Not receiving emails at all
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delrazor
Jun 18, 2012, 3:27:17 PM6/18/12
to Ben's Gigs
I posted over on Reddit to you, Ben. But figured we might get faster
conversation over here.
I registered on Friday night / Saturday morning at 12:20am.. received
my first 10 leads, which made me realize including a keyword like
"Freelancer" with all my others didn't matter, and made anything with
freelancer come up.
Since then I've revised my keywords, and added a ton more, to try to
make my net as large as possible.
Problem is.. since that initial 10 leads right after registering, I
have yet to receive any more. Is there something wrong with the
system or my account in particular? are my keywords really not
receiving ANY leads at all?
Could you advise what I might do? I really want to see the power of
this system before my 5 days are up.
Thanks,
conversation over here.
I registered on Friday night / Saturday morning at 12:20am.. received
my first 10 leads, which made me realize including a keyword like
"Freelancer" with all my others didn't matter, and made anything with
freelancer come up.
Since then I've revised my keywords, and added a ton more, to try to
make my net as large as possible.
Problem is.. since that initial 10 leads right after registering, I
have yet to receive any more. Is there something wrong with the
system or my account in particular? are my keywords really not
receiving ANY leads at all?
Could you advise what I might do? I really want to see the power of
this system before my 5 days are up.
Thanks,
Robert Tracy
Jun 18, 2012, 3:51:40 PM6/18/12
to bens...@googlegroups.com
He's making some changes and doing a bunch of maintenance.
--
Rob Tracy
Remedial Comics
http://www.remedialcomics.com/
http://www.webcomicscommunity.com/
The last few days have been... tumultuous.
--
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Shannon Warren
Jun 18, 2012, 5:05:46 PM6/18/12
to bens...@googlegroups.com
So am I reading that correctly that there is no longer a free version or free level to bensgigs?
Ben Allfree
Jun 18, 2012, 5:10:52 PM6/18/12
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Shannon, that is the new experiment yes. I liked the idea of a free level, but paying members did not. The feedback I got was that a time-limited trial was sufficient.
Thoughts?
Shannon Warren
Jun 18, 2012, 5:22:05 PM6/18/12
to bens...@googlegroups.com
I have always been partial to different service levels on things like this. The issues I have always found with trials, especially short time limited trials is that you don't always see the potential in the application. The odds of people seeing the usefulness and power of Bens-gigs in 5 days is going to vary based on types of keywords they choose. The second down fall is doing a short timed trial and also limiting the number of post they receive in the time frame.
My suggestion if you want to do a timed trial is to not limit any functionality of the application. You want the demo user to see all the power and flexibility of the system in hopes that it becomes such a selling point that the user will subscribe to the system.
In my own experience, I have many keywords and bad words and the amount of usable lead vary from day to day. There has been days where I get Zero usable leads even with broad keywords like PHP, Jquery, RoR, with bad words like on-site.
Robert Tracy
Jun 18, 2012, 9:09:28 PM6/18/12
to bens...@googlegroups.com
Wow. I've been with you since way back when you announced on Reddit and I don't remember this conversation.
I liked the idea of a free level, but paying members did not.
I can't commit to any kind of subscription and although I haven't been super active looking for work (I've been too busy with school and other things) I have only gotten 1 gig from the leads so far (and the client turned into a nightmare... went one month and 5 days without responding only to pop up for an "update" and has missed every milestone and blown every deadline).
So I guess... thanks? It's been fun. If you ever need more beta testers let me know. Maybe I'll be back once I finish my BS in 3D in 8 months or so.
Rob
Ben Allfree
Jun 18, 2012, 9:42:28 PM6/18/12
to bens...@googlegroups.com
Good will is worth something. A free level might come back. I meant to say earlier today, or maybe I did, but 10 leads per day seems like a reasonable free level. After having used it for so many years, I know that not every lead is gold. 10 per day is just enough to whet the appetite and maybe score a gig every once in a while.
There is another factor too: I'm using an email delivery service that costs money per outbound email. I need to do some math on that and figure out how much of a free ride is feasible to give people.
