Disqus - Latest Comments for jnestour

Re: Time Tracking Matters: Integrate MeisterTask and TimeCamp via Zapier!

Julien Le Nestour — Fri, 26 Aug 2016 07:27:19 -0000

What would be most useful is deepening your Zapier integration so that time tracking could be done in Meistertask but transferred via Zapier to a time tracking app. To do that, you would simply need to add:
- "Complete task" as a trigger in Zapier
- the time tracked field available to Zapier for each task

Then it would be really easy to track time directly in Meistertask tasks and set up Zapier rules to automatically create time entries in any of the time tracking tools that are working with Zapier as well :-)

Let me know if you have any questions on these use cases, I'd be more than happy to give you more details!

Re: Why your Google Analytics data differs from your A/B testing data?

Julien Le Nestour — Tue, 23 Feb 2016 21:12:26 -0000

Hi Laura, what is more accurate between uniques or sessions essentially depends on the conversion goals set for the website.

For websites where the conversion is mostly a one-time event: think lead-generation forms, SAAS subscription pages, etc. then uniques are better.

For websites where the conversions can occur for each sessions, then you'd choose sessions. Examples include e-commerce, media publisher seeking to decrease bounce rates and increase pageviews, etc.

Is this helpful? Feel free to follow-up with more questions :-)

Re: The maths behind the minimum sample size in A/B testing

Julien Le Nestour — Fri, 01 May 2015 10:14:04 -0000

Yes, will definitely do :-)

Re: The maths behind the minimum sample size in A/B testing

Julien Le Nestour — Fri, 01 May 2015 09:59:41 -0000

Hi Georgi -

Many thanks for your comment.

You're missing my point though, as this post is explaining the maths behind the calculators I offer freely on the site, which gives you a minimum sample size to achieve before stopping a test...

So no, I don't advocate stopping only when reaching 95% stat. sig. In fact, you can read exactly what I say on stopping here :-) https://marktisans.com/long... There are many more parameters to take into account, not all of them statistical!

Re: Calculate how much high-converting copy may be worth to you

Julien Le Nestour — Thu, 15 Jan 2015 17:33:24 -0000

Hi Jen, just a word of caution when using LTV to convey value: I don't know if you've seen my comment on the importance to consider the client's Customer Acquisition Cost as well as LTV.

Conveying value delivered with LTV is fine, but trying to justify fees with LTV only without considering CAC is often seen as disingenuous, because clients should not pay more than their current CAC , regardless of LTV.

So one needs to be careful when talking to clients about fees using LTV without making it clear their own interest is better served by talking about CAC ;-) Easy way to lose the trust of prospects/clients!

Re: Calculate how much high-converting copy may be worth to you

Julien Le Nestour — Thu, 15 Jan 2015 06:13:08 -0000

Hi Momoko: great post and as a fellow CRO consultant, my practice is also always to build a business case for CRO with every new prospect.

I base my fees on the performance actually realized as measured by a set of tests, and I set my fee level as a fraction of the additional profit I generate for them. So it's critical for both me and my clients to agree on exatly what their business metrics are so we can agree on a set of numbers that will determine my fees going forward. As you explained, this is both fair for both sides and cust down drastically on the pre-sales time.

But while I agree with your points regarding the LTV, I'd suggest to also incorporate its usual counterpart, the Customer Acquisition Cost (CAC), in the picture and the business model. Because even if your prospect's LTV is very high, that doesn't mean your prospect will systematically benefit from a CRO effort. It entirely depends on its CAC.

Briefly, the CAC is the total cost spent to acquire a new customer. It should comprise everything spent on that front: ads, pre-sales, sales team time, collateral, etc. For more details, a classic post on LTV/CAC/etc., especially for SAAS companies, is this one from David Skok: http://www.forentrepreneurs...

