

How Our Startup Got Featured on CNN - vacanti
http://viniciusvacanti.com/2010/10/how-our-startup-got-featured-on-cnn/

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thafman
A $10 gift card for 10 mins of phone feedback is probably the best investment
of time/money that I have ever heard of, I will be shamelessly stealing this
idea for years.

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spencerfry
I've seen other companies do $10 iTunes gift cards too. I like Amazon over
iTunes, though. :)

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soitgoes
Nice change seeing the Django settings.py file scrolling by rather than the
typical 'C' or unix command line output. Hopefully, that isn't the real secret
key on display though.

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jasonkeene
Yeah, noticed this too. <http://www.whyprime.com/temp/yipit-key.png> Whoops!

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vacanti
I like how it says "make this unique. don't share it with anybody" and we
shared it with every CNN viewer several times.

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spencerfry
Can you paste the email you send to folks here? I'd be interested in seeing
it.

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vacanti
Our virtual admin sends this email:

Hello:

My name is [], and I'm part of the Yipit team. I want to confirm that you've
been unsubscribed and will no longer receive emails from us.

However, as you may know, we're in the very early stages of our New York based
start-up and feedback at this stage is extremely valuable. If you'd be willing
to hop on a 10 minute call with one of our team members, we'd gladly offer you
a free $10 Amazon.com Gift Card.

We're really just trying to learn what we may be doing wrong, and how we can
improve our experience for users like you in the future.

We’d like to know if you’re available for a 10 minute call any time this week
between 1pm – 2:30pm ET? If so, please respond with the best number to call.

Thanks!

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jacquesm
Hm... I wonder if this would work as well if someone unsubscribes from a paid
service and you give them another month for free. Say $20 of value to them and
$0 for you.

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spencerfry
The only issue here is if the process of subscribing had them to delete their
account, which it typically does. Then if you offer them a free month... it
gets tricky, because they'd have to start with scratch. Therefore, you've got
to catch/offer them something midway through the delete process.

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jacquesm
We can actually revive a deleted account.

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ryanwaggoner
Completely unrelated, but the rollover on the logo made me laugh.

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vacanti
Thanks! Though I suspect that almost everyone has been more confused than
amused.

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amccloud
I couldn't help but notice Django's settings.py file. You should probably
change your SECRET_KEY since the whole thing is clearly visible. From the
looks of your blurry INSTALLED_APPS i'd say you are also using pinax.

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zmsmith
We _were_ using pinax.

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alexaleesf
Congrats! Keep creating your luck by contacting other reporters/media outlets
and mention that you were featured on CNN. That instantly legitimizes you.
They might be missing something, you know?

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jasonz
Do they often stay on past 10 minutes?

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vacanti
Some of them stay on for 30 minutes. They really like that someone is
listening to them and trying to solve their problems.

