May 14, 2004 | View Comments (9) | Category: Our Thoughts
Summary: With blogs you get the human. You also get the warts that come with them.
Almost every company has a marketing department that specializes in saying the “right” things to their target audience. However, as we all know, the Internet has slighty changed the rules in how information and opinions are passed. Blogs took the communication to a whole new level that some companies embrace, while others seem to fear.
I embraced the blogging revolution because it allowed my voice to be heard. SixApart both embraced and capitalized from the blogging revolution and have to everyone's benefit kept an open blog discussing their company's plans in regards to their products TypePad and MovableType.
Yesterday I wrote a post that I thought would be inspirational to some and from the responses that I have received it was helpful to a few of you (maybe more). However, the discussion quickly changed to the way I was handling discussing my new business partnership, Business Logs.
Admittedly I was upset to find that the discussion had veered from my initial intent and started to focus on how I was going about things the wrong way. But later I realized that the feedback I was receiving served two great purposes: 1. Instant feedback benefits everyone 2. The feedback that I was receiving showed that people have an interest in the Whitespace community (some believe it is better to have a negative reaction than an indifferent reaction).
The feedback allowed me to see that to some people I was going about things completely the wrong way and in fact were insulting them. I apologize again if you took it this way. That is what comes with open communication though. Warts. It happens in the discussions here all the time. Sometimes you get to see the best of a person and other times you get the worst of them. However, you should always get the real person and this is what makes blogs so interesting.
Not everyone is comfortable showing their faults publicly. Instead they still try to go about things the old way of marketing and attempt perfection. I know people have come to this site and read one entry and thought that I was an arrogant, talentless designer and left or just the cutest thing ever (okay maybe not that). If I only had one entry then I think it would be fair to pass that judgement, however if you look at the whole history of this site you begin to get a better feel for the person I am.
Have I said things that I regret saying in the past? Of course I have, but I wouldn't take them back or delete them. I have had clients tell me that they appreciate my honesty and that is what made them choose to go with me. I am sure other people have shied away because they read an entry that didn't sit well with them. In the web world today you have to be careful what you say, but you shouldn't be restricted to what you are allowed to say.
And please don't mistake open communication with “ tell them everything that is going on in your life and the company's” communication.
Everyone knows about the MT 3.0 Licensing fiasco that occurred yesterday. I even wrote an excellent (*wink wink*) article at Forever Geek concerning the issue. MT is now pretty much a full fledged commercial software product (MT 2.661 is still a free download at Download.com). SixApart is now a company where they have to focus on the bottom line. Paying for the software shouldn't be the issue with anyone. I think once most people cool off they would honestly tell you that the quality of software that SixApart produces is well worth the money if you are willing to pay for it.
The problem was the communication or lack thereof concerning the licensing scheme. The appeal of SixApart and MT was that there always seemed to be an open communication amongst the company and the community. The details about the upcoming MT 3.0 crept out from time to time and it seemed like SixApart were actively taking the approach of open communication. They seemed to embrace the fact that a company can be transparent and successful at the same time, which is a fact I think many companies are starting to see. However, the one detail they always seemed to leave out (and this is major detail) was the licensing scheme.
There was a radio silence concerning the licensing scheme. It was like SixApart knew that the community would be upset with it and they themselves were scared to talk about it. I am sure Ben and Mena have a deep love for the community and felt uneasy bringing this to everyone's attention. However, I think the lack of open communication and the way they threw this upon everyone is the cause for unrest.
Again though, like they say, negative reaction is better than an indifferent reaction. Having open communication SixApart has the ability to explain the reasoning behind the new licensing scheme (obviously money), but also reaffirm their commitment not only to the developer community, but also to the user community.
Progressive Insurance has always impressed me because they show you a comparison between their competitors and themselves and will even tell you that sometimes they do not offer the better rate. Trust me I know because they did it to me. However, I stuck with them simply because I trusted them. Honesty goes a long way with people. To some the “let's pretend” scenarios was n dishonest way to go about things and after sitting back I can see how you would get that perspective. I apologize. The way SixApart threw the licensing scheme upon everyone seemed somewhat dishonest and I am sure they will correct this (not the licensing scheme, but their relations with the community). I am sure they understand that how they handle this situation will go a long way with how much support the community gives them in the future.
Nobody is perfect and sometimes the things you write in a blog will receive some backlash. As long as you learn from it and continue to remain open about issues I think everything will handle itself. Mark brought the issue up yesterday with regards to the “let's pretend” scenario and I thank him for bringing it to my attention. Without that sort of feedback I could have gone on for another two years with the scenario and ended up with only one reader (Mom always stays loyal :-). Enjoy the weekend. I know I will with the sunny skies here in Tampa.
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interesting. I am looking forward to the direction this conversation will take.
Bryan (http://www.gamecubecheats.info)
Haha, well it isn't moving forward with comments like that Bryan :-P
The great thing about the whole SixApart thing is that it becomes a real-life business case study for everyone to learn from. Amazing to see so many different opinions about things. Also shows that if you are going to say something and go against later in the future, its nice to hear some reasoning to go along with it. I really don't think that is too much to ask for.