Improving the Conversion Rate of a website is essentially a way to acquire more customers. The only difference is that spending on CRO is really an investment that will deliver additional customers every month after an improvement to the website has been made, by contrast to, say, CPC, where you have to pay an amount to attract each customer.

So to really see if a prospect would benefit from CRO, LTV is not enough, you have to consider its CAC. If it's low enough, they may be better off just increasing their spending on their current channels. The time for CRO will ultimately come of course, because increasing your spending on your current channels leads to diminshing returns and an increase in your average CAC.

To illustrate with your example B: your 10% lift means you're generating 30 additional clients each month for them through CRO, which leads to a total LTV of $14,400. But if their CAC is $1 (extreme example, but just to illustrate), then they could generate 30 additional new customers each month for just a bit more than $30 (diminishing returns), let's say $35. So for them, if they evaluate CRO over just 1 month, it wouldbn't be rational to pay more than $35 for it, even with a generated LTV added of $14,400.

If they accept to evaluate your CRO gains over 1 year, which is rational but not always easy to negotiate with clients, you generate $14,400 x 12 = $172,800 of additional LTV for them over 1 year. Which seems like a steal if you price your project at $5,000. But then, they could generate that much LTV for $35 x 12 = $420, so that's the upper margin you have to work with in terms of CRO pricing.

So LTV alone doesn't give you nor your clients the full picture, you must couple it with CAC. The good news for us in the CRO field is that of course, the more clients will spend on their current channels, the more their average CAC will increase and the more affordable a CRO project will look like.

So over time, every SAAS / Ecommerce company will benefit from a CRO effort, but the exact timing will be determined by the evolution of its CAC :-)

Re: Network Effects for SaaS Businesses

Julien Le Nestour — Wed, 22 Oct 2014 06:29:43 -0000

Hi Albert -

Long-time reader, but first-time commenter.

One the things that came to mind with your questions is that, if a B2B SAAS start-up has a complex enough product (with a low level of complexity, i.e. not completely straightforward), then network effects can be easily generated by sharing among their clients the best practices and examples of processes put in place among some of their most sophisticated clients.

I am a conversion rate optimization consultant and a heavy user of A/B testing tools: a good example of what I am describing is what Optimizely is doing. They do not necessarily have the very best core product technically, but they are capturing additional market share by putting a lot of efforts into:

- providing the individuals that have to use the product inside their client organizations with a ton of very high quality educational material

- offering as part of their offering professional services that act as a consulting group, advising new clients based on lessons learned with past and current clients

- interestingly, and this ties into your Github example, by also offering individual users (inside client organizations or for agencies/consultants like myself) an open forum to share and showcase their expertise, along with certifications on the product

As a result, they are outgrowing their other competitors. Of course, they raised a lot of funding, and all of this is time, effort and funding consuming.

Conversely, a SAAS startup that I feel could benefit from such a similar effort is Zapier: I am sure there are many excellent and innovative business processes that are powered by Zapier automations, but there is no obvious place to showcase them and browse them as a potential/current client.

I know these aspects are not included in the usual and rigorous definition of native network effects, but since their existence is possible only at scale and their quality should increase with the number of clients, I thought this might be interesting, especially since this applies to any B2B SAAS startup with no obvious network effects built in.

Re: Scratch: The enormous value of children’s programming languages

Julien Le Nestour — Thu, 01 May 2014 23:32:27 -0000

Hi Ross, many thanks for the pointer to Scratch. My oldest is 2.5yo so Scratch will wait a few years. If you have other younger kids, this board game is actually a great way to learn code from 3: http://www.robotturtles.com/

I'm approaching the point where I can have my daughter to play with it, but still barely ;-)

Re: Learning To Meditate

Julien Le Nestour — Wed, 05 Feb 2014 16:11:11 -0000

Hi Brad, I'm really sorry about asking you for yet another bit of info since you share a A LOT already and must spend a lot of time to do so, but if by any chance you can share your reading references about meditation and neuroplasticity, I'd be most interested!

