The Art of the Email Pitch
Last week, we wrote about the art of the elevator pitch , that short and hopefully impactful speech one should be prepared to give. But face-to-face interactions aren’t always possible, and even though they may be preferable, it’s important to practice the written form of the pitch as well. Investors (and tech bloggers, I would add) are inundated with emails. As with an elevator speech, you need to craft your email to attract and hold your reader’s attention. Here are a few tips. Sponsor 1. The subject line matters. Don’t leave this blank, and don’t write something vague like “introduction” or “pitch” or “idea” in the subject line. At least include your company name, but better yet include something that makes the email seem interesting to read. 2. Introduce yourself. Personalized emails go a lot farther than those sent from the marketing department. While attachments like resumes and press releases are sometimes appropriate, you should give a quick introduction to yourself at the beginning of an email. Your introduction should include the key details: who you are and why the recipient should know you. 3. Know your audience. Demonstrate some evidence in your email that you know who the recipient is. Make sure you are targeting the right person with the right message. 4. Pictures say a thousand words. If possible, include images and videos. These can help the recipient quickly assess your product or service. Be respectful of file size limitations. 5. Make it easy to reach you. Every email should contain a signature. And every signature should include all the possible ways to reach you: phone number, email address, Twitter account, Skype name, and so on. You need to be a click away. 6. Make it happen. Don’t just send emails with vague discussion about potential follow-up. Propose a follow-up. Arrange a meeting time and place. As with the elevator speech, it is important to be yourself. Remember to be respectful, even though the interaction isn’t “in person.” Discuss
Top 10 YouTube Videos About Flash Mobs
Flash mobs are “spontaneous” gatherings that are organized by emails and text messages. Everyone from celebrities to schools have created them. To keep it real, our Top 10 YouTube list is based only on non-commercial events. From a giant flash mob shootout in a shopping center in Poland, to a ninja mob at U.C. Berkeley, to a lightsaber mob in Bristol, these events are a global phenomenon. In Australia and New York City – even a record 3,000 people all freezing in place in Paris – these mobs demonstrate how new ideas for email- and text message-based event organizing have only just begun. Sponsor Frozen Grand Central 21,348,947 views The Great Trafalgar Square Freeze 3,311,232 views Supermarket Flashmob 1,704,450 views World biggest Freeze Flash Mob in Paris OFFICIAL VIDEO 1,157,621 views Ninja Flashmob 944,587 views Flash Mob in “Stary Browar” Poznań, Poland 12.05.07 782,713 views Bristol Lightsaber Flashmob The Official Video 212,675 views Twittervlog: Massive flashmob silent rave in London Victoria 207,689 views Newcastle Flash Mob – Look North 192,408 views Sydney Flash Mob Freeze – Jun 24 2008 – Official Video 181,580 views We’re at a key point in the history of mobile computing right now – we hope you’ll join us, and a group of the most innovative leaders in the mobile industry, to discuss it. Don’t miss the ReadWriteWeb Mobile Summit on May 7th in Mountain View, California! Discuss
Weekly Wrap-up: Twitter in the Library, iPhone Gets Multitasking, Goodbye Google Gears, And More…
Our number one post this week was that Twitter’s archives will soon be housed in the hallowed halls of the Library of Congress. There’s got to be joke about librarians shushing tweets in there somewhere. We also continued our exploration of the significant Internet trends of 2010. We wrote about Internet of Things threads you’ll be wearing soon, a real-time trip into Twitter’s past, and that augmented reality is going to the fishes on the Discovery Channel. Read on for more. Sponsor Story of the Week: Twitter in the Library of Congress Twitter’s Entire Archive Headed to the Library of Congress Apple Announces iPhone OS 4 with Support for Multitasking 10 Smart Clothes You’ll Be Wearing Soon Goodbye, Gears – Google Docs Boots Plugin for HTML5 on May 3rd Top 10 YouTube Videos About Facebook New Google Docs Features: Added Co-Editing Capabilities, Similar To Google Wave More coverage and analysis from ReadWriteWeb ReadWriteWeb Mobile Summit Join us for the ReadWriteWeb Mobile Summit on May 7 in Mountain View, California as we explore the latest mobile development trends, both the technology and the emerging business applications. Be a part of the discussion on geo-location services , augmented reality , native app vs. browser-based , commerce and marketing , mobile social networking and the Internet of Things. Sponsorship enquiries: sales@readwriteweb.com . Mobile Web Where Does Android Register on Google’s “Evil” Meter? Opera Takes a Back Seat to Safari on the iPhone Microsoft’s New Phone Gets the Social/App Balance Wrong More Mobile Web coverage Augmented Reality Discovery Channel Puts AR In Front of Millions of Eyeballs More Augmented Reality coverage Augmented Reality for Marketers and Developers: Our Newest Research Report We’re pleased to announce ReadWriteWeb’s latest premium report, Augmented Reality for Marketers and Developers: Analysis of the Leaders, the Challenges and the Future . This report will help you develop a sophisticated understanding of Augmented Reality (AR), the mobile and Web technology that places data on top of a user’s view of the physical world. The research included will help you decrease your AR development time to market by learning from the first wave of early adopters. AR offers a new marketing and product paradigm for a high impact, high value customer experience. More than 1,000 AR campaigns were kicked-off last year and we expect to see many more in 2010. In this report, we profile key AR development companies, their campaigns as well as development lessons learned. For more information or to buy the report, visit here . Internet of Things 10 Smart Clothes You’ll Be Wearing Soon DASH7: Bringing Sensor Networking to Smartphones More Internet of Things coverage Real-Time Web Google’s Twitter Timeline Lets You Explore the Past Microblogging vs. Blogging: 5 Ways to Create an Open Twitter Alternative More Real-Time Web coverage . Don’t miss the next wave of opportunity on the Web supported by real-time technology! Get ReadWriteWeb’s report, The Real-Time Web and its Future . Check Out The ReadWriteWeb iPhone App We recently launched the official ReadWriteWeb iPhone app . As well as enabling you to read ReadWriteWeb while on the go or lying on the couch, we’ve made it easy to share ReadWriteWeb posts directly from your iPhone, on Twitter and Facebook. You can also follow the RWW team on Twitter, directly from the app. We invite you to download it now from iTunes . ReadWriteStart Our channel ReadWriteStart , sponsored by Microsoft BizSpark , is dedicated to profiling startups and entrepreneurs. Entrepreneurs Under 30: Advice From Your Peers Mary Meeker’s Internet Trends: The Future is Mobile Apple’s Game Center: More Opportunities for Social Games Developers ReadWriteEnterprise Our channel ReadWriteEnterprise is devoted to ‘enterprise 2.0′ and using social software inside organizations. New Google Docs Features: Added Co-Editing Capabilities, Similar To Google Wave Social Media Analysis: SAS Makes Its Play ReadWriteCloud Our channel ReadWriteCloud , sponsored by VMware and Intel, is dedicated to Virtualization and Cloud Computing. Weekly Poll: What does Virtualization as a Service Really Mean? Drupal Founder Takes on Jive Software Another Cloud Computing Acronym To Drive You Bonkers Enjoy your weekend everyone. Discuss
Weekly Wrap-up: 3D Street View, the Case Against Web 2.0, iPad Problems, And More…
While most of our top stories this week were about the iPad, our number one post was about how Google Street View is now, no joke, available in 3D. Go get your glasses and check it out. We also continued our exploration of the significant Internet trends of 2010: Verizon, AT&T and Cisco are talking up the Internet of Things , Gowalla added real-time feeds, and augmented reality cartoons are going to save our kids. Read on for more. Sponsor Story of the Week: Google Street View in 3D Google Street View in 3D: More Than Just an April Fool’s Joke You Are Not a Gadget: The Continuing Case Against Web 2.0 E-Books on the iPad: iBooks vs. Kindle for iPad iPad Problems Begin to Surface Digg Plans to Kill the DiggBar & Unban all Domains iPad: The First Real Family Computer More coverage and analysis from ReadWriteWeb ReadWriteWeb Mobile Summit Join us for the ReadWriteWeb Mobile Summit on May 7 in Mountain View, California as we explore the latest mobile development trends, both the technology and the emerging business applications. Be a part of the discussion on geo-location services , augmented reality , native app vs. browser-based , commerce and marketing , mobile social networking and the Internet of Things. Sponsorship enquiries: sales@readwriteweb.com . Mobile Web Why iAds Could be Bigger Than iPads Apple Announces iPhone OS 4 with Support for Multitasking? Farewell, Keyboard – Generation I Will Grow Up on Touchscreens More Mobile Web coverage Augmented Reality “Do Crew” Augmented Reality Cartoons Help Get Kids Off the Couch More Augmented Reality coverage Augmented Reality