Hey Isabelle - signed up for your list, as you've probably noticed. Groovy stuff - I really like the beat!

One thing about the whole process: when I received the email with the download link, it took me a long time to find the actual link; I think it might be more effective down in the middle of your copy, where it would stand out against the white background. YMMV, of course.

Hi again John, everybody:

I've just finished revising the text for my first four autoresponder emails, and I thought I'd post all of them here, just in case someone might find it useful to see how another forum member has done this.

Of course, if anyone is moved to comment on the effectiveness of any/all of these emails, I'd be grateful for your input as well.

I know that this is a pretty chunky post - tia for checking any of this out!

——————————————- First email text below ———————————————

Hi _______:

First things first - thank you so, sooo much for signing up! All you have to do to get your download is click this link...

[link]

Still here? Let me tell you a little more about what you've gotten yourself into…

I know that you're sick of the shallow, cookie-cutter music you hear on the radio on the way to work, American Idol, the b.s. that's always on the top of the charts - hell, every real music fan feels the same way.

I think what we're all interested in is the opposite of that - real musicians writing real songs, committed to making nothing but honest, authentic, passionate music that we can crank in the car on a hot summer road trip, learn all the words to and sing around a campfire, or keep us company in the middle of a quiet night.

Through the great good judgment you've shown in signing up for this here list, you have joined an incredibly cool crew of folks who are getting occasional emails (not too frequent!) that deliver exactly what people like you (and me, to be honest) are looking for.

Stay tuned for new singles, interesting demos, backstage videos, live shows and other choice morsels that ardent, good-looking, intelligent, and charming music fans like yourself spend way too much of their time trawling the internet for - hand-delivered  to your inbox instead.

You're going to dig this the most!

~ Mike from Radio Nowhere

P.S. Want to know more, right now? The Radio Nowhere website has all the 411... [link to site]

——————————————- Second email (5 days later) text below ———————————————

Hi _____ :

Mike from Radio Nowhere here again. I really hope you're enjoying the free songs I sent you a few days ago. If you get a chance to turn 'em up while you're behind the wheel, or out mountain biking or skydiving or something, give it a shot.

Fresh air + good, loud music = good times!

Anyway, I wanted to hook you up with another song that has generated a pretty strong response from listeners. It's a catchy, upbeat track in the classic singer/songwriter tradition called "Sister Rosa", which won an award from the John Lennon Songwriting Contest (I'm not 100% sure that John was one of the judges, but still…).

Though I'm pretty partial to the melody and the lyrics here, I have to admit that the secret weapon in this song is the excellent, ever-so-slightly-totally-out-of-control piano playing contributed by the incomparable Jef Labes, who may be just a shade better known for also being the piano player on Van Morrison's "Moondance".

You can grab it right now by clicking this link (Yes. It's free. Of course.):

[Link to SR]

Now that you're listening to the song, and hopefully humming along a little bit already, let me tell you a little more about it.

"Sister Rosa" was originally part of a demo tape that eventually led to the sessions for my first album in Room B at Fantasy Studios ('Cuz Room A was booked. Carlos Santana, who also kept hogging the best parking spot), but it never actually got recorded until years later…

[Click here to read the rest of the story], and make sure to click the link below to get your bonus free download of "Sister Rosa"!

[Link to SR]

——————————————- Third email (7 days after that) text below ———————————————

Hi ______:

Mike from Radio Nowhere here again. Just wanted to give you a quick update on a brand new development here - the debut of, um, Video Nowhere.

I'll be the first to admit that I've been a little slow in warming to the idea of making videos, being much more interested in the idea of focusing on great music first.

But I have a good friend who's a pretty fair filmmaker, and he came over recently with his iPhone and a bottle of wine and convinced me to bang together a quick video after dinner.

We ended up with a fun little cover of Crowded House's "Fall At Your Feet" - if you'd like to check it out, just click the link below.

