Subj : Hello, welcome, and w
To   : Doug Cooper
From : August Abolins
Date : Sat Aug 01 2020 22:38:00

Hello Doug!

** On Monday 01.06.20 - 23:28, Doug Cooper wrote to August Abolins:

 AA>> DC> I'm about ready to go back to a land line as well.
 AA>>
 AA>> Why?
 AA>>

 DC> ....It's getting to the point where when people need to solve a
 DC> problem they email, or text.  But dare ask them to pick up the phone
 DC> and they act afraid and or inconvenienced.

Some of my suppliers have a totally annoying customer-care process over  
the phone.  Too many sub menus to pick.  Then, often the only option  
provided is to leave a message.  They migh call back, but then I might be  
occupied with something else in the store and can't really pick up.

Other suppliers just instruct the caller to file a grievance or concern  
via email.


 DC> My wife, and I love my wife, don't get me wrong.. [[..]] Or If there
 DC> is a problem with an inaccurate charge to her account from a
 DC> retailer, she'll send a quick email, forget about it, and never get
 DC> it resolved.

Then that would tell me that the money is not significant or not  
important.  ;)   BUT.. the email can be good paper-trail or proof of  
activity.


 DC> Or, my past clients, would ask "why do I have weeds?" Well .. that
 DC> requires a lot of questions, a lot of explanation to type within
 DC> email.  So I'd try to call -- they won't answer. So I used to spend
 DC> over an hour compiling an email explaining their situation, after
 DC> reviewing their home, and it would go unread.

In my biz, it's easier to use email for describing book details and  
prices.  Your gardening/landscaping biz had many more elements to deal  
with.  I too could spend an hour or so doing research and compiling a  
message.  But then, it serves as a fine copy and a record of my work.  If  
I did it just over the phone, the work is simply ephemeral and can  
disappear into forgetfulness.


 DC> ..I don't reply to texts from family or friends, other then BBS
 DC> friends.  But not those that I've known for years.  I don't reply to
 DC> their emails either. They wanna talk -- call.

My landline phone is only "on" between 7p-9p, and the answering machine is  
OFF.  Sometimes I forget to disable the "Do Not Disturb" mode on the  
phone!  LOL


 DC> There is no substitute then hearing my dads voice, or seeing him face
 DC> to face.  Not to mention that if not careful, people read tone into
 DC> written communication, most of the time inaccurately.

That reminds me of an incident when my mom who was quite confident and  
proficient in using email entered into a 4-way conversation with her  
sisters who were using their sons or daughters as proxy and the  
conversation just went off the rails for no reason.  The tone of a written  
phrase or two was misinterpreted.  A conference call would have been a  
good solution, but it was hard to coordinate everyone available at the  
same time.


 DC> ...So, while I'm joking about a land line .. albeit their dang cheap
 DC> right now ... I treat my cellpone as one while unemployeed.

Are you getting spam calls on the cell?  I'm afraid to disclose my number  
for fear that I would end up with a neverending stream of unsolicited  
calls triggered by someone's compromised cell phone.


 DC> Oh, and younger generations want to do a job interview via
 DC> text too .. I never hired those that did.

I have never encountered that! I would discredit a person who inquired or  
applied for a job that way.


 DC> Now smart phones have their place.  I love the instant access to
 DC> stocks, or weather, or my schedule, alarms, etc.... but not a
 DC> replacement for human interaction, nor a rude distraction to someone
 DC> who is genuinly trying to communicate with me.

It can be a real challenge to juggle a live customer who is standing right  
in front of me and deal with the phone when it rings.  I hate those  
incidents.  But, most of the time I can pick up the phone and ask the  
caller if I can call back or if they can wait until I finish a current  
sale.

I'd also rather like to have a phone that I could cradle between my  
shoulder and my head.  Today's cordless phones are totally useless in an  
environment where I need to be on the phone while completing a cash  
register transaction and taking notes!


 AA>> But I found out that a Group account does allow S)earches.  Maybe
 AA>> have a group account for your dad.

 DC> See my FSXnet reply to the above, however a quick add .. I started a
 DC> facebook group to do videos and text on all things turf care.  I have
 DC> tons of videos to edit and upload.  And they are much more user
 DC> friendly then the general news feed.