for Marketers and Developers: Our Newest Research Report We’re pleased to announce ReadWriteWeb’s latest premium report, Augmented Reality for Marketers and Developers: Analysis of the Leaders, the Challenges and the Future . This report will help you develop a sophisticated understanding of Augmented Reality (AR), the mobile and Web technology that places data on top of a user’s view of the physical world. The research included will help you decrease your AR development time to market by learning from the first wave of early adopters. AR offers a new marketing and product paradigm for a high impact, high value customer experience. More than 1,000 AR campaigns were kicked-off last year and we expect to see many more in 2010. In this report, we profile key AR development companies, their campaigns as well as development lessons learned. For more information or to buy the report, visit here . Internet of Things Verizon, AT&T & Cisco Talk Up Internet of Things Our Network is Alive More Internet of Things coverage Real-Time Web Gowalla Adds Real-time Feeds and Activity Streams For Maximum Mashup Action Twitter’s Translation Problem More Real-Time Web coverage . Don’t miss the next wave of opportunity on the Web supported by real-time technology! Get ReadWriteWeb’s report, The Real-Time Web and its Future . Check Out The ReadWriteWeb iPhone App We recently launched the official ReadWriteWeb iPhone app . As well as enabling you to read ReadWriteWeb while on the go or lying on the couch, we’ve made it easy to share ReadWriteWeb posts directly from your iPhone, on Twitter and Facebook. You can also follow the RWW team on Twitter, directly from the app. We invite you to download it now from iTunes . ReadWriteStart Our channel ReadWriteStart , sponsored by Microsoft BizSpark , is dedicated to profiling startups and entrepreneurs. Internet of Things: Opportunities For Entrepreneurs Why You Need to Be Developing for the iPad Right Now NYC Startup Job Fair: How Graduates Can Get a Great Job at a Startup ReadWriteEnterprise Our channel ReadWriteEnterprise is devoted to ‘enterprise 2.0′ and using social software inside organizations. Is the iPhone Now as Enterprise Ready as the Android? Google Executive Says Google Buzz Coming Soon to the Enterprise ReadWriteCloud Our channel ReadWriteCloud , sponsored by VMware and Intel, is dedicated to Virtualization and Cloud Computing. How Cloud Computing Can Help A Small Business Get Out of the Recession Does the iPad App Give Rackspace An Advantage? This Tweet is Priority 1: SalesForce.com’s Chatter is Transactional Social Media That’s a wrap for another week! Enjoy your weekend everyone. Discuss
Twitter Highlights Popular Tweets, Goes Live With API
Twitter turned on its new “popular” tweets feature in its search page last night, bubbling the three most popular tweets to the top of any search result. Previously, search results were only offered according to time, not any form of relevancy. In addition to the search feature showing up on search.twitter.com , the functionality has been turned on in Twitter’s search API, so we’re likely to see this sort of thing showing up in third-party clients soon, as well. Sponsor Don’t be confused if popular search results aren’t showing up when you search directly from the Twitter homepage – you need to specifically go to search.twitter.com for these new results to come up. For some reason, searching from the right-hand sidebar gives only results ordered by time. From the Twitter API Google Group on how tweets will be ordered: With this new project, we want to make real-time search even more valuable by surfacing the best tweets about a particular topic, by considering recency, but also the interactions on a tweet. This means analyzing the author’s profile, as well as the number times the tweet has been retweeted, favorited, replied, and more. It’s an evolving algorithm that we’ll be iterating on & tuning until practically the end of time. While the Twitter search returns only three results, the API should return more if desired. The API is opt-in, as we wrote last time , and offers the ability to get only new results, only popular results, or a mix. We’re immediately wondering how this might be used with the geocoding variable. Will we see similar functionality to the location trending on Foursquare or Gowalla? What does mean to identify tweets as singular hubs of conversation, like we see with Techmeme? Trending topics are just that – topics surrounded by many tweets. This makes the focus center not around many people talking about a topic, but instead a few tweets that many people are centering around. We know we’ve seen similar implementations with the likes of TweetMeme , but now that it’s in the API, what will we see next? Discuss