1) Not the right time to ask

I've already complained about sites that ask users to sign up before they can do anything, and mentioned how gradual engagement is a much better approach to attract readers and customers. Now I'm noticing more and more blogs displaying the following invitation at the top of their pages:

Hello there! If you are new here, you might want to subscribe to the RSS feed for updates on this topic.

If I'm a new visitor, don't you think I will want first to take a look around to see if I like what you have to offer, before subscribing? If the invitation was placed on a sidebar or at the bottom of the page, instead of interrupting the flow of the article, I would be would be much more tempted to subscribe, after confirming that your content is relevant to me. Apparently the strategy works, as more and more bloggers are using it to bring in new subscribers. Well, spam messages also work (there is always a percentage of people who will fall for it), but it doesn't mean you would need to follow their lead. There are nicer ways to increase your subscriber base.

2) Not the right way to ask

Adriana,

I'd like to add you to my professional network on LinkedIn.

If you are a complete stranger interested in growing YOUR network, please take the time to write a customized message to introduce yourself. I can assure you that will substantially increase the probability of your invitation being accepted.

What are your pet peeves in Web 2.0?

(Photo by ankel wart)

Perhaps it's just my own bias toward the written word, but what's the point in making a video of yourself sitting behind a desk and reciting a list of recommended books?

I recently saw a blog post that was supposed to be about book reviews, and the author chose to film himself talking about the books instead. Wouldn't it be much easier for the audience to read the reviews, which could then include links to Amazon along with the book names?

Photo by paulbence

More and more frequently when someone posts a link to content that seems interesting to me, it's a webinar. I have nothing against video conferences, but I miss reading written articles, which I can fit much more easily into my working hours. I simply don't have time to watch most webinars, and will join one occasionally, only to think, "I could have obtained the same information from a blog post, much faster".

If you are offering a webinar, consider providing as an alternative a short PDF for downloading. Some people still prefer to read, and will be more likely to consume a short text than sit through a long presentation of doubtful value.

This picture shows the garbage containers of a residential apartment building in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

Taking into account the number of household items that are considered recyclable (newspaper, magazines, junk mail, phone books, scrap paper, cardboard, glass, plastics with a 1 - 7 inside the recycle arrow, milk cartons, juice boxes, detergent refill containers, aluminum cans, tin cans, steel cans, bi-metal cans and metal lids), is it a surprise to anyone that the normal garbage container, to the left, remains practically empty, while the much smaller recycling bin is always in a state of overflow?

TechCrunch writes about the problems caused for web developers by people still using Internet Explorer 6:

IE6 has long been a thorn in the sides of many web developers, offering limited support for many established web standards that often force devs to implement ugly, ugly hacks. It might not be so bad if there weren’t so many people still using the damn thing over eight years after its release (and two full browser upgrades from Microsoft), but it still has an alarmingly large following. Its poor performance, combined with its persistence, has made it one of the worst tech products of all time.

The article cites a poll made with IE6 users of the website Digg. IE6 corresponds to 5% of Digg's traffic, and three out of four users of the old version of the browser say they can’t upgrade due to some technical or workplace reason.

Graphic by Elliot P.

Statistics from W3Schools show that in June 2009 14.9% of their users were still using IE6 (a smaller percentage than shown in the graphic from December 2008 from the same source, but still very high).

To accommodate IE6 users, web developers have to spend many extra hours adjusting the code so that webpages work properly for this particular browser version. The main reason for its survival, according to the Digg poll, seems to be the lag in the installation of upgrades in corporate environments.

IT managers at big corporations, please schedule an upgrade! Or even better, shift to Firefox, the web browser most recommended by reviewers. IE6, if you haven't noticed, is broken.

"You are receiving this e-mail because you attended an event, downloaded trial software or registered for technical white papers from Annoying Software, Inc. To be unsubscribed from all future mailings, including event announcements, please go to http://www.annoyingsofware.com/unsubscribe."

Before downloading your trial software, I made sure I unchecked the option to subscribe to your newsletter.

By insisting and making me:

1) open an unsolicited email about your product;

2) go to a page and enter my email again (as if you don't have it already) to unsubscribe from future mailings,

you are ensuring that I'm not buying your product, ever.

As Seth Godin (bestselling author, entrepreneur and agent of change) puts it,

You do 95% of it right, then use cheesy fonts or lie a bit or try too hard and boom, that's it.