Not so surprising that there'd be a dislike of such services from the VC community. As with any democratization those in power are disrupted and find fault. Do you think perhaps though that something like Kickstarter might in fact be something even the VC community can find value in...even as say an early vetting process for larger ideas?

I would never argue with the idea that you should find the best people and pay them to do what they do best..absolutely. Yet this idea that entrepreneurs ( and others ) have that social media is some kind of panacea for the problem of PR, attracting users and raising profile and thus requires some kind of expert is something that drives me nuts. Can the tools we refer to as social media help in building a business? Absolutely. Is there a magic process involved that guarantees success and requires an "expert"? Don't believe so. What social media does is enable us to talk to individuals..they way to be successful in that is to hustle and work and spend the time building trust..and anyone can do that. Should be what a startup founder is spending a lot of their time doing anyway..pounding the pavement, building relationships and singing to the heavens the praises of what it is they're building. Less thinking of SM as some kind of silver bullet and more as yet another avenue where work and time spent can p

Comes back to that age old argument of building to a vision or building for and with your users. When you start out you have an idea, a vision, a concept...some grand problem you want to solve. Along the way as you release iterations of this product/idea you get users, feedback and insight. The majority of us at one time or another take jump on this feedback and use it to shape upcoming versions, to build out our feature list...attempting to make the product/idea better. Sadly more often than not this is what kills the product or adds so much bloat to development that stagnation sets in and getting to the best product/idea never happens. I'd turn the question around. Which features that are requested fit not into the cacophony of customer feedback, but to the original vision? Sure ideas change and pivots ( ahem Sprouter ) occur..but keeping to a vision for me is always better than managing expectations. The best example of this..Apple Computers.

Love this answer...but take it one step further. Assuming you're using an iPhone ( i mean who isn't.. ) grab the app Boxcar from the app store and get real time search notifications delivered to your phone from Twitter and Google. Think about it, people..discussing topics that related to your business and products, all available to chat with for free. But don't sell them. Help them. Build some trust and they'll be a customer for life.

Way to share insight Mr. Holmes. :)

Can not say it enough. Have a clear purpose to your marketing emails and hand hold readers through the process. If the newsletter is simply to inform, speak plainly, get to the facts and provide ample contact details ( as Arjun says above ). If the newsletter is sales focused or your end goal is an action, make it clear and put a big shiny button at the top and at the bottom of the email. Ok don't really make it shiny, but make it easy to take that next step. As with all marketing materials do everything in your power to write in an honest, open and direct fashion..the less flowery the better. After that, I couldn't agree more with test, test, test. Use Mailchimp's segmentation and a/b testing features to try different approaches, hit different demographics and drill down as much as possible.

If you choose to go the "social media" route, this advice is still spot on. There is no better advice than finding out where you customers, or potential customers, live online and targeting that space. We live in a time where we can find so many details and so many pockets of influence in the online community...put the time in, build up some trust and "work the room".