GreatEmailExperiment

Subject: This is email number six in The Great Email Experiment

PS: I almost forgot to tell you. We’ll be conducting ANOTHER Great Email Experiment in about six months, to keep checking up on the state of email deliverability and to guage if we’re having any effect. This will continue to keep the issue in the public eye and you’re welcome to be a part of it. I promise I’ve already decided the next experiment will only run ONE week. We’ll let you know before it begins. I’ll also tell you how you can sign up to be an affilliate, promote the next experiment, build your own list, and generate some commissions in the process, too.

NOTE: If you did NOT receive this email, or if you received it, but found it in your “spam,” “bulk” or “junk” folder, please report this on our simple survey at:

http://www.surveymonkey.com/s.aspx?sm=Rwm_2bKYPnRaa6Hvc1wCc_2bNg_3d_3d

Your links to the free gifts we have for you with this email follow, at the END of the email below.

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Subject: This is Email Number Five in the Great Email Experiment

Dear ~~FNAME~~,

Ok. We’re hitting the home stretch now. The survey data we’re collecting is proving invaluable, but I’m finding your comments on the blog even more interesting. Please keep visiting the Email Horror Stories blog and posting your comments and questions. I’ll be a LOT more active on there once we get Email numbe six out the door — Monday, April 7, 2008.

Also — I made an error in the last email I sent to you. It was not posted to the blog until April 4 and SHOULD have been posted on April 2. I THOUGHT I posted it…it was READY to post but it wasn’t there. So the links to your gifts from Email Four have been missing until now…I apologize DEEPLY for this error…but you can still post TWO survey results by just hitting SUBMIT when you’re done and going back in and doing it again for the next email.

Please do make sure you’ve reported EVERY email you’ve missed.

Also, the survey was supposed to automatically re-direct you to the gifts for each email and it wasn’t updating properly. That, too, has been fixed.

Now, when you go to the blog, you’ll see Email Number Five and the RIGHT links and directions! And the survey will direct you to the right page to grab your gifts.

The blog is located at: www.GreatEmailExperiment.com. This is ONLY where we place each email as it’s released. No comments here will be approved.

You can grab the gifts associated with today’s email (with links to all four previous emails at the bottom of the page, here:

www.SaveOurEmailNow.com/gifts/75 .

And — you can join in our discussion of the Experiment and email deliverability in generatal, post questions about the Experiment and more here:

www.EmailHorrorStories.com.

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Here is today’s email:

Dear Mable:

I’ve searched high and low but I can’t find those expensive sewing needles I love so much. You know the ones. They have diamonds on the handles and I spent a great deal of money buying them. It took me long hours to make that money, too. If only I was rich, if only I knew a way to easily make a small fortune almost overnight, I could just go out and buy another set.

But — alas, I’m still struggling with the bills week-to-week and most likely will never see those nice needles again.

Maybe if I attend an auction or sale, I could find some needles like them cheap enough to afford. Maybe I could try filling out surveys for cash, like I’m seeing in my email box all the time — just long enough to make the kind of money I need to replace them.

But — I doubt if that’s really possible. I doubt that it’s that easy to make money. I’m sure those emails are all scams anyway.

So — the reason I’m writing is … did you take my sewing needles? If so, please return them. I guarantee I won’t be angry with you if you do. I just want them back. I’ll begin to wonder if I don’t hear back from you soon.

Thanks.

Your friend,
— Gretta

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Thanks for your continued participation and assistance with The Great Email Experiment!

— Alan

NOTE:

If you haven’t received this email in your “inbox” or it arrives in your “junk,” “bulk” or “spam” folder, please visit the survey form at:

http://www.surveymonkey.com/s.aspx?sm=Rwm_2bKYPnRaa6Hvc1wCc_2bNg_3d_3d

Also remember to report any of our PAST emails in the experiment, if you haven’t done so yet, at the same form above. Scroll down through this blog and locate each of the first two emails we’ve sent. If any of these haven’t been received in your “inbox,” open a new session in the survey form and report them as well.

