Randy Cassingham's Blog

Posted by Bob, Kent, UK on November 14, 2011:

Not happy.

Subscription runs out end of year. Am considering unsubscribing.

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I can't possibly make everyone happy. I'm sure I've been losing business for years because it's not HTML. I have to go with the quite overwhelming majority. -rc

Posted by Mark - Aurora, CO on November 14, 2011:

Apparently I didn't read the whole issue last week or I would have voted, probably Neutral or weak Yes. I'm still happy with this change, and hopeful that the 1.5%/3.7% will come to their senses and the 21st century (and bring their email providers with them).

Posted by Pete, Adelaide, South Australia on November 14, 2011:

A bit behind with my reading, so didn't know about the survey. Dang!

I'd have been in the 'prefer not, but could live with it' camp. However, in pretty much everything we do, there comes a time when you have just have to adopt the improvements that technological advances are offering, and get with the program. So bring it on!

Unsubscribe? Never!!

Posted by Bernard in Brisbane, Australia on November 14, 2011:

I completely forgot about responding to the survey - sorry, Randy!

I'm neutral-to-positive. While I have a preference for plain text email (comes from using it for several years prior to the invention of the world wide web, I guess!), I've seen enough of your work over the years to trust that you'll do it well. :-)

BTW - is it possible for you to set up a separate list for those (few) people who insist they only want to get text-only? It seems like it would be an easy thing to set up, but of course, that's from the perspective of someone who (a) doesn't know how to do it, and (b) wouldn't have to do it himself!

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For the free edition: definitely not. Too much work and "confusion" to deal with, and AWeber already does MIME so they can have both anyway. For Premium: don't know yet. I need to discuss it with the developer. -rc

Posted by Jeff, Riverside, Calif. on November 14, 2011:

I'm one of those who would have voted no, if I'd seen the survey in time (frown). I'm not sure yet whether I'd renew (paid edition) or not, once you switch to html, because my email client, while fully capable of reading html email cannot be set to switch to email for only certain senders, and too many spammers are sending malicious html emails which can even install password snoopers on local desktops/laptops.

At the very least I'd strongly suggest a line at the very top of the email, which will be readable to non-html email readers, with a link to a page where the html can be read.

If your mailing software can't do that, then it's, in my humble opinion, unsuitable. The real test of course is when you find out if you gain or lose subscribers to the paid edition. I know that I won't be recommending paid subscriptions anymore, once the emails are only available in html.

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I think "malicious HTML e-mails" is a tiny issue (says the guy who wrote the Spam Primer): I've set my e-mailer (Eudora) to allow HTML -- and I don't run an anti-virus scanner. As for a page with the text, that's a no-go: then I'd need limited access schemes, with a data base behind it to allow only those who are currently paid up. I can't possibly do that with the number of subscribers I have paying only $24/year. -rc

Posted by Jim - Texas on November 14, 2011:

I've been promising for years that I would resubscribe to Premium if you ever went to HTML. I just gave my $24 to PayPal and now I am a Premium subscriber again.

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See? I knew I was losing customers by not having HTML! Thanks for confirmation. -rc

Posted by Greg, Connecticut, USA on November 14, 2011:

I'm one of the "YES: that would be fine"s. The only thing I'm concerned about is how the HTML formatting holds up to resizing the font. Far too many web sites have fancy column and ad layouts that completely disintegrate, covering important content when I increase the font size from "super tiny" (8pt or less) to "reasonable" (12-14pt on my monitor). Even the TRUE website has this problem occasionally; this example shows some text box overlap, which in this case doesn't obscure any text, but has in the past. TRUE's plain text emails wrapped at 80 columns has been immune to this problem, and I'd hate to see it become less readable.

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I haven't even begun to design the template yet, but I can already say the font won't be "super tiny". I will definitely try things like enlarging it in browsers before I lock it down. -rc

Posted by Maarten, Netherlands on November 14, 2011:

For my part I trust that which ever decision you'll make will be in everyone's best interest. Therefore I bid you to proceed with whichever format you see most fit, good Sir. ;)

Posted by Sheldon - Mexico on November 14, 2011:

I voted a strong yes in your poll, but even had the decision gone the other way, I certainly wouldn't be unsubscribing over it. In fact, I find it difficult to imagine how anyone would pay for a year or more of reading content, and then consider unsubscribing solely because of format. It's so simple to manage the security settings of your email client, after all. That makes about as much sense as unsubscribing over a change of font.

I've been a subscriber of yours for nearly as long as you've been publishing any of your letters, although I only converted to Premium about 3 years ago. I upgraded to help support your efforts, not to avoid the ads... that's just gravy. So if you want to chase ME off, you're going to have to work at it! ;)

Posted by Tom, Colorado Springs, CO on November 14, 2011:

I'm one of the "I can live with it" crowd. I just prefer plain text emails (but can always copy and paste to a text editor if I get the urge!) But the switch is extremely minor -- nothing to get upset about.

I know you'll use it responsibly and carefully. You also understand some of the potential security issues (and care about your readers enough to not use things like JavaScript).

And thanks for sharing your comparison of response rates. That was extremely fascinating. Take care of your customers, as the saying goes, and the results are apparent....

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I knew some would be bored with the details, and others would find them interesting. Easy enough to skip over what you don't care about, especially since I was reasonably brief. Glad you found it interesting. -rc