The job that was automated

The work of a campaign manager, built into one system

It's built to do an email campaign manager's job, so you do not have to hire one. It feeds each campaign checked addresses, in the right mix, amount and pace. More mail lands in inboxes.

At a glance
The job
A campaign manager keeps a sales email campaign fed with fresh, checked leads. The good ones load leads by email type, in a set order and pace, so the campaign works better.
What it does each week
Each week it takes one week of leads. It re-checks only the addresses that have gone stale. It loads them by email type, sets the daily pace from last week's results, and pauses when bounces climb. That pace and order is a judgment call a person normally makes.
What it is worth
Humans doing this job take 25 to 40 minutes of work a week per campaign. At 25 campaigns, that is 10 to 17 hours.
Where it stands
Built, documented, and packaged for a team to install.
The problem

Lists go stale, and someone has to keep campaigns fed.

Cold email needs a steady supply of new leads, and addresses that are still good on the day they are used.

The old-fashioned way is to check a whole list once, upload all of it, and let the campaign run for a month or more.

Addresses go bad every week. A bounce is mail that comes back because the address is dead. A list checked last week bounces far less than one checked last month. The kind of address, how many you load, and the order you mail them also change whether mail lands or bounces.

Run enough campaigns and this turns into a job. Loading the right leads, at the right time, in the right amount, can take part of a week or all of it.

How it works

What a campaign manager decides each week.

1

Approve once.

You pick the list and the campaigns it may feed. You do that once.

2

Size and check, every week.

First it sizes the batch to what the campaign can safely send that week. It re-checks only the addresses that have gone stale, and drops any that fail. Then it sorts them by email type, so the safest ones go out first.

3

Load, then confirm.

Each person's email is already written. It carries that copy onto their record one at a time, then reads every record back and checks the words came back exactly as sent. It adds them to the campaign and checks the campaign again. It never takes a plain "done" for an answer. If anyone is missing, it names them and holds the batch.

Open the diagram
A person approves the list, once The list waits in a holding campaign Read the real sending pace Take one week's worth Re-check only stale addresses Carry each person's email Attach them, then prove they arrived Write the receipt. Send the report login refused Refuse. Write the reason checker failed Load nothing this week read-back differs Do not attach anyone missing Name the missing. Try again next run next morning Does everyone trace to a receipt? No Alarm Yes Clean

Open the full map

One week, start to finish. The grey boxes are where it stops and says why.

