16 Jul 2003 | kev said...

I love it when (mostly credit-card offers and other dubious) people use handwriting fonts to convey what they think is the same idea. Just look at the letters, usually the e and other vowels and their ruse falls short, resulting in me less likey to take them seriously.

16 Jul 2003 | suppafly said...

how do the planks work? it looks like you place the fish on them.. do they soak up flavor from the wood?

16 Jul 2003 | heif said...

see photos of 20,000+ people writing 50,000+ handwritten notes to iowa voters a couple weeks ago... organized by a 37-infused interface! i wrote about it here

17 Jul 2003 | Don Schenck said...

Nothing like the human touch! Kudos.

17 Jul 2003 | Bill said...

I had a similar experience with www.woxy97x.com - one of my favorite internet and terrestrial radio stations... I ordered a shirt and a mug from them.

When it arrived, it was hand packed with tissue paper (much like a gift) and included some stickers and a keychain emblazoned with an identical logo to the tshirt I'd ordered.

There was also a handwritten note saying not only "thanks bill!" but it was signed "john" - a nice additional personal touch.

17 Jul 2003 | -b- said...

We've found that our customers respond to a follow-up email. After we ship product, we send an email asking them if their package arrived safely and how they like it. One guy wrote back with a fabulous suggestion, others tell us how they found us. We're careful not to spam them.

17 Jul 2003 | Joshua Kaufman said...

Handwritten notes are great.

Who wants to take bets on the first company who tries to simulate that personal touch? I'm not talking about using a standard printing process either - like a lot of my junk mail does. I mean something that really looks like a human made it: note slightly crinkled, handwriting slightly sloppy, with a smiley face. Ethics aside, it can easily be done with today's technology and be made to look completely authentic. So what do you think? A possibility?

17 Jul 2003 | imagine... said...

huge corporation will be using handwriting sweatshops to write notes to their customers...

Thanks! John.

17 Jul 2003 | Mike said...

Are you guys going to send some handwritten "Thank You" notes after your BloggingWorks conferences? ;)

Sweet concept too, I think the idea of incorporating blogging into the business culture will revolutionize many industries.

17 Jul 2003 | Darrel said...

Josh:

I'm curious as to why someone hasn't come out with that machine yet. With all the junk mail I get with clearly badly faked 'signatures' you'd think someone would have come along with a simple plotter-like add-on that used a standard Bic and a random handwriting algorhythm.

We used to have a salesperson for our office that we'd order most of our hardware/software from. We always got a big bag of M 'n' Ms with every order. That's what kept us ordering from him.

17 Jul 2003 | MrAnonymous said...

I worked for my cousin last summer and he wanted to send out brochures to hundreds of developers and contractors. So we hand addressed several hundred envelopes...just so that it seemed more personalized. Ugh.

What's more insulting though are the ones that are printed to look like hand-written. That's lame. And they're getting good at it too.

18 Jul 2003 | Paul said...

My favorite all-time handwriting scam is the diet ad that has been floating around for years. You'll get an envelope, with a handwritten address on the front. Inside, a clipping on the latest new miracle diet - with a Post-It attached. The Post-It says something like, "Try this! It works! - Debbie"

Just think of the questions which that single note can put in one's head. "Debbie? Oh, my aunt! Wow, she must think... but she's thin..." etc.

Back when I sold shareware, and managed a computer store, I almost always included a handwritten note. Besides just being good business, it's something I'd appreciate as a customer.

18 Jul 2003 | Lance Osborne said...

On a semi-related note...

We visit nice websites every day, but how often do we let the people behind the websites know we appreciate their efforts? Sometimes a simple email is all it takes to make someone's day.

18 Jul 2003 | Steve said...

After reading this I got a 'personal' note from my bank.

Just another computer generated form letter with nothing personal about it.

18 Jul 2003 | Mart said...

Is this wild or farmed salmon? Do yourselves a big favor and never eat farmed salmon; pound for pound it's by far the most anti-biotic ridden livestock you can buy. when buying salmon, if it does not specify "wild" or "line-caught" or the like it is most definitely farm-raised. The fish swim around in ponds - essentially in their own shit - which the famer has to counteract with a constant does of anti-biotics.

23 Jul 2003 | Davin said...

My partner and I sell a few handmade things online as a sideline and have always added a little note and some extra goodies to all of our orders. It's just nice to get something in the mail from an actual person sometimes...

I got one of those fake post-it note letter years ago except mine was from "Josh" which worked well on me as one of my bosses at the time was named Josh. but the fact that he was unlikely to mail me a clipping when he was across the room tipped me off -- I'm *quick* that way.

03 Dec 2003 | David said...

I love handwritten notes. . .and to hear people talk about how special it makes them feel only makes me love what I do even more. . . And I should love the use of handwritten notes because I own a handwritten mail company, that produces 100's of thousands of letters per day with real genuine handwritting on them.

It really does not matter who takes the time to write the note is just the fact the the organization or company cares enough to make it a priority for treating its customers special.

31 Jan 2005 | compatelius said...

bocigalingus must be something funny.