Scrivs (http://businesslogs.c)
Regarding MT, Scrivs said on Phark that "On the bright side, now products such as WordPress and TextPattern should get more users. Competition is good." Couldn't agree with you more.
On the "let's pretend" statement, it's nice of you to apologize but not really necessary, how offended were you, really, Mark? I'm sure Scrivs hadn't really analyzed how that header would affect you, as he had forgotten that Phil had already called him on it.
hass (http://hass.spikehost.net)
Good points, but let's look at your example of Progressive Insurance: The concept behind Progressive Insurance has always inpressed me as well. However, in my case the actual results did not. When shopping for car insurance, one of the first places I checked was their site. However, all the quotes I received from them seemed high including their own (Which was barely the lowest). That in itself didn't earn my trust. With some additional searching elsewhere I found quotes for better coverage for about 2 thirds the price. Now, I realize Progressive can't list a quote from every single provider (It would be unrealistic to expect as much) but the providers they did list all are generaly known to be more expesive in my experience. All the providers that agressively campiagn their price were never mentioned. When I went to check those providers, most offered better deals.
To gain my trust in there system, Progressive would need to include quotes from those provideres. Of course, by doing so, they could effectively put themselves out of business by pointing all their customers to their competitors. Knowledge of that fact puts a gapping hole in any trust they could potentialy gain. To fill that hole they need to consistantly maintain honesty and admit mistakes, which was one of the points you were making Paul (if I understand things correctly). I didn't see them do that though. All they did is say: 'Here are the 3 (I think it was 3) best quotes we found.' No indication of who was higher (To save me checking them individualy) or who they didn't check prices with. So maybe listing all available insurance providers in my erea is asking to much, but they could have at least provided a list of all providers they did check. That effectively accomplishes the same thing. And it would have been an honest admitle (is that a word?) if any potential mistakes and carries more trustworthiness weight that the obligatory 'results may not be complete' legal disclaimer found in the small print.
Paul, I'm glad to see you're willing to admit any and all your mistakes despite any perceived negetive results. The fact that rather than a little footnote or comment in the offending blog entry, you dedicate a whole new post to the issue (thus making it more (and possably uneccesarily) apparent to all) it adds that much more weight. No gapping hole here, even if we do disagree with your opinion of the 'MT 3.0 Licensing fiasco' as you call it (personaly I have no opinion as I use Wordpress, but that is another matter altogether).
Wow, that was long.
waylman (http://achinghead.com)
waylman: I do admit to checking other sites to make sure I got all the quotes possible before I went with Progressive. I mean I try to be a smart shopper after all, and after my research I found that their quotes were consistent and on level with my own research. This is what helped them gain my trust. Obviously, everyone is going to have a different experience and it is unfortunate that yours differs from mine.
Scrivs (http://businesslogs.c)
One thing I noticed when I called Progressive is they did not compare me to Geico, whom was offering a fairly decent price, and a really good monthly payment plan, but they were comparing themselves to some insurance companies I had never heard of.
In the end, though, I will end up going with either Geico or Progressive. My damn insurance is going to be about 780 for 6 months :/ yikes.
Bryan (http://www.gamecubecheats.info)
Man, progressive gave me the most ridiculuos quotes I'd ever seen for insurance. More than 3 times what I ended up paying through the company I ended up choosing (though I may dump that company and spend another 20-50 a year for AAA or AllState both of which were about that much more and are much bigger)... like 2500 a year. Sheeesh. And they send me mail at least once a month asking me when I'll be switching. no thanks. ::eye roll::
I think their real target market is people who have minimal coverage, not full.
JC (http://thelionsweb.com/weblog)
The interesting thing to me is that with such a track record of interaction and disucssion with the MT community, Six Apart kept us totally in the dark about licensing until it was first announced. I would be curious to know exactly *why* they did this. Did they fear the lashing out of the community if they even brought it up? Certainly opening it for discussion would have calmed people and prepared them for this, as well as giving them a chance to voice their concerns and pose questions that are only now being resolved. Keeping all of this secret was obviously a choice they had to make, and I want to know *why* they made it.
Tom Werner (http://www.mojombo.com)
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#1
Six Apart was not /somewhat/ dishonest. They out-and-out lied. They told us forever that MT3 would be a significant, //full-featured// and free upgrade. Now the free version disallows the two features most pivotal to the free-wheeling usage that made MT popular.
We begged and begged for more info about MT3 or the new licensing, and all we got was that. Significant, full-featured, free. That was not only a pathetic bone to throw us, but also, we now know, a lie.
An utter silence would've been better. At least we'd've known something was awry. But no, they kept throwing us the same bone again and again. The same lie. They didn't go back on it a year ago, a month ago, a week ago. They went back on it no earlier than THE DAY of release.
They used up in one fell swoop --- one DAY --- much the trust and goodwill they had built over years of growth. And for what? A ridiculous license scheme, based on the the most preposterously basic features they could base it on.
I think Six Apart has shown us their opinion on open communication: It's what they sell, not what they do.
Lanny Heidbreder (http://blog.75thtrombone.com/)