Re: Google Apps Users Should Use Google Public DNS

Julien Le Nestour — Thu, 19 Dec 2013 15:55:27 -0000

Just to confirm that hardcoding Google's DNS also screws up all updates from Apple when not in the US, since they don't recognize your location. I reverted, very sadly, to my Australian ISP DNS servers after experiencing like 3 hours delay to download Apple updates :-(

Re: SocialEngine PHP 4.3 Released

Julien Le Nestour — Thu, 21 Feb 2013 05:51:06 -0000

Thanks guys, I will test it soon too. Waiting to hear more about a fix for the messaging issue and more details about the apparent twitter/facebook integration issues.

Re: SE PHP 4.2.9 and 4.3: Preview

Julien Le Nestour — Wed, 23 Jan 2013 17:02:02 -0000

Guys -

I agree SE's communication leaves a lot to be desired, but so does your fairness. I think it's clear from the latest blog posts that the timeline described in this blog post is no longer valid.
You can choose to ignore the latest blog posts and ask for updates according to this timeline here, but all that does is makes you seem like a bunch of immature teenagers whose requests can be dismissed because completely out of line.
With comments like this, it's easy to see why SE is fed up dealing with this part of their client base. But we're not all like that, so SE, don't lump us into the same bag ;-)

Re: SocialEngine PHP 4.2.9p1 Patch Released

Julien Le Nestour — Fri, 11 Jan 2013 05:38:31 -0000

Well, I am actually satisfied with the directions you have posted in the blog post where the comments are now closed.

It seems clear that:

1) you don't have much resources in the company at all

2) you have made the choice to prioritize Cloud versus PHP

So there seems to be 2 paths forward:

1) the old one, where you overpromise, try to deliver new features, and end up delivering buggy updates with not much new features

2) the one you have chosen, where you are clear you won't add features, but will focus on cleaning the code base and fixing the many remaining bugs

The first path was never going to work, no matter what people want to believe, you just don't have the resources to do it properly.

With this second, things could actually work out ok if you do a good job to optimize the codebase, and leave it to the third-party devs to add features. They do it well right now!

Setting such a goal is much more realistic, and gives me a bit more confidence that you will actually hit it.

Doing a proper realease announcement for a patch version is also much better, compared to having to hunt in the comments when you release a patch :-)

So, all in all, I think you made the right choice, and am more confident on such a roadmap.

For all other customers: please stop whining endlessly. The situation sucks, no doubt about it, but I much prefer this path forward to the other obvious alternative which is to leave the product die proper. For x number of reasons, they don't have much resources to dedicate to SE PHP. Sucks, but that's the situation today. If we continue to just be negative and ask for features, it's just useless. And at this point, I actually prefer to have the features implemented by third-party devs who are doing a great job at supporting their customers.

And for what it's worth, I also had a good look at PHPfox, but it's still an inferior product in terms of add-ons and flexibility, at least for my needs. So for me, a migration to PHPfox is just not option, so I disagree 100% to those who say they would like a migration tool!

Re: SE PHP 4.2.9 – Improved Search and Messaging

Julien Le Nestour — Fri, 30 Nov 2012 19:49:23 -0000

Look in the footer menu under "Sign-in". Don't ask me why they've buried the essential link for their existing clients down there while there's a big "Buy" button otherwise. Seems to illustrate how they view existing and new clients...

Re: SE PHP 4.2.9 – Improved Search and Messaging

Julien Le Nestour — Fri, 30 Nov 2012 17:40:15 -0000

On the other hand, SE is really not a CMS like wordpress so comparing the 2 doesn't make a lot of sense...