FB makes it pretty easy to build a page with content like that.  Hope the  
result is satisfactory for you.  Is it getting interest?


 DC> Took your advice -- the DAD echo.  I'm starting a FidoNet All Pro Dad
 DC> group...   [[snip]] ..Next up August -- Lawn Care.  But my HTML
 DC> online class has consumed my time to write the material in text for a
 DC> BBS format.

You are juggling a lot of things!


 DC> You, I'm sure very much rember, the day of each SysOp sending $5-$10
 DC> a month to the hub to make the long distance call out of state for
 DC> networking?

Yes.. I remember something like that was suggested when I joined Fidonet  
and a few other nets.  But in my case the main hubs that were making the  
LD calls had good paying jobs and did not mind doing it out of pocket.   
The occassional meet-up was encouraged where people could buy a dinner or  
a beer.


 DC> What if we did that for facebook, snap chat, or other ads?

That could be a nightmare to maintain.  Who would do it?  Fidonet has the  
site fidonet.org.  It's not very modern or interesting though. It seems to  
be under tight control and there is not much passion or interest to  
leverage it to be something more exciting.


 DC> I've also noticed that a lot of BBS pages are set up as archive/
 DC> historical purposes, and/or are not clean and user friendly; beit in
 DC> UI or or in the nomenclature used to describe what a BBS is.

I see that too. However, there are a handful of sysops who have rather  
fine web calling cards for their BBSes.  I posted a modest list of the  
ones I thought were rather cool - but that was over a year ago.  I'll try  
to revisit the ones I can remember and let you know.


 DC> While it's silly to think we can reinvent acronymns, when hitting a
 DC> landing page, maybe using the word "Apps" instead of "Files," or
 DC> "Games" instead of "Doors," or "Blogs" instead of "Echos" would be
 DC> examples of ways to modernize the URL facing marketing toward BBS's.

OR.. use BOTH terms side-by-side like this: Apps/Files, Games/Doors   
Blogs/Echos/Forums.

Only the latter one bothers me.  I always wondered how the heck did the  
term blog ever arise to represent an online list of posts.  A blog sounds  
like something that one would pick out of their nose!  LOL

A blog is generally a continuous list of posts by one person. The blog  
system has "comments" that serve as feedback, but that's about it.  An  
echo is entirely different and encourages dialog.


 DC> In addition, to your point, there are grass roots marketing that is
 DC> simple and free, and could collect a few users. [[snip]] .. I think,
 DC> totally unrelated words:  COVID, TRUMP, etc... included within our
 DC> text can surely draw more clicks then "founded in 1989, My BBS was
 DC> ..."

I'm not fond of trick words to steer traffic.  Instead, I think just  
something like "alternative , efficient, no-ads.." would be better.


 DC> Being strategic in how URL's are created, with click tracking
 DC> tools can assist greatly.

Even my openxp.kolico.ca page could use better words so that google could  
hopefully list it in the first page of results.



 DC> Lastly, I know two guys that can redirect web traffic (albeit not
 DC> always for long) to their website as opposed to another ... I don't
 DC> like those dirty tactics. However, I think we have an excellent,
 DC> relevant, and very much alive format of "Social Media" that people
 DC> crave from the mainstream tech companies out there; without the flaws
 DC> .. however minus the photos ... which some just won't ever get or
 DC> understand.

Your words "alternative, relevant, alive, social media" + "no ads, no  
tracking" would be fine terms to use to help highlight WHY echomail might  
be exactly what many people might prefer.  The trick is to get the word  
out there!


 AA>> Your "Breaking News" write-up at telentbbsguide.com is very good!

 DC> Thank you!  Can't wait till you call!  :)

OMG. Something has always seemed to pull me in another direction and I  
would forget.  About a year ago I was on a mission to find specific BBSes  
that offered Bluewave. From that, I settled with less than a hand full as  
regular destinations.  Now, I'm even weeding off calling those BBSes  
directly; I prefer using my OpenXP system.  ;)


 DC> Glad I finally got the rescan on this echo ... love these types of
 DC> conversations!

This is a l-o-n-g multi-screen one!  Maybe we need to break it up into  
separate topics?


  ../|ug

--- OpenXP 5.0.45
 * Origin:  (2:221/1.58)

.