Topic: Email Marketing

A discussion regarding inconsistent email delivery reveals that many subscribers are not receiving newsletters due to aggressive spam filters from Gmail and Outlook. Large email providers often require "bribes" or high fees from services like MailChimp to guarantee delivery. The technical challenges of maintaining a direct connection with an audience via email are explored, including the risk of high unsubscribe rates when sending follow-up messages.

The Dvorak Substack is promoted as a primary outlet for media deconstruction, though it faces deliverability challenges due to Spam Assassin blocklists. The discussion explores how individual users hitting "block" can damage the reputation of legitimate newsletters. There is a call for listeners to help unblock the service to ensure the "Freak Show" column reaches its audience.

The hosts discuss technical difficulties with their newsletter delivery, blaming MailChimp and the general "broken" state of email. They claim that companies like Substack and MailChimp must pay large sums to be "whitelisted" by Google and Outlook. A mention of Start9, a company providing hardware for home-based self-hosting, highlights the difficulty of running independent email servers in an ecosystem controlled by Big Tech.

The hosts address "make-goods" for producers whose notes were previously truncated or misinterpreted. They engage in a brief debate about the use of emojis in email subject lines, with John C. Dvorak claiming they improve open rates while Adam Curry finds them unprofessional. A correction is made regarding the geography of Thunder Bay, Ontario, clarifying it is not a bedroom community of Toronto.

MailChimp suspended a host's newsletter account after the "Omnivore" algorithm flagged the terms "vaccine" and "experimental" in the same sentence. The discussion highlights the high costs of professional email deliverability, noting that companies like Podshow previously paid $20,000 to $30,000 monthly to avoid spam filters. Google and other major providers are described as competitors that prioritize their own marketing over third-party newsletters.

A deep fake website featuring a neural network designed to sound like Jordan Peterson has ceased operations, leading to speculation about its true purpose as a data collection tool. The discussion shifts to the economics of renting email mailing lists, where names can be valued at ten dollars each. Strategies for tracking data brokers through coded email addresses are explored.

The hosts analyze a leaked advertising rate card for Ben Shapiro's podcast, which reportedly charges $25,500 for a 60-second live read. They calculate this as a $75 CPM, which they describe as "outrageous" for the industry. They contrast Shapiro's commercial model with the No Agenda "value-for-value" model, arguing that direct listener support is more personal and honest.

Further analysis of Ben Shapiro's media kit reveals he charges $15,000 to send an endorsement to his 400,000-subscriber email list. The hosts mock the high prices and the "conservative-principled fashion" branding. They conclude the segment by granting "house selling karma" to a producer and "job karma" to listeners seeking new employment.

A discussion on podcast monetization explored why the "$2 a month" subscription model often fails for independent creators. The hosts argued that a "value for value" system, where listeners choose their own contribution level based on the utility they receive, is more sustainable. They also noted that using "low-barrier" language like "chip in" in email marketing did not significantly increase donations.

A donor from North Carolina requested a series of specific audio jingles and "goat scream karma" for an upcoming trip. This leads to a technical discussion about email marketing tactics, such as using preview text and specific subject line characters to bypass Gmail filters. The hosts share results from A/B testing these methods, concluding that many "tricks" have little impact on deliverability.

A study by the group IMGE found that major email providers like Google, Yahoo, and AOL disproportionately filtered right-leaning political newsletters into spam folders during the 2018 election cycle. The hosts discuss their own difficulties with email deliverability for the No Agenda newsletter and the "tax" of hiring mass email services to bypass blocks.

John C. Dvorak analyzes a significant drop in open rates for his newsletter, attributing the issue to Gmail's aggressive filtering algorithms. He shares technical tips for avoiding spam folders, such as avoiding all-caps in subject lines, minimizing exclamation marks, and never using the same link twice in a single email. The discussion emphasizes the risks of relying on free email services like Gmail for critical communications.

An email from President Obama's list is described as a "ruse" to solicit donations for the DNC. The host explains how an offer for a "handwritten thank-you note" and an invitation to become a "factivist" both led directly to payment screens. The segment critiques the aggressive digital marketing tactics used by political organizations.

Both the Trump and Clinton campaigns are criticized for aggressive and high-volume email marketing. Additionally, a story about a "secret Russian server" communicating with the Trump Organization is debunked as a standard hotel marketing server performing routine DNS pings, a technical reality deconstructed by *The Intercept*.

The Clinton campaign, led by manager Robby Mook, reported raising $51 million in June. The hosts analyze the campaign's aggressive email solicitation tactics, noting technical oddities in how recipient names are merged and purged in their mailing lists.

The hosts analyze the identical language used in fundraising emails from the Clinton, Trump, and Sanders campaigns, specifically the phrase "chip in." They conclude that all major political campaigns are likely using the same marketing firm and mailing list management company.

Hillary Clinton's campaign has aggressively pursued small-dollar donations to compete with Bernie Sanders' fundraising narrative. By soliciting "one dollar" contributions through frequent email blasts, the campaign can report a higher number of individual donors. The hosts discuss how this tactic is used to bolster the appearance of grassroots support.

The Hillary Clinton campaign's aggressive "chip-in" fundraising emails, managed by Robby Mook, are criticized for being offensive and lacking personal voice. The emails often use a singular, demanding tone regardless of whether they are signed by Bill, Hillary, or Chelsea Clinton.

Adam Curry sent a "disheartened" email to the listener base after a period of low donations, resulting in a record-breaking response from "Executive Producers" and "Associate Executive Producers." The hosts discuss the financial realities of running an independent podcast and the "celebrity with no money" trap. The influx of support solidified the show's "Value-for-Value" model for the month of January.

A decline in newsletter open rates is attributed to changes in Gmail and Hotmail spam filtering algorithms implemented around July 4th. The hosts speculate that using bulleted lists in emails triggers spam flags, resulting in a 20% drop in engagement. They recommend using independent email providers like Mark Burkell's service to avoid the restrictions of centralized systems.