So if I can sum up your opinion, it's that you'd like to see the free 10 leads per day level rather than be completely cut off.
By the way, 1 lead in so long, and it was a bad one? That does not seem normal at all :)
Ben Allfree
Jun 18, 2012, 9:43:27 PM6/18/12
to bens...@googlegroups.com
I see what you're saying. Delayed leads? Like maybe yesterday's leads or last week's leads if you're a free member?
Robert Tracy
Jun 18, 2012, 9:49:46 PM6/18/12
to bens...@googlegroups.com
Well like I said I haven't been looking all that hard. My schedule has been ridiculous for the last couple months and will remain so until after comic con.
Then I'll finally get a breather.
But yeah I definitely think you should figure out your cost per lead. I don't like the idea that I've been costing you money the last few months with all the unused leads that have come my way.
I do very much appreciate the service and the leads though.
Funny thing about that nightmare client. I just got a check from them today in the mail. The thing is that it isn't even about the money with them. It's the second 25% they've sent me which is fine but they've been so hard to work with and so uncommunicative I'm almost tempted to tear it up and send them packing. The piece they hired me for was supposed to be completed for a convention in mid-April. All the delays have been on them.
Rob
Nicholas Kolatsis
Jun 19, 2012, 6:10:07 AM6/19/12
to bens...@googlegroups.com
That is a pity because I doubt I'll be using the leads for a while, but it was nice to see them arrive in my inbox and click through. I hope you sort out your email system. Even if you send 5 leads a day, it'd be much better than a trial.
cometlinear
Jun 19, 2012, 12:06:46 PM6/19/12
to Ben's Gigs
Please bring back advance leads for subscribers!!
The reason I subscribed in the first place was that getting the leads
sooner than other people was a big advantage for me. I'm look for gigs
of a certain type, of which there are less than ten a day (I'm not
saying what). So the new system offers no incentive for me.
Please bring back the old system!
Best,
-j
The reason I subscribed in the first place was that getting the leads
sooner than other people was a big advantage for me. I'm look for gigs
of a certain type, of which there are less than ten a day (I'm not
saying what). So the new system offers no incentive for me.
Please bring back the old system!
Best,
-j
Ben Allfree
Jun 19, 2012, 12:19:00 PM6/19/12
to bens...@googlegroups.com
Excellent feedback, thank you.
I'm getting a lot of feedback about the changes and pricing, which is good in the sense that people care :)
Is the pricing over-complicated? Should it be simple like this:
Free - get leads on a delayed basis
Subscribed (20) - get leads in advance
Maybe I'm ovethinking it.
Also - Are you actually booking business? Someone sent me a private email yesterday that kind of poked fun at the fact that the "success stories" section is empty. Yet, I've heard of stories and I am personally one. I think it might be more that nobody wants to share their secrets :)
cometlinear
Jun 19, 2012, 12:42:10 PM6/19/12
to Ben's Gigs
Hi Ben,
I was making around $400/month from the service. You actually
misquoted me on reddit as saying I make $700/week :-)
I probably make $700/month from freelancing overall, but some of that
comes from other sites.
Yes, I think your simple pricing structure (below) is the best one,
which is the way it was previously.
I will say that it does seem a lot faster now, which was my only minor
criticism of the old system.
Best,
-j
I was making around $400/month from the service. You actually
misquoted me on reddit as saying I make $700/week :-)
I probably make $700/month from freelancing overall, but some of that
comes from other sites.
Yes, I think your simple pricing structure (below) is the best one,
which is the way it was previously.
I will say that it does seem a lot faster now, which was my only minor
criticism of the old system.
Best,
-j
Ben Allfree
Jun 19, 2012, 12:56:08 PM6/19/12
to bens...@googlegroups.com
$7,000 per day??! That's amazing!
Ok. Duly noted. The loyal users have spoken.
Thank you for bearing with me through these experiments.
Best,
-j
delrazor
Jun 19, 2012, 5:40:07 PM6/19/12
to bens...@googlegroups.com
This topic went way off the tracks really quick.
