Late last night, I read the transcript of @csallen's interviewing Sam Parr, which motivated me to get off my ass and get started on my own newsletter.
If y'all would be so kind to drop 💣 regarding :
All of it's fair game - overall value proposition, design, copywriting, composition... let me have it.
Wow, that looks great.
The content is easy to read, it has a number of pictures to lighten up the content and make it more attractive to read.
Important things that are already covered, Privacy Policy, TOS. They have not been forgotten. I'm impressed.
OK.. but you want to hear critique.. so here we go.
The images for Onboarding etc.. do not yet have alt text. The pages meta description is also a bit thin.
You're a SEO master so I expect that to come soon :)
The text is well written and clearly thought out, yet I think you're using the writing style "I've you've you're you'll what's" a bit much. My opinion on these is that it is almost always better in a text like this to write it out full "I have" instead of the more colloquial "I've". Editors tend to fall over that (something which I am not, but I am annoying enough to make it a topic).
In general though the text is great, well laid out, big font.
It also has got some of the buzzwords that managers like so you are writing for the right audience here.
Ooh. And almost forgot to ask... 7 day free trial or sample newsletter?
Sample newsletter has a lower bar of entry, so that's good.
The 7 day trial gives you a possible line of feedback and follow up, which is probably better.
One other thing I just noticed is that the picture at the top "diversity-in-tech-29f1569558640d6de8db5495e56ee3f3.png" didn't show up on one of my browsers (well it did for 2 seconds and then disappeared).
The main hero image? Ugh. Any chance you remember which one?
Great point about the feedback/follow up!
(Per your recommendation, I've also removed about half of the contractions! Definitely reads better!)
The picture shows up fine now, so whatever it was, seems it is fixed.
I'm not against contractions per definition, it was just a little too much.
👍🏾
Alt text added. (Grinning) But you're right. I'll flesh out more SEO goodies if the idea is validated.
I'veversusI have. Hotly contested in the realm of copywriting. We'll see if it bothers other folks.Many thanks for jumping in with feedback!
I was going to leave feedback yesterday, but the page was so awesome I fainted and hit my head on the desk. When my butler discovered me the next morning and revived me, my cat was sitting on my head, leaning over the keyboard and playing diep.io. He has standing orders not to interrupt the cat when he's on a win streak, so there I lay. Awkward.
Anyhow... it's glorious. And I'm super super jealous of your skills, but appreciate having something to emulate :) muahahaha
I found my eyes moving around side to side a LOT on my monitor, and I don't know if I liked it. That's nitpicky, I opened it up on my desktop, most people will probably read on mobile?
What's behind that choice of using Software Engineer as your title next to your name? You already qualified yourself in the previous paragraph, maybe you're going for "I'm one of you" vibe
The specific question I see come up a lot is "What else should I be doing?" for people who are honestly trying. You're providing ongoing content which directly addresses this question
Run a copy/spell check, or let me know when you're done and I'll do a pass for you
QA/Tech/Customer Support fall loosely but importantly into the bucket and increase the audience quite a lot
I don't think you need a trial personally. I'd go with free sample, and switch it up based on ratings as you get them. I don't know how but try to capture some ongoing metric on your content like a rating button or #replies you got from it
Include some retweetable quotes in your newsletter, your target audience will like being able to look sharp as it will help them attract the talent they're looking for.
Alternative CTA: __You've done everything you can think of. __ You're looking for ways to stay on top of your game.
EDIT: On second thought, the 7-day trial is fine. It works, is a built-in risk reducer which counts a lot at reducing purchase decision anxiety
😂(LAUGHING!) 😂Woke up this post this morning! Perfect start to an IH day!
Just to make certain I understand, do you mean the width your eyes had to travel on a larger screen?
That's exactly what I was after. Problematic? What would you go with?
Love this. Stolen. Published. If you have any more of those gems, please share!
Ooh. Already performed. Did you see a lot of grammatical issues?
Not following. (Grinning) Are you suggesting that I make my contact link more prominent?
This trial versus a sample seems to be the most contentious piece of the landing page. Wonder if I can get @csallen or @louisswiss to chime in. I like what @vimalin had to say about a trial affording opportunities for feedback. Which seems critical during the validation stage. But yeah, if I can avoid waiting 7 days for validation... I'll take it.
(Laughing!) Will do!
Alternative CTA. What are you suggesting this should replace?
Thanks for this incredible feedback! Lots of good stuff to chew on.
Software Engineer and Diversity Trainer
or Add in the paragraph above somewhere "As a Software Engineer, " though that could make it sound like a past gig
👍🏾
Absolutely in 🧡 with the look & feel of the page, so beautiful layout, congrats!
Thank you, @franckj! 🙇🏾♀️Any recommendations for improvement?
I would say maybe CTAs a little bit brighter.
Everything else have already been said :-)
👍🏾
My opinion:
However:
Would I buy? I'm not in the target audience but I think a lot of people could do with the extra knowledge!
All in all, that is a neat idea!
Thanks for taking the time to comment! It's much appreciated!
re Cramped. Good point. Revamp in progress.
re Try before Buy. Is receiving the newsletter for 7 days before being charged less persuasive than seeing a sample? (Willing to do one, but not both.)
re Testimonials. (Smiling) Will add as soon as I scrounge some up.
I guess if you receive for 7 days it would work but at the same time, an immediate proof helps too!
AFAIK, testimonials they can be from people you've worked with in the past on these topics, they don't necessarily have to be from the people that subscribe to your newsletter
re Immediate proof or 7 day trial. (Grinning) If you could only choose one?
I'd say TRIAL :)
👍🏾
Well done @Janice
What's great, if anything, about the landing page?
What needs improving? What's missing?
If you are (or have been) a manager in tech, would you buy? Why or why not?
I've bookmarked and happy to share with friends whenever they need.
Since you're getting into the newsletter landing page water. I'd like to hear your feedback how'd you improve my newsletter too :)
Ooh. Just notice the link you provided goes to the actual newsletter. Did you ask for feedback here on IH?
Thanks for taking the time comment and I'll definitely return the favor!
Is there anything I could add that would persuade someone who is well versed in diversity, that this could serve as another source of inspiration for optimizations?
Definitely appreciate the share!
It's freakin' dead in here. Paging the #TheCommittals: @helengriffinjr, @vimalin, @jpusateri, @Guidione_Machava, @natejcho, @DF_V, @davey, @VisionIsScary
@breedaddy
Hi @Janice, congrats with the landing page. It looks unique.
My feedback
I think you should start with the problem you are trying to solve: "The lack of diversity in tech plagues the industry." and then present your solution.
About the illustrations, the first thing I did was try to find a black man like me. Is the rust dev the black dude in the group?
Is the link for the blog working?
I think testimonials or demo newsletter would help on the selling.
@Guidione_Machava Thanks for taking the time to chime in! (Grinning) Hopefully that's unique in a good way!
That's a fair comment re problem. But that's a grand one. I definitely want to reel it in and make target engineering managers. But I'll give this more thought.
re Black man. The illustrations are meant to be a bit ambiguous, capturing the intersection of gender. But there are 4 darker skin brothers and sisters, all of whom could be considered either black or brown. And two of which could be considered men.
Blog link. Working. But nothing there yet. Working on that this week!
Noted re testimonials and/or demo newsletter! (Probably opt for the latter when I have one!)
It's unique in a good way!
re Black man: I see, make sense now.
Well done once again.
Paging @louisswiss because he's a master at this stuff!