# The Email Newsletter



## Mike Greene (Oct 17, 2017)

I'm going to be sending out our first VI-Control newsletter later today or tomorrow, which I'm hoping to make a weekly thing. Undoubtedly people will have thoughts on it, good and bad, so here is the thread where everyone can comment and make suggestions.


----------



## synthpunk (Oct 17, 2017)

just no spoof newsletters Mike 

In all seriousness you have done a great job in your transition, you and Fred should be proud.


----------



## gsilbers (Oct 17, 2017)

not make them as crowded as KVrs or geartlutz?


----------



## ironbut (Oct 17, 2017)

Like the first one. I do agree, don't make them crazy long.


----------



## playz123 (Oct 17, 2017)

Great idea, Mike. Keep 'em coming. I do try to read many of the threads at VI and post when I can, but I also know I miss some of them due to time constraints. The good-news one today was about Air Studios winning its basement battle. I might have missed that if it wasn't for your e-mail. Cheers.


----------



## pmountford (Oct 17, 2017)

It's a thumbs up from me too. Just the right length to read and get the jist. My only concern is that I was aware of everything in the email but that must mean I've spent too much time loitering on this site... But its a great idea.


----------



## Arviwan (Oct 17, 2017)

Hello Mike, i really think it's a good idea !  Indeed, i don't visit V.I.Control on a regular basis and when i want to catch up i sometimes get "overwhelmed" ... so looking forward to reading you. Cheers !


----------



## screws (Oct 17, 2017)

Loved it. Perfect size, perfect content. Rock on Mike.


----------



## sniderman (Oct 17, 2017)

Well done, Mike. Nice mix of highlights of the week.


----------



## Emmanuel Rousseau (Oct 17, 2017)

Great idea, thank you @Mike Greene !


----------



## shapednoise (Oct 17, 2017)

Thank you for your work. MUCH appreciated.


----------



## bradbecker (Oct 17, 2017)

Great idea for those of us short on time but like to keep tabs on the space.


----------



## bradbecker (Oct 17, 2017)

bradbecker said:


> Great idea for those of us short on time but like to keep tabs on the space.


(Let’s just pretend that sentence made sense)


----------



## Mucusman (Oct 17, 2017)

Thumbs up. Short, concise, "personal" (that is, written in a way to sound as written to ME not the masses)... happy to receive these.


----------



## Diffusor (Oct 17, 2017)

This is great news! Congrats Mike. And no more annoying "annual" fundraisers every other month hitting up members at a bannered forum.


----------



## Orchestrata (Oct 17, 2017)

Enjoyed it, good job!


----------



## burp182 (Oct 17, 2017)

Very nice, Mike. I didn't realize you'd taken over the site. Just one more thing you do well.
Looking forward to the next one.


----------



## gregh (Oct 17, 2017)

worked for me as well - nice summary and highlighting of things I (and others) may have missed


----------



## synthpunk (Oct 17, 2017)

Well done. Do not mind that at all. Although it did go to my junk folder at first.


----------



## chillbot (Oct 17, 2017)

It is my new life goal to get a topic featured in the vi-c newsletter.


----------



## MarcusD (Oct 17, 2017)

Easily the best newsletter in my inbox.


----------



## jononotbono (Oct 17, 2017)

chillbot said:


> It is my new life goal to get a topic featured in the vi-c newsletter.



I was thinking I might put a fundraiser together and give my topic away.


----------



## Mike Greene (Oct 17, 2017)

chillbot said:


> It is my new life goal to get a topic featured in the vi-c newsletter.


FWIW, had I started this back when your Microsoft Paint thread was new, I would have put that one in there. There was some cool stuff there. In fact, that reminds me that I need to change my avatar.  

Thank you guys for the positive feedback. Good point about not making it too long, also.


----------



## JonSolo (Oct 17, 2017)

Yes I like this. I sometimes enjoy KVR, mostly cause it keeps me up to date on, well, updates. Topics, and sales are always great content.


----------



## jonathanparham (Oct 17, 2017)

I liked it. I don't frequent or stay long on the forum unless I'm in a discussion or discussion of a particular release. Very cool.


----------



## AllanH (Oct 17, 2017)

Nicely done newsletter. Curious: Are the "notable threads" based on post count or some other short-term metric?


----------



## Mike Greene (Oct 17, 2017)

AllanH said:


> Curious: Are the "notable threads" based on post count or some other short-term metric?