You can download a FREE simple software program that will NOTIFY you whenever we’ve sent a new message out and posted it to the Great Email Experiment blog by visiting:

www.SaveOurEmailNow.com/reader

Remember — our goal is to gather data that is as complete as possible. We need you to report accurately and watch and participate. It is vital to the success of our experiment!

Because we appreciate you, there are new selections of free gifts you can grab, as our way of saying “thanks” for the help!

You can find the gifts for this email at:

http://www.SaveOurEmailNow.com/gifts/94

This site also contains links to all the gifts that came with our first three emails in the experiment.

Here is the email we just sent out on April 2, 2008:

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Subject: Here is official Great Email experiment email number four

Hello again.

Here we go with official email number four in the Great Email experiment. From now on, we’re not going to worry so much about the spam filters. Up until now, what we’ve sent you is pretty “tame.” I was seeing how well it would get through.

Now we take off the gloves. Just check out THIS fictional email:

Dear Jim:

I saw your advertising in the paper for that special sale you’re conducting. It looks really good. I was wondering how the customers were reacting. Is it bringing you a lot of business? I can’t imagine why not. I don’t remember ever seeing elephants and bears in a commercial for a hardware store before. It HAS to work like magic!

Keep me posted on your progress. I may want to get back in touch with you later to find out where you picked up those stage animals for your ad. I’m ready to get some more money coming in, too.

— Sally

The above email is fake. If you received this email in your “in” box, you don’t have to report to our survey that it arrived. If you found it in your “junk” or “spam” or “bulk” folder, then you should report it to our simple online survey form.

A copy of this email, along with instructions for reporting an email you’ve missed or that arrived in your “junk” or “spam” or “bulk” folder, rather than in your “in” box, and the link to visit to get to that form (plus a link to the newest gifts we have in store for you, as our thanks for your continued participation), is posted to the blog at http://www.GreatEmailExperiment.com.

Please feel free to report any and all emails you haven’t received on the report survey form. The same goes for any that arrived, but not in your “in” box. It’s never too late to report a missed or miss-delivered email. Just re-open the survey and take it again for each missed or miss-delivered email.

We NEED your help with this! And we appreciate your participation.

Don’t forget to visit http://www.GreatEmailExperiment.com to get your gifts for this email and for each email we’ve sent in the Experiment so far. Check this blog daily to make sure you don’t miss an official email that never arrived.

We also have software that will “watch” the blog for you, also available from the blog.

Thanks again!

— Alan R. Bechtold
The Great Email Experiment

Here’s Official Email Number Three in The Great Email Experiment.

If you haven’t received this email in your “inbox” or it arrives in your “junk,” “bulk” or “spam” folder, please visit the survey form at:

http://www.surveymonkey.com/s.aspx?sm=Rwm_2bKYPnRaa6Hvc1wCc_2bNg_3d_3d

Also remember to report any of our PAST emails in the experiment, if you haven’t done so yet, at the same form above. Scroll down through this blog and locate each of the first two emails we’ve sent. If any of these haven’t been received in your “inbox,” open a new session in the survey form and report them as well.

You can download a FREE simple software program that will NOTIFY you whenever we’ve sent a new message out and posted it to the Great Email Experiment blog by visiting:

www.SaveOurEmailNow.com/reader

Our goal is to gather data that is as complete as possible.

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SUBJECT: ~~FNAME~~: Here’s Email Experiment Official Email Number Three

The Great Email Experiment continues. This is official email number three (of six total — we’re half-way through)!

Rob –

I wanted to take this chance to tell you about something important. You know that job you applied for last thursday? The one you told me would guarantee your success? I just talked to the boss today and it looks like you’re now on the short list of applicants!

After hearing about how much you wanted this position and were banking on it to build your fortune and improve your life, I’m pleased it looks like your chances are very good indeed.

Here’s the thing: the boss told me you need to visit with him on Tuesday. He’ll be back from his trip to the convention then and if you’re waiting for him when he gets in, rather than waiting for him to call first, I’m pretty sure the job will be yours.

But — that’s only 24 hours notice. There isn’t time to call you, so I hope this email reaches you in time and you respond with fast action.

— Shirley

PS: The above email is something you might be anxious to receive. If you’ve whitelisted Shirley and approve hearing from her by email — wouldn’t you be a little miffed if you didn’t find this email because it never arrived — or it arrived, but it was buried in your “junk” folder where you didn’t find it until Wednesday?

