Join my Experiment!

Tonight I started an experiment that may work or may not!

We've all seen the stories. The man who sold his whole life online, the guy who sold advertising for one million pixels at a dollar a pop, the best job in the world, the so-called 419 scams trying to get you to help shift money out of Nigeria in return for a healthy cut, the Facebook campaigns that resulted in the UK Christmas #1, increased software sales, and changes in the formulation of a soap.

Wouldn't it be great if the same distribution and audience potential of the internet (estimated at just shy of 2 billion users) could be used to harness something really beneficial?

I have started emailing the following email to people I know and asking them to pass on the message and to sponsor me. As I said, it may not work, but even a few more quid would be great! If you're reading this and haven't received an email, do feel free to copy and paste the following message and pass it on. Thanks!

Hi,

This is an experiment! It may not work, it may be a phenomenal success. Either way, at least I have tried and it will be interesting to find out!

We have all read the mountains of spam that people receive asking for help getting 15 million dollars out of Nigeria or advertising Russian wives.

Well I want to see if email can be used for something really beneficial.

My son was born nearly 3 years ago, 3 months premature. He nearly didn't make it, suffered many setbacks along the way but finally came home from hospital after 3 months in intensive and special care. This was an incredibly difficult time not only for my son but the rest of the family too, and since then we have been determined to both raise awareness of the issues affecting premature babies and their families and also raise money for Bliss, the UK premature baby charity.

To this end, in June 2010 I am setting off to cycle from Cambridge to Paris in aid of Bliss. I am aiming to raise at least two thousand pounds, but am hoping to raise an awful lot more than that. And that's where you come in! There are many examples of the huge reach of the internet being used to sell bizarre things on eBay, shape political opinion or even determine the Christmas number 1! All I'm looking for is a donation from lots of people to take me above and beyond my two thousand pounds limit. If 10 people each forward this to 10 people, and each of those forward it to a further 10 people, all of whom donate a tenner, that's ten thousand pounds right there for Bliss to help future premature babies! Imagine the possibilities!

So, how can you help? It would be fantastic if you could make a donation, via my Just Giving website (http://www.justgiving.com/NBailey). Then, please forward this to anyone who may be able to help (the more the better!).

If you are reading this and have no idea who I am, then it is showing that this is actually working, so please do keep it going.

How much good is it possible to do using the power of the internet?

With heartfelt thanks,

Nigel Bailey
January 2010

Please visit my just giving site at http://www.justgiving.com/NBailey
Follow my progress at http://preemieblog.blogspot.com/
Learn more about Bliss at http://www.bliss.org.uk