Sent from my iPad

Re: SE PHP 4.2.9 – Improved Search and Messaging

Julien Le Nestour — Fri, 30 Nov 2012 00:53:00 -0000

For all the new clients of SE out there, it seems you thought you were buying quality software. Well, sorry to disappoint, but you were not :-( So my advice regarding upgrades:
1) never ever upgrade in the first 2 weeks after a release: SE doesn't test their releases, so there is always many bugs. Let the early upgraders find the bugs and wait for the patches.
2) always upgrade on a development instance. Depending on your host, copy your entire install and DB, and do the upgrade on the copy. If fine, upgrade your production environment, but always do backups.

Honestly, they just release minor improvements anyway, and always add more bugs. You shouldn't rush to try the upgrades, and certainly not on your production environment, as you will nearly always degrade the experience for your users.

Sad, I know. I'm not sure how the quality of SE engineers, but I sure as hell know their release process is amateurish at best to get so many bugs in each and every one of their releases.

Re: SE PHP 4.2.9 – Improved Search and Messaging

Julien Le Nestour — Fri, 30 Nov 2012 00:42:26 -0000

Guys, you should schedule your releases for Mondays, not Fridays. You always have a lot of bugs and people who try to upgrade right away will always be frustrated because you offer no support during the week-end. At least with a release on Mondays you will be able to patch your release a bit quicker.

Just saying, I won't try to upgrade even on a dev instance for at least 2 weeks, as that's usually how long it takes for your clients to do the testing for you...

Re: SocialEngine: Looking Forward

Julien Le Nestour — Wed, 15 Aug 2012 00:30:36 -0000

Hi Alex -

Please find below the first questions that came to mind, numbered for ease of reply. The new direction is great, as social curating is definitely an important trend. The most important questions I think would be to get a very rough guestimate on your side as to when the first 3rd-party plugins will become available to beef-up the features offered and if any migration path for SE4 data is envisioned. These 2 questions are really critical for product planning of any site running SE4 at the moment :-)

For the SE5 beta, please contact me at jln followed by my domain name paleoresources.com; I'm looking forward to providing some early feedback :-)

Timeframes
Q1: Would it be possible to get very rough timeframes, in terms of quarters, with the understanding that all this is very speculative at this point. It would still help to know when you guestimate the points below will become available in terms of Q1 2013, Q4 2012, etc..
- SE5 public launch
- SE5 data API released to third-party devs
- First real plugins from third-party developers publicly released
- First additional features added to the native SE5 platform

Third-party Devs & Plugins
Q2: Have any 3rd-party devs been notified of this news or even involved? (important to anticipate how quickly they'll get up to speed)
Q3: Do you envision dedicating resources to help 3rd-party devs bring plugins to SE5 asap after public launch?
Q4: Is there any new limitations placed on 3rd party devs by the use of the data API compared to what they are able to do now? If yes, could you give some examples of existing plugins that would not be possible with the new architecture, so we can get a rough idea?

Migration Paths envisioned from SE4
Q5: For the core data (members, posts, likes, etc), is it planned/contemplated/not planned?
Q6: For data from 3rd-party plugins, will your API enable them to provide migration paths for their plugin data?
Q7: Will SE4 be phased in maintenance and optimization mode only, or do you still envision adding a few features?

Core Features
You mentionned essentially 2 features that would be available at launch microsharing and curatorial features, with more to come.
Q8: Could you share what you have in mind in terms of additional features and rough timeframes (ie more like a few months after SE5 launch, or a year later)?
Q9: How is mobile use taken into account?

Website customizations
Q10: Is the intent to provide a tool to build very customized websites, or is it a shift to provide a more limited pplatform as Ning was?
Q11: Will there be any restrictions in the Javascript that we can use to get analytics, A/B testing, etc.?
Q12: Will email notifications be as customizable as they are now (ie 3rd-party plugins can create new notifications type, etc.)?
Q13: Will there be any restrictions as to how we can use email notifications? (important, as email notifications are a great and efficient trigger to increase site activity)
Q14: Will it still be possible to customize all wording to really create an ad-hoc site?
Q15: What is your plan re localization in languages other than english?

