"Awesome article, Stammy. I've thought quite a bit about lifecycle emails too. Seems like a big missed opportunity by most startups. Here's the first version of a flow I put together back in February for GadgetTrak: http://dl.dropbox.com/u/31839/... Most of it has been iimplemented and the activation stuff has been expanded quite a bit. I try to make the lifecycle emails feel as much like a personal email as possible (opposed to too "newslettery"). So I usually don't use any graphics or special formatting and always address the reader directly and write conversationally. I get responses every day in the support inbox of people responding to my pre-emptive support email telling me why they haven't installed/registered the app yet :)"
- Justin Thiele