Do you know about this autoresponder?

I think streamsend allows that too. That is the reason I dumped GetResponse and went to ss. However, I can see a lot cheaper services are now around.

d Hey!

To answer your question about importing contacts...

First you need to download the list you have from your current provider. Look for a backup
or download list link. When you download the contact list make sure to save as a .csv
format file.

This just means that the list is saved in a text format (You can open with notepad if you
want just make sure not to "mess around" with it since you aren't experienced with these
files.

Another note is that the .csv files are also able to be opened with excel as they are
technically a spreadsheet in text format with your contact names, email addresses, and any
other info you had them enter into the sign up form for that particular list.

So, if you were to look at one and you had asked for a first name, last name, and email
address in the sign up form for that list (As an example) the file would look like this:

(I made up the names etc. also, there would be real email addresses in your actual file,
and the placeholders wouldn't have "*" but I had to substitute to post this message for
you it wouldn't allow the sample email addresses or even the real placeholder! )


fn*me,ln*me,em*il
jenny,smith,jenny at gmail
john,public,jonnyq at gmail


The first line tells the autoresponder what the list variables are and the next rows are
the list members (data). The first line will vary depending on what your autoresponder uses.

It could be [f*rstn*me,[l*stn*me],[em*il] or other format.

You will have to edit the file if the codes for the variables are different between the
companies.

For example, if one company uses [FN*ME] for the placeholder for the member's first name
and your new company uses "firstn*me" then you will need to change the top line of your
.csv file to match.

Make sure you don't change anything else or forget the commas!

Some companies also have NO space between the data (firstn*me,lastn*me,em*il) and some
HAVE a space (f*rstname, l*stname, em*il). If so, and the new is different from the old,
once again you will have to edit you .csv file to match.

The best way is to use a "find and replace" software and have it find all of the commas
and make them commas then a space or the other way around change the comma space to just
commas and the whole list will get changed line by line without you having to edit each
entry.

Believe me, it is a royal pain to do manually and if you make just one mistake it will
mess up your import!

Most companies that allow imports also have a size limit to the files imported, like 1500
people max, etc.

You can split your .csv files by just copying and pasting the lines of member info and
make several files out of one big one, just make sure to add the top line that tells the
script what the info is to each file.

Plus, each .csv file will need to be a different autoresponder list/name.

Now to add the folks to your new autoresponder account...

After signing up for your new account, if the company allows it, select "import list" (or
import autoresponder, whatever), name the new list, and then look for the "browse" or
"import" button.

Click it, and then browse to the location where you downloaded the .csv file and saved it
on your computer.

Click once on the file name to select it.

The service will upload the file from your computer hard drive and
create the new list with the pre-existing members listed in the file!

Make sure if you are going to use that same list on your site that you only set up any new
form to have the exact same variables (information to fill in such as name, email, etc.)
or you will mess up the list as you won't have the same data on the "new" members as you
do for the "old" members.

Also, most AR companies require you to re-opt-in the moved list. In other words, they will
receive a message asking them to re-confirm their subscription to the list.

You do get to
create the contents of that message so make sure you mention that you are just moving the
list and nothing else has changed.

You will probably lose 50 to 75% of the LIST MEMBERS! So don't move just on a whim!

After awhile most people - unless you practice great relationship marketing - will forget
why they subscribed and were too lazy to unsubscribe, or had your email/newsletter
automatically moved to a newsletter folder when it arrived and so forgot to read it
anymore.

Sorry, but it's true.

I hope this helps... feel free to ask any questions if I was unclear anywhere as I didn't
have this tutorial pre-written and "dashed it off" to answer your question.

"Techie" Teri Lee