A person approves the list, once The list waits in a holding campaign Read the real sending pace Take one week's worth Re-check only stale addresses Carry each person's email Attach them, then prove they arrived Write the receipt. Send the report login refused Refuse. Write the reason checker failed Load nothing this week read-back differs Do not attach anyone missing Name the missing. Try again next run next morning Does everyone trace to a receipt? No Alarm Yes Clean 0123456Stage 0:approve onceNoYesNoYesA person names the list and thecampaignsSaved as a draft?Nothing runsConfirmed by a person? Who andwhen recordedArmed. Runs weekly until aperson pauses itSame job id again? Refused,never overwrittenStage 1: the holdingcampaignNoYesWhole list goes into a holdingcampaignThat campaign can never sendDid they all arrive? Count re-readNothing tagged. Safe to retryEach person gets the batch labelWaiting there does not count asemailedSame list again? Does nothingChanged list? Needs a newapprovalStage 2: the checksbefore anything movesYesNoNoYesNoYesNoYesNoYesAnother run already going?Exit. Never two at onceRight weekday, still armed?Wait a week. Costs nothingRestore anything a killed run leftpausedThe approved account, by its realaddress?Refuse and exitUnlock file made by a person?Practice mode: prints the plan,spends nothingSettings inside bounds? Spendcap set?Stop. Never guess a capCleared. Start the three stepsStage 2,continued: thethree stepsNoYesNoYesNoYesYesNoStep 1: set this week's sendingpacePace step worked?Keep last week's pace. Flag itStep 2: re-check stale addressesaheadCheck step worked?Halt the week. Load nothingStep 3: read each campaign'sstatus and paceCampaign active?Skip itAlready got a batch this week?Skip. One batch a weekSize the batchStage 3: size thebatchYesNoYesNoYesNoOut: emailed in the last 75 daysRead the pool once, read-onlyOut: carries a do-not-email tagBatch = daily pace x 7 daysRecent out-of-office reply?Held back this roundSort the same way every timeDrop anyone loaded in the last 7daysNobody lands in two campaignsAddress checked within 30 days?Fresh. No re-check, nothingspentWould re-checks pass 3,000 thisrun?Skip this campaign. SpendnothingRe-check itStage 4: check onlywhat went staleNoYesNoYesNoYesNoYesRe-check stale addresses,cheapest checker firstChecker finished and wroteverdicts?Abort this campaign. ShipnothingWorking and safe to send?Dropped. Reason written downOver 10 or 20 percent dropped?AlarmEveryone has a check on file?Stop the whole exportWrite this week's slice and itsreceiptFile still matches its receipt?Refuse to uploadReady to loadStage 5: load withoutbreaking the livecampaignNoYesNoYesNoYesNoYesHolding campaign still in draft?Refuse. It is sendingEvery blank in the templatefillable?Abort. No blanks shipCarry each person's own emailRead back, word for word?Do not attach. Nothing sentPause the live campaign. Write amarkerAttach people one by oneExact people now on thecampaign?Name the missing.Try again next runWrite proof of attachResume the campaign. Clear themarkerKilled mid-write? Restored onnext startStage 6: writeit down, tella personYesNonext morningNoYesRecord: who, when, how manyOne report: every skip and its reasonUnder 7 days of leads left?Replenish alarm. Job keeps runningA week of fresh, approved peopleDoes everyone trace to a receipt?Alarm: someone loaded around the gateCleanWhere the datalivesstale onlynext morningNoYesApproved list, a spreadsheetJob file: list, campaigns, whoapprovedUnlock file, made by a personHolding campaign on theplatformAddress checks, dated, good for30 daysChecker, cheapest firstThis week's sliceReceipt: exactly who went, andwhyThe live campaignRecord: who, when, how manyOne report to the operatorEveryone traces to a receipt?AlarmCleanOne job, threesteps, onereportNoYesNoYesNoYesYesNoOne job, one evening a weekUnlock file from a person?Practice: prints the plan, spendsnothingStep 1: set the paceWorked?Keep last week's pace. Flag itStep 2: re-check stale addressesWorked?Halt the weekStep 3: load the sliceOne report, pass or fail per stepAny alert?Flag it for a personDone. Lock releasedThe daily checksNoNoNoYesThe login died on July 3Pace setter, weeklyMorning check, dailyBounce brake, dailyHealth check, dailyCan it read the account?Changes nothing. Writes thereason. 10 weeks runningCan it read the campaigns?Checks nothing. Prints clean.Can it see the sends?Sees nothing. Prints clean.Did each job write its log?Says fine. Cannot tell blind fromclean
How big is a week?The daily sending pace times 7. If the campaign can send 5,000 emails a day, that is 35,000 leads for the week, and no more. That 35,000 is a cap on new people, not on all mail sent.
Which addresses get re-checked?Any address checked in the last 30 days goes as it is. Anything older is re-checked first. Anyone emailed in the last 75 days is held back.
Who goes first?In week 1, only leads at the strictest mail services get a small batch. Week 2 adds the other well-run services. Week 3 adds the risky ones, the addresses that accept any mail. Safer addresses fill the batch first, so the risky ones only get what is left.
WEEK 1 · days 0 to 6
Only the strictest mail services
a small batch, before the sender has a track record
WEEK 2 · from day 7
Adds the other well-run services
the clock starts when the batch loads
WEEK 3 · from day 14
Adds the risky addresses
the ones that accept any mail, even to names that do not exist

Between the weekly loads it runs on its own. You sign off once, and you unlock the real run once. Neither comes back each week.

By my estimate

What it is worth at your size.

By hand, each campaign takes about 25 to 40 minutes a week to feed and check. That is the check-and-upload round, spread over the 4 to 7 weeks one upload lasts, plus the daily glance. That is the work this system takes over. The table prices that time two ways, over 48 working weeks a year. The low rate is $12 an hour, a solid overseas assistant. The high rate is $30 an hour, a junior marketing hire in the US with benefits. The last column is what trouble costs by hand today: the hour or two, every couple of weeks, when a campaign goes wrong, spread out per week. It is not added to the worth column.

Campaigns runningWorth per yearTrouble time by hand today, per week
25about $6,000 to $24,0009 to 25 hours
50about $12,000 to $48,00018 to 50 hours
100about $24,000 to $96,00035 to 100 hours
200about $48,000 to $192,00070 to 200 hours
25 campaignsabout $6,000 to $24,000 a year9 to 25 hours of trouble by hand a week
50 campaignsabout $12,000 to $48,000 a year18 to 50 hours of trouble by hand a week
100 campaignsabout $24,000 to $96,000 a year35 to 100 hours of trouble by hand a week
200 campaignsabout $48,000 to $192,000 a year70 to 200 hours of trouble by hand a week

At 100 campaigns, the work it takes over is one to two full-time people. At 200, two to three.

When something does go wrong, it reports it instead of hiding it. A person decides what to do.

What you would get

What a build like this comes with.

You get the working system, a plain-English operating guide, and a hand-over bundle your own team can install from. It runs on your own accounts and your own machine. Every run writes one report that lists each lead it held back and why.

Jobs like this in your business.

Email is only the example. This job takes judgment about how many to send, which addresses go first, and when to stop, and people learn that by feel over years. This system makes those calls every week and writes down why each time. The same can be done for any job in your business that runs on one person's experience.

Your version might be:

I build systems like this for operations-heavy companies. Book a 30-minute call, and you will leave with a written read of which of your recurring jobs fit this pattern and which one to build first.