Purely subjective, based on what I think people would find most interesting. No doubt I missed a couple good ones. That process will undoubtedly evolve.


----------



## NoamL (Oct 17, 2017)

"Notable product releases" is cool! And once a week sounds like the right frequency.


----------



## Phillip (Oct 17, 2017)

Mike, hi. In your newsletter you mention some sales from vendors who advertise on VI. Say I ( and some other VI members who received the newsletter) visit one or few of those threads and end up buying the product. Vendor gets extra income and decides advertise with you again. 

All fine. I'm personally ok with you making money that way. But how can you say ( a Quote from your newsletter):

"Don't worry, I don't make any money off of it" ?

Please explain. Thank you, Phillip


----------



## NoamL (Oct 17, 2017)

As far as I'm aware (and remember, this was all aired out a few months ago) VI-C does not get an affiliate-style cut of sales made "through" the forum. Rather they sell advertising directly to vendors.

I would assume/hope that the weekly product list is just scraped from Commercial Announcements or you can email Mike to get on it. The links in the email are trackbacked but they all go to VIC threads not vendor sites.


----------



## Mike Greene (Oct 17, 2017)

Phillip said:


> Mike, hi. In your newsletter you mention some sales from vendors who advertise on VI. Say I ( and some other VI members who received the newsletter) visit one or few of those threads and end up buying the product. Vendor gets extra income and decides advertise with you again.
> 
> All fine. I'm personally ok with you making money that way. But how can you say ( a Quote from your newsletter):
> 
> ...


You're a suspicious one!  When I wrote, _"Don't worry, I don't make any money off of it"_, I just meant that I'm not being paid directly for those mentions.

Beyond that, it could certainly be argued that listing new releases/sales in the newsletter would encourage developers to advertise, except ... it could also be argued that *any* improvements to the forum would encourage developers to advertise.

It's also worth noting that three of the seven companies that I listed are not advertisers here and I would be surprised if they ever will be. My intention was just to make a newsletter that would be useful to the person who doesn't stop in very often, and hopefully get them to come visit more often.



NoamL said:


> As far as I'm aware (and remember, this was all aired out a few months ago) VI-C does not get an affiliate-style cut of sales made "through" the forum. Rather they sell advertising directly to vendors.


Correct. An affiliate situation would make for a weird vibe here. I don't want any part of that.



NoamL said:


> I would assume/hope that the weekly list is just taken from Commercial Announcements or you can email Mike to get on it.


Correct again, although I'm not sure I'll want to deal with emails from people wanting to be on the list. That would turn this into a job. My plan is to just scan the Commercial Announcements section for the most interesting items.


----------



## Phillip (Oct 17, 2017)

Sneaky sneaky.....


----------



## spyder (Oct 18, 2017)

Great newsletter, Mike! An excellent idea and very helpful.


----------



## fiestared (Oct 18, 2017)

Mike Greene said:


> I'm going to be sending out our first VI-Control newsletter later today or tomorrow, which I'm hoping to make a weekly thing. Undoubtedly people will have thoughts on it, good and bad, so here is the thread where everyone can comment and make suggestions.


Exactly what I was expecting from you : "a good idea"... in fact, it shows something, you know us very well...


----------



## fiestared (Oct 18, 2017)

chillbot said:


> It is my new life goal to get a topic featured in the vi-c newsletter.


It will be mine too ! Maybe later, an "award" of the most featured in the newsletter ? The prize ? A dinner with the banjo player and his dog


----------



## fiestared (Oct 18, 2017)

Mike Greene said:


> I'm going to be sending out our first VI-Control newsletter later today or tomorrow, which I'm hoping to make a weekly thing. Undoubtedly people will have thoughts on it, good and bad, so here is the thread where everyone can comment and make suggestions.


By the way Mike did you change something on your avatar ?


----------



## Nmargiotta (Oct 18, 2017)

Thank you mike, well thought out, simple and too the point! I'll be looking forward to this one!


----------



## groove (Oct 18, 2017)

Congrats Mike for taking on VI and for the newsletter.


----------



## wonshu (Oct 18, 2017)

I'm excited and it sounds like vi-control is in good hands.

Thank you Mike for stepping up and all the best with the no doubt significant workload this brings...

Best,
Hans


----------



## StillLife (Oct 18, 2017)

Like the newsletter! Thank you, Mike.


