Customer Comment Box?

[Debbi]

As I look at my articles and see that some have over 200 hits, I wonder," Would it be helpful to have a box on the article page where customers could make a comment?" Only the author could see the comments and they would be anonymous. The customer might say "I would have bought this but it's too long - or too short -- or too technical -- or too general -- or too boring -- or I don't know what. Maybe it would just generate a lot of "This sucks" or "Your rates are too high" or "Who said you could write!" but maybe it would give me a clue as to why the articles just sit there gathering hits and not selling. The title or the subject or something is luring the viewers, and maybe it's just not their time, but maybe there is some fatal flaw that is attracting them and then chasing them away. I konw a customer can send an email if they really want to say something, but most poeple don't want to click those extra two links to do it. It could be a good way for other authors to point out any typos that slipped through the cracks too (I've emailed one or two people after reading their article).

Just thinking out loud. Any thoughts?

[Celeste Stewart]

I don't know. I can see your point that it could be useful for writers to gauge what customers really think. HOwever, I don't think views equal votes of confidence (and many may not be views by actual customers). If it were me, I'd be demoralized to see comments about why my articles didn't get selected. After all, there's more likely to be dozens, if not hundreds, of uninterested customers for each article that I write. These aren't the people I'm interested in impressing so I'm not overly concerned about their opinions if you know what I mean.

I know a given article likely has a narrow potential customer base, so seeing comments from customers outside of the base wouldn't be particularly constructive to me. Even if an article were priced at rock bottom prices, there's going to be an element that thinks the price is too high. If an article is even slightly controversial, there's going to be an element that objects to it. If an article is too academic, there's going to be an element that thinks its too esoteric. If an article is too basic, there's going to be an element that thinks the article is "dumming down" our youth. I also don't really want compliments. To me, the ultimate compliment from a customer is a purchase. A comment along the lines of "great article" would certainly be nice, but if it's not followed by a purchase, well then where are we? Back to the "but it's too technical/pricey/advanced/simple for my tastes" which we already know, right? We can't please everyone.

I trust CC's and Ed's judgment when the article is accepted that there's an audience for it and am willing to wait for that right buyer. Those buyers are out there. If price is a struggle for writers, there's always the best offer option.

As far as the extra two clicks to send us a note goes, if a person doesn't want to click the "Contact Author" button to express themselves, they're not going to bother to click the "add a comment button" regardless of how easy it is to fill out a comment form. For example, if you're in the grocery store looking at the snack aisle and you see a "what do you think form" next to one brand of pretzels. Are you going to fill it out even though it's easy or are you going to grab the bag of pretzels that best meets your needs and be done with it? And would the comments of "I prefer stick pretzels to twists" be all that useful? The same is true of price. If you're stocking your bag of pretzels next to dozens of other brands, all priced dramatically lower than yours, then you know that your price is either too high for the market or your ingredients are far superior. If your ingredients really can command the higher price, then you need to set your brand apart from the crowd somehow and convince customers why to choose your product.

[jadedragon]

Clean that explanation up and sell it as an article Celeste "Why Comment Forms Mean Very Little"

[BarryDavidson]

I have to agree with Celeste on this one. I was thinking along those lines before I read her better worded explanation.

That being said, another argument against a customer comment box is simple. All the customer has to do to get the article any way they want is to either purchase full rights and edit it to their satisfaction, or they can post a public/private request. I just don't think a, "I'd buy this if you ______," would be constructive. It might even cause a few authors to delete their already accepted article (it'll happen, trust me), and the commenter won't buy it anyway. Another thing to think about is that it'll encourage what I call the "physical b**chers" to make appearances.

Physical b**chers are those people who either complain so much because they'd become physically ill if they don't, or those who have a physical need to travel to every website they can and argue/b**ch about everything that contrasts with their view of everything. (Both are mental conditions, but I'm sure that the latter is true of some people.) If there's one thing I know about, it's the nature of the internet beast. If you open up ANY way for people to moan, b**ch and whine toward anything productive, they'll descend like locusts once the word is out.

Yet another thing to consider is how many authors have had their accounts suspended? The forum is fairly limited, but imagine them having a way to access the other authors of this site.

I self-censored this even though the word is acceptable on most sites now

[Elizabeth Ann West]

Also, they CAN message us. Say a buyer reads my piece on OpenOffice.org and writes "Hey Elizabeth, I like your piece on OO.o, but I need a piece on Evolution. THink you could write a different piece on other open source software?"

Then I could write the piece, link it to the message, and instruct the buyer he or she can set up a private request for any other titles, to make communication easier and to make sure articles he or she "orders" are only available for him or her.

The reality though is I think most buyers here don't WANT to interact a ton with a writer for content. They want to peruse the library, find what they need, if not set up a public request and pick the best one. It doesn't really help the buyer to tell me why they didn't buy my article on openoffice.org if they found another one here that did fit their needs. And, if the article really is compelling and they want to tweak it, like a previous poster said, they can buy full rights and do it themselves (usually better as they know exactly how they want it changed).

[Debbi]

Yes, you have articulated all my own misgivings very well. That's why the idea was just a thought and not a suggestion

[Elizabeth Ann West]

No worries Debbi, no one was angry or upset, and I used to eb the queen of "what about this idea?"