Monetization
Q16: Will there be any restrictions on monetization options compared to SE4?

Amazon Cloud hosting
Q17: What about CDN support, either optional or built-in? (important for sites with a worldwide user base)

Re: SocialEngine: Looking Forward

Julien Le Nestour — Tue, 14 Aug 2012 23:21:18 -0000

Hi Alex -

As an existing customer on SE4, I would be very interested in testing SE5. You can contact me through my Disqus profile or if you prefer it, just let me know of another way to get on your list for the Beta. I'll definitely give you a lot of feedback with the hope to improve what you already have.

I'll also list some questions on a later comment here, but want to structure it a bit before posting it :-)

Best,
- Julien

Re: Pumpkin Pancakes

Julien Le Nestour — Mon, 08 Aug 2011 05:23:37 -0000

Wow, sounds excellent! Thanks Kat, will have to try these :-)

Re: Probiotics

Julien Le Nestour — Mon, 25 Jul 2011 01:43:59 -0000

Nice post Stacey! Kefir is also an excellent way to get a huge dose of probiotics, if you like it ( I don't, but my wife loves it). You can even make your own at home easily by letting milk stand outside the fridge for a day, with the cultures plunged in it.

I started making it with a box of starter cultures bought in a store, but have recently ordered permanent kefir milk grains (which last indefinitely) from this guy: http://users.sa.chariot.net... I haven't received them yet, so cannot comment on them, but he enjoys a stellar reputation among everyone I asked, and he's in Australia :-)

Re: Financial Literacy

Julien Le Nestour — Wed, 13 Jul 2011 08:36:49 -0000

And now I know what I'm gonna read on my ipad during stretches :-)

Seriously, awesome idea and looking forward to reading it!

Re: 9 great ways to make the iPad a useful work tool: structures, setup, apps

Julien Le Nestour — Wed, 29 Jun 2011 08:57:52 -0000

Thanks Ross for the quick answer. Have to admit that your discipline must be impressive to manage everything off simple tools :-)

Re: 9 great ways to make the iPad a useful work tool: structures, setup, apps

Julien Le Nestour — Tue, 28 Jun 2011 21:14:20 -0000

Great list and iPad approach :-)

Having recently started using one, I'm still hunting for a good calendar/todo/planner app, and was surprised not seeing one in your post. I would be curious to know what you're using on your iPad for these :-)

Re: Capitalism at a Crossroads

Julien Le Nestour — Tue, 11 Jan 2011 06:14:08 -0000

Hey Umair, I’m commenting on this post (not on the book, still in transit to Sydney…).

One of the traditional notions that needs to be challenged is “That a firm exists to create value solely for its owners, at the expense of people, communities, society, nature, and the future.” And then you specify Apple as one of the renegades challenging these notions. To me, that sounds like an oxymoron, and we don’t have to look further than today’s announcement of the iPhone on Verizon.

Apple gave AT&T the exclusivity of the iPhone for such a long time and for such an awful quality of service, precisely to maximize shareholder value, to the detriment of every other stakeholders, primarily consumers. There is no other way to rationalize Apple’s behavior than the willingness of milking every possible drop of profit out of an exclusivity deal. If the highest bidder is the worst partner for our clients, who cares?

The usual reply to this argument is to point out the success of the iPhone, so consumers obviously feel they get good value out of it, if they continue to purchase it like this. True. But the potential value - thick value at that - that could have been provided to clients over time is huge. We just have to look at the frenzy and eagerness surrounding the possibility to break free and switch to Verizon.

If Apple truly maximized value creation for all their stakeholders, and not just shareholders, they would have ended AT&T exclusivity sooner, and allowed people to use the iPhone on the network of their choice.

Note that I don’t have anything against Apple, I’m a happy shareholder. But to classify them as a renegade that challenge the dogma of maximizing shareholder value is just counterfactual. (Even though their strategy and execution are impressive on many other respects.)

Julien