Remember — if you’re reading this in your “in” box, do nothing more. Just pop over to Great_Email_Experiment_Dot_com (remove all the _ characters and make “Dot” a period to get the address) to get on the Experiment blog and grab a brand new assortment of gifts we have in store for you today.

Again — thanks for participating in the Experiment.

— Alan R. Bechtold
The Great Email Experiment

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NOTICE!

If you’re reading this on the blog and you did NOT receive the above email in your IN box by 5:00 p.m. eastern U.S. time on Thursday, March 27, 2008, please visit our BRIEF survey to report whether it failed to arrive or landed in your “spam,” “bulk,” or “junk” folder, rather than your “in” box.

If you didn’t receive the above email message, or if it arrived in your “spam,” “bulk,” or “junk” folder, rather than your “in” box, visit our survey form HERE to tell us about it:

http://www.surveymonkey.com/s.aspx?sm=Rwm_2bKYPnRaa6Hvc1wCc_2bNg_3d_3d

If you found this email in your “in” box — do nothing more! Just keep watching the blog daily (or download our simple EZ RSS Reader software to do the watching for you).

You can get our Easy RSS Reader to be notified whenever we send out another email in the Experiment here:

 www.SaveOurEmailNow.com/reader

NOTE: There is a “bug” we’ve found in the RSS Reader that’s being fixed right now. The software currently also has my E-Wealth Report Newsletter tied to it. We originally tested the software with that blog and it seems the programmer left it in by mistake when he provided the version we’re now using. A new version should be released soon. Meanwhile, if your RSS Reader blinks and you read it, then it blinks again the same day later in the day and it’s Thursday, that’s the new issue of my E-Wealth Report hitting that blog.

In ALL cases — I want to reward you with some great gifts, provided courtesy of my partners who helped spread the word about this Experiment and helped get you on board. PLEASE visit the gift site below and grab the gifts, to reward yourself and to show our partners you appreciate their efforts. I couldn’t have made The Great Email Experiment work without their help!

Go HERE to grab the gifts I’ve got for you today:

http://www.SaveOurEmailNow.com/gifts/23

Thanks again!

The NEXT email in the series will go out Wednesday, April 2 , on or about twelve noon, Eastern U.S. time.

SUBJECT: Official Great Email Experiment Email Number Two

Go HERE to grab the gifts I’ve got for you today:

http://www.SaveOurEmailNow.com/gifts/52

The NEXT email in the series will go out March 30, on or about noon Eastern U.S. time.

SUBJECT: Message One From The Great Email Experiment 

Hi!

Just wanted to let you know that this is the first email I’m sending you in the
Great Email Experiment.

If you received this email, do nothing more. Just keep your eye on the Great
Email Experiment blog daily.

Do you KNOW how many emails you’re missing or losing when spam is tossed? It’s
worse than you might imagine — but we’re going to find out bad and who is the
worst at delivering.

I like staying in touch with you by email and I’d like to continue reaching
you. I’m sure your friends, family and co-workers would, too. That’s why I feel
this Experiment is important and I appreciate your help.

To see this email online, you can go to the Great Email Experiment blog –
there are also some great rewards there for you and the software that will
automatically update you when the blog is.

Just put the words “Great Email Experiment” together and add a dot com and
you’re there.

Remember — my next email to you in the Experiment will be going out March 27.

— Alan

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NOTICE! 

If you’re reading this on the blog and you did NOT receive the above email in your IN box by 5:00 p.m. eastern U.S. time on Tuesday, March 25, 2008, please visit our BRIEF survey to report whether it failed to arrive or landed in your “spam,” “bulk,” or “junk” folder rather than your “in” box.

If you didn’t receive the above email message, or if it arrived in your “spam,” “bulk,” or “junk” folder, rather than your “in” box, visit our survey form HERE to tell us about it:

http://www.surveymonkey.com/s.aspx?sm=Rwm_2bKYPnRaa6Hvc1wCc_2bNg_3d_3d

If you find this email in your “in” box — do nothing more!