----------



## Jaybee (Oct 18, 2017)

Mike, like it a lot - great idea!


----------



## nordicguy (Oct 18, 2017)

Thanks Mike, this sounds pretty good to me.


----------



## bartveld (Oct 18, 2017)

Very nice and diverse newsletter! Like the mix of sales, news and history.


----------



## goldglob (Oct 18, 2017)

Excellent, good vibe.


----------



## AllanH (Oct 18, 2017)

Mike Greene said:


> ...
> Correct. An affiliate situation would make for a weird vibe here. I don't want any part of that.
> ...



My two cents: I actually think would be a fine idea for VI-C to be an affiliate and make bit off all the deals coming through the site. Maybe a dedicated forum with all the affiliate deals listed (not sure of the mechanics). I'd be happy to click through from VI-C for anything I'm interested in if it adds a bit to keep VI-C running.


----------



## SubsonicArtz (Oct 18, 2017)

Really cool idea Mike. Good vibes to you for your new administrator status and job.


----------



## Lassi Tani (Oct 18, 2017)

Good idea! Especially the notable threads. Btw, where did the fundraisers go?


----------



## pmountford (Oct 18, 2017)

As this is the vi-control forum surely someone by now should have stepped up, played Devil's advocate and say what an appauling idea this is and an abuse of one's inbox? So just to make this thread complete I'm going to insist I'm removed from the email list. (But Mike can you add me back on before you send the next email out please...)


----------



## Ben E (Oct 18, 2017)

I really liked it! Good idea!


----------



## tcovem (Oct 18, 2017)

Thanks - very helpful. Sort of like the SCL weekly digests.


----------



## germancomponist (Oct 18, 2017)

A very good idea, Mike!


----------



## LamaRose (Oct 18, 2017)

Congratulations, Mike! First, the RealiBanjo... now VI-control... getting dangerously close to an empire, if not outright monopoly; which of course, is illegal.

Oh, and the newsletter is a great idea! Especially for the extremely busy and the extremely lazy.


----------



## Mike Greene (Oct 18, 2017)

fiestared said:


> By the way Mike did you change something on your avatar ?


Yep. Credit goes to @Saxer. Check out this thread: https://vi-control.net/community/threads/vi-c-needs-more-ms-paint-avatars.64927/



sekkosiki said:


> Btw, where did the fundraisers go?


We've moved them to this site: http://realitone.com Feel free to donate as much as you can.  



pmountford said:


> As this is the vi-control forum surely someone by now should have stepped up, played Devil's advocate and say what an appauling idea this is and an abuse of one's inbox? So just to make this thread complete I'm going to insist I'm removed from the email list. (But Mike can you add me back on before you send the next email out please...)


Ha!


----------



## Nils Neumann (Oct 18, 2017)

notable threads is a nice idea!


----------



## Lassi Tani (Oct 18, 2017)

Mike Greene said:


> We've moved them to this site: http://realitone.com Feel free to donate as much as you can.



I saw only Purchase buttons and no Donate buttons there..


----------



## Mike Greene (Oct 18, 2017)

AllanH said:


> My two cents: I actually think would be a fine idea for VI-C to be an affiliate and make bit off all the deals coming through the site. Maybe a dedicated forum with all the affiliate deals listed (not sure of the mechanics). I'd be happy to click through from VI-C for anything I'm interested in if it adds a bit to keep VI-C running.


I like the way you think! 

As far as keeping the forum running, there's no danger there. The forum is not nearly as profitable as the estimates some people made a few months ago, but it is definitely in the black. (Not that I'm Mr. Moneybags, but even if it wasn't, the expenses are modest, so I could keep it afloat.) With that said, I think it's great how generous and community-minded people are when topics like this come up. 

Anyway, regarding an affiliate structure, my fear with doing something like that is that some people would then believe I play favorites with the developers who participate, since I would directly benefit if they do well. That suspicion is a headache I don't want to deal with. Even as it is now, at least once a week someone will claim the forum favors Spitfire. (As if their $799/year banner ad is all it takes to buy my servitude. Don't get me wrong, my morals are most definitely for sale, but 800 bucks??? Please.  )

Even if perceived favoritism wasn't an issue, the bigger problem is that the income/work ratio would be too low. I'd have to email these guys to make deals, create custom links, make a payment structure, email again every time a new product is released or when a payment gets made ... ugh! The extra bucks would be nice, but ... the work! Plus, what do you want to bet that the developers who send me the biggest payouts would then want a discount on their banner ads? Ugh, ugh and ugh. It just isn't worth the headache, especially since my real gig is Realitone and composing, and VI-C already diverts enough time from those as it is.

