We just finished implementing a new "delay" feature in the set-and forget messages at "Personalized Promotion". More details are given here:

http://www.prospectresponse.com/cgi-...iew=85&lang=en

So far we've not implemented these on emails collected from FFA posts. I'd like to get peoples' opinions first before we proceed on this.

Let us know what you think and what we can do to make email delivery and response more successful.

I got this response from Stan Stuchinski by email, so I'll post it here:

Hmmmm...

I'll have to give some additional thought to the new features, but let me give you my initial reactions:

1) I LIKE the idea that messages will be sent out four times each day, rather than just once - at 7:00 AM. I believe that this WOULD increase the "read-rate."

2) I am not sure if the fourteen day delay feature is a viable, LONG-TERM idea, for a number of reasons:

a) Although having a delay THEORETICALLY results in higher "read-rates," numerous marketers that I have talked with over the years agree that this is a fallacy. There is no increase in read rates regardless of the delay. HOWEVER, there IS an increase in...

b) ...spam complaints! A whole lot of these people "forget" that they have submitted an ad to an FFA site, and it seems that this "forgetfullness" increases the longer the delay for the sales messages they receive in return.

c) Also, unless my math is off, the idea of a fourteen day delay would only aleviate the load of messages in these members mailboxes for... the very first FOURTEEN DAYS! After that, the cycle would start all over again, and those new members would have just as many messages as they would have without ANY delay.

d) Finally, with delays of as many as fourteen days, it would make tracking the efficacy of one particular ad a virtual impossibility... unless one did not change one's ads for at the very least fourteen days. Most marketers change their ads/subject lines on a daily, or at most weekly, basis.

As far as AOL (and MSN) are concerned, my feelings are that we marketers might just as well write 'em off - if not right now, then very soon! As you know, AOL and MSN have spam filtering programs that are nothing short of outright insane! It's hard for me to believe that millions of AOL/MSN members are not complaining in droves because they are not receiving email that they WANT! In fact you may have noticed, Simon, that more and more new programs on the net are outright telling new members that they either should not, OR ARE NOT PERMITTED TO, join using an AOL/MSN email address. Val Burnett, the owner of IPostAD, the net's largest mass safelist submitter, has (are you ready for this!) a "banned list" of 314 domains that may not be used when joining the program!

I see the day in the very near future when ALL programs will REQUIRE that a new member have a professional grade, PAID email account, like Al Borchers' "listmail4u.com," or Val Burnet's "youknow.com" Such a step would solve the spam filter problem (at least for us marketers) once and for all.

If you DO come across a work-around solution for the AOL/MSN problem, however, lemme know.

Anyway, these are my initial thoughts. I look forward to the additional changes, and I again congratulate you on staying on top of things.

All the best,

Stan

I've been watching the delay feature for a while now, and it does not seem to me like it's causing any complaint issues at all. This could probably be because we've not implemented it on FFA leads yet.

After the prospects submit their information, they start receiving ads from the very beginning. The difference is they do not get a sudden burst of emails in one day within a single hour; rather the SAFE (set-and-forget) messages are evenly staggered over 14 days and over several hrs on any given day. All our messages are sent during the day time (US time) which increases the chances of being seen.

Presumably some members still send their messages manually, which would probably yield better results.

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