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How NOT to Launch a Beta
By Mark Evans | November 12, 2008
There are lots of ways to launch a beta but SocialMinder (no link love for you!) illustrated how NOT to do it yesterday.
At first blush, SocialMinder looks like an interesting service as a way to manage your LinkedIn and GMail contacts. After getting an invite from a friend who bubbled enthusiastically about it, it seemed like a no-brainer to check it out.
The problem is that during the sign up process, SocialMinder spams all your contacts, which is probably how I got an invitation. Even though I think - and I stress, think - caught on to what SocialMinder was doing and only send invitations to a few people, when I heard about this sneaky move, I was not a happy camper.
It was such an under-handed surprise that I changed by GMail and LinkedIn passwords, deactivated my SocialMinder account and put a few messages on Twitter.
Now SocialMinder may, in fact, be a solid, useful service but first impressions often mean everything, and yesterday SocialMinder blew.
So, if you get an e-mail message that looks like this be extremely careful. In particular, check out this sentence: “I have arranged for you to get a priority account”. Sorry, the person who sent you the invite did not get you a priority account.
SocialMinder is an online assistant that helps you maintain relationships with your LinkedIn network.
I thought that you might appreciate a free invitation to the “closed” alpha test of SocialMinder.
SociaMinder:
* Scans your email headers and maps them to your LinkedIn network
* Identifies relationships that need strengthening
* Helps identify recent business news to discuss with each contact, no matter how out of touch you are
* You get weekly updates identifying top opportunities to build a better network
I have arranged for you to get a priority account;
1) Go to http://www.SocialMinder.com , and
2) Click on the green button (‘sign me up’)
You are on the priority list, but your space is only held for 3 days.
And the price is FREE…
Hope that it works for you!
.
Karin
PS- let me know what you think…
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