So for now, at least, I'm just selling banner ads, since they're relatively easy. No doubt I'm leaving money on the table, but keeping life simple is my bigger goal at the moment.


----------



## JanR (Oct 18, 2017)

Excellent idea Mike!! VI-control is my favourite place on the internet, and now my email inbox will become a better place too!  Thanks to your email I’ll be checking an interesting thread tonight that I had missed. Keep up the good work!


----------



## Tod (Oct 18, 2017)

As an old fart, I have to say, I'm a little partial to Frederick, but I'm also partial to you Mike, I think you will do a great job.


----------



## g.c. (Oct 18, 2017)

Mike Greene said:


> I'm going to be sending out our first VI-Control newsletter later today or tomorrow, which I'm hoping to make a weekly thing. Undoubtedly people will have thoughts on it, good and bad, so here is the thread where everyone can comment and make suggestions.


Mike, I think its a great idea. I'll Bookmark this. If I can clear some time soon I'll respond if I have any ideas worthwhile. Otherwise, thanks for doing this. 
g.c.


----------



## HardyP (Oct 19, 2017)

Mike, thanks for putting so much into VI-C! The newsletter was great, especially the "notable threads" is a very good idea.
That´s so much appreciated - but I have one little request: Every minute that you are writing a newsletter, is wasted time in terms of your waiting own customers... if you got money from that, you could at least pay someone else to work on your products, but hey ...!
So maybe (also in terms of my overflowing inbox) a bi-weekly newsletter would be sufficient.


----------



## MatthewHarnage (Oct 19, 2017)

Love the newsletter idea and the format you sent this one in! It gave me a brief overview and enough information to decide if I wanted to check them out or not. I also appreciate your personal opinions you gave on a few of the links. Keep them coming!


----------



## onebluesphere (Oct 19, 2017)

Great Idea!


----------



## Mike Greene (Oct 19, 2017)

HardyP said:


> ... but I have one little request: Every minute that you are writing a newsletter, is wasted time in terms of your waiting own customers... if you got money from that, you could at least pay someone else to work on your products, but hey ...!


Definitely agree. One regret about buying the forum is the time it takes away from Realitone. Most of my time is still Realitone or composing, mind you, but I'm losing a good 10 hours a week to the forum.



HardyP said:


> So maybe (also in terms of my overflowing inbox) a bi-weekly newsletter would be sufficient.


Depending on time, that's a very real possibility. Maybe even once a month. Then maybe once a year ... 

What I'm hoping to do, though, is get things set up so that someone else can do most of the VI-C stuff. With the newsletter, for instance, it was surprisingly easy to decide which topics should go in and which shouldn't, so after the newsletter finds its stride, I think I might be able to hire that out.


----------



## jamwerks (Oct 20, 2017)

Enjoyed the newsletter. Maybe do more talking about different threads, how communication is going, etc.!


----------



## gsilbers (Oct 20, 2017)

hey maybe add like a gossip summary about those long threads. like that spitfire email one and the other one about defending it. too long...but wold be nice to know whats all about  oh so much gossip, like the E! news of composers


----------



## Mike Greene (Oct 24, 2017)

gsilbers said:


> ... like the E! news of composers


Vi-Control Soup


----------



## tav.one (Oct 24, 2017)

Love the newsletter, thank you @Mike Greene


----------



## Jetzer (Oct 25, 2017)

Really enjoyed this newsletter, thanks!


----------



## fiestared (Oct 25, 2017)

chillbot said:


> It is my new life goal to get a topic featured in the vi-c newsletter.


nana nana boo boo I'm in I swear I didn't $$$ Mike !

https://vi-control.net/community/threads/if-like-me-you-love-ravel.65697/

EDIT link


----------



## bartveld (Oct 26, 2017)

Second newsletter is is once again enjoyable. Keep up the good work!


----------



## Jaap (Nov 15, 2017)

Glad you held back on the self promotion Mike 

Nice newsletter again, I like how it is setup


----------



## Mystic (Nov 16, 2017)

Good lord, I started reading and that was it for me.


----------



## mc_deli (Nov 16, 2017)

My favourite forum user name: @vicontrolu


----------