In ALL cases — I want to reward you with some great gifts, provided courtesy of my partners who helped spread the word about this Experiment and helped get you on board. PLEASE visit the gift site below and grab the gifts, to reward yourself and to show our partners you appreciate their efforts. I couldn’t have made The Great Email Experiment work without their help!

Go HERE to grab the gifts I’ve got for you today:

www.SaveOurEmailNow.com/gifts/31

Thanks again!

The NEXT email in the series will go out March 27, on or about noon Eastern U.S. time. 

— Alan R. Bechtold
The Great Email Experiment

Hi — I hope you’re ready to help us pin down which Email service providers CARE about your email and which don’t. The Experiment officially gets underway at 12 Noon, Eastern U.S. Time!

At that time, we’ll shut down the registration page for new participants. The signup form will be replaced with a signup form to join a notification list, so future visitors can register to follow our progress and to pick up the results of our testing as soon as we release them.

Our First Email in the experiment will be sent TOMORROW, March 25, at 12 Noon eastern U.S. time. If, by 4 p.m. eastern U.S. Time, you haven’t received the email in your IN box, check your “junk” folder, or your “bulk” or “spam” folders — whatever your Email Service Provider calls the place where they send email they THINK is spam, but still felt like delivering to you.

To stay informed, you can always visit this blog (I recommend you bookmark this blog now), to see the latest emails we’ve sent in the total of six going out as part of the Experiment. Our first three emails are currently scheduled to go out March 25, March 27 and March 30, but you should check the blog DAILY between now and April 7 for important updates or changes in our schedule.

OR — you can help us beta-test the brand new simple RSS reader software we designed that will monitor this blog and notify YOU whenever it’s been updated.

You can download the software, when it’s ready, at:

www.SaveOurEmailNow.com/reader

The software has been tested on XP and Vista. It’s supposed to also run on Macintosh, but it hasn’t been tested on this platform. Our developer assures me it will work fine there, but it will install an icon on the desktop, rather than the system tray, since there is no system tray on the Maciontosh platform.

We’ll set up a way to notify us with bug reports and any problems related to this software. It’s a truly simple piece of software. Virtually no “skill” or computer knowledge is required to install or use it … but we’re literally beta-testing it with the Experiment, so your feedback will help us fine-tune it into something we might all want to use later.

Click HERE to visit the survey form, to report emails that aren’t delivered!

ONLY visit and fill out this form if you fail to receive any of the six emails we will be sending to you during the Experiment, each time one fails to be delivered. OR — when an email arrives, but you found it in your “spam” or “bulk” or “junk” folder, rather than in your “in” box.

Finally, make sure you check out our discussion on the blog at www.EmailHorrorStories.com. Here you can tell us your own experiences with lost emails or unreliable delivery of emails, any problems the loss might have caused you and what you learned from the experience. You can also report on this blog any problems you’ve had dealing with Internet Service Providers and Email Service Providers regarding receipt of emails for this Experiment.

We want to hear from you!

Remember — we won’t post or moderate ANY comments left on this blog — ONLY comments and posts on www.EmailHorrorStories.com will be read, moderated and possibly posted for public reading.

Thanks! Let’s get rolling!

Thanks for your participation in The Great Email Experiment. Bookmark this address! This is the blog where you’ll find each of the six emails we’ll be sending to you during the two-week experiment.

The ONLY posts that will appear on this blog will be the six messages that will be sent out by email during the Great Email Experiment. Each will appear on the day that it is mailed during the two-week duration of the Experiment.

All comments posted to this blog will be deleted in moderation so nothing appears here but the six messages as they are being sent.

To participate in a solid discussion of email deliverability issues and share some great email horror stories, visit:

Email Horror Stories

The Great Email Experiment officially begins March 24, 2008 at 12 noon, eastern U.S. time.

The full report, including the results of the experiment, will be made available to the general public following the completion of the Experiment.

Thanks again! Here’s to the launch of a highly effective weapon that can be wielded to benefit us all by improving email deliverability.

— Alan R. Bechtold, president and CEO
BBS Press Service, Inc.
Author of Will Work For Fun — Three Simple Steps to Turning Any Hobby or Interest Into Cash, coming from Wiley Books May 26, 2008.