Still haven't seen a seen a single email from the service since the first influx of 10 bad leads. Is it not back up and running yet? Or am I SOL for
Leads? I have plenty of keywords, and added as many alternative spellings and phrases of the same thing. Simple Craigslist searches show my words I'm using for filters are still relevant.
Ben Allfree
Jun 19, 2012, 5:42:18 PM6/19/12
to bens...@googlegroups.com
Not SOL at all. I've gotten 77 leads in the past hour, something must be awry with your account.
Sorry, I will look into it.
Ben Allfree
Jun 19, 2012, 5:49:20 PM6/19/12
to bens...@googlegroups.com
Heck no! This has been my bread and butter and I'm rather obsessed about finding leads. The obsession with finding leads has kind of eclipsed my interest in actually turning the leads into business. Around town, people know me as The Harvester Guy because it's all I seem to talk about.
Today, I was looking into Elastic Search for us. Did you know it can do all kinds of crazy advanced searching, including geo-locating? And what if I added some kind of geo-scanner that tried to at least identify city names for people? And what if it could "grade" the lead (A, B, C, etc) based on how well it matches your key/kill list? What if it texted you A++ leads with phone numbers so you could call right then?
...or what if it just emailed leads to you like it did last week... ;)
On Tue, Jun 19, 2012 at 2:48 PM, Ben Allfree <b...@benallfree.com> wrote:
Heck no! This has been my bread and butter and I'm rather obsessed about finding leads. The obsession with finding leads has kind of eclipsed my interest in actually turning the leads into business. Around town, people know me as The Harvester Guy because it's all I seem to talk about.Today, I was looking into Elastic Search for us. Did you know it can do all kinds of crazy advanced searching, including geo-locating? And what if I added some kind of geo-scanner that tried to at least identify city names for people? And what if it could "grade" the lead (A, B, C, etc) based on how well it matches your key/kill list? What if it texted you A++ leads with phone numbers so you could call right then?...or what if it just emailed leads to you like it did last week... ;)b---skype: benallfree
On Tue, Jun 19, 2012 at 2:45 PM, <jos...@spaceweather.com> wrote:I'm not getting any either, by the way.
I'll bet you're cursing the day you came up with this idea ;-)
-j
Shannon Warren
Jun 19, 2012, 6:06:52 PM6/19/12
to bens...@googlegroups.com
I am still hoping Ben the guitar man will soon let me help him with coding some of this.. I love this stuff and always up for a good challenging project.
Ben Allfree
Jun 19, 2012, 6:11:00 PM6/19/12
to bens...@googlegroups.com
Frontend is PHP, backend is Ruby :)
Shannon Warren
Jun 19, 2012, 7:00:29 PM6/19/12
to bens...@googlegroups.com
I already knew that. You and I talked about this before.
Robert Tracy
Jun 19, 2012, 7:25:27 PM6/19/12
to bens...@googlegroups.com
What if the harvester culled the leads... graded them, geolocated them, secured the gig, negotiated the terms and then did the work for us...?
Man now there's a service I'd subscripbe to. I'd be like a banker... just cashing checks!
LOL
delrazor
Jun 20, 2012, 10:01:45 PM6/20/12
to bens...@googlegroups.com
Still no emails on my end. I think I'm going to just try creating a new account to see if there's something messed up with my current one.
cometlinear
Jun 20, 2012, 10:31:47 PM6/20/12
to Ben's Gigs
Let us know if that works.
-j
-j
Robert Tracy
Jun 20, 2012, 11:38:07 PM6/20/12
to bens...@googlegroups.com
I didn't get any today either,
Ben is probably just working on stuff.
Rob
On Wed, Jun 20, 2012 at 7:31 PM, cometlinear <st...@dot-comet.com> wrote:
Let us know if that works.
-j
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b...@bensgigs.com
Skype: benallfree
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Ben Allfree
Jun 21, 2012, 2:24:11 AM6/21/12
to bens...@googlegroups.com
I just talked to him, Ben is working on stuff :)
Robert Tracy
Jun 21, 2012, 2:32:20 AM6/21/12
to bens...@googlegroups.com
Not surprising really... he's an industrious fellow.
Rob
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