years and those who pay attention will be rewarded with hair raising stories and insightful commentary into technology that levels the playing field for the little guys.