At the end of last week I started sending out email invites for participation in my research, precisely for my ‘Have your say’ online questionnaire. I bought some addresses from the Australian Lifestyle Survey, which is held regularly by the Australian Post. I selected my potential participants based on their travel and online activities, as well choose a random sample from all states in Australia. As an incentive I introduced a new prize draw of three $100 AUD VISA gift cards. What do you think? Is it an attractive prize?

Sending the emails took ages and I spent the whole weekend checking sent, unsent, and still to send emails. The problem was the little program I used to send personalized emails was useful but also very simple, and my Internet provider didn’t allow mass sending of emails, so I had to include a pause after each sent email. Well, I am sure there is more sophisticated software out there, but my budget did not allow bigger investments. If someone knows a better solution, please let me know.

By the way, so far the response on my mailing is great and I received almost hundred submissions. Now I have to start reading all the submissions and see what issues, perceptions, and opinions are emerging. Will keep you posted.