Google Apps for my domain email: Any reason we should not authenticate DKIM for our domain?

Tricky. Likely many email addresses are dead + others have forgotten your name + why they subscribed. Your steps. 1) Clean your list. 2) Place a link at top of each message that says. Report this message as spam, which then connects to a non-interactive, instant unsubscribe mechanism. This keeps people from reporting you to real spam authorities. 3) Wait 10 days, for all unsubs to come in. 4) Create a targeted audience in Facebook or Traffic Oxygen to get your name in front of these people + generate some cash, without emailing them. 5) Then run this for... say 30 days... 6) Then start weekly emails + keep these email going, so your list stays warm. If all this makes your head spin, hire someone to assist you with this.

The typical consultant answer is 'test it' but there are some good places to start. People generally start checking email when they show up to work (yes that includes personal). Sending around 8:30AM will give you a good shot of being at the top of their inbox then. Another good time is before lunch break. Shoot for something around 12:00PM for this. If you have an email provider that allows you to adapt your send to the local time, use that. But if not, go for EST. Close to 50% of the US population lives in that, with another 30% one hour behind in central.

Cold emailing is just as bad for you and the recipient. Even if you have the perfect list, the attempt to sell in a cold email is rarely going to be effective. You're better off curating the list to the top prospects, find a mutual connection on LinkedIn or even just cold-invite them on LinkedIn,. Worst case scenario, send a 'permission pass' email where you simply gauge interest and let them know you won't be emailing them again if there's no interest. Keep it very short, non-commercial with just solid information/links to web, and an easy to reply yes/no answer.

Your emails have a lot of room for improvement. You have to: 1) Give a 1 sentence intro 2) Get right to the point quickly in a clear and easy to understand way. Eliminate all the long winded and confusing language (i.e. everything in quotes: "business attitudes towards....provision") 3) Most people will be very wary of clicking links in a cold-call email. Both because it would take time, and because they're expecting to see a huge survey and/or a crappy app made by some schmo. To get around that negative bias, include an impressive screenshot of your app, and include all the questions of your survey, or if it is super long, include just the most interesting questions to pique their interest. Have those things be in-line, not as attachments. Doing these things will help make them curious and help convince them that it's worth clicking on the link (they'll trust you more). 4) If allowed in this project, look into other routes other than emails. For instance: A) Post it to relevant subreddits (https://www.reddit.com/r/AlphaAndBetaUsers, https://www.reddit.com/r/sideproject, etc.). B) Mail a small gift (e.g. a small chocolate) to companies, and have a note on the chocolate with an intro and a link (use an URL shortener) and QR code. Even if they don't go to the link on the note, you could do a follow up email in which you mention that you previously sent them the gift, which will increase your success.

It always starts with the list. You mention 'non opt-in' lists, which is certainly more troublesome than any domain name. Your best course of action is to get a new domain, re-confirm the lists you have (requiring the subscriber to click through in order to stay on), and only accept confirmed opt-in lists moving forward. It will decimate your mailing list in the short term, but long-term eliminate your deliverability concerns and improve ROI.