[link to video]

Extra bonus: My cousins from Nome and Istanbul showed up to jam along, and they brought some dude who plays piano too…

Thanks for taking a look - hope you dig it! ~ Mike & Radio Nowhere

P.S. If you enjoy the video, how about sharing it with your friends on Facebook, Twitter…wherever? Honestly, that would be a big step towards getting my music into the ears of new fans, and I'd love you for it. More than I already do.

P.P.S. I know orange is really not my color.

——————————————- Fourth email (7 days after that) text below ———————————————

Hi ________:

It's Mike from Radio Nowhere again. I know you've only had a couple of weeks to fall in love with the free songs I've been sending you, and maybe it's a little soon to drop yet another one into the mix, but I'd like to send you a special track that I'm pretty excited about.

It's kind of an unusual cover version of a very well-known song and I'm only sending this secret version of the tune to the coolest people on my mailing list (that would be you).

You can grab it right now at this link:

[Link to Share-to-Download page, modeled after http://johnomusic.net/free-gift.html

Sorry to be so cagey about the name of the track, but the artist I'm covering here employs a massive army of the most ferocious lawyers on the planet, and in their inexhaustible zeal for royalties, they might not appreciate some of the finer nuances of the situation, such as the fact that I'm giving this track away for FREE, and I'd like to avoid being frog-marched off to Sony's private corporate dungeon (I hear the coffee's terrible).

Intrigued? Me too! Let's [click here to read the rest of the story], and don't forget to click the link below to get your bonus free secret download!

[Link to Share-to-Download page, modeled after http://johnomusic.net/free-gift.html

Hey John:

Thanks so much for reading all of those emails, and thanks even more for hipping me to pattern interrupts.

I wish I'd known about this before. You know how, when you buy a car, suddenly you notice that every other vehicle on the road seems to be that kind of car, but you just never realized it before?

I kind of feel like every effective marketer I've been following has been running this pattern interrupt program on us, and I just never had a name to put to the concept before. And having a name and a description of the concept really brings into focus the way that it works.

Not to say that I've suddenly mastered the idea, or anything, but would you say that this draft of an email is headed in that direction?

The idea here is that the fan has already signed up for the list and received their free download (and first marketing message), and this is a second autoresponder email that shows up a few days later.

——————————————- email text below ———————————————

[Email subject line] John Lennon, Van Morrison, Carlos Santana…and Radio Nowhere? What?

[Email body]

Okay, okay, I know what you're thinking: "That's some pretty heavy namedropping, mister - you better be able to back it up…."

Here's the deal:

A few years back,  I wrote a catchy, upbeat song in the classic singer/songwriter tradition called "Sister Rosa", based on the true story of a martini and an open mic night with the most beautiful woman in San Francisco....and the devil.

It got a great response at the club gigs I was playing, and one night, a guy from the opening band suggested that I enter it in this competition he was working with…long story short - the song ended up winning an award from the John Lennon Songwriting Contest (I'm not 100% sure that John was one of the judges, but Yoko was reportedly involved…).

I got a faux-vellum certificate of achievement and a thousand bucks, which I spent on beer and two parking tickets.

Though I'm pretty partial to the melody and the lyrics for this song, I have to admit that the secret weapon is the excellent, ever-so-slightly-totally-out-of-control piano playing contributed by the incomparable Jef Labes, who may be just a shade better known for also being the piano player on Van Morrison's "Moondance".

Finally, my original demo recording of "Sister Rosa" was on the tape that eventually led to the sessions for my first album in Room B at Fantasy Studios. Why Room B? Because Room A had been block-booked for like two years by Carlos Santana, who was recording the follow up to his gabillion-selling "Supernatural" LP.

Carlos had also stuffed every cranny of the studio break room refrigerator with macrobiotic Tofurky McNuggets, and kept hogging the best parking spot as well. We joked about sticking strips of bacon under his windshield wipers, but I'm not sure anyone ever did.

So there you have it. I guess it's not like I've exactly got a bunch of rock stars on speed dial, but at least I've got you curious about this song. Right?

Of course you are, and you can download it right now (yes. for free. of course.) by clicking the link below.

[Link to download]

P.S. I was planning on going for the sale with my 5th email.

Cool - thanks, Tim!